CSA for (gasp!) September 2!

Lemon Ball Cucumbers ready to pick!

 Hard to believe it's September: Where did Summer go? Did we have a summer this year?  We're already into a cycle of cool nights and warm days; our dwarf Amur maple 'Fireball' is already showing Fall colour in the leaves!  And the Fall solstice is still twenty days away!  For many of our members this is back-to-school time and we totally expect a few of you to forget your pick up today in the rush of events!  Happens every year.  This odd summer has some of our garden renters coming to us with problems like mould and mildew on everything from tomatoes to winter squash.  Dense planting, over-head watering with a can or sprayer are all leading to problems for gardeners.

The gardens carry on, nonetheless.  We're at the uncomfortable moment between crops - the winter squash, carrots and tomatoes are not quite ready, the beans are tailing off, the lettuces and peas are finished.  We see a touch of frost on the foliage of our winter squash, up in the north part of our fields, out in the open.  Just a touch - must have happened that evening that got down to six degrees Celsius.  The cucumbers seem to be loving this weather, though!  We've got our first pick on Lemon Ball cucumbers.  Yes, those little yellow balls are heirloom cucumbers!  They've got a bit of bristle on their skin; just scrub it off and they are a delightful slicing cucumber.  Also coming on are tomatillos and ground cherries - we've got small picks on both which will be on the trading table - on of the reasons it's good to come early!

Amanda and Ed have come through today with the first pick of corn!  It's probably all they have to share - but it's a start.  Our corn, knocked over during one of the storms, is coming along fine but is a week, maybe two, before it's ready.  Amanda and Ed also brought a nice selection of herbs!

Ground cherries, from pineapple flavours to lime,
depending on the ripeness!

Here's a round up of fast cucumber recipes for salads and juicing!  These larger sizes of cucumber are great for cold cucumber soup, it's so easy to remove the centre seed package and chunk all the flesh for pureeing!  The big sizes are also fabulous for chunky cucumber salad - like this Szechuan cucumber and bacon salad!  This recipe includes bacon lardons, which are just pieces larger than bacon bits.  Check out lardons here and this one with video instructions for making your own.  Here's a very simple chunky cucumber salad.

Have you heard of a spiralizer? You can put veggies like zucchini through the little machine and noodles come out!  Here's a recipe for Zoodle Pasta, an example of the fabulous things you can do!  They are also handy for curly potato fries and fancy carrots!  How about zucchini for breakfast with these Whole Wheat Zucchini Pancakes?  Classic zucchini bread is always welcome, and this recipe makes two loaves, one of which would freeze well if nicely wrapped.  Here's a link to a bunch of links for zucchini bread, including versions with berries, chocolate chips and lemon!

For the FULL SHARES:  Long English cucumber, slicing cucumber and Lemon Ball cucumber, 4 heads of corn, lb. of pole beans, assorted zucchini, assorted Crookneck squash, 3.5 lbs. of red potatoes, herb.

PART SHARES:  Slicing cucumber, Lemon Ball cucumber, 4 heads corn, 3/4 lb. Romano beans, assorted zucchini, assorted Crookneck squash, 3 lbs. red potatoes, baby beets, herb.

SINGLE SHARES:  Lemon Ball cucumber, 2 heads corn, 1/2 lb. Romano beans, assorted zucchini, assorted Crookneck squash, 2 lbs. red potatoes, herbs.