CSA Farm Share Week 8

Hello Everyone,

This week you will find in your shares:

Sat. July 19

• Beets
• Celery
• Basil
• Chard
• Bunching onions
• Cucumbers

Tues. July 22

• Chard
• Potatoes
• Garlic
• Squash
• Cucumber
• Carrots

Vegetable Spotlight

Basil - According to ancient legend, St.Helena, mother of the Emperor Constantine, was told in a vision that she would find the True Cross in a place where the air was sweet with perfume; she discovered it under a patch of Basil.  The word basil comes from basilikon, meaning kingly.  In many places custom demanded that the king himself cut the first basil of the season with a golden sickle, iron was too base.

Sweet basil is a native of India, where it is sacred.  It has been used in the kitchen since at least 400 B.C.  when the Greek physician/botanist Chrysippos described it as one of his favorite seasonings.  In the middle ages it worked it’s way northward through France.

We love making pesto with fresh basil.  Remember if you’re using it in a cooked dish, add it at the last minute as heat will destroy it’s flavor, and turn it black.

In France they sometimes make Pistou, or pistou sauce, is a Provençal cold sauce made from cloves of garlic, fresh basil, and olive oil. It is somewhat similar to pesto, although it lacks pine nuts. Some modern versions of the recipe include grated parmesan, pecorino or similar hard cheeses. A somewhat similar sauce is Argentine chimichurri made with parsley.





Around the Farm



















Garlic was harvested over last weekend and is drying in the barn.  You will start seeing it in your shares soon!

Getting ready to get ground finally worked up for for seedings of carrots and beets that will be harvested this fall.

Cabbage, Kale, Collards and more are being potted up in greenhouse, and will be ready to be transplanted in 2-3 weeks.