Week Eight is already here!

Hello CSA members!  Be sure to check out the pictures in the previous blog that Vera sent us, one of our CSA members.  Looks like she is finding some delicious ways to cook up the CSA veggies.  Thanks for sharing Vera.  We hope everyone has had a nice week and survived the heat this past weekend.  Our fields have finally dried out for us to get in them with the tractor and hoes, so things are really going to shape up this week and next.  Planting (most important), weeding, and tilling will be the top items on our priority list.  We also need to mow down all of our spring crops and till them in so we can get some cover crops sown for our soil's health.  We spent several hours getting up our crop of potatoes yesterday; not so great a yield but light-years better than last year.  This year we were able to figure out how best to grow them, so we think next year's crop will be really good.  We had dill roasted potatoes for our side item last night and WOW they were fantastic.  
This beautiful caterpillar is a black swallowtail butterfly to be.  We find loads of them around the farm, usually munching on dill and carrot tops.  Notes on drying garlic:  We've been doling out garlic to you for a couple weeks now and yet another round this week with another big bulb of elephant garlic.  The best way to store these (we think!) is to hang them up somewhere out of the sunlight where there is some air circulation.  We have all of our garlic hanging up in our barn.  We prepare yours so that it looks cleaned up and is, for the most part, clean of dirt.  We've read it is probably best not to keep garlic in the fridge, but if you have done this it should be fine.  It doesn't take us too long to go through garlic, and this week we'll have a roasted garlic spread recipe to help you move it along.  

We hate to tease all of you half-shares with the picture of the sungolds, but next week they'll be here!  We thought we would have enough this week for everyone, but it looks like one more week.  And then there will be a'plenty.   Our field tomatoes are also just starting to turn; we had our first sandwich tomato yesterday.....a heirloom cherokee purple.  Perhaps in two weeks for you all?  
In your box this week:  

half shares

fresh dug potatoes (taters!)

bulb of elephant garlic

pint of padron peppers

cucumbers

onions

basil and dill

Large Shares

two pints of cherry tomatoes

extra potatoes
RECIPES

Roasted Elephant Garlic you can click on the red title or follow directions below, both recipes work for regular and elephant garlic

Roast Elephant Garlic: Remove the paper skins, cut off the tips so the cloves are exposed. Drizzle with olive oil and cover with tin foil; bake at 400° for 30-45 mins or until soft and spreadable. 

Dill Roasted Potatoes  Preheat oven to 415-425 degrees.  

Wash then chop up your potatoes into bite size pieces; we like to do around 1/3 inch pieces because they cook faster.

Coat generously with olive oil and coarse salt in a mixing bowl (if you don't have coarse salt you can use regular salt)

Layer flat on a baking pan (the oil you used to coat the potatoes should be enough to not need to oil the pan) and cook for 20-25 minutes or until tender.  (sometimes it takes our oven 30 minutes)

While the taters are cooking, you can wash and chop a couple tablespoons of dill leaves, finely. 

When the potatoes are done, remove from oven, sprinkle with dill, and mix.  Add more salt if desired.  Serve hot!  

Cucumber and Onion Salad   (click on link)

Hungarian Cucumber Salad  (click on link)

FLOWER SHARES

This week we will have a mixed bouquet with zinnias, dill flowers (edible dill on them as well!), cosmos, and rudbekia.  Next week oriental lilies as pictured above, a heavenly white called Siberia.  

Thanks everyone and enjoy your veggies and flowers!  We're thinking of you all.....