Week Six Newsletter

ATHENS HILLS SUMMER CSA:

WEEK SIX: JULY 27-AUG1 Hello Everyone!

With the cool weather we have had lately, it has seemed more like fall in Ohio than summer. And speaking of fall, believe it or not we are already growing the starts for our fall gardens! Kale, Swiss Chard and Collard Greens have all been planted in the start house, and as of this morning, all three have germinated and are on their way.

The cooler temperatures have brought the tomatoes “on” a little slower than normal this year. This has meant a steady trickle of the ripe beauties, where normally we get a sudden deluge of the fruits. We're ready when they are, and you can count on the Heirlooms making their way into your shares within a few weeks.

We've also begun to pick the first Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers of the year. Let us know if you want to try pickling some of these beauties! Cale brought up a gorgeous specimen with vibrant red and orange coloring to our farm meeting this morning--a welcomed site for us office folks that don't get into the fields nearly enough. They, along with Green Beans, should also be a visitor to your shares in the near future.

Enjoy the lovely weather, and the wonderful vegetables in your share this week--summer eating is good eating!

Best Wishes,

Rob (on behalf of Kip & Becky, Dan, John, Cale, Claudia, Penny, Eric, and our interns: Corey, Becky, & Julia)

Becky says a big THANK YOU to those good folk who remembered to return their green bags. Your efforts help! And are appreciated!

FEATURED VEGGIES

Check out the previous newsletters (on our blog) for serving suggestions, storage advice, etc. for each of these vegetables.

Salad Mix: The salad mix is a treat to the stomach and eyes. And now with more summer vegetables available every week, more bountiful salads await every meal.

Carrots: Enjoy your bunch of carrots this week, as they are the last of the season for us. Two floods in June hurt our carrot beds. You might notice they are a bit more spindly than what you've previously received from us, but they are still just as tasty.

Tomatoes: These red fruits are

firm for slicing, or perfect for chunking onto some salad or into sauce, or dicing into some salsa. The possibilities are just beginning…..

Beets: As we get later into the season, the beet greens will be a little more beat up, but the roots are just as useful and delicious as they have been all along.

Cucumbers: Crisp and crunchy! This is our first season to offer these summer taste treats, and we are excited!

Green Peppers: Sweet and crunchy.

Summer Squash: You have a healthy helping of our various summer squashes (Pattypan, Zuchhini, Yellow) to work with this week. We've included some recipes to stimulate your creativity on using these abundant and delicious summer treats.

Sweet Onions: You know what to do this staple. These come to you this week from another great organic grower in Athens. Included this week after many requests.

MORE GOODIES COMING!

In our ongoing efforts to offer our CSA members more tastes of the many delicious products available from area growers and producers, we will be taking special orders for naturally raised pork, and goat cheese products. The pork comes from J.B. King Family Farms. It is raised with locally grown feed, and is hormone and antibiotic free. The goat cheese comes from Chris Chmiel of Integration Acres, known down here as "the pawpaw guy." As the name suggests, Integration Acres grows and harvests a variety of products suited to Southeastern Ohio. We will be offering several of Chris' farmstead goat cheeses. You will receive more details about these products next week. These special orders will be delivered with your CSA share on Wednesday, August 19^th……

Recipe: Raw Beet Borscht

2 cups diced raw beets

1 green onion, chopped

2 cups sour cream or plain yogurt

pinch of caraway seed

salt to taste

Place half the beets, onion and sour cream or yogurt in a blender and liquefy; repeat with the remaining beats, onion and sour cream or yogurt. Add caraway and salt to taste. Serve well chilled.

This recipe and the one immediately after come from:

Simple Food for the Good Life,

Helen Nearing, 1980

Recipe: Beet Borscht

serves 6

4 cups shredded raw beets

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cups stock or tomato juice

juice of ½ lemon

½ teaspoon salt

2 Tablespoons soy sauce

½ cup sour cream

Place the beets, onion and stock in a large kettle. Bring to a boil and simmer for half an hour. Add the lemon juice, salt, and soy sauce. Serve hot or cold, with dabs of sour cream.

Recipe: Tomato and Grated Zucchini Calzones

makes 2 calzones

2 T olive oil

1 ½ cups sliced onions

1 medium zucchini, grated (about 2 cups)

1 garlic clove, minced

¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese

salt and pepper to taste

2 medium tomatoes

2 pizza doughs

¼ cup chopped basil leaves

1 T cornmeal

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions, and cook until soft (5 minutes), stirring occasionally. Transfer onions to a plate.

Heat skillet on high, add remaining tablespoon of olive oil. When oil is hot, add grated zucchini and garlic. Stir frequently; make sure zucchini does not burn. Take off heat after 2 minutes, and add Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

Cut the tomatoes in half crosswise, squeeze out the excess juice and most seeds. Chop tomatoes, put into a bowl and season with salt and pepper.

Preheat oven to 450. Put half of the tomatoes, onions and then zucchini into the middle of one of the pizza doughs. Sprinkle with half of the chopped basil. Fill the second dough the same way. Moisten the edge of each dough with water, and fold over, pressing with your fingers to seal the calzone tight. Place the calzones on a baking sheet and sprinkle with cornmeal.

Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Vegetarian Planet, Didi Emmons, 1997