Harvest #15 (Week A) should include potatoes, watermelon, carrots, Italian dandelion, fennel, head lettuce, cilantro, dill, basil, zucchini, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, tomatoes, sweet peppers, hot peppers, shishito peppers, onions, and scallions. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs, edamame, cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, blackberries, and flowers.

Thank you, August, for being so kind so far! We're already halfway through the month and haven't suffered a 90-degree day yet. Humidity has also mostly been low and tolerable. Rainfall has been moderate and quickly absorbed, allowing us to stay on schedule with transplanting and harvesting. This is one of my favorite times of the year.

Last week we embarked on the potato harvest, finishing Yukon Gem on Wednesday, with the help of CSA members. This is the variety that ripened first for us this year. We are growing four varieties over almost 10,000 bed feet. Four hundred pounds of seed potatoes were planted for each variety. Because the seed potatoes vary in size quite considerably, the amount of feet devoted to each variety is different. Yukon Gem yielded approximately 1,700 pounds total from those 400 pounds, which is not a stellar yield but good enough for us. Dormant seed potatoes were planted in mid-April, or around the time dandelion blooms. From the 'eyes' of the potatoes grow shoots that turn into foliage that looks similar to tomato plants. The seed potato breaks down and decomposes in the soil while new roots/tubers develop around it. When these are mature the foliage begins to die back. Fragile 'new' potatoes can be harvested at this stage, but we like to wait a few more weeks while the potatoes' skins thicken and allow for longer storage potential. Next up, hopefully this coming week, will be Dark Red Norland, a red-skinned white-fleshed variety.

Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!

We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

Workshift Guidelines - Workshift Sign Up Instructions

Some things to look forward to on the farm.

Join us for a relaxed evening on the farm, munching shared dishes and catching the beginning of a firefly light show. Bring a dish to share, your own place settings and beverages. Hope to see you there! (shared dishes do not have to incorporate farm produce)

Recent crop additions include edamame and hot peppers, both to be enjoyed now and through the colder winter months.

Hot peppers and shishitos - even if you don't enjoy a lot of heat in your food, make sure you take your share of the hot peppers and/or shishitos in the pick up room. There are various degrees of heat in the different varieties grown. Shishitos are generally not hot at all - I have heard/read that anywhere from 1 in 10 to 1 in 1,000 of these will be hot. I eat them a lot and I have only had 2 hot ones in my life - the one was extremely hot, the other moderately. My favorite way to eat them is to simply put a small amount of oil in a cast iron skillet and char them on all sides - this takes about 5 minutes. Remove from pan, sprinkle with a nice flakey sea salt and enjoy. Poblanos are not hot either, more a smoky flavor which is enhanced if you throw them on the grill and char them. I like doing this, then de-seed them and freeze. They add a great flavor to chili and stews which are more enjoyable to cook when it is cooler outside. The other peppers go from moderately hot (jalapenos) to very hot (habaneros). Freezing hot peppers for use through the winter could not be easier - just toss in a freezer bag as is and freeze. I love taking 1 or 2 out of the freezer all winter long to add to dishes.

Edamame - is one of the favorite u-pick crops at the farm. Another delicious, flexible crop that can be enjoyed in so many ways. The fresh picked bean pods will stay in fridge in a plastic bag or container for a week or so. When ready to eat, bring a large pot of water to a boil - add A LOT of salt - more than you think you will need. Add beans and gently boil - start checking for doneness at 9 minutes - I find 11 minutes is usually about right. Make sure the pot is large enough that you don't have to fill it with water to accommodate the beans because they boil over easily. Drain beans, rinse and cool until they are easy to handle. Enjoy as is with more salt added or remove beans from pods and freeze - best way is like a lot of other crops - place beans in a single layer on a cookie sheet and place in freezer. Once frozen place beans in freezer bag or container. There are several nice recipes on this site including Soybean Hummus and Summer Vegetable Ceviche.

This is the time of year that you need muscles to carry your harvest home! Delicious watermelon, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, etc! Here are a few things I recently enjoyed:

Cucumbers, dill, hot pepper - I know the farm cucs are slowing down, but still want to share. I have a crop of cucs at my house too so made a few batches of pickles. If you don't want to go through the canning process, try the Narrow Bridge Farm Refrigerator Pickles. They are delicious and easy to make.

Cherry tomatoes, green beans, garlic, onion, herbs - Made a delicious salad in which the beans were slightly grilled and then added to a bowl of cherry tomatoes, onion and herbs with a vinaigrette. So yummy!

Tomatoes, garlic, basil - One of my favorite things to do with tomatoes is to make Uncooked Tomato Sauce. So easy to do and so, so delicious!

Eggplant, tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs - Cut up eggplant and placed in preheated pan with olive oil. Added onions and garlic and cooked for a few minutes, then added chopped up tomatoes. Simmered until everything was tender. Topped with fresh herbs. Enjoyed with a nice loaf of bread and ate leftovers on some leftover rice.

Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Tomatoes...and basil! - Been alternating between Caprese Salad and Bruschetta. A lot of folks add Balsamic vinegar to their versions of these 2 dishes, but with tomatoes so delicious this time of year, I choose to not mask the flavor with vinegar.

Tomato, sweet pepper, onion, garlic - Another summer favorite is to use the tomatoes in a salad. Peel tomatoes, and cut into bite size pieces. Chop peppers to desired size. Slice onion and grate a tiny bit of garlic. Add all to bowl. Sprinkle pepper, salt and oregano over all then drizzle red wine vinegar and extra virgin olive oil and mix up. Be sure to have a good loaf of bread to sop up the dressing left in the bowl - so wonderful!