Don’t worry – you still have tomatoes but enjoy them while you can heading into September things can change really fast now! Your share includes cherry tomatoes and a variety of tomatoes called Celebrity. They store well and are good for slicing and preserving.
Bell peppers - the mini-apple pepper red variety and standard green peppers If you need a break from peppers, be sure to freeze a few whole for making stuffed peppers this winter.
Just a little bit more purple – we have included both more Black Beauty (the standard eggplant) and a few more smaller Fairytale eggplants.
A mix of green and purple beans – The green beans are the Kentucky Blue beans and the purple are the same as a few weeks ago. We picked both varieties when small and tender this week.
Swiss chard – Many of you commented on how much you liked the swiss chard earlier this summer and now here’s more! Again, don’t let it go to waste so if you can’t make it this week, blanch it and freeze it. It will be a while before you get fresh swiss chard again.
Cabbage – Another head of cabbage is in each box. These cabbage heads are slightly smaller but are the perfect size to make some cole slaw or our marinated slaw recipe for picnics this Labor Day weekend.
And finally, a new addition to your share are these hairy little beans called edamame. Have you had edamame before? It’s a Japanese delicacy - really just a special variety of soy bean! It’s something available at sushi, or hibachi resaturants and it is great and easy to make! Definitely don’t let this go to waste as these fresh ones are much more tender and sweeter than the frozen ones that make their way to restaurants. Check out our featured recipe this week to learn the best ways to prepare your edamame – all you need is 5 minutes boiling water and some salt!
What can you do with your share this week?
-Be sure to prepare your edamame as soon as possible using our featured recipe.
-Go back and check out the recipes from previous weeks for your eggplant, tomatoes, beans, swiss chard and cabbage – find what you haven’t made yet – or check out our Facebook page for inspired cooking by a bunch of our fans!
Just can’t eat anymore veggies… well then, read below about preserving by canning or freezing:
The past two weeks on the farm have included a lot of canning and freezing – to let nothing go to waste and to avoid having to buy non-local food later in the year. You’d be surprised how easy it is to preserve your food and how nice it is to pull out fresh vegetables to enjoy when it is cold and snowy outside. And freezing, for example, locks in the nutrients until you enjoy your vegetables. There are many green bell peppers now that you can freeze whole or in pieces so there’s no need to have peppers shipped in from Mexico over the next several months! And think of how great your chili or soups will be with fresh, preserved vegetables – and you know exactly where they came from!
During the past week, we have frozen green beans, corn, baked eggplant, whole peppers, roasted red peppers, pesto, whole tomatoes and tomato sauce. We’ve also canned salsa, stewed tomatoes, green beans, pasta sauce (San Marzano!), and pickles (and even pickled peppers)!
Here is a great website to get started. http://pickyourown.org/allaboutcanning.htm You will see separate info listed for canning and also freezing with specifics for each type of food – with pictures! We use the information on this site as our guide for a lot of our own canning and freezing and it’s always worked out well.
Got some questions – hit us up in the comments section on this page or on Facebook if you’d like some advice or thoughts on the best ways we’ve found to freeze (individually quick frozen vs. immediately bagged) or can (pressure canning vs. hot water method), or if you have questions about getting into canning your food in genreal! We can also recommend the products we use including the vacuum sealer and the pressure canner.
Actually – here’s EXACTLY what we use:
Presto Pressure Canner and the FoodSaver vacuum sealer – we have had both for years and they work AWESOME!
