- Lettuce
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Basil
- Parsley
- Tomatoes
- Cabbage
- Green peppers
- Cucumbers
- Zucchini
- Kale or chard
Yes we are bracing for a week of near triple digits every day. We are moving seedlings out of the hoop houses and into shaded areas in hopes that we can keep them moist enough to survive this week. We managed to get two more beds of radicchio planted for Fall and winter harvest. We have most of the fall cabbage in but still one more bed to go. On a small farm it is hard to get enough space to plant all of the crops that we want to have ready for year-round production. The moment we pull out one crop the bed is composted and planted again. Sometimes we have space in a hoop house at this time of year but it is hard to plant for fall and winter in this heat.
The onions are bulbing up beautifully. It looks like it will be a bumper crop of onions and shallots. The Walla Walla’s are the next onion to come out within the next week or two. The first onions we gave this season were overwintered onions seeded in the summer of 2021 transplanted in the fall and harvested in May. The second group of onions that we gave came from onion sets. These are small onions grown for the very purpose of planting them out in the field and having them grow to full size in the early summer. Those are the onions we’ve been giving recently, small and yellow not meant for storage. The next set of onions will be early onions that are not keepers. That means they’re to be used fresh; they aren’t expected to last in your storage space longer than September or October. We have so many different varieties of onions it’s hard to keep track. Many of them are storage onions which means we will give them throughout the winter to our winter subscribers and use them ourselves in our kitchen. In recent years we’ve not had as good luck with our shallots. They are a cross between onions and garlic and have extremely long shelf life. Sometimes we eat shallots into June the following year. We did shallots from sets for the first time this year and those will be ready to pull shortly. They are much smaller and each little bulb produced about three shallots. We will hang onto those for our winter subscribers. We also started shallots from seeds and those are huge and doing beautifully. Again those will be used predominantly for late fall and winter chairs. Next week I will seed those very early onions for the following year and the cycle will begin again.
The cucumbers have finally kicked into gear. I transplanted cucumbers after the peas came out a couple of weeks ago and those are already producing. Those poor cucumber plants sat in Flats for over six weeks waiting for a space in the garden and now they are in full bloom. I managed to plant two more beds of cucumbers just in case there weren’t enough ha ha that should start producing in August. We hope to have cucumbers through October so make sure to eat your cucumber a day it will keep the doctor away. Tomatoes are ripening and we are excited to be able to give everybody some tomatoes. Green peppers are sizing up as well. We harvested the first hot peppers and expect many more in the weeks to come. The first taste of cherry tomatoes will be available for some this week. We have the traditional amount of cherry tomatoes but we need your help harvesting them. The real harvest of cherry tomatoes begins in August and hopefully continues through the first frost. Egg plants are in full bloom and we hope that they don’t let us down. They don’t really like hundred degree weather and tend to drop their flowers which will affect their fruit for weeks. Keep your fingers crossed. The beans are finally starting to climb; they’ve been in the ground for two months and done nothing. We remain hopeful that green beans will grace your tables sometime in early August. Again these are labor intensive crops and without the hands to harvest them there will be less on your table and more for the farmers. This week we see the last of the spring cabbage. The broccoli is at the end and there will be no more Colliflower till fall. We shift from brassicas to nightshades and alliums continue to produce. It’s finally time for Caprese salad and a little bit of pesto. Don’t forget prezzemolo.! the garlic free parsley heavy delicious and pesto alternative. We are starting to see winter squash forming on the plants as they battle it out with the cucumber beetles. Sometimes we see 40 cucumber beetles inside one squash flower. It seems an unfair disadvantage.
The last couple of days have been pure flower glory. I harvested 23 buckets of flowers for the farmers market as well as three for a wedding and many many more for drying. The whole upper level of the barn is full of dried material or drying material for Ree‘s that I will start making in the weeks to come.
It’s going to be hot this week! Make your family some cold soup or vegetable salad to eat all week!
CUCUMBER, GRAPE AND HAZELNUT
2 medium cucumbers; 1 pound green grapes; 1 thick bread slice; ⅓ cup hazelnuts; 2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar; 1 small shallot; 1 cup water; salt and pepper. Serve smooth. Garnish: A drizzle of olive oil.
KALE AND OLIVE
Sauté 2 bunches chopped kale in olive oil over medium-high heat until soft; let cool. Combine with 2 cucumbers; ¼ cup green olives; 2 slices bread; ¼ cup olive oil; 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar; 2 cups water; a pinch of red-chile flakes; pepper. Serve smooth. Garnish: Grated Parmesan.
ZUCCHINI AND HERB
Sauté 2½ pounds chopped zucchini in 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat until tender, 15 to 20 minutes; let cool. Combine with 1 thick bread slice; ¼ cup each basil, parsley and mint; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 3 tablespoons lemon juice; 1 cup water; salt and pepper. Garnish: Toasted pine nuts.
“Classic” gazpacho with finquita veggies
In a food processor or blender, finely chop a few cloves of garlic and one or two of your beautiful finquita onions. Fresh oregano and/or basil are great here too. If you have a jalapeno or other hot pepper, add it too.
Add a few tablespoons of bread crumbs and a few tablespoons of EVOO.
Coarsely chop a few cucumbers and green peppers, and a few tomatoes, toss them in and pulse.
Add water and pulse until you get a consistency you like.
Until the tomatoes come on, I add tomato paste to get it tomato-y enough.
Season with salt, pepper, lemon juice to taste
Smashed zucchini with chickpeas and peanuts
3-4 medium zucchini
1 jalapeno, halved, stemmed and sliced into 1/8” pieces
2 limes, one zested and juiced, the other cut into wedges for serving
Kosher salt
1/4 c EVOO
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained, or 1 1/2 c cooked, rinsed and patted dry
1/4 c roasted peanuts
1 1/2 tsp zaatar, ground sumac or ground coriander
Trim the zukes and slice lengthwise into quarters. Position cut side down and then whack with a rolling pin or heavy knife until craggy and split. Rip into 1/2-1” pieces. Toss with the sliced jalapeno, lime juice and 1 1/2 tsp salt, then transfer to a colander to drain while you cook the chickpeas.
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas and peanuts and cook, stirring occasionally, until the chickpeas and nuts are lightly browned and crisp—5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and add the lime zest, sumac and a pinch of salt. Stir until fragrant and then taste and salt as needed.
Shake the zucchini to get rid of any excess liquid, then transfer to a plater or individual plates. Drizzle with a little olive oil, then top with the chickpeas. Add salt and a squeeze of lime to taste.
Tortilla Espanol (yeah, you have to cook it—but once you do it tastes good hot or cold!)
2-3 large potatoes or 4-6 smaller ones, peeled and very thinly sliced
1 medium fresh onion, thinly sliced
1/4-1/2 c olive oil
6-8 eggs, beaten
Heat 3-4 Tbs EVOO in an ovenproof skillet over medium heat, then gently cook the potato slices and onions until the onions are soft and the potatoes are getting translucent. It helps to keep gently loosening the potatoes so they don’t stick. Remove the potatoes and onions to a large bowl but don’t clean the pan. Pour the beaten eggs over the potatoes in the bowl and gently mix to coat. Season w/salt, pepper, and any chopped fresh herbs if you want.
Heat 3-4 TBs EVOO over medium heat in the skillet again, and pour in the egg-potato mixture. Push down any potatoes that try to pop up above the eggs. Cook until the edges are starting to set.
Technically you are supposed to cook until the eggs are starting to set, then flip the whole thing and cook the other side. I never have the guts to do that, so I just put the whole thing under the broiler for 5-10 minutes or until the eggs are set and starting to brown. THEN I flip the whole thing out onto a plate and cut into wedges to serve.