Hi everyone,
We’re back from break and ready for the peak of summer produce! This week’s share is the heaviest of the season (22 lbs!) and we’re expecting them to only get heavy here on out. Despite the apparent abundance of our shares, Nichols has been having a tough season. They’ve experience multiple flash flood events over the last month that has cause a significant amount of damage to some crops. Fortunately, what wasn’t washed away is thriving and abundant and ready for us to enjoy.
One of my favorite parts of the CSA Club is the way we can take advantage of our shared volume to increase the diversity of produce we each get to try. In a normal Nichols share this week, each received one varietal melon. Some received one variety, and others received another. Across all our shares this week, we had five different varieties. Instead of only getting to try one, we each get to enjoy a little bit of a few varieties (we did our best to make sure everyone got three different ones). What fun.
Hope you all enjoy the share!
-Ben
You’ve probably heard this called cantaloupe, but cantaloupe is actually a very specific variety of melon that is pretty rare in the U.S.. Nichols generally lists these as ‘varietal melons’ since they grow and distribute more varieties than they’re able to individually name. With the non-orange melons, I can do an okay job of figuring out what variety they are, but there are so many different varieties of orange muskmelon that I can’t confidently say which each is. I can say though its pretty tasty with notes of spices that resonate with me as cardamom and clove.
Nichols went hard on the corn in the shares this week, which is great since we love to add corn to just about everything we cook this time of year. With it off the cob, its easy to just toss into a pan with whatever else is cooking (like maybe the peppers). The kernels freeze well as is but best practice would be to first blanch.
These are a delicious variety of potato. Blue skinned but with a creamy yellow interior, they’re great for baking, mashing, or roasting. Their skin is still thin though so I would consider them ‘new’ and would recommend keeping them refrigerated.
Psych! No beets in the share this week. Instead we’re going to hold on to them and then when we have a free moment in the near future, we’ll pickle, can, and then return them to you that way (I promise I won’t forget).
Cucumbers galore. We had some pickling cucumbers from the greenhouse at the beginning of the season but now we’re into the abundance of field cucumbers. Make some quick pickles or give lacto-fermentation a try.
In the last share we had standard green bell peppers. This week we have a mix of different colors, some purplish-red and others a red-orange. They definitely taste different, the red ones with a nice fruitiness while the purple ones are pretty mellow.
This will be the first of many varieties of apples that we will get to enjoy. If you keep the apples in the brown paper bag and store them in the refrigerator, they’ll keep for months which is great since we will be getting a lot.
Jersey Mac is a solid utility apple; crisp and juicy. It softens when cooked so is great for apple sauce. They lean a little but more tart than sweet but aren’t necessarily sour.
From On Food and Cooking by Harold McGee:
“After their domestication in Mexico (their name comes from the Aztec term for ‘plump fruit,’ tomatl), and a period of European suspicion that lasted into the 19th century, [tomatoes are] eaten all over the world… In the United States they’re second in vegetable popularity only to the potato, a starchy staple.”
Cucumbers and squash are both part of the cucurbit family, which also includes melons. Globally, cucumbers are the second most consumed cucurbit, only behind watermelon. These are sweet and crisp. We’ve been slicing them thinly and dressing with soy sauce, vinegar, and a touch of sesame of oil for an easy snack.
There are a couple different varieties of cherry tomatoes in this mix. A yellow one that is a nice burst of tartness. A skinny red one that has a more mild flavor. And one that is more similar to the multi-colored heirlooms that are coming into season at farmers’ markets.
