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Cherry tomatoes or eggplant– we have over 10 varieties of eggplant this year, “but why?” you ask, because they are beautiful! We are always looking for something more productive and better tasting and in the case of eggplant more beautiful
• Potatoes – rosy red potatoes, delicious steamed or roasted with herbs
• Cucumbers – they are finally here. We have an abundance of Japanese “Suhyo long”, “genuine”, “Middle Eastern prolific”, and “tasty jade”. We are looking for a variety of cucumbers keeping the seeds small and the meat sweet, something for every taste.
• Zucchini – these guys have really gone crazy. There are patty pan and green heirloom varieties and yellow and green straight
• Basil – dry or use fresh but don’t waste this summer favorite. To dry simply hang upside down out of direct light
• Parsley
• Kale or chard
• Snap beans – trickling in, but about to explode. We have both bush (hardest to harvest) and pole (hard to harvest) beans. Many types, green, green really long (“Fortex”), purple flat “violet podded stringless”, and purple skinny “velour”. The bummer about purple beans is that they turn green when cooked. -
Beets or Carrots
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• Sweet onions “Walla Walla style
• Garlic
The vegetable landscape changes dramatically this week. We said good bye to many of the brassicas; cabbage and broccoli and hello night shades (tomato, pepper, eggplant) and curcubits (squash and cucumbers). Many of those we left behind will be back in the fall as temperatures cool. The night shades are just coming into their own and will be with us through the frost. Tomatoes in the greenhouse are ripening and those outside are looking good too. The peppers are slow as molasses even with 4 beds in the greenhouse they look weeks off even for green.
We are getting really excited about our winter squash, even though they are months off. Juvencio worked really hard getting this new field into shape for vegetable production by hand shoveling compost. He spent over a week with wheel barrow and shovel in hand and it seems to be paying off. Look at before and after photos.
We continued the planting of fall crops this week between trips to the county fair to check on our kids and livestock. We planted the fall cabbage, fall broccoli and cauliflower, and managed to get some more flowers squeezed in. I seeded fall lettuce, spinach, kale and chard. The lettuce production has been over the top this year meeting and exceeding our expectations. We hope you like eating salad!!
Jespen watering in the broccoli
Diego and Luna have spent 12 hours or more a day at the Washington county fair. Each of them has one goat they have prepared and have shown. Diego won Champion for the intermediates and Luna Reserve Champion for the juniors for dairy goats. Close friends and “Contented Munchers” club members Nate and Sam Schoch each took Champion in their divisions for dairy cows. Today at 10:00 Diego, Nate and Sam face off for the round robin competition for the Grand Championship. We have to get out and harvest so we don’t miss the action!
ZUCCHINI RELISH
10 c. ground zucchini (skin on)
4 tbsp. salt
Dash of garlic salt
4 c. ground onion
1 chopped red pepper
5 c. sugar
1 tsp. dry mustard
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 chopped green pepper
2 c. vinegar
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. cornstarch
2 tsp. celery seed
Soak first 3 ingredients 2 –3 hours. Drain and rinse well. Add remaining ingredients. Bring all to a boil and simmer for about 30 minutes, then seal while very hot in jars. Tastes just like pickle relish!
Zucchini Fritters
Chez Panisse Vegetables, Alice Waters
(We tried this the other night and really liked it; we used flour instead of potato starch)
1 pound small green zucchini
Salt and pepper
1 clove garlic
1 small bunch of chives
Zest of 4 lemons
1 tablespoon potato starch
1 egg
2 tablespoons olive oil
Grate the zucchini and slat them. Let stand for 30 minutes in a colander. Squeeze the zucchini dry with your hands or wring it out in a towel. Peel and chop the garlic fine, chop fine about 1 tablespoonful of the chives and grate the zest of the lemons. In a large bowl, combine the zucchini with the garlic, chives lemon zest, the potato starch and the egg, lightly beaten. Heat the oil in a non stick sauté pan over medium heat. For each fritter, pour a generous tablespoonful of the zucchini batter into the pan. They will look like little pancake. Turn them over after about 3 minutes or when golden brown. Cook 2 minutes more on the other side. Drain on paper towels.
Serves 4
CUCUMBERS WITH WASABI AND RICE VINEGAR
1 lb Japanese or Kirby cucumbers (about 5)
1/2 teaspoon wasabi powder
1/2 teaspoon water
2 tablespoons rice vinegar (not seasoned)
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon soy sauce
Equipment: an adjustable-blade slicer
Very thinly slice cucumbers crosswise with slicer; toss with 1 teaspoon salt and drain in a colander 15 minutes. Rinse cucumbers under cold water, and then squeeze handfuls to remove excess water; pat dry.
Stir together wasabi powder and water in a bowl and let stand 5 minutes. Add vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce, whisking until sugar has dissolved. Add cucumbers and toss well.
Cooks’ note: Cucumbers can be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.