Farm News Crop Forecast
U-Pick Recipes Nuts and Bolts
Greetings!
It’s tomato time!
The big red tomatoes came in faster and bigger than usual, and many of you have commented that they’re more flavorful than usual too. So many factors affect tomato ripening and flavor, it’s hard to know for sure what’s going on. We do know the plants are healthy, have lots of fruit all the way up, and those fruit sized up really well. Without much rain, the flavors are often more concentrated. We irrigate smaller amounts a little more frequently to avoid diluting flavor or causing cracks, while also giving them enough water to make the fruits big.
We grow an early variety , “Early Girl”, which usually ripens first — and is smaller and less flavorful than “Big Beef”, our primary red tomato. But the Early Girls got bigger and tasted great too, and the Big Beef came in at the same early time as the Early Girls. Who knows. And then ripening on both of them slowed down last week … maybe due to the cooler nights, but it really didn’t seem cool enough to cause that much of a slowdown. Melons slowed down their ripening too. We’ll take what we get and not throw a fit! They will get a fire lit under their butts soon enough as the days get shorter, since with annual plants the march through the final steps of reproduction — ripening the fruits to mature the seeds — will always take priority sooner or later.
By the time we write the next newsletter, we’ll be winding down melon and cucumber season and looking at the winter squash to start picking some or all of that! Winter squash won’t be cured and ready to eat for a while yet, but Oh man. Enjoy it all while it’s here!
Crop Forecast
More summer fruits!
Tomatoes are rolling in and bigger than ever for early ones. After the slowdown we might still be at 8 per share this week, but it will go up to 10 or 12 soon. There will be more heirlooms coming soon too, they have been slow to start ripening. Extra tomato boxes are available for pre-order and sometimes on-the-spot — for sauce, extra eating, canning, freezing etc. We expect to have them available well into September.
Peppers! Some Red and Orange Bells this week, some carmens and plenty of green bells.
Melons — This week it’s 2 per share for Tuesday folks, which rounds out 2 weeks of 2 melons per share; and 1 per share for Thursday folks. Next week will be 1 melon per share. We should have some extra around for sale if desired. Cantaloupes are looking great for this week and next. This week it’s red watermelons, plus some orange and yellow. Next week should be the start of the big pink watermelons, Crimson Sweet, for 1-2 weeks. The dry weather is also great for melon flavor and texture.
Hot Peppers — The hot habanero plants got so sick we had to pull them out of the field in July, so we won’t have any hot habaneros this year. But we’ve been growing a not spicy habanero if you want similar habanero flavor, it just comes without the heat.
Garlic! It is a part of the share for 4 more weeks, and extra is for sale in the barn for $1.25 per head (no need to pre-order extra garlic), now and all fall.
We continue to have : Sweet Onions!, eggplants, broccoli, summer squash and zucchini, cucumbers, carrots, beets, cabbage, fennel, baby leeks. Plus leaf lettuce, salad greens, kale, and chard. And Celery — note that our celery is stronger flavored and stringier than typical white / blanched celery. It is very flavorful and best cooked in soups, stews, etc. — most people don’t use it raw or for ants-on-a-log etc.
For kale — fall kale is back! We may still have a lower limit as the plants get growing but once the days get shorter and the plants take off there should be plenty of tender yummy leaves.
The sweet onions are best kept in the fridge, but will keep on the counter for a few weeks at least. They’re not fully cured and don’t store as long as regular storage onions. We’ll start giving those out once they’ve fully cured — they’re drying out in the greenhouse right now — probably at the end of August.
Lettuce will be getting better flavor, and hopefully fewer brown spots, soon. Kudos to Camille for eeking out enough decent stuff to go around each week! Summer lettuce is tough in hot weather, but worth the effort.
And Broccoli should be back next week! For a bunch of weeks.
What’s for U-Pick?
Edamame — edible fresh soybeans — should start this week or next. They’re the bushy plants on the east edge of the current planting. Lots and lots of pods hiding in there, and they’re easy to steam or lightly boil – in the pod — for a fun juicy finger food.
Basil, Dill, Cilantro (near solar panels) — all unlimited, with more plantings coming thru fall. We might gap on Cilantro next week — we underwatered a planting during the heat waves so it didn’t germinate — but it will be back soon.
Other Herbs (near beans) — Nasturtium (edible flowers with a kick), Thai Basil, sage, curly parsley, flat parsley, oregano, thyme, anise hyssop — are all unlimited too.
Flowers — On both sides of the driveway. Ideally for sunflowers you can bring a heavy clippers, we don’t lend out anything bigger than kiddie scissors since the return rate is pretty low. A lot of folks just keep a pair of scissors and or pruning shears in their car. That way it’s easy to stop by and score some points (with someone else or with yourself) by bringing home a quick bouquet whenever you drive by!
Cherry tomatoes and tomatillos– more available than last week! Walk down the rows! Most people just pick in the first 30′ , and there are almost always more ready down the row — darker orange and more flavorful and more abundant.
This spot in the newsletter will keep you informed, and always check the U-pick board when you’re here to see what’s available and picking amounts.
Nuts and Bolts
Bulk Produce for You — TOMATO BOXES — you can order through the Google form (the link is in the newsletter email and the separate tomato email.)
Check here each newsletter for what we have available for extra purchase.
To place a bulk order, simply email us at least 2 days ahead of the day you’d like to pick it up. Orders can be picked up at the farm during our regular pickup hours, but it doesn’t have to be your share pickup day. Usually we can make an order on the spot, too.
This week’s bulk selection is : Carrots, Beets, Sweet Onions, Cukes, zukes and squash for $1.50 / lb, Lettuce Mix for $6 / lb. Chard for $3 / lb, cabbage for $1/lb, Tomatoes and bell peppers $2/lb, Melons $1 / lb.
Share Pickup Hours TUESDAY and THURSDAY 1:30-6:30 pm.
Change Pick-Up Day Form — Click here. Please fill out this form instead of emailing us. Thanks!
Where is the farm? 4151 320th Street West, Northfield.
Please Drive Carefully —Children are everywhere.
If You Send Someone Else to Pick Up Your Share — Please forward them the basic pickup video in this link , which was also sent in an email earlier in June. Then just tell them to introduce themselves to us in the barn, just so we know and we can show them around.
We love having all of you come to the farm! Thank you for making it such a great place to be!
Your farmers,
Erin and Ben, with Allia, Alex, Camille, River, Soli, Elliott, Josh, Sahara, Sai Dang and crew
RECIPES
Roasted Red Pepper Dip
2 diced tomatoes
2 roasted red peppers
3/4 cup chopped onions
1/3 cup red wine
5 tablespoons brown sugar
2 fresh hot chili peppers, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 teaspoon chopped garlic
1 teaspoon oregano
1 ½ teaspoon cumin seeds
In a large saucepan, place diced tomatoes, roasted red peppers, onion, red wine, brown sugar, hot chili peppers, tomato paste, distilled white vinegar, garlic, oregano and cumin seeds.
Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and allow mixture to simmer approximately 30 minutes.
Place mixture in a blender, and blend to desired consistency.
Chill in the refrigerator 4 hours, or until cold, before serving.
Summer’s Bounty Enchilada Casserole (Bell Pepper)
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 jalapeño, seeded and finely diced
1 banana pepper, seeded and finely diced
1 medium zucchini, halved lengthwise and diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 medium tomato, diced
2 cups enchilada sauce, divided
½ cup minced fresh cilantro
2/3 cup crumbled feta
Salt and ground pepper black pepper to taste
18 (6-inch) corn tortillas
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack
Sour cream and salsa
Preheat an oven to 450°.
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Add the onion, bell pepper, jalapeño, and banana pepper and cook until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
Add the zucchini and garlic and cook for about 4 minutes more.
Stir in the black beans, rice, and tomato and cook until warm.
Transfer the pepper-zucchini mixture to a large mixing bowl.
Mix in ½ cup of the enchilada sauce, the cilantro, and the feta. Season with salt and pepper.
To make the casserole, spread ½ cup of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Lay 6 tortillas over the sauce and trim to fit as needed (you may have to cut some of them in half, depending on the shape of your dish).
Spread half of the filling over the tortillas.
Repeat with another layer of 6 tortillas and rest of the filling.
Add one more layer of tortillas on top.
Spread the remaining cup of enchilada sauce over the casserole.
Sprinkle the cheese on top.
Cover the casserole with aluminum foil and bake for 20 minutes.
Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown.
Let cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Garnish with sour cream and salsa. Serves 8-10.
Open Hands Farm 