Week 16: The Best Time to Cook

Photo by Claire Burnett

Photo by Claire Burnett

Hello Folks,

Hope this late summer newsletter finds you all well and well fed!  We are rolling along in the season here at a very good clip at week 16 of 24...which means there are only 8 more weeks of market.  Yikes! Town has gotten crowded again with the start of school and although schedules are changing, we don't want you to miss out on the bounty that is September/October on the farm!  Its such a magical time of year when almost everything is in season, so be sure to try to work in a stop at the stand!  

This week on the farm we are making a huge weeding push.  All the direct seeded stuff that we will be harvesting come September is in need of some tlc and let me tell you folks, there is a lot of new beds out there!  Fall arugula, radishes, turnips, broccoli raab, spinach and much more will soon be back at the market and when added to the bounties of summer and the coolness of autumn, it makes for the best time to cook.  
 

Heirloom tomato sauce is on the menu this week! (Photo by Claire Burnett)

Heirloom tomato sauce is on the menu this week! (Photo by Claire Burnett)

Speaking of cooking, fresh express cabbage is what is on the menu at our house this week.  Not only is it nutritionally superior to many other vegetables, but it is also a super versatile one too.  Try making a fresh slaw for fish taco night or for that back to school pot luck.  Braise it with heirloom tomatoes, garlic and sweet onions or slice thin and toss in a stir fry with carrots, beans and summer squash.  Sour kraut is also a great kitchen science experiment for the whole family and brings me back to my roots in south central Wisconsin.  No bratwurst could be left kraut-less! Green or cranberry beans in heirloom tomato sauce with fresh grated parm and basil, eggs Benedict with a thick slice of heirloom tomato, basil, and balsamic reduction sauce, and an heirloom tomato tarte that will be sure to be a dinner party hit.  

Other announcements!  For those of you who have been tracking with us in regards to Poudre Valley Community Farms (PVCF) and the land co-op that we are working on, we would like to invite you to come down to the Sustainable Living Fair Saturday September 12th from 1:30-2:30pm for the unveiling of our land project!  In addition to our workshop, PVCF will have a booth at the fair all weekend and would love to chat more about the future of land for food production in Northern Colorado.  This is an extremely important issue for those of us who care about the future of local food in our region and we have been working hard on a solution to the loss of farmland for food production, so come on down and find out what we have come up with! Hope to see many of you there!


This Week's Harvest:

VEGGIES:
Kale
Chard
Head Lettuce
Cucumbers
Beans
Heirloom Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Basil
Garlic
Sweet Onions
Beets
Carrots
Fresh Green Cabbage
Hot Peppers
Eggplant (just a little!)


Farmer's Tips:

STORAGE:

Although the storage length of cabbage is dependent on the variety, in general  it is a nice long keeper.  The fresh express variety that we have at the stand this week will keep nicely in your fridge in a plastic bag for at least a month, so be sure to pick some up before we run out, even if you won't eat it right away.  We also grow a long keeper type of cabbage for our Winter CSA (sign up on our website soon!) that will keep in the fridge for 4-6 months!  Amazing vegetable indeed!