Summer Share #9 of 20- 8/2+8/4: Be Daring

Time is a funny thing. When you are super busy it flies, when you are resting after being super busy...it flies. But thinking about this week being the first week of August is a little shocking. I can't believe it's August already, but also the 4th of July was soooo looong ago! I guess that means we packed it in. Got a ton of stuff done in a month that was long, but the weeks were short. But August is here, and Summer isn't even halfway over. The last day of Summer is September 22nd. So there is still a lot to do this Summer.

We are still harvesting new potatoes, and the variety we have right now is called Upstate Abundance. Never heard of it? That doesn't surprise me, but it is one of the best tasting potatoes I've ever had. I dare say you don't even have to add butter! Their growth habit is a bit out of this world and when you see the magic a single plant made under the soil you understand why it was named Upstate Abundance. There are a bunch of small potatoes, and I mean a bunch, per plant. Some people don't take vegetables they can't peel, but I dare you to let go of that mindset (very old fashioned), because all the flavor and most of the nutrition is in the peel of many vegetables! Including potatoes. I dare you to look up a recipe for 'Smashed Potatoes', or season and put in the oven to roast instead of boiling water. The flavor is amazing, and if you are avoiding the potatoes cause they are small you are missing out. If a vegetable in the share looks different to you, then I dare you to ask about it. Don't make a face at it, be intrigued by it. Believe it or not we are very aware that our vegetables look different from their grocery store counter parts (and yes, I include some farm stands in this category because they are just buying and reselling produce from anywhere), and usually it is because of at least one of many reasons. The reasons may be because we grow for flavor, not for a veggies ability to ship well. We grow to the limits of our region. We grow to maintain diversity. And again, we grow for flavor not yields. For all these reasons, and more, our vegetables look the way they do and we wouldn't have it any other way.

This week's share will include: summer squashes, hopefully more cucumbers as the next planting is just starting up, new potatoes, carrots, beets, cabbage, fresh onions, peppers, eggplant, fennel, radicchio, head lettuce, tomatoes, and corn. I know everyone got a surprise when they showed up and our sweet corn was in the share, but we weren't sure if it would be either. Same this week. The next variety is just ripening. We may have some pollination issues (ie not all the kernels will form) because deer invaded when the plants were young and ate the tops (ie the tassel is how each kernel is pollinated).

The fruit share will include blueberries, apricots, and peaches.

Don't forget your Savage Wheat order