CSA Week Eleven

News from the field:

Well, all good things must come to an end, and this week we are seeing the beginning of the end of melon season. It is a short and very sweet season, and it does not last long. There is a melon in your basket this week, and we may have a few stragglers at our farm stand for the next week or two, but the main flush of melons is in our rear view mirror until next year. We are grateful for such a good melon year - hot, sunny, with just enough rain - but we are already starting to long for next year.

As we prepare for fall, we are starting to see the winter squash ripen up, the fall storage onions need to be put up for drying, the kale, spinach, and fall carrots are humming along, and yes, we may see another salad turnip or two as the weather begins to cool down!

On the farm, we have a series of infrastructure projects we are starting in preparation for next year. Another greenhouse is going to go up this fall, some new areas in our main veggie field need to be plowed and prepped for next spring, and we may try to build a bigger cold storage area in our old woodshed. But our most important expansion project will be welcoming the newest member to the Old Shaw Farm crew sometime around Thanksgiving. It is shaping up to be a good fall!

In the Basket:

Corn - We harvest our corn the morning of market, so it is fresh and as sweet as can be. Even though Mark Bittman’s column is more directed at less than perfect corn, I thought his ideas and recipes sounded great so they’re included in your basket.

Hot pepper - Use in the Mark Bittman corn recipe or for anything else. Melon salsa?

Melon - The book Melons for the Passionate Grower recommends serving melon with port. “Charentais [the kind we grow] and Porto were made for each other. Because port is sweeter and more viscous than Charentais, it accentuates the melon’s fruit acid and delicacy. . . . Simply pour it into the melon [half] and serve.”

Mesclun - Some greens to round out the basket.

Sun golds, slicing tomatoes, and sweet peppers - Yum.