News from the Field
Here comes the Hoop House! All 30ft. x 72ft. of it!
The hoophouse, a.k.a high tunnel, is a metal framed structure over which we will put a plastic cover like our greenhouse to the right in the picture. Doing so effectively moves the ground under this structure 300 miles south, without adding any supplemental heating other than sunlight trapped by the plastic. This warmth extends the season for crops growing in the ground covered by the hoophouse, but it also creates an attractive environment for crops like peppers which benefit from the diffuse light and stable conditions. Other crops like lettuce also enjoy the hoophouse in the fall, because while lettuce can handle pretty cold weather, the hoophouse protects the lettuce from wind and the leaves are all the more tender as a result.
Think about this. We have about 70 CSA members, so this structure will give each CSA member 30 sq. ft. of indoor garden as we head into the fall! It will take a few more weeks to complete, but we will probably start planting in there right away!
-Farmer Pablo
What’s In the Share:Blue Potatoes!!!
Potatoes, ‘Adirondack Blue’- dug by hand!!! You can taste the fresh purple difference!
Basil- great for sauces, pesto, atop tomatoes, ahh the fragrance!
Summer Crisp Apples ‘Lodi’- certified organic, unsprayed from Sunnyside Farm. Eat right away!
Pickling Cucumbers- pickle time! Or great freshly slice in a salad.
Summer Squash –Zucchini and yellow squash- just a little break between plantings
Red Torpedo Onions- A sweet Italian heirloom.
Tomatoes– a couple of the bigger guys with a few Sungold cherries too…
Zinnias- so purty in a cute little vase.
Recipe of the Week
~ Easy Fresh Pickles ~ makes one quart jar
Wash the cucumbers you are going to use. You can also let them rest for a few hours in nice cool spring water (not chlorinated!) so they are nice and juicy. Take a quart-size mason jar, sprinkle a half dozen peppercorns, same amount of coriander seeds, 2 bay leaves, half tea spoon of mustard seeds, and 3-4 peeled whole or halved cloves of garlic. You can also add a couple of sprigs of fresh dill leaves or flowers, or a half teaspoon of dill seeds. Pack the jar vertically with 3-4 large cucumbers, or 5-6 smaller ones. Pour over the cucumbers and herbs a salt-brine of 1 pint of water to 1.5 teaspoons of sea salt. Make sure the water just about covers the tops of the cucumbers, then cover the jar loosely with its lid, so that air can escape when fermentation begins. Throw a kitchen towel over the jar to keep them in the dark. You may hear a sizzling sound after a day or two – that’s a good sign that the fermentation has begun!
After 2-3 days, see if the color has started to change from bright green to a yellow-green. That means you can put your jar in the fridge to slow down the fermentation process and keep your pickles crunchy! Serve as an appetizer, or chop into a cucumber & tomato salad. Use the salty pickle juice as you would vinegar in a salad dressing or add a cup full to a soup or stew!
We have many easy and fast cucumber pickle recipes; please email us for ideas!
FYI:
~ Honey from the farm bees is for sale! $8 per 1lb. jar. Get it while it’s here!
~ We harvested some potatoes for the ‘Dave Matthews Band’ this past Friday! Their traveling chef sources local. It was a neat experience! If only every rockstar did this we would be pretty well off, being so near Nissan Pavilion, a major concert venue!
On The Horizon:
Next week:Even More potatoes and tomatoes (me thinks cooler weather can slow ripening)- also we are giving you more garlic soon so make way!!!
Available online at:, under ‘CSA'
703-754-4833