Challenges and Memory
With every new season come challenges we can predict and most that we can't. It is the challenges that are a complete surprise that are the toughest. When the seed to one variety of carrots is unviable and bolts before it grows into a carrot. We can't tell before we plant, weed, and water this seed that it won't grow into a carrot. We plant our first three spring successions not knowing and now we have three beds of bolted carrots and unable to fill our harvest goals. We have three out four tractors not working and greenhouse of plants to put in the ground for the fall. It's a little nutty to say the least. But I know from experience that we'll get through the season, these challenges will fade into the next ones and by next time this year we will have only vague notions of what the troubles used to be. Sitting here now, I cannot recall the challenges of last July, only that I knew of course that there were some.
Scenes from the farm: Cloud over tomatoes, garlic drying in the barn, the weeding hut, eggplant and shishitos.
The share:
swiss chard
cabbage
dandelion
hakurei turnips
fennel
cabbage
spring onions
fresh shallots
sweet peppers
shishito peppers
hot peppers
summer squash
cucumbers
eggplant
cherry tomatoes
new potatoes
parsley
basil
For Sale: Organic Blueberries (at a discount)
Recipe of the Week:
SAUTÉED SHISHITO PEPPERS: SUMMER'S BEST NEW BITE
DEBORAH MADISON MARCH 2013 VEGETABLE LITERACY
PREPARATION
- Here's what you do. Heat a little olive oil in a wide sauté pan until it is good and hot but not smoking. Add the peppers and cook them over medium, tossing and turning them frequently until they blister. They shouldn't char except in places. Don't rush. It takes 10 to 15 minutes to cook a panful of peppers. When they're done, toss them with sea salt and add a squeeze of fresh lemon. Slide the peppers into a bowl and serve them hot. You pick them up by the stem end and eat the whole thing, minus the stem, that is.
- You can probably do fancier, cheffy things with them, but they're terrific like this. For variety, I sometimes use a little toasted sesame oil instead of olive oil and finish them with togarashi. If you have leftovers, an unlikely event in my experience, chop off the stems and put the peppers in an omelet or some scrambled eggs.