Greetings CSA members – and welcome to our second CSA week!

Without further ado, here’s what you can expect for your delivery to come tomorrow:

• Mixed Cherry Tomatoes
• Red Round Slicing Tomato (Delicious!)
• Patty Pan Squash
• Mini Cabbage Trio (Red Cabbage, Round Green Cabbage, Oblong Green Cabbage)
• Bunch Sweet Onions (White)
• Bunch Carrots
• Bunch Kale
• Shiitake Mushrooms
• Garlic Scapes
• Bunch Sage

Some farm updates: as the summer moves on to what tends to be its “hottest” phase yet, we’re saying goodbye to crops like sugar snap peas, turnips, and salad mix (though we still have some head lettuce in the ground and on the way!), while welcoming some newcomers. Just today, we trellised up sweet peppers, hot peppers, and eggplants, which our members will be able to enjoy at some point pretty soon.

We also trellised up an all-new crop we’ve never worked with: ground cherries. Think tomatillo with an earthier, more date-like (or even fig-like) flavor. Perhaps our CSA members will see some of those pretty soon here, too, if they do well!

Our most important news: we’re almost done rebuilding our shiitake production house and doubling its size. This means tons and tons (and tons) of shiitakes will be available to close out our season (and very likely more available to our CSA members than they’ve ever been before!)

We can’t wait to deliver what’s growing right around the corner to you. Some other notable upcoming veggie possibilities in your share: beets (red, gold, white, chioggia/striped), rainbow carrots, head lettuce (romaine and frilled butter bibb/green), and lots more!

Thanks again for choosing us as your farmers.

What Is Patty Pan Squash? | Explanation and Tips

Before you pull out the strange circular-looking squash from your cooler and get confused (in my opinion, it looks like a UFO or a spaceship), reading this section can dispel some of that confusion.

Despite its shape, patty pans aren’t as weird to cook with as they might look like at first glance. You can cook them in the exact same ways as their close relatives, zucchini (on the left) and crookneck or other yellow summer squashes (on the right).

I have to point out that patty pans (as I described to a farmers market customer just this past Saturday) have a firmer, more starchy texture than summer squash, but the same buttery and delicious flavor.

Jupiter Ridge’s Farmer Adrian says they’re absolutely perfect for those “stuffed squash” recipes (try substituting those “zucchini boat” recipes for patty pan squash, they make for perfect single-serving little squashes) and baking them with a stuffed filling in the oven.

Though it goes good with everything (it’s true), bacon is an irresistible combo with summer squashes like patty pan. A great combo for grilling season especially.

Jupiter Ridge’s Farmer Will has used summer squashes (including patty pan) for a grilled bruschetta. Cut it open laterally and top with garlic, olive oil, basil, tomato, and perhaps a sprinkling of mozzarella cheese. This is a great grilling option, too, or put it in the oven!

Wellness Spotlight On: Garden Sage

With a bunch of culinary sage to be expected in your share, here’s where I can put my (Adrian’s) herbalist hat on for a moment and explain a little bit about it on the health front.

In culinary terms, sage will pair great with those tomatoes, squash, and garlic scapes in your share. It’s also rich in antioxidants that you can experience some of if you use it as a spice in your meals, but which you can get an even greater dose of (at a time) if sage is used as a tea (fresh or dried – it doesn’t matter). Some of the perks of these antioxidants: better immunity, and better better brain function, reportedly and according to studies.

Though it’s tasty when used fresh in food (highly recommend!) another option is to dry it, hang it, and save it for winter as a tea for boosting immune systems for colds and flu (and it’s good for coughs too).  It may have an intense flavor in tea, but tastes amazing with honey (or use it as one of many herbs in a hot toddy for a sore throat – delicious!)

Enjoy the sage (and the rest of your share) this week!

Yours,
Adrian & Will | Jupiter Ridge Farm