P i c k l i s t
BASIL - SHISHITOS - CARMEN PEPPER - JIMMY NARDELLO PEPPERS -
JALAPENO PEPPER - C0RN - CHERRY TOMATOES - ONION - MELONNNNN -
ZUCCHINI - SUMMER SQUASH
Edgewater update: CORN!! Honestly, I feel like I’ve been gate keeping this one from yall for a minute now. Ray’s been picking corn since August 1st, but we’ve been holding out on our CSA fam because the picking has been pretty shitty. The first block produced ears that were tasty but teeny tiny. The running joke was how we could make millions off ETSY selling corn on the cob as an American Girl doll accessory. Just imagine Kirsten, Felicity, Molly, Julie, Addy and lord knows how many other versions of this 18” figure sitting down to a country time picnic with their tiny edgewater grown corn. Brilliant, I know. We might as well just convert the farm into producing doll sized crops. But I digress… the ears from this block that were in fact appropriately sized were already meals for the earworms. Coming on two weeks later, the corn has sized up and the earworm activity has settled down. Don’t get me wrong, it is completely possible to peel back the husk and find a worm in your corn. If that is the case, reach for a knife, chop off the top and pretend like you never saw anything (insert heart eyes winky face emoji here). These earworms are harmless, and mostly just serve as a pain in all of our asses.
That said, enjoy the corn! Eat it fresh! Eat it cooked! With butter or not. My absolute nightly go to right now is to slather my corn with a sriracha mayo fresh herby concoction. Put it all in a jar, stir it up, and slather is on. Try it, you’ll LOVE it.
Another farm update is our absolute desperation for rain. Our fields have reached the point of bone dry and you can see wilting on the leaves of nearly every plant. Tim, Ray, Mike, and Anne spend a large majority of their time turning irrigation pumps on to combat this heat wave. Both humans and plants are extremely stressed. This is one of those situations where you think back to the Spring and the constant rain, and hope that one day the sky will clear and the sun will shine… And here we are a couple months later, with non stop sunshine and sun burns abound.
This weather is ideal for beach/ pond/ riverside lounging but the crops are hurting.
Tim has an idea. Read on, let’s give it a shot.
Let’s all try out this collective practice. On Thursday at 11:11am, let’s all just think about rain. But not tooooo much rain. Please keep flood thoughts out of the chat. So, set a reminder at 11:10am. We'll all meet up in our brains at 11:11, and let's make some collective-thought-magic happen people! Bring on the rain and let’s give these crops a drink already.
FARMY FOODIE PRO-TIPS:
Melon!!!: oh goodness i LOVE melon season. Melon for breakfast, lunch, snack, field snack… bring it onnnn. But today’s hot tip is to answer the eternal question, when is this thing ripe? MELON RULE OF THUMB: If it smells sweet, it tastes sweet. If it does not smell sweet, leave it out on your counter to ripen. This rule of course does not make any sense for watermelon. But game on for all varieties of musk melon (cantaloupe, honey dew, crenshaw, etc.)
PEPPERS: SUDDENLY WE HAVE ARRIVED! A few notes on all your peppers. Only one variety here is spicy, it's your jalapeno. Everything else is mild.
Jimmy Nardellos: thin walled red and greenish-red are EXCELLENT sweet frying peppers with a real cult following
SHISHITOS: my faves! Like the Jimmy Nards, these quarted up cuties are also insanely delicious when fried or grilled til blistered.
CARMEN PEPPER: THE red bull’s horn variety is sweet and crunchy
JALAPENO: IYKYK
Big ups to Mitchell Davis- friend/neighbor/chef, for the following recipe to complement this week’s CSA. He is the best- his meals are primo, & to catch up more with him, check out his substack:
Succotash by mitchell!
Technically, succotash is a traditional combination of corn and lima beans or other shell beans, but I call just about any sauté with corn a succotash. I like the way it sounds.
This makes a perfect side dish for a summer dinner or a great base for poached eggs at breakfast. Use what vegetables you have. Garlic scapes still lying around? Chop a few to add. Turnips, kohlrabi, some greens? Throw ‘em in. I think the dish works best when the ingredients are all finely diced to the same size, not much bigger than a kernel of corn, but don’t let knife skills stop you from making it.
Serves 4 to 6
3 tablespoons bacon grease, butter, or olive oil
1 large white or red onion, finely diced
Salt
2 sweet peppers, diced, such as red or purple bell peppers, or Jimmy Nardellos
1 small hot pepper diced, such as jalapeño or serrano
1 medium zucchini, finely diced
1 medium summer squash, finely diced
2 ears sweet corn, kernels removed from the cob
¾ cup cooked beans, such as lima, chickpeas, black-eyed peas, or edamame (optional)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, such as parsley, dill, thyme, or a combination
Freshly ground black pepper
In a large cast-iron or other heavy skillet, heat the bacon grease or other fat over medium-high heat. Add the onion and a pinch of salt and sauté for a couple of minutes until soft. Add the diced peppers, both sweet and hot, and cook until tender. Add the zucchini and summer squash, another pinch of salt, and continue cooking until the squash softens. Stir in the corn kernels and the beans, if using, and cook just three or four minutes, until heated through. Add the fresh herbs, a generous amount of pepper, and another pinch of salt. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Serve hot or lukewarm.