- Leeks
- Red Potatoes
- Poblano Chile Peppers
- 'Juliet' Grape Tomatoes
- Slicing Tomatoes
- Cipollini Onions
- Eggplant or Tomatillos
- Italian Parsley
- Bell Peppers
- Italian Frying Peppers
- Cucumbers or Zucchini/Summer Squash
- Fresh Basil (farm pickup only)
- Fresh Sage
- and maybe Sweet Corn (either this week or next)
- Raspberries
- Peaches
- Apples
Announcements
Early Tomato-Picking Opportunity: Some of our tomato varieties are starting to peak a little early this year. If you'd like to come pick tomatoes this Sunday the 21st instead of during the Jubilee on the 28th, you are welcome to do so. The hours for this Sunday the 21st are from 1 until 4 p.m. If you'd like to come out this Sunday you must RSVP by calling the farm at 847-548-4030 or emailing Peg at info@sandhillorganics.com. Space is limited, so please RSVP by Saturday morning. Thanks!
This year's CSA Member Tomato Jubilee will be held on Sunday, August 28th from 1 until 4 p.m. This is an opportunity for CSA members to pick tomatoes for freezing and canning. We welcome you to pick your own tomatoes, feed the chickens, meet your farmers and take a stroll through the vegetable fields. During the Tomato Jubilee the first 10 lbs are free for CSA members. All additional tomatoes are only $1 per pound for members. (There is a total limit of 25 pounds per CSA share.) If you know other CSA members who are planning to attend, please consider carpooling in order to help reduce the number of cars on the farm. Thanks!
Know your Food, Know your Farmer
We're now about half way through the fresh fruit season, and I thought I'd take a moment to tell you a little bit about the family who grows the fruit for our CSA members. Mick Klug, his wife Cindy, and daughters Abby and Amy farm about 120 acres between St. Joseph and Berrien Springs near the eastern shore of Lake Michigan. Because of the moderating effect that Lake Michigan has on the climate, that area is particularly well-suited to growing fruit. Mick was born and raised on the farm that his parents puchased in 1940. When Mick was growing up, his parents' farm was very diversified. They grew a wide range of crops including strawberries, asparagus, currants, tomatoes, peaches and much more. Gradually though, fruit farms in the area, including the Klug farm, began to specialize in just a handful of crops, namely peaches and juice grapes for Welch's. It was during the 1980s, after Mick had taken over the farm, that he realized that direct marketing and a return to crop diversity was the best way to keep his operation viable. Today, Mick and Cindy, have a highly-diversified farm that employs 15 people. Mick says that even though development pressure in their area is pretty intense, the buy-local movement is helping his farm to survive and to thrive!
Notes from the Farm Kitchen
The tomatillo, also known as the husk tomato, plays an important role in Mexican cuisine. It is the primary ingredient in salsa verde, a popular salsa that also calls for garlic, onion, chile peppers, cilantro and lime juice. Store at room temperature, with husks on, for up to a week. For longer-term storage, refrigerate in husks, but not in a plastic bag.
Eggplant is related to other vegetables that thrive in the late summer—tomatoes, potatoes, and peppers. There are many different varieties of eggplant, including white, purple, lavender, pink and green. Eggplant does not need to be peeled, but you may prefer to do so. Before using it in a recipe, I recommend lightly salting eggplant slices and then letting them sit in a strainer for at last 10 minutes. This helps reduce the water content in the eggplant, and improves texture and taste.
Leeks are members of the lily family and are close relatives of onions, garlic, shallots and chives. Leeks are milder than most onions and tend to get sweeter as they cook. When using leeks, cut the tops off about 2 inches above the white section. Then cut them in half lengthwise and wash any dirt out from between the layers. Leeks may be sauteed, braised, grilled, baked or eaten raw. Store them in the refrigerator.
Yesterday we harvested a large quantity of potatoes for the first time this season. Most of the potato varieties are still growing strong, so we will leave them in the ground for a few more weeks. Because this week's red potatoes are freshly dug, their skins have not had a chance to cure. You will notice that the skin on your potatoes is very thin and has partially rubbed off in the washing process. For this reason you should use them this week. I also recommend storing them in the refrigerator.
Cipollini onions, pronounced chip-oh-LEE-nee, are smaller and flatter than most storage onions. They are slightly sweeter than regular yellow and white onions, and are therefore a great choice for carmelizing and roasting. They can also be used in recipes that call for regular yellow onions.
We have harvested a number of different sweet pepper varieties this week. They are pictured below. (Aren't they beauties?!) The only hot peppers in this week's share are the poblanos which are in a separate bag.
Although it is best known for its role in flavoring Thanksgiving stuffing, sage is a wonderful addition to a number of my other favorite dishes. I love it with tomatoes and white beans (see recipe below) and as the star ingredient in a sage-brown butter sauce for serving with pasta. It would also be a great addition to your favorite cornbread recipe, or you could add sage and some grated cheddar to a basic biscuit recipe.
As far as hot peppers go, poblanos are somewhere in the middle of the heat index scale. They are not as hot as a jalapeno or a serrano. This week's poblanos are between 3 and 5 inches long and are dark green and glossy. Roasting poblano peppers before using them improves their flavor and allows you to remove their waxy skin. Once you've roasted them you can put them in a freezer bag and store them in the freezer for months. Poblanos can be used in many different Mexican-inspired dishes from rice dishes to casseroles to the well-known chiles rellenos. To roast them you can either put them under the broiler, use a skewer to hold them over an open flame on your stove top, or stick them in a very hot toaster oven. You should roast them until the skin starts to bubble and the bubbles start to blacken. Once this starts to happen, flip them over and do the same to the other side. Allow them to cool before pulling the skin off with your fingers. (You might want to wear gloves.) Finally, make a slit in each one and remove the seeds. Enjoy!
This year we are battling a tomato disease that causes some of our fruits to have small black spots on the skins. As far as we can tell, these spots are superficial and do not impact the quality of the flesh itself. In the coming weeks we will do our best to minimize the number of these fruits that make it into your share, but we wanted to give you a heads up because you will likely see some spots here and there.
- Ratatouille
- Grilled Vegetable Panini
- Barefoot Contessa's Tomato Bread Salad
- Deborah Madison's Potato & Green Chile Stew
- Cannellini with Tomato-Sage Sauce
- Pasta with Butter, Sage and Parmesan
- Tomatillo-Poblano Salsa
- Peach Refrigerator Jam
Next Week's Harvest (our best guess)... beets, blueberries, slicing tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, peppers, shell beans, romaine lettuce, kale, nectarines, potatoes, turnips, shallots and more!
