2017 CSA Week 12

Hello fellow CSA members!

We are reaching the peak of summer, and our shares are reflecting that. These shares remind me of the bounty I enjoyed growing up from my grandparents' garden in late July.

Produce	Storage	Longevity
summer squash and zucchini	unwashed, in fridge	1-2 weeks
cherry tomatoes or yellow tomatoes	room temperature	1 week
bell pepper	washed or unwashed in fridge	1-2 weeks
green beans*	unwashed, in fridge	3-4 days
sweet corn*	shucked or with husks on in the coldest part of fridge	enjoy as soon as possible
blackberries	unwashed, in fridge	3-5 days
basil	snip off bottom of stems and immerse in water	1-2 weeks

My apologies for the produce-to-child
ratio in this picture. (I'm a proud mama.)

We get more blackberries this week! And fresh basil to pair with the tomatoes. I have discovered that my little one and a half year old loves tomatoes. He will eat a whole tomato chopped up! I love having these delicious ones for him to enjoy. I'm sure you all feel similarly when you watch your children enjoy this healthy food.

*We always say that a CSA share is highly dependent on a number of factors, including the weather. And this week is no different. Because of the dry weather, our sweet corn will not be ready in time for Tuesday shares. Those of us getting shares on Tuesday will be receiving green beans instead of sweet corn. Those receiving Thursday or Saturday shares will have sweet corn, but no green beans. Ford expects all of us to have sweet corn in our shares next week.

Also, an additional note about the green beans. If these are the same variety Ford has grown in years past they are a little different than the half-runners many of us are more accustomed to. These beans are well suited for stir-fries and sautés, but I can attest that you can still break them up and boil them like your half-runners and they're delicious.

There are a number of reasons why you may not have the time or energy to enjoy your shares from week to week. You have a number of options to prevent a crisper full of wonderful produce rotting away. If given enough notice, you share can be cancelled for the week. You can also gift your share to a friend (you can work those details out on your own). Another great option is to preserve your share. Everything in this week's share could be frozen to enjoy later in the year. (You can dry the basil.) I found this short guide that gives some great tips for blanching and freezing veggies. There's also some versatility. Most people cut their corn off the cob before freezing it, but my family always stuck some in the freezer on the cob, and I usually freeze my corn on the cob too. I love having "fresh" corn on the cob in the middle of winter.

If you're eager to jump right into your share this week, I was reminded of a ratatouille recipe someone shared with me last year. When I went looking for it, I realized these recipes using zucchini, bell peppers and tomatoes might be better suited to revisit this week. And the link to the ratatouille recipe is in the comment section of that post. I appreciate our seasonal foods.

Hope you all have a great week! There were a couple of delicious cabbage recipes posted on the Facebook page this week. Try them out and post your own recipes too!