The chilies are getting hotter as the summer progresses. Can you help us put them in order of heat? Take a mix of chilies home and tell us how they rank, if you dare! Photo by Carrie Vaughn

│ Announcements │ This Week’s Share │ U-Pick │ Recipe │ Coming Soon │

Announcements:

Yes, in spite of the rain, we will have the CSA pickup Wednesday afternoon/evening on the farm and at Dupont. But as always, if you’d rather double up another day, you can skip coming out in the deluge.

This is the last chance to order oysters for your Labor Day weekend. Pickup is this Thursday, 4:00–6:00 p.m. in Annapolis, and anyone can order (tell your friends!). This happens to be the first-ever harvest for Pirates Cove Oyster Company. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation created a mentoring program to get more watermen in the business of raising oysters for a sustainable harvest and a saved Bay. You can help this farmer get his business started!

There’s a fun history behind one of the chili peppers pictured above—the Buena Mulata (bottom right corner). This beautiful chili seed was saved by the folk artist, WWI veteran, and seed saver Horace Pippin in Pennsylvania. CBF staff and CSA member Josh Kurtz warns us the pepper is plenty hot in the violet stage when we’ve been picking it. But if we left it on the plant, it would continue to ripen to yellow, orange, brown and red. Like most peppers, the flavor gets fruitier as it ripens, but don’t expect it to have less heat!

This Week’s Share:

Pea shoots
Choice of pie pumpkin or acorn squash
- Winter squash store very nicely outside the refrigerator, so you can keep the pumpkin as a decoration until you’re ready to bake it. It’s a small variety for eating, rather than the watery, stringy giant pumpkins that people use for jack-o-lanterns. Keep an eye on your winter squash. If one develops a soft spot, cut that part out and bake it right away.
Red potatoes
Tomatoes — cherries and full-size
Cucumbers
Garlic
Peppers — green bells and ripe, sweet peppers
Choice of chili peppers, okra and tomatillos

U-Pick:

Tomatoes and Chilies in the field:

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.
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. And expect to walk 400 feet on uneven ground in tall grass.
Please bring containers and a mask. Even if you’re vaccinated, wear your mask if you are in close quarters with people outside your household.
Expect lots of cherry tomatoes and not very many full-size tomatoes.

Herbs, etc:

New: Ground cherries beside the sunflowers
Basil (Genovese, Greek, Thai, Round Midnight, Lemon, and Tulsi)
Garlic chives
Lemon balm
Mint
Oregano
Parsley
Sage
Shiso
Sorrel
Thyme
Flowers (Sunflowers, Zinnias, Gomphrena, Cosmos, Tithonia and others)

Recipes:

Chef Matt Finarelli has two ways to use your summer vegetables in pasta. One roasts the vegetables in a hot oven, bringing out a richer flavor. The other leaves the vegetables raw, which takes advantage of the bright, fresh tomatoes we can enjoy at the end of summer. Thanks, Matt, for your recipe contributions! (And if you’re lucky enough to attend one of his cooking class parties, you can learn the trick to cutting up a pepper without leaving a mess of seeds on your cutting board!)

Pasta Provencal with Basil, Bell Peppers, Tomatoes and Olives

1 pound farfalle

2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 ea red pepper, stemmed, seeded, ribs removed, cut into small/medium dice
2 cups small cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, halved
8 oz fresh mozzarella, shredded
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
¼ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, shredded (~½ cup)

Bring a pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente; drain.
Pour pasta into a large serving bowl and toss with 1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil.
Add red pepper, tomatoes, olives, mozzarella and garlic. Toss to combine.
In a separate small bowl, combine remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp pepper. Whisk together and pour over the pasta salad. Toss to combine.
Add pecorino, parmesan and basil, and gently toss. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and then serve warm or at room temperature with extra grated cheese.

Linguine with Roasted Tomato and Zucchini Pesto

from Chef Matt Finarelli

Garlic, zucchini, and tomatoes get puréed with toasted sunflower seeds, fresh basil, and parmesan to make a rich, delicious pesto. Serve with Italian sausages or meatballs if there are people who also want some meat with the dish.

8 cloves garlic, peeled
3 pints grape tomatoes (or 1½ lbs coarsely chopped fresh tomatoes)
4-5 ea small zucchini (~1½ lbs), trimmed and sliced
7 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
7 Tbsp shelled, roasted, salted sunflower seeds, divided
3 cups fresh basil leaves, divided
3 oz freshly grated parmesan cheese, plus extra for serving
1 lb linguine
1 ea fresh tomato (~4-5 oz), diced
8 oz fresh mozzarella, cut into bite-sized pieces

Preheat oven to 450° F. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking sheet or aluminum foil.
Place garlic cloves, tomatoes, and zucchini in a large bowl. Add 3 Tbsp olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat.
Roast vegetables in oven, stirring every 5 minutes until nicely browned – about 15-20 minutes. (Increase roasting time to 25-30 for chopped fresh tomatoes).
Set vegetables aside to cool to room temperature.
Place cooled roasted vegetables in a blender; add 3 Tbsp sunflower seeds and 2 cups basil leaves. Puree together while slowly pouring in the remaining 4 Tbsp olive oil.
Pour pesto into a bowl, and stir in the parmesan cheese. Set aside.
Coarsely chop (or tear) the remaining basil, and set aside.
Cook linguine until al dente, and reserve ½ cup of the cooking water. Drain pasta and place in a large serving bowl.
Toss pasta with pesto, and use some of the cooking water (if needed) to help it spread throughout the pasta.
Add the diced fresh tomato, fresh mozzarella, reserved 1 cup chopped/torn basil, and reserved 4 Tbsp sunflower seeds. Toss to combine.
Serve warm with extra parmesan for garnish.

Quick Pickled Cucumber and Red Onion Salad

from Chef Matt Finarelli

While this may look like a salad you’d sit down and tuck into, it’s much more of a garnish. In fact, this recipe came from a restaurant I worked (Rustico) where it was the garnish for our grilled New York Strip Steak! It’s also a great accompaniment to oysters, much like a spicy mignonette.

Makes ~1½ cups

1 cup rice wine vinegar
½ cup water
¼ cup sugar
¼ tsp turmeric
1 clove garlic – minced
½ tsp salt
2 ea cucumbers
1 ea small onion
1 ea serrano pepper (optional)

Combine rice wine vinegar, water, sugar, turmeric, garlic, and salt in a small saucepan, and stir to dissolve. Heat over medium high heat to bring to a simmer.
While the pickling liquid is heating up, peel the cucumber, slice it in half lengthwise and remove all the seeds. Then slice the cucumber thinly on a bias to make thin half-moon shapes. Place in a large bowl.
Slice the red onion very thinly, and slice the jalapeño (if using) into thin rounds. Place the onion and pepper in the bowl with the cucumber.
Once the pickling liquid comes to a boil, immediately pour it over the cucumber mixture.
Allow everything to cool to room temperature together, then serve as a garnish for meats or as a small side salad, or on top of stir-fries.

Coming Soon:

We’ll have more types of winter squash in the weeks to come.
Radishes will begin week 17 or 18 and should continue off and on through the end.
We’ll have at least one more week of Asian pears.
A modest supply of tomatoes, heavy on cherries, will continue through mid-September.
Peppers of all kinds and okra are seeing a nice lift in production. We’re guessing that continues through the end of September.
Tomatillos are continuing to fruit but the end is neigh.
We have lots of garlic, and as soon as we have a few rainy days of work, we’ll get enough cleaned to start selling it for those who want more than two heads/week.
Eggplants will be at your pickup site at least once more, probably twice.
Sweet potatoes are looking good, but after last year, I’m assuming nothing. Fingers crossed.
You’ll start seeing salad greens around week 19 and kale and collards shortly after.

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.

Week 16 of 26 : Fiery Hot (Chili) Summer