CSA Harvest #15

Good day all! Well for those of you who made it to the potluck we hope you had a great time! The food was as excellent as the live music that we were so graciously treated to from our friends "Shasta Ray and the Down Home Band". For the rest of you we hope you can make it next year for our 3rd annual potluck! You can also catch Shasta Ray playing each Thursday at Charlie's BBQ on Harvard every Thursday.. so you can pick up your CSA share and then go hear great live music!
Before the potluck we were busy in our "tater patch" trying to get all of our potatoes harvested and out of the ground. The potato plants have been dead for many months now but we noticed that the fingerling potatoes seemed to keep better in the ground. You may notice that many of your potatoes have been poked or have small (or large) holes in them. We apologize for that! Those mysterious cuts and piercings are caused by the tools we use to harvest potatoes. To harvest the potatoes without these tools would mean an even more arduous task then we already endure with the tater harvest. We must look foolish on our hands and knees scratching through the soil for tubers.. (and indeed we are!) Next year we are hoping to harvest the potato crop with the help of an antique potato harvester. This would save us a week or two of potato groveling. We need to put our tractor to work somehow!
In other farm news it is that time of year for us to begin planning what sort of cover crop seed we will be planting for the winter and what sorts of garlic varieties we want to get into the ground next month. For a cover crop we will be planting fava beans. These beans overwinter well, add nitrogen to the soil and incorporate very easily into the soil when tilled in in the spring. Last year we did a mix of vetch, clover and oats but were not very happy with the results.
If you have a favorite variety of garlic let us know asap so we can be sure to order some to plant. This year we only harvested hard neck garlic. We will be ordering softneck garlic this year too. Softneck garlic stores much better and can be used for garlic braids.. a great farmer's market item!

We hope you are all enjoying these lingering fruits and vegetables of summer! After this week we will only have one more summer delivery and then it will be Fall (my favorite season!) I love the way the light changes and even the air smells different.

May you all enjoy these last two weeks of summertime!

Your farmer friends~ Suzie, Asinete, Violet, Robin and Wayne


** Favor Request from Packing Shed~ please make sure your CSA baskets are clean when you return them to us each week. A quick upside down shake can dislodge some of the dead leaves and grit that accumulates. It takes longer for us to process 55 baskets when we have to clean them all first. Thank you!


CSA Harvest This Week Will Include:

Beans (Green, Royal Burgundy, Romano Bean mix)

Arugula (new planting)

Lacinato Kale (also called Dinosaur kale- look at the leaves and you'll know why!)

Garlic

Red Zeppelin Onion

Yellow Walla Walla Onion

French Fingerling Potatoes

Melon! (may be watermelon, Charentais or Ambrosia)

Zucchini

Heirloom Tomato Mix

Sungold Tomatoes

Lemon and Boothby Blonde Cucumbers

Dill

Basil (enjoy while you can!)


Hints to deal with the tomato flood!

Fresh Tomato Sauce:

Ingredients:

* 1 to 1 1/2 pounds ripe tomatoes, about 3 large tomatoes
* 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste
* black pepper, to taste
* 1 pound spaghetti
* freshly grated Parmesan cheese for serving

Preparation:
If desired, peel tomatoes; remove seeds, straining juice into a bowl. Save the juice and discard seeds. In a food processor, combine garlic, tomatoes with juice, 3 tablespoons olive oil, and basil. Pulse quickly to chop roughly. Pulse more for a smoother sauce, if desired. Transfer to a bowl, add salt and pepper and let stand to marinate for about 20 minutes.

Cook pasta until just tender, drain and toss hot with the marinated tomato sauce. If hotter spaghetti is desired, heat the sauce just until hot on stovetop or in microwave. Serve immediately with Parmesan cheese.
Serves 4 to 6.


Fresh Garden Sauce
A chunky garden tomato sauce with fresh basil.
Ingredients:

* 3/4 cup chopped onion
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 6 cups chopped tomatoes, canned or about 6 fresh, peeled tomatoes
* 3/4 cup dry red wine
* 1/4 cup shredded carrots
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
* 1/3 cup chopped fresh basil
* 1 teaspoon sugar
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 1 cup sliced zucchini
* 1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

Preparation:
Heat olive oil in Dutch oven over medium heat; add onion, cooking until tender. Stir in garlic, tomatoes, wine, carrots, parsley, basil, sugar, and salt. Bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 1 hour, stirring frequently.

Add sliced zucchini and mushrooms; cook until sauce is thick, about 20 minutes longer. Serve with hot cooked pasta.
Tomato sauce recipe serves 4.

Insalata Caprese Salad - Mozzarella, Tomato & Basil Plate

1/2 pound fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced 1/4-inch thick (they have fresh mozzarella at Safeway and Fred Meyer)it is found on display floating in water. yummy stuff!
2 large ripe tomatoes, sliced 1/4-inch thick
1 cup fresh basil leaves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 tablespoons drained capers (optional)
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

In a circular design around the side of a serving plate, alternate fresh mozzarella slices on a large platter (or on individual plates if you are doing individual portions) with sliced tomatoes, overlapping for effect.

Tear fresh basil leaves and sprinkle liberally over the slices. Add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Sprinkle capers over the top.

Just before serving, drizzle on some excellent extra-virgin olive oil. NOTE: Insalata Caprese should never be allowed to sit in oil for any length of time and become soggy, and no vinegar of any kind goes on Insalata Caprese!

Makes 4 servings.

For a last minute alternative take your tomato, cut out the stem, cut it into quarters and put into freezer bags (or vacuum seal). If you have freezer space this is a great way to store the tomatoes until you need the for sauce or salsa.

Bruschetta with Tomato and Basil Recipe

Ingredients

* 6 or 7 ripe plum tomatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs)
* 2 cloves garlic, minced
* 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
* 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
* 6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped.
* Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

* 1 baguette French bread or similar Italian bread
* 1/4 cup olive oil

Method

1 Prepare the tomatoes first. Parboil the tomatoes for one minute in boiling water that has just been removed from the burner. Drain. Using a sharp small knife, remove the skins of the tomatoes. (If the tomatoes are too hot, you can protect your finger tips by rubbing them with an ice cube between tomatoes.) Once the tomatoes are peeled, cut them in halves or quarters and remove the seeds and juice from their centers. Also cut out and discard the stem area. Why use plum tomatoes instead of regular tomatoes? The skins are much thicker and there are fewer seeds and less juice.

2 Make sure there is a top rack in place in your oven. Turn on the oven to 450°F to preheat.

3 While the oven is heating, chop up the tomatoes finely. Put tomatoes, garlic, 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, vinegar in a bowl and mix. Add the chopped basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4 Slice the baguette on a diagonal about 1/2 inch thick slices. Coat one side of each slice with olive oil using a pastry brush. Place on a cooking sheet, olive oil side down. You will want to toast them in the top rack in your oven, so you may need to do these in batches depending on the size of your oven. Once the oven has reached 450°F, place a tray of bread slices in the oven on the top rack. Toast for 5-6 minutes, until the bread just begins to turn golden brown.

Alternatively, you can toast the bread without coating it in olive oil first. Toast on a griddle for 1 minute on each side. Take a sharp knife and score each slice 3 times. Rub some garlic in the slices and drizzle half a teaspoon of olive oil on each slice. This is the more traditional method of making bruschetta.

5 Align the bread on a serving platter, olive oil side up. Either place the tomato topping in a bowl separately with a spoon for people to serve themselves over the bread, or place some topping on each slice of bread and serve. If you top each slice with the tomatoes, do it right before serving or the bread may get soggy.

Makes 24 small slices. Serves 6-10 as an appetizer. Or 3-4 for lunch (delicious served with cottage cheese on the side.)