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What's happening on the farm right now?
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To have enough help on the farm this year, we had to go beyond our usual apprentice model and we are so glad we did. Belle, on the left and Madalyn, on the right, have been friends since they were three years old. Now 15 years old, they have both been working half days on the farm and bring a delightful willingness to the work. I don't have good photos of the rest of our hybrid crew but it consists of Sam, crew boss, Taylor and Sophia, our apprentices, Scott, who works three days a week, Grace, who works 1 day a week completing an internship required to graduate from UNC Asheville, Micheal, who does a work trade with us two days a week and Megan, an apprentice from way back (we can't remember the year 2010? 2011?) who comes out from all the way from Mills River one day just for the love of farming. We feel so lucky to have them all working with us. The farm has never looked better!
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This past week a customer was asking how we still have lettuce mix at this time of year. His had stopped producing. I told him we've planting a 200 foot bed of it every week since the beginning of May. Before then, we planted every other week. Right now we are weeding and getting ready to harvest bed #10. Before we close up for the winter, we will make 22 plantings of lettuce mix. We're almost half way!
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
We've got 5lb buckets of juicy red tomatoes. This is a great deal and perfect for folks who want to do some canning or sauce making. We also have heirlooms, cherry and cocktail tomatoes. Lettuce mix and head lettuce, romaine, panisse and red leaf. The eggplant is off the charts. The fairytales are so creamy and mild, the Japanese and Italian are bitter free and versatile. We have 1lb bags of basil for folks who want to put up some pesto as well as the small bags of basil. Cucumbers and summer squash. We actually started picking off our last bed of summer squash this week, so about 1 more month of zukes and zephyr. For peppers, still jalapenos and shishitos. The sweet peppers are looking good but showing no color just yet. Fresh cut flowers of course.
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PLEASE NOTE: The River Arts District Farmers Market has MOVED to the Smoky Park Supper Club, 350 Riverside Drive. The hours are the same, 3pm until 6 pm. The Supper Club is just about 1 mile downstream from our old location and is right on the Wilma Dykeman Greenway. If the paved lots are full, you can park at the end of the White Duck Taco parking lot, just past the market. It is a short walk along the paved greenway back to the market.
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The summer cover crop is growing so fast now you can almost see it move.
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John's Recipe of the Week
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John Loyd is our dear friend, neighbor, CSA worker member and a gourmet Southern cook. His delightful cooking observations and delicious recipe offerings appear here each week.
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“As God as my witness, I’ll never go hungry again.” Scarlett O’Hara
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We are adding our herbs, which are at a peak, to most veggie dishes, salads, and tonight, basil with ravioli. Check out some ideas for dressing using fresh herbs. Do note when putting fresh herbs in dressings, that the shelf life is short. Three or four days usually.
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Here’s a dressing that’s a bit sweet that goes nicely on cucumbers, radishes and all greens. We like arugula as an ingredient when using this dressing. It’s also good on tomatoes and tomato salads. Thanks to Edna Lewis and Scott Peacock for this one. And a tip of the hat to sugar as a southern food ingredient.
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1 heaping tsp. Dijon mustard
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Put everything but the oil into a bowl and whisk until the sugar has dissolved and then add the oil whisking to incorporate.
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And one from the archives,
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Tomato Bread Salad with Herbs,
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Serves 2, can be easily doubled.
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1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
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1 garlic cove, minced and mashed with a pinch of salt
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1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
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2 cups 3/4in cubes crusty bread
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1 pound mixed tomatoes, red, yellow, heirloom, cut into 3/4in wedges
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1/4 cup nicoise or kalamata olive (option)
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1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine
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1 tablespoon fresh majoram leaves, chopped fine
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In a bowl whisk together vinegar, garlic paste and pepper to taste. Whisk in oil until emulsified. Add remaining ingredients and salt to taste and toss to combine well. Let salad stand at room temperature 15 minutes to allow bread to soak up some dressing.
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Another shot of the winter squash vines. Note the tendrils on the front right.
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Your farmers, Vanessa and Alex
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Love the flowers. Honor the vegetables. Let the weeds go!
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- Cheri Huber and Ashwini Narayanan
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