The Drying Shed, Round II Photo Credit: April Jones

Meet Your Food

Head Lettuce  OR Beet Greens: Your choice this week of classic crunchy iceberg, more smooth butterhead or delicious beet greens.

Cucumbers: Standard green cucumbers and/or round lemon cucumbers.

Onions: Small mustang onions AND as many as you want of what I call dry scallions.  These scallion shaped onions are dry on the outside but peel back a few layers and you’ve got a summer green onion for roasting or dicing into salads.

Cabbage OR Mustard Greens OR Swiss Chard: Your choice!

Carrots

Dry Farmed Tomatoes: I have not irrigated these tomatoes since I transplanted them in May.  Dry farmed tomatoes command a premium price in California, and it is claimed that they develop a more concentrated flavor in a smaller ‘package’, similar to how you might stress a grape vine to create a more complex flavored wine.  This is the first year I have trialed dry farmed tomatoes, so please, let me know what you think.

Farmer Jones Notes

If you are reading this, you have already noticed what I’ve been up to: finalizing my new website.  This website has been a long time coming.  I’m especially proud that the background pictures are 100% authentic.  Yes, that is my farm landscape, and yes, that is really my soil, from my farm, where your vegetables come from. Please don’t be shy about letting me know if you find something amiss or if you really appreciate a particular feature of the new website.  Like the farm itself, this site is a work in progress and I want it to work for you.

Friday and Saturday of last week the crew and I harvested about 1,000 lbs of dry storage onions.  Harvesting onions is usually a very gratifying job, and this year was no exception.  The Red Wing variety (red bulb) is especially gorgeous.  If you peel back the outside layer, you find a shiny, deep maroon/purple color that is as beautiful as a glass of wine.  I’m looking forward to sharing these onions with you come fall and early winter.  Meanwhile, this week I’m bringing you the smaller onions that won’t cure out well.  They are perfect for fresh eating and pack a nice strong flavor.

All said, this has been another productive and happy week of farm life.  I hope you have a chance to enjoy the summer sun while we have her.

Gratefully,

April

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Farm Romance Photo Credit: Hillary Jensen

Meet Your Food

Butterhead Lettuce: This week’s lettuce is a creamy green butterhead variety named Sylvesta.

Carrots

Radishes

Cucumbers

Apples

Cippolini Onions

Chinese Cabbage: Sometimes called Napa Cabbage, this crinkly cabbage has thick white stems that are crunchy and work great both in fresh salads and stir fries.

Summer Squash or Eggplant

Caponata
Makes 6 servings

1 large eggplant (or five or so small ones)
6 tbsp. vegetable oil
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1/2 cup tomato sauce (or a few fresh tomatoes chopped fine w/juices)
1/2 cup celery, chopped (or 1/4 cup chopped parsley)
1 green pepper, diced
2 tbsp. capers
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. sugar (optional)
Salt and black pepper

Peel eggplant and cut into slices 1/2 inch thick.  Cut slices into cubes 1/2 inch thick.  In a large skillet, heat 5 tbsp. of the oil and saute the eggplant until brown.  Remove the eggplant and set aside.  Add the remain 1 tbsp. of oil to the pan and saute the garlic and onion.  Add the tomato sauce, celery, and green pepper.  Simmer, covered for 15-20 minutes, adding water if needed.  Return eggplant to the skillet with capers.  Stir in the vinegar and sugar.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Simmer 15 minutes longer, stirring occasionally to prevent sticking.  Chill well and serve on lettuce or cabbage leaves for a salad, or on crackers or Italian bread for an hors d’oeuvre.

-Adapted from a Recipe by Nan Gianoli

Chinese Cabbage Stir Fry
Makes 4 servings

2 Tbsp soy sauce
2 Tbsp water
2 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 head Chinese Cabbage
4 green onions chopped
3 cloves garlic minced
Crushed red-pepper flakes
2 Tbsp coarsely chopped peanuts
Steamed Rice (optional)

1. In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, water and sugar; set aside.

2. Cut cabbage ribs and leaves crosswise into 2-inch pieces.

3. In a wok or large, deep skillet, heat canola and sesame oils over medium-high heat. Add cabbage, green onions, garlic, soy sauce mixture and pepper flakes to taste. Stir-fry just until cabbage is wilted, about 3 minutes. Stir in peanuts and serve immediately over steamed rice.

Farmer Jones Notes

Last Saturday was a big day at the farm as we hosted our very first wedding.  It was exceptionally flattering that the bride and groom chose my farm to act as the backdrop for their special day.  The kiddos (young and old) had a lot of fun feeding apples to the pigs, climbing on tractors and reveling in a summer evening ‘on the lawn.’  The pigs definitely enjoyed all those apples!

I woke up this morning and realized, (yikes), the days really are getting shorter.  I fear many of my summer crops (tomatoes, melons, and peppers especially), who have already come late to the party, are planning to leave early too, before fall catches them.  Such a disparity from last year’s over abundance of summer bounty.  This is a disappointment on several levels.  Financially I rely on summer crops for a bulk of my income, personally I need vegetables to stock my winter pantry, and professionally I want to be bringing all of you incredible, juicy heirloom tomatoes.  Alas, some things are not to be.

Yes, there are most likely many weeks of sunshine left this season, but the intensity of the summer sun, which is so important to keep vegetables producing, seems to be fading.  So as we approach the halfway point of the CSA program, I find myself re-budgeting, re-thinking, and re-grouping with regard to the remaining season.  I take comfort in knowing that we learn and grow the most in times of adversity and challenge.  This season will make me a better Farmer.

Meanwhile, I am doing my very best to keep you all stocked with good, high quality vegetables, while juggling the reality of less than ideal growing conditions.  No doubt, your dinner table meals this year look different from last year.

On a happy note, don’t be surprised if the vegetables this week seem full of summer romance and delight.  I think they soaked it all up amidst the wedding festivities.  You can think of it as another way we pack extra love and care into the vegetables that go from our hands to yours.

Contemplatively,

April

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Nosing on into Summer Photo Credit: April Jones

Meet Your Food

Butterhead Lettuce

Carrots

Cucumbers

Lewis River Plums: From Hillary’s Woodland Farm. So juicy and sweet you can’t help but grin.

Baby Beet Greens

Summer Squash or Eggplant

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich
Makes 4 servings

1 large eggplant (or 2-3 small)
1/4 c olive oil
1 long loaf crusty French bread
1/4 c basil pesto
1/4 lb provolone cheese, thinly sliced
6 sliced mild peppers, such as banana peppers
1 fresh tomato, optional

1. Slice eggplant 1/4-inch thick. Brush with olive oil on both sides. Grill over low to medium coals, turning once, until golden brown on both sides, 5-7 minutes total.
2. cut bread in half lengthwise. Spread pesto on cut faces of bread. Place eggplant, cheese, peppers and optional tomato in layers on one half of loaf. Top with other half of loaf.
3. If desired, wrap loaf in foil and heat at 350 degrees 20 minutes. Cut crosswise into 4 sandwiches and serve.

Sauteed Summer Squash with Lemon, Capers and Baby Beet Greens
Serves 2 – 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cloves garlic, crushed
4 medium patty pan squash, chopped (or any summer squash)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
3 tablespoons capers
Sea Salt to taste
1/4 lb Baby Beet Greens (one CSA share)

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and chopped squash and saute for about one minute. Cover and cook until tender, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes.
Transfer to a bowl and add parsley, capers, lemon, and salt. Toss to coat.
Rinse and dry the beet greens and place on the the serving platter. Top with the summer squash and serve immediately.

Farmer Jones Notes

As I hauled heavy crates of eggplant, cucumbers, and summer squash from the field today, I was grinning ear to ear. That summer abundance feeling was finally in full force on the farm. Lots to do, lots to eat, lots to celebrate. Enjoy every last bite; September may be around the corner, but Summer eating has just arrived!

Warmly,

April

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The Drying Shed Photo Credit: April Jones

Meet Your Food

Head Lettuce: Red Iceberg Lettuce is back: showy, crunchy, as beautiful as ever.

Green Peppers

Summer Squash or Eggplant or Cucumbers

Swiss Chard

Lil’ Tomatoes: Egads. So many green tomatoes in my field, and just a few red ones.

Transparent Apples or Lewis River Plums or 41st Street Blueberries: Dear friends, please hurry down to CSA pickup before I eat all this delicious fruit myself!

Farmer Jones Notes

Today, I opened the walk-in cooler and there was nothing else to do but smile. Dusty had brought beautiful yellow transparent apples and Hillary had showed up with an enormous bowl full of yellow creamy plums. Both of which were sitting directly above an entire flat of freshly picked blueberries I’d bought yesterday from my sustainably-minded neighbors up the road. How can one feel discontent in the presence of such bounty?

I know the shortfall of classic summer staples might be a bit of a disappointment for you too. It’s not what we collectively expect from summer. Regardless, I am so proud to be bringing you beautiful, healthy, authentic produce of any sort. It’s not the abundance of summer we’re used to. However this week’s share is a sneak peak of summer, and surprisingly a pretty radical departure from the previous nine weeks. So even though there are only a few tomatoes to go around, I for one, intend to keep smiling. Oh, and extra ice cream helps too.

Steadily patient,

April

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