1st Week of September

Notes from Your Farm:

Ahh, the glory of fall...warm sunshine, cool temperatures, perfect for cool season crops. This week we are harvesting carrots, picking awesome Carmen and Apple variety sweet peppers, getting the last round of green beans, and egged on by eggplant. Eggplants are turning in a superb performance this season, the best in years. We are starting to plant fall cover crops to protect and enrich the soil during the winter. One of the best is daikon radish, also known as tillage radishes. These do a better job of aerating the soil than large tillage equipment, mineralize the soil by pulling nutrients up from the subsoil with their 36 inch roots, and give almost 100 percent weed suppression over the winter as they grow.

Eggplant Note:

In spite of the many different shapes and colors of eggplant that we grow, they all taste and are used the same.

New Date for Fall Potluck:

Saturday evening October 3rd from 5-9pm

Cookbooks:

We have some excellent cookbooks here for sale that are a great match for seasonal and local eating.

• Simply in Season Cookbook: Has recipes in order for Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter crops.
• Farmer John Cookbook: From the quirky Farmer John of the "Real dirt on Farmer John" movie fame. His Angelic Organics CSA is one of the best known in the country.
• Simply in Season Children's cookbook: Fun, easy, and quick to prepare recipes to do with children.

Pick Your Own Field Highlights:

• Concord Grapes: they don't ripen uniformly on the bunches, so just pick individual grapes that are ripe and eat or take with you.
• Black-eyed Susan flowers: these are beautiful in the kitchen or elsewhere.
• Ground Cherries: check out these tasty little paper-husked treat that have a hint of pineapple. Pick when paper turns golden brown or fruit is on the ground.
• Sungold cherry tomatoes: yes, they have the late blight too--but there are some tomatoes there
• HOT Peppers: range from mild to wild the farther back the row you go. Some varieties are maturing to red, but green is ok to pick too as you wish.
• Heirloom tomatoes: various types located in the first row.
• Pole beans: including Red Noodle and Roma types, down at the low end of the PYO field
• Cut flowers: zinnias, snapdragons, celosia
• Basil: is ready, just pinch off the tips just above where they branch--not sure? ask Bradley
• Tromboncino Squash Tower: Check out this rapidly growing vine and the bamboo tower that Bradley made for it.
• Summer Savory: this herb located beyond the grapes in the PYO field. Very strong by itself, it is excellent with tomatoes
• Edible flowers: Nasturtiums, and Calendula and Borage are edible and are located also toward the end of the PYO field.

About some of the characters:

• Asian and Italian type eggplants: the slender Japanese type eggplants are said to be sweeter and milder than the classic Italian types--but, when we did a taste test, they all were pretty much the same in flavor. Their color is fabulous. Coating slices with oil and soy sauce and grilling them is quick and delicious.
• Bell Peppers: these are the most nutritious when raw, and the Apple variety has incredible flavor according to farm staff.
• Beans: this is the final week that we will be picking beans--they are somewhat mature now--feel free.
• Carrots: roasted, raw, boiled, or steamed, you can't go wrong
• Ailsa Craig Onions: these mild sweet onions can be used now or kept for storage

Summer Pepper Salad

1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium cucumber, seeded and chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
8 ounces crumbled feta cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil

DIRECTIONS
In a large bowl, mix the green bell pepper, red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, cucumber,
parsley, feta cheese, and olive oil. Chill at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator before serving.

--from allrecipes.com