Harvest #11 (Week A) should include cucumbers, zucchini, carrots, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, scallions, tomatoes, fresh garlic, lettuce, italian dandelion, beets, watermelon, and herbs. Some items will be a choice.

Distributed weight of zucchini and cucumbers has fallen due to the impact of cucurbit downy and/or powdery mildew but should increase again soon once the 3rd planting gets going in earnest. Melon season is just beginning. Watermelon starts this week and will stick around for a while. Cantaloupe will also be harvested soon. Since it is just beginning there probably won't be enough watermelon for Medium Shares this week but we predict there will be enough next week (#12).

U-pick should include cherry/grape tomatoes, green/snap/string beans, tomatillos, flowers, and herbs.

Peak season is upon us! Peak weed germination and growth, peak harvests and overall weight, peak exhaustion, and probably peak heat. If you signed up for a share with work discount please consider helping out soon. Workshifts continue through the fall but frequency wanes and workload lessons during the shoulder seasons.

Right now farm focus is on keeping crops happy and healthy during intermittent rainfall and a dry spell, fluctuating temperatures and a weekly return of heat, pest and disease pressures becoming pronounced around the farm, maximum sunshine and resultant aisle maintenance, and the continuation of big plantings needing retrieval. Many thanks to all the members who helped complete the massive garlic and carrot harvests! Our attention now turns to gathering onions, potatoes, and melons, with winter squash close behind.

Please consider signing up for a workshift soon (link below). Thank you to those who have already completed their hours!

Looks like another nice week is in store for the area! Tasks should include pulling weeds from the sweet potato patch as well as harvesting onions and/or regular potatoes.

This week's workshift schedule:

Please bring gloves, water, a hat, and sturdy shoes! We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

Workshift Guidelines. Workshift Sign Up Instructions.

We are getting to the peak of the summer harvest season, and there may be a couple of the newer crops you are not that familiar with.

Tomatillos - they look like small green tomatoes and are in fact in the same family as tomatoes. The best way to harvest them is to look for fruits that have husks that are filled out by the fruit and are yellowed or brown and a bit dried. A lot of times, perfect tomatillos are laying on the ground. Tomatillos are high in vitamins and minerals and they store well in the fridge. They can be chopped up and added to salads, made into salsas that are raw or cooked, and used in soups and stews. Check out this site for many ways to use them!

Fresh Garlic - we have been receiving this crop for a couple of weeks now, so just a quick note that unless you will be using it up quickly, it is best stored in the fridge. Use it as you would any cured/dried garlic.

Dandelion greens - this is one of the bitter greens that does well in summer heat, so it is a staple at the farm, especially when other greens are not at their best in the hot, dry summer days. The variety at the farm is not nearly as bitter as others I have had, so try it. A couple really nice recipes on this site are the Dandelion Salad with Warm Hazelnut Dressing and Garlic Braised Dandelion with White Bean Puree. Or, do what a lot of us do with greens - make pesto with the added nuts and/or cheese you use, helps calm down the bitterness.

Hot peppers - just a note that I like to share: if you get more hot peppers than you can use, place them in the freezer for use throughout the winter. I love pulling them out and adding them to chili, salsa, Mexican and Southeast Asian dishes, etc.

I have so much fun cooking this time of year - with the variety of crops, there is almost an endless amount of dishes you can prepare. Below is some of what we enjoyed this past week - a few dishes were inspired by friends that stayed with us - we had a fairly traditional Greek meal, Yum!

Lettuce, peppers, cucumber, cherry tomatoes and thyme - roughly chopped up the veggies and herb and placed in large bowl. Topped with a chunk of good quality feta cheese, good olive oil, a bit of vinegar, salt and pepper and mixed up - simple yet so flavorful.

Swiss chard - this was as simple as it gets - chop the chard and place in a pot of rapidly boiling salted water. Cook for 1-2 minutes, or just until wilted. Strain and push as much of the water out of it. Place in bowl and top with lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper - very nice.

Zucchini - grilled it and topped with olive oil, salt, pepper a squeeze of lemon juice and a few thyme leaves.

Eggplant, zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes, herbs - grilled the veggies, and then put the leftovers into a pasta salad and had it for lunch for a few days.

Tomatoes, scallions, pepper, hot pepper, garlic and cilantro - made a very delicious salsa - so good I made it twice!

Fellow member Sarah Brown sent a recipe to me this week called Baked Ratatouille. It sounds delicious - it starts with bacon!

She writes: "I made this dish last night - but also made it so many times last year with ingredients from the CSA. It does require the oven to be on, but it's a great way to use eggplant - especially when you have a spouse who isn't that fond of eggplant! I don't bother peeling the eggplant and use fresh tomatoes when I have them rather than canned. And the cheese can be any good melty cheese. Last night I put mozzarella on one side and gruyere on the other. I preferred the gruyere. :)

Good (and filling) to eat on its own, but could be served over pasta or with bread."

I can't wait to try this. It uses one pan to cook up the ingredients and one baking dish, so clean up is simple. While dish is baking, you can spend your time making a side salad to go along with it.

Thank you so much Sarah - to all you great cooks out there, please send your ideas to me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line.

Happy eating!