CSA WEEK #10: JULY 26 & 28

In Your Share This Week

• Beets
• Cucumbers
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Onions
• Potatoes
• Summer Squash

Crop Notes

Onions, Tropea: These red onions are torpedo shaped and considered a fresh eating onion because they have not been cured yet. They originally hail from the ‘boot tip’ of Southern Italy along the Eastern coast. Their unique shape allows us to plant twice as many plants in the same square footage as the traditionally round shaped onions you will see in the future. They are only slightly peeled to protect the shiny inner layers from bruising.

Potatoes: These are teetering on the brink between what we would traditionally consider a ‘new potato’ and a regular potato. The skins are just under the usual toughness for a regular storage potato, so expect a minor amount of peeling and scraping that occurred during harvest. We felt like the skins were set enough to withstand a washing, so we ran them through our root washer for you this week. We love the rosy skins and yellow-ish tasty flesh of this early-season variety that was bred in Canada.

Summer Squash: We grow yellow, green, and striped varieties of summer squash and we try to mix it up so you’ll see a selection of colors over the squash season. They all cook up very similarly- but watch out with summer squash…the cold temperatures of a home refrigerator are far too low for them and can really do a number on the fruits. The tell-tale signs are sunken pock marks on the skins, larger depressions, and dull skin rather than a glossy smooth appearance. If you see these signs, the squash is still edible but it means the clock is ticking! Squash are more of a tropical plant that prefer warmer storage temperatures around 50 degrees.

Around the Farm

We are excited to have our partnership with Grand Central Bakery featured in a new video they made about sourcing ingredients from local farms. It’s a great video the represents the best of eating in season and working with local restaurants, have a watch! There’s lots of beautiful SIO footage 🙂

And speaking of videos, we are also happy to be hosting the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for a tour and photo/video shoot for some informational materials that are being created. Our very own Field and Equipment Manager Brian Wood has been spending the afternoon speaking with them about our cover cropping, field management strategies, greenhouses, hedgerows, and more! The NRCS has been a great resource for SIO and we greatly appreciate the relationship we have with them.

We are finally seeing the harbingers of summer begin to ripen- red slicer tomatoes, sweet corn, and eggplant, oh my!!! Look for these crops to begin showing up in the share over the next week or two. Things are definitely in full-swing with plenty of weekly harvest projects for CSA along with large block plantings of beets, carrots, potatoes, and onions are clamoring to come in from the field…PLUS the onset of eggplant and tomatoes PLUS greenhouse seeding and transplanting to keep the harvest coming into the future PLUS never-ending irrigation circuits and weeding!!! WHEW!!! Well, back to it….enjoy the share and see you next week!