P i c k l i s t
MELON - CHERRY TOMATOES - CARMEN PEPPERS - ONION - PARSLEY - OREGANO - PLUM TOMATOES - JALAPENO PEPPER - POTATOES - SUMMER SQUASH - PICKLING CUCUMBERS - BOK CHOY - LUNCH BOX PEPPERS!
EDGEWATER update:
Well, I really had the newsletter all dialed in- The goal was to focus on all the feral farm kids that gave it their all this season. An homage to the back to schoolers- from elementary to college, but then the texts began just before 3pm, heartbreak emojis galore and while in the midst of a bok choy harvest i checked my phone, dolly parton has died.
The thing about Dolly is that she is the tie that binds. She is the music we all hum while weeding strawberries or brassicas and love to belt out time & time again.
Personally, Dolly Parton's music is the soundtrack to my 18 years at Edgewater. 18 years ago, I spent my first summer on this farm. Sleeping in a lean-to at night, cooking over a fire, showering in a pond… But then Fall came, and my crew of fellow campers were still just as happy as ever sleeping with frigid dew drops on their faces. But this Georgia peach got cold at night. Too damn cold. Come October, I was knocking on the cabin door where this middle aged Jamaican fellow was bunked, checking to see if there was room in that heated cabin for two. Yes, of course. And I moved right in.
At that time I was in my early 20’s. We laughed a lot at the same jokes, were extremely polite over bathroom use, but when it came to music, I was dead wrong. Roy Mitchell did not lean into reggae music as my naivete assumed, oh contrare, He was all about Dolly.
We listened to Dolly Parton on repeat, and learned all the lines to island in the stream. Ray or I played Kenny Rogers, and Roy, of course, Dolly Parton… We’d bring this act upstreet after farming all day to what is now a toyota dealership but what was then, Shenanigans bar (which was also home to a multi-use space that housed laser tag/ arcade/ bowling alley/ and strip club, in my opinion, the Upper Valley’s Golden era, and for sure another story for another time, but I digress).
Anyhow, every Thursday after spending hours upon hours harvesting onions or picking raspberries we traveled off river road to WRJ for bowling followed by karaoke. And Islands in the stream was a karaoke fan favorite… i mean, please do not fact check that last sentence, but yeah, for sure fan favorite.
Beyond the duet of duets, was also the sound of Dolly Parton in the background of many a greenhouse seeding day, or garlic bulb prep day. It’s those long monotonous tasks that I can close my eyes and hear her songs taking us through hour after hour. And while it’s not an Edgewater Farm employee requirement, I can't think of one person who worked here that didn't love Dolly. Cheers to the greatest 9 to fiver that ever lived, A fellow wildflower that did not care where she grew. Let's just all go ahead and eat all our veg and sing her songs all week long.
And lastly a beyond huge cheers to all the kids and teachers getting back at it. Faves on the farmstand crew head back to high school and *gasp/sob* college. And our own littles start school today. Time to literally dust off- and when i say dust i mean heavy launder- all the things so they enter school looking crisp and not like they just stepped out of a heaping compost pile of rotten tomatoes… lolol
FARMY FOODIE PRO-TIPS:
THE LUNCH BOX: Yall, so much of this week’s food is a welcome back to lunch box season. However, if I am perfectly honest with you- I despise assembling and am really leaning into the hot lunch experience for the kiddos BUT for those of you who continue to find joy in lunch box prep, THIS CSA IS FOR YOU. Case in point, an assortment of small raw veg to put in said box. See: cherry tomatoes and literal lunch box peppers. And if you are going to go ahead and cut up anything, make sure it's the cukes and the melon. Your children MAY thank you OR they just won’t touch it and you will be religiously dumping out warm raw produce at the end of every day… your compost pile will be so happy :)
Bok Choy!: I know it really makes no sense here to combine with all these other veg, BUT the crop was perfect, abundant, demanded harvesting and now makes me think of Dolly Parton. So, please sautee and eat as your greens for the week, they are delish.
And now the moment you've all been waiting for… A RECIPE!
The following recipe is 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:
Roasted Tomato Soup
Makes 4 servings
The sweetness of meaty plum tomatoes is enhanced by roasting. Once roasted, you can freeze roasted tomatoes to use in recipes like this soup in the dead of winter. A blender of food mill is necessary to get the right consistency.
About 3 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, sliced lengthwise in half
1 onion, roughly chopped
1 head garlic, smashed and peeled
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 to 3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
Large handful fresh basil leaves
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Arrange the tomatoes on a baking sheet, cut side up. Scatter the onion and garlic around the tomatoes. Drizzle with the olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast for 45 minutes to an hour, until the tomatoes have burst and shriveled and show signs of light char.
Transfer everything in the sheet pan to a blender. If anything has stuck on the bottom scrape it off. You can use some of the stock or water and simmer the pan on the stove to help dislodge any flavorful bits and add them to the blender, as well. Add 2 cups of stock and the basil and purée until smooth. Alternately you can combine everything with the stock and use an immersion blender to purée or pass it through a food mill. Transfer the soup in a clean saucepan and bring to a simmer for 5 to 10 minutes. Adjust the consistency, if necessary, with additional stock and the seasoning with salt and pepper before serving.