Did you see all that lightning last Friday night? With it came and inch of well needed rain to the farm. The soaking has left the soil a satisfyingly dark color that I had forgotten about, and has brought to the plants a verdant vigor that can’t be reproduced with irrigation. While the majority of the country (a whopping 60%) is in extreme drought, our little section of the world has been fortunate enough to receive a workable amount of rain throughout the summer so far. We’ve been hearing stories of complete losses of corn crops in Wisconsin and to the South. We are very grateful for our fortune, and send our thoughts and hopes to those who have suffered under the relentless conditions of the summer.
We hope you all enjoyed your tomato teasers last week as we started the landslide through tomato season. Watch out! Here comes more! We are thrilled to bring you the first box of the season that is absolutely jammed full of tomatoes!
The spread for the week:
Sweet corn (peaches and cream) Yard Long Beans or Snap Beans Onions (Sierra blanca or Red zepplin) Tomatoes More tomatoes Sweet Peppers or Eggplant Hot Peppers Melons (full only) (MN midget and Golden Gopher) Basil (purple and italian large leaf) Cabbage or Broccoli Zucchini Cucumber (full only)I would like to dedicate this weeks box to one of the most precious romances of the vegetable kingdom: tomato and basil. And what better way to celebrate than with an appetizer that is almost always better than the meal: bruschetta. I tend to make my bruschetta more like a caprese salad on top of bread, but the basic idea is: toasted slices of french bread with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes (either sliced or chopped) and basil (either whole leaf or diced) on top, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper. It doesn’t get much better.
Both your tomatoes and basil will keep their integrity best at room temperature–true tomatoes may keep a little longer in the fridge, but the cold changes the texture of the meat, and its full flavor is more pronounced when warm. Basil may actually “burn” if a refrigerator is too cold for its liking. It keeps best as a bouquet kept in water on the counter out of direct sun.
Some people will be getting the first of the sweet peppers this week, but everyone will be getting hot peppers–careful! I can’t tell you how many times I’ve carelessly mixed the two up and ended up in trouble! Your hot peppers will have a rubber band around them, in the future they will likely be in a little mesh bag.
This week we have moved on to the second of four sweet corn plantings. Before you were receiving a variety called Ambrosia, this weeks variety is Peaches and Cream.
Peppers and Eggplants are not the only new comers to the boxes–our first melons are starting to come in! Full shares are getting the first trickle before melon fever breaks loose in the fields. We have 10 different melons this year, the first two to come both come from our lovely state: MN Midget cantaloupe and Golden Gopher muskmelon.
And, last but not least, don’t forget this Saturday is the MN Garlic Festival in Hutchinson. Kevin and I will both be there and will also be playing music on stage. Hope to see you then!
sleepy root farm 
every thing looks wonderful on the farm. We have had some rain in the past few days so the pumpkin squash crops for the farmers will make it probably. Corn is hopeless down here in southern IN. My personal garden is doing good except for losing the zucchini to squash bugs Do not usually post but do read the newsletter and enjoy it
Lynn