Rain, Rain…..
Rain continues to be the theme of the summer. We spent some time this evening watching video of the flooding in eastern Iowa and marveled at the power of water. Also, some pictures of flooding in China – scary! When we look at the damage in other areas we feel pretty blessed and humbled as well – our 5 1/2″ last Wednesday doesn’t seem so bad – at least we don’t have water up to our eaves and we aren’t watching our homes float away. And….we have air conditioning that allows us to sleep during those hot, humid nights – we have a lot of things to be thankful for!
That said – we wanted to let you know that all the excess moisture definitely has a detrimental effect on many crops. Our harvest crew will quickly tell you that the smell of rotting onions is not very pleasant – and there are lots of onions that will stay in the field and get plowed under due to rot. The cauliflower is also suffering from some kind of blight and most of it will not be harvested. But we keep going and keep planting.
Raccoons! Another critter to add to the list of wildlife sighted at our place this summer. We found some evidence of them raiding the corn patch, but not enough to cause a problem. Yes, we planted a little sweet corn this year and this week you will get to enjoy some of it.
This week in your share….
Sweet Corn – enjoy! Husk, boil, roll in butter and add a little salt – heavenly! Don’t forget to add a side of dental floss 🙂
Beans – 1/2 shares will have fillet beans and whole shares pole beans.
Peppers – light green peppers
Tomatoes – the high tunnel continues to produce some really nice fruit
Potatoes – Rio Colorado again this week – next week we’ll head into those yummy fingerlings
Carrots –
Cucumbers – always refreshing in hot weather – great in salads – I like them with dip or peanut butter.
Red Meat Radish – rain is good for something. Sometimes also known as “watermelon radish”, these are firm with a dense texture and mild from the moisture.
Fennel – use the stems like celery and chop the bulb up to eat raw or toss it with olive oil and some chopped carrots and roast them together for a wonderful aromatic treat.
Onion – white and sweet
Garlic – we have it all harvested now and we’ll keep feeding it to you – I hear it’s great for repelling mosquitoes.
This week the whole share will have the fennel and radishes.
Easy Cucumber Salad – this is from Allison’s friend Bailey
Cucumbers – peeled and sliced
White onion – thinly sliced in rings or half rings
Dressing: equal parts of the following – 1/2 cup of each will make a good amount
– White or cider vinegar
– Sugar
– Water
Stir together until the sugar dissolves and pour over the cukes and onions. Let marinade for at least an hour before serving. You can keep adding cukes to the leftover dressing as you eat your salad.
Variations to try: dill, fennel, celery seed