p i c k l i s t
STRAWBERRIES - GARLIC SCAPES - CUCUMBER - LETTUCE - BASIL - CHERRY TOMATOES - ZUCCHINI - SUMMER SQUASH - HERB PLANT OF CHOICE (ROSEMARY/SAGE/STEVIA)
EDGEWATER update: Field crew has now spent 19 days straight picking strawberries. They greet each morning with butts in the air and hands towards the ground, moving through the plants, searching for the sweetest red. The sounds from the field are a symphony of leaves rustling, fruit plucking, chitter chatter, jokes galore, etc… If you make it down to the berry patch for PYO this week, you will most certainly be picking near these angels. They are the real heroes of strawberry season, tell em I say hi.
My morning starts differently. Mike and I receive the picklist from the farmstand/ the coops/ and the CSA. And we divvy up who is picking what, and where daily. When I first came to Edgewater, I was granted the esteemed privilege of riding around in Mike’s truck and harvesting the daily pick with him. Everything I know about harvesting, I learned from him. He also taught me about the best field snacks, for example eating corn raw straight from the stalk. The sounds from the truck were of sports talk radio and potentially too many bad jokes. He still has sports talk radio constantly on dial as he moves from harvest to harvest- picking beet greens, lettuce, kale, fennel etc…
As for my ears and the sounds of the field, you might assume that I'm just out here taking in the natural sounds and being one with all my senses and my environment- but you would be so wrong- I am deep in Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke, hbu? I get all my summer reading (aka listening to audio books) done while crawling under the canopies of tomato greenhouses, picking cherries and slicing tomatoes on repeat. Totally getting lost in the Yesteryear world while filling trays of T’s for your future BL’s. All in all, I’d say It’s been a pretty fun week of audio and a tasty week of field snacks (hello cherry tomatoes).
Next train of thought- should the CSA also become a book club of sorts? LMK, send me your recs.
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:
Strawberry “Long Cake” Makes 8 to 10 servings
A variation of shortcake, this seasonal dessert is baked in one large pan and divided to serve.
Best topped with plenty of whipped cream and/or service with vanilla ice cream on the side.
For the topping:
1/4 cup sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons whole wheat, rye, or additional all-purpose flour
Pinch fine sea salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
For the berries:
5 or 6 cups ripe strawberries
1/3 cup sugar
Juice of 1 lemon
For the long cake:
1/2 cup (1/4 pound, 1 stick) unsalted butter, chilled
1 large egg
2/3 cup full-fat buttermilk, half and half, or heavy cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract or paste
2 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
6 tablespoons sugar
3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
In a small bowl, combine the 1/4 cup sugar and lemon zest. Rub the zest into the sugar until it has the texture of wet sand. Add the flours and a pinch of salt and stir with a fork to combine. Add the softened butter and stir with the fork to moisten the dry ingredients until they form a coarse crumble. Set aside.
To prepare the fruit, hull and slice the berries into a large bowl. Add the sugar and lemon juice and stir to distribute being careful not to bruise the berries. Let macerate at room temperature for 20 to 30 minutes, until the berries wilt and give off some of their juice. Grease a 9” x 13” baking dish. Line with parchment and grease the paper. Preheat the oven to 375°F. For the cake, cut the butter into small cubes and return to the fridge. In a small bowl, beat together the egg, buttermilk or cream, and vanilla to blend. In a large mixing bowl combine the flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt, and whisk to blend. Add the cubed butter and using your fingertips or a pastry cutter, break up the butter into small pieces, rubbing it into the flour as you would for biscuits or pie crust. When done, it should resemble coarse sand. Alternately, you can use a food processor fitted with a metal chopping blade to cut in the butter into the flour mixture. Add the egg mixture to the dry ingredients and using the back of a fork, push the mixture to and fro until just about all of the dry ingredients have been moistened. Don’t overwork. Some dry patches are okay. Transfer this mixture to the prepared pan. Moisten your fingertips with cold water and press the cake into an even layer in the pan. You can cover and refrigerate the cake at this point until ready to bake and serve.
With a slotted spoon, scatter the berries over the surface of the cake layer. Some liquid is okay, but you don’t want it all. Finally, scatter the crumb mixture over the berries, breaking up and large lumps with your fingertips. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the cake has risen, lightly browned, and pulled away from the edges. Serve warm or room temperature with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. If you don’t eat the entire cake in one day, store leftovers in the fridge.
Fermented Garlic Scape Pickles
These flavorful lacto-fermented pickles keep forever in the fridge. I chop them into potato, egg, or tuna salads, or add them anywhere you might add capers. They are also a nice alternative to an olive garnish for a Martini, Gibson, or other dry cocktail. Using the same ratio of salt solution (2 to 3 % of the total weight of produce, spices, and water), you can ferment just about anything.
Note the weight of a small glass jar. (Grams will make the math easier.) Trim the buds off the garlic scapes and cut the curlicues into 2-inch lengths. Pack the scapes into the jar. Add a ½ teaspoon of peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon of yellow mustard seeds, and 1/2 teaspoon of fennel seeds, or any other spices you like. Fill the jar with water so the scapes are submerged. Weigh the jar again and subtract the weight of the jar to determine the total weight of the scapes, spices, and water. Add 2.5% of that total weight in salt—so if the jar weighs 500 g, you’ll add 12.5 grams , about 1/2 ounce. (500 x 0.025=12.5).
Swirl the jar to start to dissolve the salt. Cover with a piece of cheesecloth or paper towel and a rubber band, or use a fermentation lid, and let sit in a dark place at room temperature to ferment for 4 or 5 days or so. The liquid should start to turn cloudy and you’ll smell a distinct garlic aroma. Taste a scape, and if it is done to your liking, tightly cover the jar with a lid and
Refrigerate until ready to use. I’ve kept fermented garlic scapes refrigerated for more than a year at a time, adding new ones to the same brine as the next harvest comes in.