Some of our tomato plants are so lush, they make a green tunnel for the harvester. Photo by Carrie Vaughn.
│ Announcements │ This Week’s Share │ U-Pick │ Recipe │ Coming Soon │
Announcements:
Pirates Cove Oyster Company is selling oysters during our CSA pickup in Annapolis on Thursday, September 2. Visit piratescoveoysters.com/CBF to order.
We’re welcoming the break in the rain that’s forecast for this week. The fields have been quite wet, and it’s making it tricky to get your fall crops planted. But we’re not complaining! The rain was not so over-abundant to drown any crops, and we could spend our time weeding instead of irrigating.
Win a Prize!
Do you prefer to eat meat that’s locally grown and healthy for you and the environment? We have just the sweepstakes for you! Go to GoGrassfed.org and enter to win prizes such as regular deliveries of grassfed meat to your home every month for a year ($1000 value). While you’re on the website, you can explore a directory of local farmers, learn why you would want to eat meat from animals raised on a leafy green diet (as opposed to packing animals in a barn and feeding them corn and soy), watch a cool movie, and more. Clagett Farm’s very own Michael Heller is one of the organizers of GoGrassfed, so trust us—it’s a legit sweepstakes and the website is a great cache of information. Don’t miss out!
This Week’s Share:
Asian Pears
Tomatoes — cherries and full-size
Cucumbers or squash
Garlic
Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers
Chili peppers — currently picking Shishito, Poblano, Anaheim, Cayenne, and small quantities of Aji Chinchi Amarillo, Tobago Seasoning (a habanero without heat), Jalapeno, Serrano, and Buena Mulata.
Okra, tomatillos or onions
U-Pick:
TOMATOES! And chili peppers, too!
LIMITED TIME: U-PICK tomatoes and chilies are ONLY OPEN Wednesdays 3:00 p.m. to dark and Saturdays 1:00 p.m. to dark. THIS IS IMPORTANT!
As always, U-Pick is for CSA shareholders only. You do not need to sign up.
It’s a surprisingly tight space between rows, and the plants are delicate. Please avoid leaning on the tomato plants or stepping on the vines. Expect to spend some time low to the ground on your knees.
Please bring a mask, even if you’re vaccinated, and wear it if you are in close quarters with people outside your household.
There’s not a large quantity, so this will not be the year you fill your freezer with tomato sauce. But there are lots of delicious sun gold cherry tomatoes which are great for the people in your life with big eyes, tiny hands, poor impulse control, and a lot of enthusiasm. (By the way, send us your photos of tomato U-Picking!)
Don’t forget to bring your own containers.
This is not a good activity for someone who has difficulty walking 400 feet or more through tall grass.
Our regular U-Pick selection of flowers and herbs is the same as last week.
Photo by volunteer, Diane Williams.
Recipes:
CSA member Dale Rubenstein recommended this recipe from Fine Cooking magazine June 2021, which uses soba noodles and also “noodles” made from squash.
Sesame Soba and Squash Noodles
2 summer squashes (yellow or green, about 1 pound), spiralized into “noodles”
1 cup fresh or frozen corn kernels
8 oz soba noodles (soba are typically made from buckwheat; some brands are gluten free)
¼ cup ponzu sauce (or 2 Tablespoons soy sauce + ½ Tablespoon mirin + zest & juice from one lemon)
2 Tbsp tahini
1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar
¼ tsp kosher salt
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
3 scallions or one bunch chives
2 tsp sesame seeds for garnish (toast lightly for better flavor)
Cilantro for garnish (optional)
In a large pot of boiling water, cook the soba noodles according to package instructions. In the meantime, put the squash noodles and corn into a large colander in your sink. Once the soba are finished cooking, pour the pot of water and noodles into the colander of vegetables and allow to drain.
In a large bowl, mix the sauce ingredients (ponzu, tahini, oil, vinegar, and salt). Pour the noodles and vegetables from the colander into the bowl and add the tomatoes, scallions/chives, and toss. Garnish with sesame seeds and optional cilantro.
Serves 4
Lucky for us, I have a good friend who teaches fantastic cooking classes for home cooks like ourselves. He spends a lot of time testing each recipe and making them easy to understand, and I cajoled him (it wasn’t hard—he’s a generous guy) into letting me include some in your next few newsletters. Thank you Matt! And if you’re looking for a fun party for your friends, I can’t recommend his virtual cooking classes enough — finarelli.com.
Summer Vegetable Casserole
from Chef Matt Finarelli
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
½ lb Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced ¼” thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
2 small red or orange sweet peppers, thinly sliced
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp thyme leaves
½ lb plum tomatoes, sliced ¼” thick
2 small zucchini (~½ lb), sliced on a bias ¼” thick
3 Tbsp freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
Preheat the oven to 350° F. Coat a 9-inch baking dish with olive oil.
Spread the potatoes in the dish in an even layer; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.
In a bowl, combine the bell pepper, onion, garlic and thyme and season with salt and pepper. Arrange two-thirds of the bell pepper mixture over the potatoes and drizzle with oil.
Top with the tomatoes and the zucchini; drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.
Cover with the remaining bell pepper mixture and sprinkle with the cheese.
Cover the casserole with foil and bake for 30–40 minutes.
Increase the oven temperature to 425° F. Uncover the casserole and bake for about 20 minutes longer, until the vegetables are tender and glazed on top.
Let stand for 10 minutes. Serve warm.
Ethiopian Okra and Tomatoes (Bamya Alicha)
from Chef Matt Finarelli
3 Tbsp clarified butter
1 cup onion, minced
2 ea large tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp minced fresh ginger
1 tsp Berbere spice
½ tsp ground cardamom
¼ tsp ground fenugreek
¼ tsp nigella seeds
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
4 cups small okra pods, stems and tails removed, cut into 1½” pieces
1 ea serrano chile, seeded and minced
Injera bread to serve
Heat the butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and cook until lightly browned, about 4–5 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
Add the garlic, ginger, Berbere, cardamom, fenugreek, and nigella seeds and stir to combine. Season to taste with a generous dash of salt and pepper.
Add the okra and cook at a light simmer—uncovered—for 20 minutes. Add a little splash of water as it cooks if needed.
Add the serrano chile and cook for 5 minutes longer.
Season to taste again with salt and pepper.
Serve hot or at room temperature on Injera as part of an Ethiopian meal.
Coming Soon:
Pea shoots! These little green sprigs taste like snow peas and make a fun addition to a tomato salad. Think of it as a teaser for the salad greens coming this fall. They’ll be ready in two weeks.
Asian pears will continue at least one more week.
A modest supply of tomatoes, heavy on cherries, will continue through mid-September.
Next week, the potato finale.
Green bell peppers (these are unripe) and the red and orange peppers (these are sweet because they are ripe) will continue through mid-September. Hot chili peppers will do the same. Of course, the soothsayer is only guessing. Only time will tell when cold nights inspire the plants to quit fruiting.
Tomatillos probably one more week.
Okra is going strong. We expect it to carry on through the end of September.
Garlic is our abiding friend.
This week, everyone should have had eggplants once. Your pickup site will probably get it once more at some point in September.
Winter squash plants are still looking good! We’re anticipating mid-September you’ll get your first taste, beginning with acorn squash.
The rain has held up some of the fall plantings, so we think you’ll see your first greens around the end of September and continuing through the end of the season. Some other things to expect this fall: sweet potatoes, radishes, turnips, cabbage, beets, and fennel.
Thank you for Supporting our Farm!
CLAGETT FARM
Wednesdays, 3:00-7:00 P.M.
Saturdays, 1:00-4:00 P.M.
DUPONT CIRCLE DC
Wednesdays, 5:00-7:00 P.M.
ANNAPOLIS
Thursdays, 4:00-6:00 P.M.