CSA For August 22nd!

Fresh spearmint! Tea or iced tea? Ice cream? Mojitos?

More odd weather - a low of 6 C last night, but highs in the 30's C coming up in the next few days!  It's been a see-saw year and it shows in the slowness of some things to develop like tomatoes, peppers and cukes, and in the longevity of other crops like lettuces!  We did, finally, get a decent pick of cucumbers and there is still lettuce to go with them for salad!  We're digging carrots today - and you'll see why we've waited; the sizes are still very small even though there's been lots of rain.  Go figure!

Included in your boxes this week is some info on ordering some of our favorite perogies, handmade locally.  Penny is a retired lady who makes yummy perogies.  One of the things we like best is that she pre-cooks hers, so it's just de-frost and microwave or fry.  On busy days we love skipping the boiling part of perogy preparation!  I've got an order form and if you're interested bring your money next week and we'll get an order in for delivery with your CSA in a couple of weeks!

The summer squash is (finally) coming along well.  Discovered this recipe for zucchini fries - seems quite fast and easy...and tasty.  We're going to try that this weekend. A great side dish for burgers on the BBQ!  Or how about zucchini chips - these would freeze well for winter snacking!  Stuffed and baked summer squash are delightful - and can be done on the BBQ in hot weather!  This recipe for sausage and onion stuffed squash reminds me of the recipe my Mother used for stuffed a winter squash called Vegetable Marrow (which is coming along nicely, too).  Of course, there is the most fabulous chocolate cake:  Chocolate zucchini cake!  It's a gorgeous, fluffy, moist cake with the added nutrition of zucchini - and quite easy!  Tuesday's CSA blog post had a nice recipe for chocolate chip cookies with zucchini, as well as some other good things!  Check it out here.

Some different herbs will be coming your way!  Always awesome to use them fresh...but we love preserving them for winter use, too.  Of course, you can just hang them up in a cool, dark place to dry, then crumble and put into glass jars.  Here's a great way to prepare and freeze herbed butters; the butters would be awesome on potatoes in the winter, or for basting chicken, perhaps.  You'll be surprised at how much more flavour home-preserved herbs have than the bottles from the store!  That method works best for the savory herbs.  Today everyone is getting fresh spearmint!  Perfect, of course, for a delightful cup of tea.  Necessary in a mojito!  Fabulous added into iced tea!  Here's a great link with eleven things to do with fresh mint, including a mojito recipe!

The 'late' beans are available.  Regular bush/snap beans are largely finished but the Romano and Blue Lake pole beans are just getting going!  The Blue Lake are big, fat, long round beans - very like a regular bush bean - just mondo!  The Romano (related to Dragon's Tongue) are flat podded, big guys.  They've got a bit more texture and they do have a string along the spine so pull it out as you top them.  The Romano's are very good for soups, stews and stir fries; they will stand up a little better.  Also nice in tin foil packs on the BBQ; you'll find they won't go as limp as regular beans!

On a different note, the Brandon Community Gardening Network has some great workshops and presentations coming up!  This one next Tuesday includes a look at everything 'hot' in foodie circles:  lacto-fermenting, komboucha and cheese/yogurt making.  Here's the scoop, straight from their Facebook page:

Ferment yourself next Tuesday evening (Aug.27). The Community Garden Network presents the fall workshop series. On Tuesday learn to make lactic acid ferments, komboucha, tempeh, seed gurt, yogurt and cheese in your kitchen with instructors Esan Azor and Keith Williams! workshop takes place at Central United Church 327-8th street. from 7pm-9pm. Free!!

So, in the boxes this week:
FULL SHARES:  3 lbs. Carlton white or Aladdin red potatoes, couple of green zucchini, golden zucchini, mixed Patty Pan summer squash, Red Sails lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, edible pod peas, Romano beans, spearmint
PART SHARES:  2 lbs. Carlton white or Aladdin red potatoes, green zucchini, golden zucchini, assorted Patty Pan summer squash, Red Sails lettuce, carrots, shelling peas, blue Lake pole beans, cucumbers, spearmint.
SINGLE SHARES:  Cucumbers, zucchini, golden zucchini, Patty Pan summer squash, Red Sails lettuce, small bag either Romano or Blue Lake beans, carrots, spearmint.

Enjoy!