All three colors of Italian sweet frying peppers are just starting to ripen and will be in the shares with a mix of green bell peppers. Sweet peppers are full of sugar, and when grown organically, they often get bites from bugs in the field that can grow into a rotten spot. So if you see a small hole or crack on your pepper know that it was visited by a bug, but is still perfectly good-tasting and gorgeous. Part of eating Organic produce is accepting the surface level imperfections caused by bugs, plant diseases, or weeds. Thanks for sourcing your food from us, and thereby investing in your local environment and the wider health of the Bay!
This Week’s Share:
Slicing Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Red Onions
Cucumber
Sweet and Bell Peppers
Shishito Peppers
Choice: Tomatillos or Okra or Poblanos or Chilis
We are in a rare glut moment of shishito peppers, so here’s your FAQ about shishitos. They are mild and taste like a very slightly sweet bell pepper, except about 1/10 is randomly hot. The red ones are not any more likely to be spicy than the green ones, either color can be hot. There is no need to cut the seeds and core out like you would with a larger pepper, just break off the stem and sear and eat them whole, or chop into bite-sized pieces if you want. Try this simple recipe with just sesame oil and high heat for an easy side dish!
Notes from the Field
Well it’s wet out there and going to take some time to dry out. We are thankful to have rain irrigate everything, though having very wet soil also brings the tractor work to a halt. To avoid soil compaction we will have a wait a few more days until the conditions are right for tractor jobs like planting fall cabbage and broccoli, prepping ground for winter carrots, cultivating squash and new flower beds to kill weeds, and digging potatoes. For now we can dig potatoes painstakingly by hand, seed fall bok choi in the greenhouse, and clean a mountain of onions! And tunnel work continues. Pictured here is a late season Harvest Moon tomato plant, looking strong and healthy!
What’s on U-Pick?
Cherry tomatoes are now on U-pick! Go down below the main parking lot through the big fence, and look for the red signs. Any type or color there is available, except please refrain from picking the tomatillos for this week. You are welcome to use a pint or quart box from us if needed as a picking vessel, but please return in the future so we can reuse it! Pictured above are:
Mountain Magic: red round jumbo sized cherries, juicy, great for salads
Green Zebra: fully ripe when they are yellow with bright green stripes, these taste citrusy and acidic
Sunpeach: small pink cherry tomatoes, AMAZING flavor
Citrine: tiny orange cherries, also the sweetest flavor in the field
Clementine: orange jumbo sized cherries, also called “cocktail” tomatoes, sweet and juicy and good for salads
Verona: The tried and true plum/grape tomato. Great flavor, also good for dehydrating, canning whole, or making a quick tomato sauce
Reminder that sunflowers are still pickable too!
In the raised brick beds, also known as the Cleeland Garden:
Mint
Oregano
Calendula
Parsley
Greek Basil
Sorrel
Thyme, Sage, and Lemon Balm (to allow for healthy growback for these plants, pick the largest leaves from the outside, do not cut from the stem of the plant!)
In field “G” behind the pizza oven/parking lot:
Dill
Cilantro
Parsley
Italian Basil (the classic basil flavor)
Lemon Basil (looks like basil, smells and tastes strongly of lemon)
Thai Basil (dark purple flowers & stems, great for Asian recipes of many kinds)
Holy Basil (light purple flowers and stems, directly behind the Thai Basil, used for calming tea)
Any Flowers: Zinnias, Statice, Gomphrena, Celosia, and Strawflowers are still blooming!
Reminder that U-picking hours are Monday-Saturday, 8am-6pm. Please do not come to the farm on Sundays, as we do not have staff on site who can be available in case of an emergency. If the main gates are closed when you arrive you can follow the paved road to the right, and then follow the curve of the road back to the left. This will take you in a loop around the main deer-fenced area and up to the wash station/parking lot.