CSA Week 13

FARM LETTER

Daily life on a farm is chock full of smile-worthy moments. The frequent sight of these young chickens cavorting outside our kitchen is a favorite (see pic). They’re very busy living a good life—hanging out in the shade of a plum tree, running, grazing, exploring.

Our hens’ squawk and chatter can be an amusing wake-up call when dawn is at 5:30—as it is now. (It’s not so charming in July, when they start up around 4 a.m.; that’s when the white noise of a fan comes in handy.)

Then there’s something as simple as rain. The inch and a half we got last week put a huge smile on our faces. We were so excited, we had to take pictures of our rain gauge. Incredible.

And this week’s CSA share is one happy ensemble—more than a few of our favorite things. The arugula is particularly tasty, gorgeous and abundant. The edamame is a treat—extremely time-consuming and tedious to harvest but oh so addictive to eat.

Last night we made a dinner out of most of this share: a generous bed of arugula topped with slivered radish, sliced peppers, minced scallions, a couple thick slices of tomato. Not in the share was some farm-raised grilled chicken left over from the night before. We used this week’s basil in a lemon-caper vinaigrette for the main-course salad and some fresh mozzarella cheese from a cheese vendor friend at a local farmers’ market. Everything was so fresh, so tasty and practically exclusively from our farm. This really made us happy.

We hope this week’s share makes a lot more than just us smile too.

SHARE LIST:
2 red bell peppers
1 bunch Italian basil
¾ pound green beans
1 bunch radish
½ pound fresh edamame (soy bean) or 2 cucumbers*
3 tomatoes
1 bunch scallions
10 ounces arugula
 FRUIT:
2 pounds last-of-the-season yellow peaches
2 pounds Macintosh apples

*Due to frought-related crop loss, there was not enough edamame for all CSA members to receive.

At the farm this week we are enjoying both the last few days of “summer” and the excitement of a new school year. In light of this, we thought it made sense to offer a final taste of summer with peaches (so particularly delicious this year) and the introduction of a fall classic, the Macintosh apple.

Arugula Tips:

If you’re not sure what to do with the large helping of arugula this week, there is a host of recipes you can scroll through on the Martha Stewart web site. .

 It just might give you some ideas. If you want to try storing some for the future, an arugula-walnut pesto would hold in the freezer and be great for a pasta dish, a stew or spreading on a sandwich.