Our Daily Tasks: Covering and Uncovering

Our Daily Tasks: Covering and Uncovering

The winter wonderland where we grow your veggies.

The winter wonderland where we grow your veggies.
Photo credit: Emily Hammon
Want to join and receive your own share of delicious veggies each week? If you are interested in signing up, please email us at greededgegardens@gmail.com. For more information or to download our Enrollment brochure, visit our website at www.greenedgegardens.com/CSA.

We love sharing our wonderful produce with you! We started this blog so that we can keep you up to date with all that is happening on the farm. It is also an opportunity for all of us to get to know one another better. One of the strengths of a CSA is the direct relationship between the farmer's experience and your experience receiving fresh vegetables weekly.

We want to hear from you, so please feel free to share recipes, thoughts and ideas-just click on the COMMENT below each post to add to our CSA community.

July 15, 2008

ATHENS HILLS SUMMER CSA:

WEEK FOUR

Hello Everyone!

Claudia & her husband, Andy, are traveling for the next two weeks, so Kate & I volunteered to do the newsletter. We are finally getting solid sunshine for several days in a row… it finally feels like summer! This allows the fields to dry out as well as provides some more heat for our tomatoes to ripen. We did have our first ripe tomato this week, so hopefully the others will be coming along very quickly with the heat!

We are busy getting ready for our OPEN FARM DAY on July 27th from 2 – 6 pm. Bring a dish to share, your own dinnerware, and an instrument if you play! Directions and more information are provided on our blog, and on the Open Farm Invitation postcard.

As a reminder, in an effort to cut down on our carbon footprint we will be discontinuing the paper version of the newsletter starting next week. You will be able to find it on our blog every week. If you would like to receive the paper version (or have the newsletter emailed to you), please contact us this week! Also, we are posting the next week’s featured veggies on Fridays for your convenience.

Also, please remember to return the wax boxes to us when you pick up your next share. We moved to the boxes so that we could reduce the amount of bags we were using, and the wax boxes make us able to reuse them. Thanks for helping us do a little more for our beautiful planet! Have a great week everyone!

Best Wishes,

Margaret

FEATURED VEGGIES

Micro Mix (a mix of sunflower, buckwheat, radish, cabbage and kogane (pac choi)).

Mushrooms (Our mushroom guy Rob’s selection from our farm-grown shiitake, oyster or trumpet mushrooms. Be sure to store in the fridge with the bag open.)

Swiss Chard (One of our favorite greens that happens to be growing like gang-busters-- don’t forget that you can blanch, freeze & store it for later.)

Eggplant (This versatile vegetable is great baked, grilled, or sautéed. Just brush some olive oil on it and your favorite spices such as oregano, basil, and rosemary. I hope you enjoy our purple fruits!)

Green Garlic (These are newly harvested and are less strong than cured garlic, which takes a while to dry, so you can experiment with these flavorful roots that compliment any dish. Remember to refrigerate as they’re not cured.)

Sweet Basil (One of the true harbingers of summer and we are so happy to have it for you in this share, especially if it is your first. This is essential in your favorite pesto recipe.)

Summer Squash (Picker’s selection from our zucchini, yellow, sunburst or pattypan squashes. We love to eat these raw & chopped in our salads, or marinated and grilled alongside your favorite meat. They even make a great slaw! Have fun with these and let us know what you do with these summer treats.)

Recipe: Eggplant Sauce for Spaghetti

1 medium onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, crushed

2 t. dried parsley or ¼ c fresh parsley

1 T. olive oil

¼ cup water

2 large eggplants cut in ½-inch cubes (or you can substitute zucchini squash for 1 eggplant)

28 oz. can of whole tomatoes or 8-10 fresh tomatoes, chopped

2 of 6 oz. cans tomato paste

2 t. dried oregano

1 t salt

1 t sugar

dash of pepper

Options: add fresh or canned mushrooms

In saucepan with the oil, sauté onion, garlic and parsley until onion is tender. Add water & and eggplant. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes.

Then add the tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, salt, sugar, and pepper (and mushrooms if you like). Heat to boiling; reduce heat. Cover & simmer 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Serve over hot spaghetti; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

(Recipe courtesy of Extending the Table… A World Community Cookbook, 1991.)

Recipe: Spicy Mid-Eastern Dip

(Makes 1 cup)

1 large eggplant

4-6 T. hot vegetable oil (the oil should be hot enough that the eggplant sizzles when placed in pan)

3 t. peanut butter

3 t. fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed

¼ t. salt

Peel & cut the eggplant into ½ inch slices. In the hot oil, sauté eggplant over medium heat until browned and very soft. Place on paper-towels to drain, and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine peanut butter, lemon juice and garlic. Add cooled eggplant to mixture and blend with a spoon or blender. Season with the salt.

Drain off any excess oil, if any. Excellent as a dip for pita bread, crackers or crisp vegetables.

(Recipe courtesy of Simply Vegetarian, 1993.)

MARK YOUR CALENDARS!

OPEN FARM DAY

AT

GREEN EDGE ORGANIC GARDENS

SUNDAY JULY 27th, 2008

Have a wonderful week and don’t forget you can contact us at:

(740) 448-4021 OR

greenedgegardens@verizon.net

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