Hello!
Can you believe that we’re halfway through boxes already? I’m always surprised at how fast the season picks up once that summer heat makes the fields go boom. Even though temps have been cool to downright chilly of late (keep in mind, I’m from Florida), we received enough heat in June and July that many of our plants are still way ahead of last season. We weren’t eating melons until the end of August last year! Other veggie farmers in the area say that this season has been particularly weird, but then again, I don’t ever recall a farmer telling me that they were in the midst of a perfectly normal season. I think we’re all still waiting for one of those to happen…
This week’s bounty:
Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Green Bell Pepper
Hot Peppers (wrapped in rubber bands)
Eggplant or Broccoli or Cabbage
Sweet Corn
Fennel
Carrots
Basil
Swiss Chard
Onions
Summer Squash
Cucumbers (two-third shares only)
Cantaloupe or Muskmelon
That’s right, everybody get’s a melon this week! For those who receive the muskmelons (Golden Gopher variety), make sure to eat it up right quick. Otherwise it may start to emit juices. Similarly, if you receive any tomatoes that are split open (we comb through them to try and make sure we don’t give any of these, but sometimes they make it past our hi-tech prevention systems) you are tasked with the unfortunate duty of eating a deliciously sweet cherry or heirloom tomato in that moment. It’s tough, I know.
Here’s a recipe for an easy, quick tomato-fennel salad:
Ingredients:
1 pound tomatoes
1/2 bunch fennel
2 tbsp. olive oil
2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp. cider vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut the tomatoes into halves (for cherry toms) or wedges (for larger toms) or halved wedges (for the very large toms). Toss them in a bowl with the lemon juice, olive oil, and vinegar. Chop up the fennel greens and spread them on top as a garnish. If you like it hot (as some do), a small chopped up hot pepper might give the salad a fun kick as well!
We hope ya’ll enjoy the box this week. They sure are getting heavier- don’t forget to lift with your legs! We don’t want to cause any unnecessary back pain around here in excess of what we already do to ourselves. Seriously though, take care of your backs, they are oh so precious.
Until next week, friends!
sleepy root farm 