• Bell Peppers
• Eggplant
• Okra
• Green Beans
• Flowering Mint
• Flowering Thai Basil
• Yellow Squash
• Gold Bar Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Gourmet Cucumber
• Patty Pan Squash
• Sorrel bunch
• Beet tops bunch

We are Hiring Farm Manager and Labor –

Michael wanted to highlight some flowering herbs this week as they are often overlooked in the garden by folks but the chefs love them! Both the thai basil and the mint flowers go great with deserts, infusions, muddled drinks and as a syrup. Try just breaking them up over vanilla ice cream for a really easy after dinner treat. The thai basil flowers will pop off of the stem if you lightly pinch at the bottom and run your fingers upward. For people that make their own cough or throat syrup, the flowers are a handy flavoring, adding sweetness. I like to make a simple syrup with sugar and water, infusing the flowers, and using this in mixed drinks, lemonade, teas, sorbets and over deserts or in yogurt. It makes an impression at the bar when pouring for friends.  To make a simple syrup combine equal parts water and sugar then dissolve with heat on the stove. Turn the heat off and add your flowery parts (and leaf is ok, too) and let the liquid cool for an hour. Strain into a container to enjoy the rich flavor as a condiment.

Don’t forget to pick up tomatoes from us as part of your CSA share this week. We like to keep them at a different temperature so they are flavorful when they get to you. To your health and your pleasure!

Burgundy Okra

Thai Basil Flowers

• Green Beans
• Bell Peppers
• Roasting Peppers
• Baby Arugula Box
• Tomatoes
• Potatoes
• Okra
• Eggplant
• Squash
• Gourmet Cucumber

2016 CSA Summer August 27: Care and protection are reflected in the flavor and healthy benefits of what some have called “medicinal quality” products.  This mindfulness is also revealed in the distinctive methods used to tend the soil, via compost, some no-till, and an ecologically based focus all the way down to microscopic levels.  Michael picked up some spawn to set spores in his compost, courtesy of Sharondale farm’s Mark Jones.  They have long enjoyed sharing insights about permaculture and biology.  Both also explore the habitat and relationships of microbial action in their climates. The spawn to seed the compost was the “garden ally” stropharia rugoso-annulata which according to Mark’s website “attracts earthworms, captures phosphorus in the soil, and eats coliform bacteria”.  The journey began for this strain at another friend’s farm: Ted’s Last Stand.  They are just one aisle over from us at the Saturday market in Charlottesville.

This week’s tender baby arugula is an all time favorite for many.  The flavor does not have the big spicy bite of adult arugula, but rather a sweet nuttiness.  We hope you enjoy!

• Green Beans
• Okra
• Chard
• Lacinato Kale
• Bell Peppers
• Specialty Peppers
• Eggplant
• Dill
• Thai Basil
• Yellow Squash
• Gold Bar Zucchini
• Potatoes
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers

Now into green bean land! There are so many ways to enjoy green beans from tempura (photo from recipegreat.com), casserole (photo preventcancer.aicr.org) to salad (photo delectablyfree.com), but i did not find any recipes using raw green beans, and we do enjoy them raw ourselves. All of the salad recipes called for the beans to be blanched, cooked to the tenderness of your liking.

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans tempura

But the recipe that really caught my eye was a homemade version of green bean casserole from scratch, from the previously mentioned preventcancer.aicr site, photo above left.  Ingredients: 1 lb of green beans, oil, ½ cup chopped onion, ½ cup panko breadcrumbs, 8 oz chopped mushrooms, 1 clove of chopped garlic, 2tbs of flour, 1 ½ cup milk, salt, pepper and pinch of cayenne. The recipe says to cook the green beans, 5 min, set in oiled baking dish; sauté the onion and mix with the breadcrumbs for topping; then cook the mushrooms 2-3 minutes before finishing with the garlic, add to the green beans in the baking dish; then add a bit of oil and the flour, scraping bits together from the pan and add the milk, stirring vigorously; simmer until thick enough to coat spoon, or until stirring with the spoon creates a wide swath, from 5-7 minutes, and add the seasonings. Mix this with green beans and mushrooms, spreading into an even layer.  Sprinkle with the topping and bake for about 10 minutes or until top is crunchy….Doesn’t that sound good! Much better than casserole from a can J.

2016CSA_Summer_Aug 20 green beans growing