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Sophia, with a smile as bright as the flowers she's holding!
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What's happening on the farm right now?
No newsletter last week, as we were vacationing up in Maine. Sam and the crew were here making sure everything was harvested and orders were filled, so hopefully no one noticed we were gone!
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I saw my first goldenrod blooming this morning, as well as some wild clematis and ironweed. We picked up our first winter squash, delicata, this morning as well.The weeds are huge. There is a thunderstorm every afternoon and the light has a different quality to it. That all signals late summer to me with fall just around the corner, and a little bit of a slower pace on the farm. Bring it on.
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We are harvesting from the last beds of summer squash and cucumbers now and sowing the last round of beets and carrots. Planting more greens and lettuce and weeding, weeding, weeding in between rain storms. We are also starting the first crop for 2023 this week! Our overwintering snapdragons, sweet william, feverfew and foxglove get sown on Thursday.
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CSA Market share members: I have updated everyone's credit with us as of July 23. If you log into our site, you'll see a little wallet icon in the top right hand corner of your screen. The number next to it is your credit balance. Email me if you can't find that balance and I can give it to you.
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What's available in the store and at market this week?
The first winter squash, delicata and angel hair spaghetti squash, are in the store and at market this week. They will sweeten over the next few weeks, but they are plenty good to eat right now. We have lots of lettuce mix but are between lettuce beds, with only red butter available this week. Tomatoes galore, juicy heirlooms, flavorful red slicers, cocktails and sweet cherries. We have cucumbers, mainly the slicing varieties and summer squash, mostly the zephyr. The colored peppers are starting to come in, joining our poblanos, shishitos and jalapenos for our pepper offerings. Plenty of basil and cilantro. Red, yellow and sweet vidalia-type onions. Red, blue and white potatoes this week. The white potatoes are good boiled, mashed and baked. Rainbow Swiss chard.
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The dahlias are coming in and I am so excited. It feels like it has been a while since we really had a good dahlia year and so far this looks like it's going to be one. We also have mixed bouquets (with dahlias in them) and sunflowers.
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A note on parking at the North Asheville Market: The best time to find parking in the lower lot is right at the start of market or right at the end of market. If you come at other times, I wouldn't bother going into that lower lot. It freaks me out just looking at the line of cars down there waiting for a spot. HOWEVER, there is plenty of room in lots P25 and P26. You need to drive all the way around through campus to get to these lots, as the long blue line in the map below indicates, but once you are there, you are pretty much across the street from the lower part of the market.
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Heirloom tomatoes sauce in the making
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John's Recipe of the Week
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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“A crust eaten in peace is better than a banquet partaken in anxiety.” Aesop
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SAUCE FROM FRESH TOMATOES – The taste of sauce made from fresh tomatoes is special if you are wanting to do what it takes to make it. Now, it’s not that much extra but more than opening a bottle of Rao’s bottled sauce and putting it in a pan. I have found I can’t make a sauce from canned tomatoes much better than Rao’s. Sauce from fresh tomatoes is better, but a bit more work. ONLY A FEW MINUTES MORE, TRUTH BE KNOWN. DO BE SURE THE TOMATOES ARE REALLY RIPE.
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And no, you do not have to have San Marzano’s or plum tomatoes to make good red sauce.
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SEEDS IN OR NOT – Really your choice. Taste is the same. Some folks say the seeds look funky floating the sauce.
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3 pounds medium sized tomatoes
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1/3 cup minced shallot or onion
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2 large garlic cloves, minced
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Slice the tomatoes in half and scoop out the seeds. Then, in a box grate, press the cut side of the tomato flesh against the large holes of the grater and grate into a bowl, leaving the skins behind.
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Heat the olive oil in a medium pot over low heat. Add shallot, garlic, salt and a couple pinches of pepper. Cook for 3 minutes stirring often.
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Add everything else, cover and simmer for a least 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Discard the basil sprig and season to taste.
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Makes two cups. This is good on pizza too!
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Morning mist and that glowing fall light
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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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