P i c k l i s t
POTATOES - CHERRY TOMATOES - ROMA TOMATOES - CARMENS PEPPER CITY - CHINESE EGGPLANT - BOK CHOY - BROCCOLI - CURLY PARSLEY - GARLIC
Edgewater update: Wow. This week threw us. Saturday (sept. 20th) we started with a Summery watermelon harvest and ended the day, throwing remay (a light weight polyester cloth row cover) over every cold intolerant veg we grow. We anticipated this drop in temps and focused on our most sensitive crops like cut flowers, beans, tomatoes, squash, and zucchini. The remay offers about 4-5 degrees of protection, therefor it was enough to save our crops from the frost. Had temperatures dropped into the mid-twenties, you’d find us waving a white flag and heading into Fall with our tails between our legs. As mentioned in a previous newsletter, this gen is not ready to go into winter hibernation just yet. It would be nuts right now to pull a Pooh Sprague, and surrender to the frost gods. There is just too much good food out there. So, frost be damned! Cherry tomato survival!
Along with frost prep came a massive pepper harvest. Field crew reaped every colorful pepper out there. They bombed through the field binning up every last pep in sight. We didn't want to risk losing these beauties. AND NOW, we are sitting on a goldmine of sweet peppers. As a result, you, our beloved CSAer are the recipient of 9 carmen peppers, yeehaw!
In other exciting news, it rained today, and all I can say to that is, Hallelujah.
FALL CSA SIGNUPS are still rolling in, stay tuned for info on our bread share/ kitchen share/ take and bake preorders, we are SO CLOSE to finalizing all of that.
Lastly, extremely fun news ahead: this Saturday at our farmstand, Pooh, Ray, and Beatrice (newest farmstand hire with a voice like an angel) will be playing music in the afternoon, 3:00-5. Grab a snack from the cooler, or a box of tomatoes for later roasting and enjoy old timey melodies of BEATRICE ANNE AND THE SPRAGUE DADDIES. Because as Pooh likes to remind us, we also have to play some music and have some fun around here.
FARMY FOODIE PRO-TIPS:
The following recipes were crafted specifically for this week’s CSA by our friend and hyper local chef (he lives just up the road), Mitchell Davis. if you are curious about alllll the recipes he has to offer, check out his substack:
Sweet Pepper Soup
Makes 6 servings
A simple soup that’s more than the sum of its parts.
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
Salt
2 pounds sweet red peppers, such as Carmen, bell, or Jimmy Nardello’s or a combination, seeded & roughly chopped
¼ cup dry white wine
4 cups vegetable or chicken stock, or water
1 1/2-inch piece potatoes or 1 tablespoon white rice
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon, sweet or smoked paprika, or other red chilli powder
½ teaspoon ground fenugreek
1 tablespoon fermented pepper sauce or sweet Turkish pepper paste (biber salçasi) or
tomato paste (optional)
Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat and sauté the onion with a pinch of salt until soft. Add the pepper and cook until wilted. Add the white wine and cook until reduced to almost dry. Add the vegetable stock, potato or rice, bay leaf, paprika, and fenugreek. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat to simmer, cover, and let cook for about 25 minutes until everything is very soft.
Remove the bay leaf and reserve it. Transfer the soup to a blender or food processor, and pulse to chop. Run the machine to make a smooth purée. Return the soup to the saucepan, stir in the pepper sauce or paste, if using, and add back the bay leaf. Bring to a simmer, adjust the seasoning with salt, and serve.
Spicy Korean Bok Choy Salad
Serves 4 to 6
This riff on a traditional dressing turns almost any vegetable—Napa cabbage, cucumbers, tomatoes, or this week’s bok choy and broccoli—into a flavorful Korean side dish that echoes a fermented kimchi.
1 large or 2 or 3 small heads bok choy
1 broccoli head chopped
Handful cherry tomatoes, cut in half (optional)
2 or 3 scallions, chopped (optional)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon gochugaru (Korean chili powder)
1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean chili paste)
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon maple syrup
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 teaspoon light soy sauce
1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds
Bok choy can be gritty near the base, so it needs to be cleaned well. Slice the leaves crosswise into 1/4-inch pieces. Place the slices in a bowl or salad spinner and fill with cold water. Swish around and lift out of the water to drain well. Place the bok choy in a large mixing bowl. Add the cherry tomatoes and scallions, if using, then add the garlic, sesame oil, gochugaru, gochujang, fish sauce, maple syrup, vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame seeds. Toss well and serve.