I am writing this eating lunch, a delicious veggie soup full of beans, carrots, celery, onion, tomato and chuck steak.  So rich and full of nutrients, I think every bite makes me stronger : )  See recipe below and Zach's amendments.

The color in the fields make me smile.  The eggplant are doing amazing, the peppers are starting to ripen and the winter squash is peaking through the vines.  It's a funky time of year, as it still is hot and seems like summer, but fall is on its way and the fruiting plants know this.  They stop producing green leaves and rather put energy into ripening their fruit and seeds.  We harvest almost all day every day, filling our crates with bright tomatoes, sweet melons and beans.  There are a few zucchini and summer squash plants still producing, but mostly they are tired and are cheering on the neighboring peppers.  The spaghetti squash are ready, but I can;t bring myself to harvest them yet as it makes me feel like summer has passed....I must wait until September ; )

This Week's Bounty: lettuce, chinese cabbage, eggplant, pepper, mini red onion, beets, new potato, zucchini, cucumber, beans, tomato, parsley, basil and melon for full shares (half shares next week)

The Farmer's Table: 

How to Cook Dragon Tongue Beans

• Dragon Tongue beans are lovely steamed or quickly simmered. It intensifies their delicious nutty flavor. They will fade in color, but you will still see some purple here and there.
• Dragon Tongue beans are also perfect for pickling along with fresh herbs, spices, and other vegetables.
• You can also stir fry them with other vegetables.

Dragon Tongue Bean Salad

Vegetable Beef Soup -- Zach's modifications ... no potato (bc they were not harvested yet), zucchini instead of okra.  blanched deseeded fresh tomatoes.  Used chuck steak. YUM!!

stew beef and chuck steak can be found on our FarmDrop!

 

Summer's Delights

We took a quick trip to Hampton Beach Sunday/Monday and brought a little of the farm with us.  The surf was wild from a storm off the coast.  The sun was bright with a cool ocean breeze, a wonderful break from the hot hot days we've had on the farm.  Monday is a big harvest day and I was so relaxed to know I had an awesome crew back here working so I could get away...and knowing that it was not brutally hot back home made me not feel guilty about laying on the beach : )

New crops this week!  melons, peppers and sweet onions.  These, Ailsa Craig, are a large sweet onion perfect raw or even grilled. 

Pick Your Own Flowers are looking glorious -- be sure to pick before summer slips away!!

This week's bounty: baby romaine lettuce, sweet pepper, melon, dragon tongue beans, cucumber, zucchini, summer squash, sweet onion, hakurei, fennel bulb, kale, cilantro, dill, basil

 

August 11th and 14th

Today is the kind of "sweat even if you are not moving" kind of day.  These pants are on the line waiting to be hosed off before I put them in the wash.  They are actually only from two days' worth of work ... I have been changing my clothes at lunchtime since they are so sweaty and disgusting.  I am grateful for my house which has AC, a nice break from the oppression.  I do feel bad for my poor plants baking out there, wish I could bring them inside too : )

An amazing Maine dinner last night ... cucumber salad, broccolini and beautiful lobsters gifted to us from a shareholder.  Delish!!!

This week's Bounty: cabbage, leeks, broccolini, carrot, green beans, celery, cukes, zukes, summer squash, basil, parsley

 

August 4th and 7th

SUMMER MUNCHING

The deer have found the chard this year so when we harvested lasted week, we had to cut out several leaves that had been munched.  The pigs LOVE chard, so they profited in the loss...I am beginning to wonder if it was a conspiracy : )

Senior Chuck has been a bad bird too.  He has been dining on our blueberries which is ok, I don't mind sharing a few, but yesterday I discovered he helped himself to some newly transplanted lettuce.  Hmmmm I am pretty sure we have loads of grass around for him to eat.  bad Chuck.

Tomatoes are beginning to ripen and they are oh so good and beautiful! So far it has been a good year for tomatoes and the field plants are looking as good as the hoop house ones.  We harvested a colorful array yesterday afternoon from the field.  They are mostly the smaller varieties, but he slicers are starting to turn color too!

I am looking forward to a bit of rain today, but hoping the storm is not damaging.  It looks like it is not going to hit us as much as originally planned.  I am excited for the break in the heat today, it has definitely been warm.  I usually do ok on a hot day, but it's the day after where my body feels exhausted.  Getting out of bed this morning was not so easy : )

This Week's Bounty: lettuce (? possibly not, I am not sure the next planting is ready), zukes, cukes, chines cabbage, beans, peas, pac choi, purplette onions, broccoli, eggplant, dill and tomatoes (just a few this week)