This week in our Summer CSA

Nice to be back to our reasonable summer temps! That definitely made everything on the farm a little easier this week. We are still suffering a few repercussions from the heat wave. The main onE is that our sugar snap pea season didn’t last nearly as long as it usually does. That is the sad/bad news. The good news is that fava beans are ahead of schedule and we picked lots for you this week.

Traditionally fava beans are double shelled. First you remove the beans from the pod and then you remove the waxy white coating from the bean. I cook them that way sometimes, because they are delicious that way. However, if I don’t have enough time for all that, then I just roast them in the shell and eat them pods and all – delicious! Here is the link to my favorite recipe for Grilled Fresh Fava.

Some of the other projects on the farm this week… lotsa weeding the onions, sweet corn, cucumbers and green beans. We put drip irrigation on the winter squash and made what is probably our final pass through that field. The squash vines are huge and almost touching across the rows. Tomatoes are looking good too and will hopefully start building the trellis in that field soon.

This is the 3rd week of the FLOWER BOUQUET CSA shares. Bouquets will be available in the tent as you exit the CSA pickup.

Highlights from the CSA box this week…

• The Sprouting Fioretto Cauliflower has been a big hit the last few weeks. It is related to regular cauliflower but has even more of those delicious sweet crunchy stems and just a few little florets at the end. They can be roasted whole, or chop them up and sauté.
• So happy to have the collard greens back in the mix. They are traditionally cooked, but also make a great raw salad which is nice this time of year
• Romaine Lettuce is still sweet and crunchy in spite of the crazy heat. Time to make your favorite Ceasar Salad recipe!
• Summer Squash is going strong. There are more than 3 dozen recipes of zucchini, crookneck, Patty Pan and all the other kinds of courgettes for members at Cook With What You Have

Not a shareholder? Come on board for a prorated Summer CSA season at one of our two pickup locations (SE Portland or Lake Oswego) and take home fresh, local, sustainably-farmed produce like this every week!