Another full and tasty week.  Apricots!  We love the sweet/tart taste of apricots and sadly this will be the last week for them in our shares, so enjoy while they last!  We have a delightful apricot tart recipe you may want to try and we will post later this week.  Bagel Peaches are starting to soften and the birds are like an Alfred Hitchcock movie.  It’s a little scary out there!  But, by the end of the day we should have them covered and protected ~ The peaches, not the birds! These tender babies need to be picked a bit firm, so let them become slightly softened on the counter for a day or two for best flavor.  They do bruise easily so be very gentle when picking up today and place them on the top of your transfer basket or they will surely squish!  

We are also hoping for an abundant picking of tomatillos.  These have a paper-like husk on them that need to be removed.  Use these in salad dressings, salsas or roast them with other veggies.  Heirloom tomatoes are starting to ripen.  These are amazing and I think are best raw!  But, who is to say.  Please!  Don’t waste these!  Some years they produce great and others not so great.  So treat them like gold, because they are!  If you happen to get a creamy white tomato (see picture above), it is ripe!  And yes, they taste like a tomato!  We will add more garlic and some lavender this week so you can try the lavender garlic paste Kira listed earlier.  This is amazing with carrots, but any cooked vegetable can be used.  Squash will more than likely once again be in your findings.  Get creative!  Look for ~ Cucumber, green onions  pepper, greens of one type or another and basil. 

Baskets will be early this week due the holiday.  So we should be finished by noon.

~Stay cool and stay hydrated!   See ya’ll later today!

For a paste that adds the essence of the summertime in the Mediterranean to any dish, try this easy flavor spike. 

In a mortar and pestle, or in a blender, mash together 3 Tablespoons dried organic lavender buds, 3 fresh garlic cloves, 1 piece of candied ginger and 1 2inch cinnamon stick. Use fresh or freeze in an ice cube tray. 

Uses as a flavor hit for stir-fried vegetables, mashed or puréed vegetables and rice, pasta or whole grain dishes.

If you came to our garlic braiding class we had a sample of this on a dish of oven baked carrots drizzled with butter.

This grown-up take on childhood treat would make a perfect party starter!

note: (Ancho chili powder, spicy and smoky can be found on the supermarket spice shelf )

In a small bowl, combine 1/4 cup of dried currants and 2 Tablespoons of Scotch Whiskey and let stand for 30 minutes, or until the currants have softened and absorbed the Scotch. in the mean time in another small bowl, with an electric mixer, beat 1 log (4 ounces) of soft goat cheese until smooth. Beat in 2 Tablespoons of mango chutney (finely chopped), 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon ancho chile powder, and 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt.

Fit a pastry bag with a decorative tip and fill with the cheese mixture ,pipe the cheese mixture into 3 inch lengths of celery and sprinkle with currants and 1/4 cup of toasted, coarsely chopped pecans, pressing to adhere.

 The staples of summer produce!  This week we have golden plums, Chinese apricots, tomatoes, basil, greens, cucumber, garlic, summer squash, celery and mingle of another veggie.

Looks like the girls added ~ ONE bagel peach!  okay, so that is only a tiny taste, but they couldn’t wait till we had a bunch of ripe peaches.  These little treats will be found in your baskets next week.  They are very tender and sweet.  You will love them!

Throughout the summer months we will do our best to give you greens of one kind or another.  these are great in stir fries, green smoothies or chopped in salads.  Basil is also great added to green smoothies and we should seeing this in the baskets every few weeks.

 It’s hot out there!  Keep hydrated and eat lots of fruit!  We are over loaded again this week. This week you will find apricots, 3 or 4 different varieties, pluots, golden plums, a few white peaches (some need a little time on the counter to fully ripen) and some type of berry for your fruit fair fancy.  Veggies will include a red onion, garlic, beets OR white turnips, dill head and carrots. Greens this week will be kale. While summer crops are just starting to come on we will have a mix of other veggies as well. We also have some extra Napa cabbage.  If you get a “green” tomato in your basket, rest assured we weren’t just over eager to pick, they are RIPE!  These are heirloom tomatoes and come in many shades as you’ll find out over the summer season.

Look for a few extras this week in our box. We had a few zucchini get away from us and got a bit large, but you can stuff them, make zucchini bread or dry them into veggie chips.  Also we have a small box (7 lbs) of very ripe apricots.  These are great for making cobbler, fruit leather or freezing for smoothies, but need to be used up quickly. Napa cabbage and scallions as well will be in the mix.  A few bug holes, so they are ugly, but still very good to stir fry or chop up in salads. Take one extra item only please so others can benefit as well.

It has begun!  Summer shares start today with plenty of sweetness.  Pluots, Apricots and berries!  The pluots are green on the outside and red on the inside.  They will keep on the counter for a few days and will keep up to two weeks in the frig. Rinse your berries, dry and store in the refrigerator as well, or better yet, eat them up quickly!  We are just in the beginning stages of apricots, so get out your recipe books and find some new ideas to use them up.  Of course you will find garlic in your basket.  It is garlic season and it’s so good for you.  Herbs this week are fennel and dill.  If herbs aren’t used during the week you can dry them in a food dehydrator or even in a very low temp oven to save for later in the season.  Our tomatoes are just starting to ripen, along with summer squash and a few of these will be in your share as well, along with greens and other veggies in season. We are adding a small amount of lettuce this week and then it will come to an end until later fall.  As the season goes, you will be finding heirloom tomatoes, squash and peppers of different colors.  If you are into adventurous cooking and want to increase your cookbook library, we suggest and love…love…love the book called “Plenty” by Yotam Ottolenghi.  EVERYTHING we have tried in this book has been excellent.  I think it will open up a new way of cooking for you!

Look for the pretty!  The onion scape is not only pretty, but very flavorful in salads, pastas or as a finishing touch for roasted veggies.  Just cut the flower tops off and sprinkle away.

We will be adding some recipes this week to inspire your taste buds that you will be able to use throughout the summer season.

See you all later today between 4 pm and 7 pm!

It’s hard to believe 13 weeks have flown so quickly bye.  This is the last week of our spring shares and those that are signed up for Summer Shares, mark your calender for June 11th for the first pick up for twelve weeks.  Please don’t forget to return your extra baskets today!

This is a very full and fabulous basket this week with lots of fragile produce.  A box may be a good idea this week to keep things from bumping and bruising.  Our baskets will be filled with sweet cherries, Queen Ann cherries (very tender and bruise easily), apricots, strawberries, cabbage, peas, green onions, greens (such as kale, chard or celery), turnips, oregano, artichokes and a mixed of odds and ends of veggies.  Also, we will have some extra pie cherries for those who want them…These are buggers to pick and they NEED to be sweetened. SO, if you aren’t interested in them, leave them for someone else.  Waste not, want not!

We want to thank everyone for being so wonderful this spring!  Picking up on time, being kind and courteous makes for a happy farmer!

Enjoy & Eat Seasonally~

Mod Podge Week!  The gardens are blooming abundantly with this spectacular May.  Peas are coming on strong and should be good for several more week to come.  Everyone’s baskets will be slightly different this week due to crops coming on at such different times, but what will find in your share this week for sure is apricots, cherries, strawberries, peas, a greens of some kind or another, herbs, plus a mix of different in season veggies, which may include ~ turnips, artichokes, tomatoes, garlic, squash, peppers, cauliflower, fava beans….It will be the pick of the draw, so if you have one of those in mind you may want to peek through your basket.

Next week (May 28th) is will be the end of our Spring Share with skipping one week and beginning Summer Shares June 11th lasting 12 weeks.  If you are part of the summer shares, the remainder of your balance will be due next week if you haven’t already done so.  Enjoy!

Time is flying!  Already in week Eleven with only two weeks remaining.  So what’s in this weeks shares?  Cabbage, greens (swiss chard or kale), lettuce, peas (snap & snow or shelling), green onions, garlic, strawberries, cherries and herbs (fennel, sage & rosemary).