Usually the trend at the markets has been for business to drop off dramatically about the 2nd week of August. Hopefully, this year, we won't see that trend happen; with the great crowds we've been experiencing at ALL our markets, I hope that all of you have found that eating locally, seasonally and more healthy is more than just something "cool" to do. It is a lifestyle choice--committing to eating better. Plus, your food dollars go further at the market! The food you buy is fresh and won't spoil as quickly as store-bought. The variety of different foods available at the market: tomatoes, eggplant, onions, peppers, potatoes--all are significantly better tasting--because they are fresh (and grown by really great people!).
August has been our month at the market to focus on eating locally and preparing meals using all or mostly locally obtained ingredients. It is easy for our family to eat locally, because we've usually got something in the garage that we've just brought back to the house. Now, we've sold TONS of veggies in the last few weeks: what have you folks done with it? I know that a lot of you shop on Saturday AM with the intention of having friends over that night--what did you have for dinner? Was the entire meal local or just one dish? Did you use anything from your own garden (you get bonus points for that!)? Tell me! Leave a comment about the fabulous meals that you have been fixing using your bounty from the market! Super-volunteer Caroline Fox wrote in the Market blog about her 1st meal back from vacation using her Mitchell Farms CSA share for that week. So, comment away! Tell me about one of your local meals/dish that you have made this summer!
August is the beginning of the end, too. Plants and flowers have mostly reached their peak and will start winding down, preparing for winter and spreading seeds. Usually by this time, the lawns are dry and brown. Not this year! Now, you may enjoy a verdant, green lawn that all this rain has brought us. We, on the other hand, sincerely wish it would stop raining for about 3 more months! All the frequent rains have wreaked havoc on our zucchini, squash and cucumber crops and we are experiencing massive crop failure. Too much rain means rot and fungus and that translates into no squash or cucumber goodies for you! At this point, many of these crops are too far gone to recover, so the availability of these will be limited. Much more moisture will also have an impact on our fall crops, too. Such are the pitfalls of farming.
Changing gears....what hasn't failed?
- Watermelon! We will have red seedless watermelon this Saturday from the small personal sized ones to some big, feed a crowd melons. Yellow melons will also be there--these are just as good as a red watermelon, but think with a hint of peach or plum. So very sweet and juicy and good for you!
- Cantaloupe--The early crop is just now coming into its own. There were a few last week, but will will be loaded down this week. We are still picking the Early Queens and will be transitioning over to the larger varieties as the season continues.
- Sweet corn--Our signature crop--we will have plenty of corn this week. Now is the time to put some up for winter. How wonderful at a winter dinner party or Thanksgiving to pull some summery goodness out of the freezer?! Or maybe a nice hot bowl of corn chowder or veggie soup? Grab an extra dozen and freeze it. I promise it won't take more than an hour to put up 12 ears for the freezer!
- Tomatoes--vine ripened, juicy, tasty, some are just flat out ugly! I firmly believe that God intended for tomatoes to taste good, not look good. Their beauty is on the inside! As a former tomato-avoider (I should start a club!), resistance was futile and I assimilated into the club of enjoying summer tomatoes. I still can't just cut one, but as a topping for bruchetta or in gazpacho--I'm there. We have some very, very good hybrids and our heriloom tomatoes are outstanding! Bill has outdone himself this year, as heirloom plants & fruits need a little more TLC. The result is some stellar tomatoes!
- San Marzano Italian tomatoes-these torpedo shaped tomatoes are in the Roma tomato classification and are used for making tomato sauce, paste or any dish where not a lot of juice is desirable. I've used these to make sauce with fabulous results--it cans very well. A quick fresh sauce recipe: rough chop one heirloom tomato and 2-3 San Marzano tomatoes, one medium or half a large sweet onion chopped medium, 2-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced, salt & pepper, fresh oregano. Put tomatoes, onion and garlic into sauce pan over medium heat. Cook until tomatoes have broken down. Add salt & pepper to taste. Add finely chopped oregano. Serve over pasta, sauteed or grilled veggies or on toast!
- Eggplant--one of the more underutilized veggies-we'll have the regular purple aubergine, striped Antiguas, a whole pile of Asian varieties and some white eggplants.
- Sweet Onions
- Maybe, maybe some zucchini, cucumbers & squash
- Bell Peppers
- Giant Marconi grilling peppers
- Sweet banana peppers
- Hot peppers: jalepeno, hot Hungarian and others
- Garlic
- Leeks
- Carrots--something new at the Mitchell Ranch--we think we've figured out how to grow these guys finally!
- Potatoes--Think potatoes are just the medium for eating butter & sour cream? Fresh potatoes have so much more flavor and texture. You won't be able to go back to store bought (which by the way can sometimes be quite old before they get to the store).
For the Skipper fans, he thanks you for your interest and wonders, indeed, why I don't write about him more often!
