Summer CSA Newsletter: Week 10
WHATS IN YOUR BOX THIS WEEK AND HOW TO USE IT
FRESH CANDY ONIONS - Store in the refrigerator crisper drawer for up to one week. You can peel off layers that become dry or slimy if used after one week. These won’t be quite as large as the goliaths we have sent previously. $2.00 x 2
NEW POTATOES - Keep in a cool, dry place away from light, like a dark corner of the kitchen or in a cabinet. Also keep well ventilated. Do not store in a plastic bag but you can store in a basket or paper bag. $5 (1.75 Pounds)
CHERRY TOMATOES - Store tomatoes at room temperature for best taste. If tomatoes are refrigerated, remove them from refrigeration about 30 minutes prior to serving to regain some of their original flavor. $4
TOMATOES- The best way to keep summer tomatoes fresh and full of flavor, store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight. 1lb $5
KALE - Kale loves the crisper drawer. Does well in a loose bag in your refrigerator. Wash prior to use. Stores normally for UP to two weeks. Guys freeze this! Kale is so so good in fall soups and squash boats. $3 (smaller bag)
BLACKBERRIES OR GREEN BEANS - Marshall it is our plan to provide blackberries in your share tomorrow. Sedalia it is our plan to provide green beans. Put the blackberries in the fridge lightly covered. They will only last a couple days and then you could freeze if needed. Green beans can store in the bag in your crisper drawer for up to 5-7 days $5
GREEN TOMATOES - The best way to keep green tomatoes is one of two ways. You can store them on the kitchen counter at room temperature and turn them shoulders down. 60 to 65° is an ideal temperature for storing and we recommend placing your tomatoes out of direct sunlight or stick them in the fridge. You are not losing flavor with green tomatoes by putting them in the refridgerator like you would ripe tomatoes. 1lb $5
VEGGIE OF THE WEEK
Green Tomatoes
I know green tomatoes are not always a treasured summer favorite…. well, they are for me and as my CSA customers you must love them too!!
Green Tomatoes believe it or not can be a versatile ingredient. They can be used for fried green tomatoes - my number one reason to love them, in salsa, and chutney. They can also be pickled or roasted for a unique twist on classic recipes. Green tomatoes are rich in vitamins A and C, which promote healthy skin and immune system function, as well as a good source of fiber.
I think most of you know that Matt and I previously lived in Georgia for a number or years before moving back to his hometown, Marshall. Matt was in the military when we met and I relocated after we were married. It would seem like a long coming dream to get out of the military and away from the “city” and the hot South Georgia weather. I vividly remember thinking of days where the military wasn’t in quite so much control of our lives. Don’t get me wrong, we liked our lifestyle but, being closer to family was important and Georgia wasn’t our favorite. Fast forward to now and while I was writing this newsletter Matt, and I are both trying to figure out how he retired from that life 11 years ago. It just seems like a lifetime ago while at the time it seemed like moving anywhere without the military was a lifetime away.
During the time we were dating, Matt and I used to travel back and forth to visit each other. I was a college student in Ohio, while he was stationed at Ft Benning, GA. Whenever I would visit Georgia, Matt would take me to different local restaurants. One particular memory that stands out is when he took me to Ruth Ann's cafe. It was a quaint little cafe with a predominant focus on fried food, as is most things in the south.
I vividly remember looking at the menu and deciding to try the fried green tomatoes. It was a dish I had never tried before, but from that first bite over 19 years ago, I fell in love with them. The tomatoes were freshly fried to perfection, with a seasoned crispy golden-brown crust. I dipped them in spicy ranch sauce, and I knew right then and there that I would be a lifelong fan of fried green tomatoes.
I later brought my mother to Ruth Ann's cafe when she came to visit, and she shared the same enthusiasm for their fried green tomatoes. It's amazing how a simple dish can create such lasting memories.
I know we are trying to promote healthy eating through our CSA but, just do it… fry the green tomatoes.
Photo Credit: Caitlyn Bensel and Rebecca Cummins
Fried Green Tomatoes Recipe (southernliving.com)
A few others to try:
Easy Green Tomato Chutney Recipe • Lovely Greens
Green-Tomato Chutney Recipe (nytimes.com)
Green Tomato Salsa Verde Recipe (nytimes.com)
Reduce Food Waste! How to Freeze Kale - Budget Bytes - if you’re not using the kale now FREEZE it.
Authentic Pico De Gallo Recipe - NatashasKitchen.com - a good summer salsa recipe. I use lemon juice instead of lime but, to each their own. You can omit the cilantro as I know not everyone loves it. Also, I know there is at least one vendor that jalapeno’s if you choose to add those as well.
Easy Oven Roasted Potatoes {Easy to Make!} - Spend With Pennies - use those leftover herbs with this one.
Week 10
Welcome to week 10. We hope that you enjoyed your bag last week and that you were able to utilize all the items we packed for you.
We are deep into tomato season ya’ll. Red slicer tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, paste tomatoes, plus we have 3 successions of tomatoes that are growing. I think in total we have close to 900 plants in the ground just of tomatoes…. I know that number makes me stagger a little too. We are getting ready to transplant our 4th and final succession of 126 plants and it seems a little surreal to think that those tomatoes will be producing in approximately 75 days. We harvest for 4-6 weeks and then rip them out and that’s it, no more until 2025. In 75 days, it will be the third week of September which seems crazy. We started this summer CSA 70 days ago and that seems just as crazy!
New in our farm life this week we have upgraded to a full square terminal at checkout which seems a little daunting. We also purchased a used refrigerated box to keep some of our less cold loving crops at a comfortable temp of 68 degrees. Crops such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, certain herbs, potatoes, winter and summer squash love to be cooler but not cold. We placed the new cooler next to our walk-in cooler that sticks pretty close to 35 degrees. I know the picture looks a little rough, but we haven’t finish cleaning up after move in. Ask Matt how wonderful of a chore that was! lol.
We ripped out the final onions of the summer in muck which isn’t my favorite and prompted me to immediately make a phone call to our friend who owns an excavating company to fix a few of our field’s ASAP! No, I didn’t take pictures while we were harvesting because I was hating life during that particular moment. Thankfully, our friend is coming in the next two weeks before fall brassicas, the last of summer squash and a final root crop planting. The image below is just a fraction of the onions we have - (insert my shell-shocked emoji face)! These will cure over the next several days. We have fans and tons of circulation going because of the wet conditions in the field resulting in wet onions, which every farmer is dealing with. I am not complaining about rain but COME ON let’s have a little break please. The last two years we were in a drought and now the rain spicket seems to want to drown us.
Lastly, and I don’t have our own picture yet, but we finalized our strawberry plug order this week for delivery in September and we purchased another high tunnel. This is it guys, I can’t deal with anymore. I told Matt this is the last one, seven is a great number to land on. Our new boy will look like the image to the right and will arrive in 8ish weeks. It is 30x96 ft and will be used for its first season as the strawberry house, 2000 of those bad boys to be exact.
IF ALL ELSE FAILS
If your week has been crazy and you haven’t had time to do a thing with items in your bag, focus on these tasks:
Kale will store for at least 7 days. We wash and spin dry your lettuce one time. You should wash and dry again before consumption. Keep in mind moisture leads to spoilage. You can wait to wash your greens until you plan to consumer them. Place greens in an airtight container such as a bag or Tupperware.
You can freeze onions. I love to chop them up and store in portions of zip lock bags. Perfect for winter soups, stews and etc. After freezing, the texture changes somewhat and they are softer so not great for fresh eating.
Blackberries can freeze. Lay out parchment paper on a try and lay blackberries on the tray apart from one another. They freeze well and can be placed in a freezer bag when done. They won’t much together this way and can be used for jam, smoothies or a frozen treat on a hot day.
Freezing tomatoes is the easiest way to keep ripe tomatoes until you're ready to use them. You don't have to peel them first—in fact, the act of freezing them itself makes the tomatoes very easy to peel and you can freeze as many or as few at a time as you like. Visit this link for directions on how to do this, How to Preserve Tomatoes to Enjoy All Year
Green tomatoes will store for quite a while in the refrigerator.
Store unwashed fresh beans in a reusable container or plastic bag in the refrigerator crisper. Whole beans stored this way should keep for about seven days. I really prefer fresh beans and they’re simple to fix, but you can find a recipe to freeze a small batch if needed.
Greens such as carrot tops or other veggie scraps can be saved and used for homemade vegetable broth. Try this recipe: How to Make Vegetable Broth Using Saved Kitchen Scraps ~ Homestead and Chill
Cherry tomatoes, if you have these left, I’m not sure what to say because they are delicious! Just eat them like candy but if you must, try doing a small batch of sun-dried tomatoes. Oven "Sun-Dried" Tomatoes - Gimme Some Oven
NEXT WEEK’S POSSIBILITY’S
Your bag next week will include 6-7 of the following depending on availability and if it’s ready to harvest.
Carrots
Herbs
Tomatoes
Fresh large candy onions
Fresh red candy onions
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber
Fairytale Eggplant
Potatoes
Onions
Beets
Heirloom tomatoes
Zucchini (maybe, fingers crossed)
Wishing you a fantastic week ahead, see you next week!