I can remember this time of year so clearly as a kid. The bittersweet of summer's end. The excitement of back to school shopping and seeing all your friends again mixed with the panic of not finishing the summer reading and realization that school really going to happen again. On the farm, the beginning of September has little affect on our lives. It's still hot and (unfortunately) dry, our summer crops continue to need to be harvested while our fall crops continue to need to be weeded. We start to turn our attention to next season and begin to reflect on how things worked and didn't work, but September is only an illusion of transition. It is marked only by more school buses on the road in the mornings and slightly shorter days. We are blessed that our summer continues uninterrupted for we have not done much summer reading and we want to hold onto this peak of the harvest season for as long as we can.

Here are some pictures from the week:

Bucket o rocks! Sometimes we find these while we're plowing the fields. We add them to the rock walls around the farm, just like the people who cleared this land hundreds of years ago.

The Share!

salad mix
head lettuce
swiss chard
beets
carrots
eggplant
sweet peppers

hot peppers

heirloom tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
beans
leeks

garlic

dill
parsley
cilantro
watermelon

Long Bean, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad

yield
Makes 4 servings

Thai salads are full of crisp vegetables and fruits mixed with intense condiments. "It's not about just tossing the ingredients together," says Ricker. "It's about working them into the dressing," which can also be used to dress green-papaya and cabbage slaws.

Ingredients

2 dried Thai chiles, soaked for 2 minutes in warm water, drained
3 small garlic cloves, crushed
1/4 lime, cut into 3 wedges
1 tablespoon palm sugar or granulated sugar
1 tablespoon dried tiny shrimp
9 long beans (2 1/2 ounces) or green beans, trimmed, cut into 2 1/2" lengths
2 kirby cucumbers or 1 English hothouse cucumber, coarsely chopped into 1" pieces
2 tablespoons Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
6 cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons crushed roasted, unsalted peanuts

Preparation

Place first 4 ingredients in a clay mortar and pound with a wooden pestle until mashed into a fine paste, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp; mash until pulverized and well combined, about 2 minutes. (Alternatively, process in a mini-processor until finely chopped.)

Add long beans to mortar; lightly crush with pestle to bruise. Add cucumber pieces, fish sauce, and lime juice. Mix well. Add tomatoes, lightly crush, and mix in. (Alternatively, place beans and tomatoes in a resealable plastic bag. Roll a rolling pin over bag to bruise vegetables; transfer to a bowl with the cucumber, fish sauce, lime juice, and chile dressing.) Let marinate for 10 minutes. Stir in peanuts.

Leeks with Beets and Walnut Dressing

INGREDIENTS

2 lbs leeks
2 red beets, cooked
2 tablespoons walnuts

For dressing:
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons walnut oil
2 tablespoons parsley, chopped
Salt and freshly grated pepper

Yield: 4 Servings

RECIPE

Cut off the green parts and bottom of the leeks, wash well and cook for 20 minutes in salted boiling water. Drain well and reserve.

Peel the cooked beets and put in blender. Add the walnuts and keep mixing while adding vinegar and oils. Season to taste.

Serve the lukewarm leeks on serving dish, sprinkle with parsley and pour dressing on top. Serve as an appetizer or one-course lunch.

Back to school

The Share!

Long Bean, Cucumber, and Tomato Salad

Ingredients

Preparation

Leeks with Beets and Walnut Dressing

Roots to River Farm