Week 9 Newsletter

Week 9 Newsletter: Pickups 8/11 and 8/14
  Let me begin this week’s newsletter with an apology to any of our members who were offended by the picture both on the blog and in the newsletter last week of our friend, Art Gish. Two people wrote to tell us of their shock at seeing this, one asking if your CSA money was being used in support of the Palestinian cause. I was a little shocked myself. But let me say an emphatic NO to that question. I used that picture because it was famous and I thought people might recognize him from it if they weren’t familiar with his name. Art was a supporter of non-violence in all things. Who owned the tank was never a concern to him – it was a tank; he opposed it. So what I had wanted in the way of a subtle reminder of how dangerous some farm work can be was just as clear as mud and a dismal failure. And for that, I apologize as well.
  Your share this week is brimming with many of the fruits (literally) from the garden. We are sure you will find them delicious and nutritious! We know you will enjoy all of them whether together or separately. We are expecting the salad mix to return in about 2-3 weeks. Yesterday, part of the crew started the harvest of the potatoes. We weren’t thrilled. The excessive moisture this year has definitely hurt our yield of Kennebecs. Planting continues with crops of herbs like dill and cilantro and greens like kale (yum!) and collards, and of course, Swiss chard. Weeding and hoeing the new plantings is ongoing. The weeds have been record-breaking this year in terms of quantity and size. The amount of dormant seed stored in the soil everywhere must certainly be smaller after so much germinated this season! We just need to mow before they all go to seed again!!
  The canning tomatoes are still available for your needs. Just give us a call before the Tuesday of the week you want them. Remember these are staged for you to be able to process them soon after you receive them. If ignored or left at the host site for too many days, likely, they will develop gnats and may be over-ripe for your purposes. Keep them cool but not refrigerated until processing. Remember, these are not the tomatoes from the grocery. Have a great week and stay hydrated!

From all of us at Green Edge - Becky (Kip, Dan, John, Cale, Julia, Guinevere, Penny, Morgan, Martin, Rob, Geoff, and Maria)

THIS WEEK’S VEGGIES
SWEET BASIL – The official start of summer for us is pesto, and we’ve been enjoying it for several weeks now! We hope you will too! You may also see packages of this in both Columbus Whole Foods. (Look for the Green Edge logo.)
BELL PEPPERS - As members of the nightshade family, these plants, like tomatoes and eggplants, like it hot and dry. Last week, we stuffed these with rice and sautéed veggies like eggplants, hot wax peppers, corn, garlic, onions, and lots of basil, parsley, and cilantro. Topped with tomato sauce from the garden, it was a hit.
EGGPLANT – Last week’s Farm Lunch included Baba Ganouj(sh). There is a new recipe for this from Chef Scott Boles and the Upper Arlington Crop Hop.
TOMATOES - This week you have Amish paste (an heirloom variety), slicing tomatoes, and cherry toma-toes. We grow 2 varieties of cherries: Sweet 100 (red) and Sungold (orange tomato candy).
SUMMER SQUASH – The varieties of squash we grow: Patty Pan, Sunburst, Yellow Squash, and Zuc-chini. Sauté, steam or grill - another great ingredient for vege-table shish kabobs.
SWISS CHARD – These mildly-flavored and tender leaves are perfect for chopping into any number of dishes, hot or cold. Separate the stems and leaves, blanch and go….!

The Combo Corner

The planned fruit selections from Cherry Orchard this week are peaches, nectarines, grapes, and there may be blackberries left for one last time.
This week’s bread from The Village Bakery and Café is Italian Wheat.
The cheese share from Integration Acres this week includes Feta and Chevre’. Cheese this week is for the Athens members only.

Other News from the Farm
Kip is exploring techniques for growing developed by bio-dynamic farmers. Within their system, planting is regulated by the position of the moon in cycles. Each type of plant has several times throughout a month when it has an optimal planting time. I have known other growers and friends who have tried these methods or should we call them schedules. Their results were fairly positive. It will be interesting to see what we discover for ourselves.

We have several rows of experimental grafted heirloom tomatoes growing in our houses and in the fields. Since they were so much smaller and later than our starts when they were planted, they are just now beginning to be the size of the ungrafted, older plants. And so far, we haven’t seen any advantages for these plants. But they are really just starting and the other is only half-way through, so there is still much data to be collected.

This week at the Upper Arlington Crop Hop Shop Hop (I think I have that name right) the Ohio Proud Mobil Kitchen will be preparing and serving food from the vendors at the UA market. The following two recipes are from Chef Scott Boles who is doing the cooking. Hope you are thrilled with the flavors.

Recipe: Heirloom, Peach, and Goat Cheese Salad
Ingredients
1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 large fresh peach, peeled and diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
About 2 lb. sliced heirloom tomatoes
3 ounces crumbled goat cheese
1/2 cup coarsely chopped toasted pecans
Freshly ground pepper to taste
(optional Arugula greens or spring mix)
Preparation
Whisk together balsamic vinegar, minced garlic, brown sugar, olive oil, and salt. Stir in diced peach and chopped fresh basil. Spoon over sliced heirloom tomatoes; top with crumbled goat cheese and chopped toasted pecans. Sprinkle with fresh-ly ground pepper to taste
Note: if serving with greens place greens and a bed on plate then place sliced tomatoes on top, and then spoon peach vinaigrette over top.

Recipe: BABA GHANOUJ
3 medium eggplants (about 1 pound each)

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup red-wine vinegar
8 garlic cloves
1 cup well-stirred tahini (sesame seed paste)
1/2 cup sour cream
Olive oil for drizzling
Accompaniments:
pita triangles
chopped onion
chopped drained bottled peperoncini (pickled Tuscan peppers)
chopped pitted Kalamata olives
Preheat broiler or prepare grill.
Prick eggplants in several places with a fork. On a broiler pan or in a shallow baking pan broil eggplants about 3 to 4 inches from heat, turning every 10 to 15 minutes, 45 to 55 minutes, or until charred all over and very soft. (Alternatively, grill eggplants on a well-oiled rack set 5 to 6 inches over glowing coals in same manner.) Cool eggplants until they can be handled and peel off and discard skin, Transfer pulp to a colander set over a bowl. Let eggplant pulp drain 20 minutes and discard any liquid on bowl.
In a food processor blend lemon juice, vinegar, garlic, and salt to taste until smooth. Add eggplant pulp and pulse until a coarse purée. Add tahini and sour cream and pulse just until combined well.
Transfer baba ghanouj to a shallow bowl and drizzle with oil. Serve baba ghanouj with accompaniments.