Cucumber Poetry?

Ok, so it was a little warm around noon today while I was picking cucumbers. I had salty sweat running into my eyes (it stings a little) and there were big fat bumble bees humming all around. Bumbling from bloom to bloom - you get the picture - and I think it was all making me a little goofy and so I started making corny rhymy poetry in my head while I looked forward to taking a break in the air conditioning over lunch. We are very proud of the work the girls have done this week with all the heat. They even volunteered to come early (6am) to avoid the hottest later part of the afternoon. Way to go!

Garlic harvest began Monday morning and will hopefully be done by the end of the week with all of it hung up to dry. Once we are done with the garlic it is usually time to start thinking about planting some fall crops. John also informs me that the tomatoes are starting to turn color-Yeah!

We are also thankful for safety granted last week at our Sioux Center farm stand. A car crashed into our van and farm stand. While we had damage to our property, none of our customers or anyone else was hurt.

This week in your share.....

Rio Colorado Potato - red with nice white flesh. We oven roasted some potatoes last night and served them with pesto - yum!

Onions - big sweet white ones (still waiting for the reds to size up)

Beans - green or yellow

Swiss Chard - if you have leftover potatoes, try wilting in the chard when you reheat them with some garlic and onion and seasonings of your choice.

Cucumbers - always refreshing on a hot day

Peppers - purple, pale yellow or lime green - wonderful in an omlet or salad

Parsley - not just a garnish - parsley has many health benefits and is high in vitamins A, C, and K - try the leaves mixed in with a salad.

This week the 1/2 share will also have zucchini, whole shares will have beets and basil.

Note on Basil: putting it in the fridge will cause it to turn brown more quickly. If your house is air-conditioned, you could just leave the bag on the counter until you use it. Better yet, take the longer stems out and trim the ends as you would fresh flowers and put them in a little jar of water on your counter and use as needed.

Pesto: this is a basic recipe, but you can easily adjust amounts to your taste.

3 cups basil leaves

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup pine nuts (you can also substitute pumpkin or sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, etc)

2 - 3 cloves of garlic chopped roughly

Parmesan cheese

mix it all up in your food processor or blender and use with pasta, as a veggie dip, on potatoes, etc.

Simple Beet/Carrot/Parsley Salad

Grate equal amounts of beets and carrots, add some chopped parsley and dress it with your favorite oil and vinegar dressing.