CSA #13

August 27 th

"Doing a lot of canning I see?" asked some lady behind me at the checkout.

It's been a good tomato year....

Today my planned job was to start making Fresh Sriracha ... until i saw another  very large batch of tomatoes that aren't as patient as my red Jalapeños.  Hopefully, when the tomatoes are processed I can get to the hot sauce.  I actually really, really love cooking and would love to devote the next month to food preserving, whipping up all kinds of unique combinations and creations.  It takes a lot of time though, wish I had more of that...lots needs to be done out back.

In your baskets this week:

Salad Mix
Double tomatoes
Double sweet peppers
Hot Chimayo Peppers
Herbs: Mint, Leaf Celery and Persian Basil

Greens Extra: Salad Mix and Swiss Chard

I hope you are enjoying the extra tomatoes... the plants seem to be slowing down a little now.  Everyone received a nice bag of Chimayo peppers, I have some roasting in the oven as i write and my son says it's the worst smell ever, I love it.  I plan to use them in my salsa but you can also roast them and add to a aoili, a pasta dish etc... These peppers are a mild to medium heat and can be used pretty much anywhere.  I also like having  a bag of frozen hot peppers to use in winter.  When i make tacos i whip them up in my vitamix blender with some lime juice, garlic and a few tomatoes to use as my seasoning, then i  top it off with some cumin and chilli powder. Also good to marinate beans or Portabello Mushrooms for you non meat eaters.

It's first time I've ever grown Leaf Celery and i have been using it as generously as parsley in all my dishes.  I especially like it in salsa!

This pepper here is Criolla and they are beautiful, a sweet pepper.

Red cheese another nice sweet pepper.




Tomato deliveries....

Bali Tomato

Chimayo Pepper

Chimayo about to be roasted...I'll be removing the blackened skin.

 I did manage to get some more beautiful fall Napa planted this morning...

Have a great week
Shirley

CSA#12

Aug 20 2016

Last week, I decided to take advantage of cooler morning air to get some work done and planned to put together a newsletter later on which just didn't happen. Mornings are my favourite time to write because my mind is clear and there are less distractions.   For as long as i can remember, I've had a vision of myself, away in a cabin working on a book... where I could focus. The book has changed topics many times over the years and lately, the cabin part, seems to be especially calling my name... every summer i get hit with the camping blues...something I really miss.

When we  both eventually left our jobs and started to farm full-time we knew that things would be tough financially and our focus needed to be, building the farm so that it could support us.  Any spending that veered off this track, other than good food, wasn't part of the plan.  We are getting to a point where  some non farm spending is ok and starting to think about fixing things up.  I've been saving pictures for years and know what I'd like, our house is small and so it would be pretty easy to do.  The crazy part, I still feel like i would like something smaller...I've seen some pretty amazing small houses online and think one of those would suit me fine!   I just love being outdoors.   Maybe we just need to build a little cabin outback on the farm where we could spend some time sleep with the crickets and the full moon. It would make a nice little guest house too!

Onto the topic of farming... tomatoes because tomatoes are insane right now.  I am happy  because while we have had some good tomato years...now I see what great is!  I hope you enjoy lots of tomatoes and are able to whip up some sauces or salsas's with your extras.  If you want you can freeze the extras just as they are until you have enough to make a larger batch of sauce.

In your baskets this week:

Lots of tomatoes
Salad Mix
Kale
Zuchinni
Basil

Greens extra:
Beets and Swiss Chard

Planting Kohlrabi on a beautiful summer evening in the moonlight

First night of the lifted fire ban.

Beautiful....hauling all my harvested tomatoes in.

They just keep coming...

The Oxheart Row. This style of tomato has won me over the paste tomatoes this year. They are between a paste and a slicer. So nice and meaty for sauce and salsa but still some juice. And they are really big and beautiful!

I make my sauce 2 ways. Roasted and just plain cooked and strained.

Have a great week

Shirley

CSA #9

Aug 6 th 2016

Mornings are such an important time,  especially in a heat wave, our work can be much more efficient watering, planting, harvesting these things just don't work as well as they heat sets in.  We continue to work through the day, everyday but need to take the occasional dip in the pool, and lots of water runs.  Lately, we have been hearing of small farms struggling due to the lack of rain, with the loss of many crops, lots of stress and extra work and now they are hoping that they will be able to make a better living in August and not need to work off farm to make ends meet.  I can't imagine.  Our pond is nearly completely dried up but luckily we don't rely on it to water.  The lack of rain and very high temperatures makes the greens a little tougher and bitter but once you cook them they mellow out quite a bit.  We'll have lots of time for fabulous greens once the weather cools but for now we are enjoying the wonderful summer crops!

In your basket this week:

Tomatoes ( some are quite ripe...)

Brocoli greens

Herbs (parsley and persian basil)

Beans

Peppers Sweet and Hot 

Summer Squash 

Zucchini

Extra Greens: Kale, Beets and a cucumber

We tried a new summer squash this year called Desi. It is the white ball you see, some of you may have gotten one in your baskets. It's been a new favourite for us, it's productive, grows well and taste great at all sizes.  I

Last weekend, i spent some time finishing the leek beds which had been taken over by weeds.  They look great now!

I've been slowly filling a counter with tomatoes to save seeds from.  Today is the day as the counter is now full.  The great thing about saving tomato seeds is the tomatoes are still great for eating and so i plan to make a large batch of Ratatouille which I have never made before.

http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/dads_ratatouille/print/ (big batch)

https://food52.com/recipes/14155-alice-waters-ratatouille (smaller batch)

Enjoy your baskets and till next week

Shirley