July 13th, 2022

What’s in your share?

Basil * Basil Storage Tip!!
Turkish Parsley
Cherry Tomatoes or Shishito Peppers*
Salad Mix
Bell Peppers, Broccolini, or Beans
Scallions
Zucchini

Shishito Peppers* - These small, mild tasting peppers are used in Japanese cuisine. Fun fact: about 1 in 20 is spicy! Consider yourself lucky if you get one (it’s nowhere near the heat of a jalapeno, so don’t worry too much). Shishitos have thin walls, which lend well to being blistered. We usually cook them as an appetizer to fend off our roommates while we’re cooking dinner. We never bother to cut them because they’re small enough to eat whole and are best showcased on their own.

STORAGE: Even though most refrigerators are a few degrees colder than the ideal temperature for peppers, we find that these veggies stay crisper inside the fridge inside a closed container or plastic bag, rather than out on the counter.

Basil* - It rained the night before we harvested the basil, so it has a little dirt on it. BASIL DOES NOT STORE WELL IF WET, so we did NOT wash it. If you would like to wash it, wash a little right before you use it. If you’re going to make pesto, use a salad spinner just as you would with lettuce.

Tomatoes are on their way! Since we are no longer at the market, having hundreds of pounds of tomatoes each week sounded absurd, so we opted to nearly halve our tomato production from last year. If you’ve ever grown tomatoes, you may know that they are quite labor intensive. Tomatoes are bushy plants that can quickly become overwhelming, so many farmers opt to prune their tomatoes to either one or two main vines, trellising them vertically as they grow. These vines can grow until the temperature drops regularly below 50 F. We have always grow our tomatoes inside our unheated high tunnels for two major reasons. 1) To take advantage of the optimal conditions inside the tunnel and 2) to use the actual frame of the tunnel to create a trellis.

In seasons past, we’ve pruned our tomatoes to two vines, or “leaders”, in hopes to maximize their production and get as many tomatoes as possible. We’ve had decent and successful tomato crops, but we were seeing the plants get stressed before the weather turned. It made us think that we were asking too much of the plants, and in turn, the soil, to assume each plant would produce that of two plants. So we decided to prune to one leader this season, giving the same nutrients, space, and love into just one strong and healthy vine. Already, we’ve seen a difference in the structure of the plants. The plants are taller and thicker than they were last year, but we haven’t gotten a chance to note a difference in the fruits, but we’ll see!

Additionally, we decided to plant two successions of tomatoes, one month apart from each other. Pruning and trellising is immensely laborious job; it’s hot, sticky, and arguably the most technical job on the farm. At the beginning of the season, we didn’t want to have to worry about tending so many tomatoes while simultaneously building greenhouses and prepping and planting the entire field. Additionally, tomatoes usually have a huge first flush, gradually tapering off through the season. We thought that having all the beds flush at once would leave us with way too many tomatoes at a time.

Blistered Shishitos

Shishito Peppers (whole, with stem on)
2 T coconut oil, lard, or any other high heat oil
Sprinkle of salt (course sea salt is the best for this recipe, but any salt will do)
Splash of soy sauce OR lime juice- depending on the flavor profile you’re going for

In a frying pan, heat oil on high. You want the pan to be hot, so that it blisters the peppers without making them too soft. When the pan is hot, toss the peppers in. Saute for 3-5 minutes, using tongs to stir occasionally. When the peppers have a nice blister to them, turn the heat off and add the soy sauce or lime juice. Mix quickly and remove peppers from the pan. These are an awesome appetizer showcased on their own or atop a stir fry, creamy polenta, rice, or chili.

July 20th, 2022

July 6th, 2022