We know that you’ve been enjoying a lot of traditional summer veggies in your share this year:  tomatoes, zucchini, green beans, etc.  So every once and a while we try to put in something that is a little more unusual.  That’s part of the pleasure of the csa for many members — the chance to try veggies that you otherwise might not.  So this week… edamame (otherwise known as young soybeans)!  You’ll find a bunch of stalks in your csa bag, banded together, with most of the leaves stripped off the plant.  We recommend that when you get home you pluck all the pods off the sticks and cook them up or refrigerate them in a plastic bag.  The sticks and leaves can go into your compost.  Follow the recipe below, and we think you’ll love it! Edamame and corn are the only two veggies on the farm that Eli, a meat-loving kind of kid, gets excited about.

We had a great week on the farm, harvesting all the shallots and planting lots of cover crop before that wonderful soaking rain on Wednesday.  And now, back to sun!  It’s great.

Bill and Eli, lifting a tractor load of shallots up into the second floor of the barn to dry. We probably laid out eight or nine loads of this size.

If you like to freeze kale and collards to have greens for the winter, we are starting to have plantings that are available for pick-your-own extra greens.  Just let us know when you’d like to come to the farm, and we’ll make sure you have directions to the kale.  If you’re unable to make it out the farm, but would still like to have the extra greens to put by, we can pick and deliver ten bunches for $15.  We blanch and freeze tons of kale and chard every fall, and it feels great to be eating our own, healthy greens in soups, sauces and casseroles, all winter long.

Our new WWOOFer, all the way from Georgia, is Kelly Servick.  She just came from trail work in Baxter, so we can’t imagine that farm work feels too tough to her!

Have a great week, and as always, feel free to contact us with any questions about veggies, milk, your own gardens… we love to talk about it all!

Be well,

Reba and the HCF crew

Week 12 veggies:  Carrots, Tomatoes (big and/or cherry), Salad Mix, Potatoes, Onion, Shallots, Edamame, Zucchini and/or Zephyr Squash, Cucumber

This week’s recipes:  Edamame, Tomato Fritatta with Fresh Marjoram or Thyme, Curried Zucchini Soup