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One of the great things about eating seasonally, once you start to get sick of something, it often goes away and something new comes into play.  Gone are the days of greens an peas (although those are hard to get sick of) and now we are in the season of cucumbers and zucchini.  While the first planting of zucchini mysteriously didn’t germinate well at all, the replant sure did and caught up amazingly fast to the first planting.  When I head to the zucchini patch, I feel like I am entering the amazon as the plants are pretty much chest high.  We will see how long they look this amazing until the squash bugs attack.  They are so big I doubt I will be able to effectively pick them off.  You received a mix of zucchini.. a few small ones great for the grill and a couple of bigger ones that could be used in this amazing Zucchini Quiche or Chocolate Chip Banana Bread.

The first cucumbers are also beginning to come in.  A few small slicers and a basket of small Edmundson Whites. While they are a pickling cucumber, I have them, they are fine to use as in a salad, or in dilled cucumber dip and so you get them!  Next week you probably can expect a large amount of slicers as there are loads coming in.

Rounding out the box is another beautiful head of broccoli, some purple beans, Viking potatoes, a bunch of kale, some dill, basil, a few onions, a mix of pretty carrots, cylindrica beets, and some Italian Soft Neck Garlic.

Speaking of garlic, the next few days I’ll be thick in it as it is garlic harvest time!  Digging, cleaning, sorting, and curing will all be taking place.  This year we have 13 different varieties growing  – mostly hardneck and a few softneck which I will talk about more next week, although I must admit, I rarely keep track of what I am eating, only growing so knowing differences about their looks and growth, but not so much taste.  Maybe a garlic tasting party is in order?

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Other doings…  been working on some goat fencing which allows kids more access to some pasture.  They love it although it takes little time to eat all down.  The last of the broilers have been cleaned.  This is always a relief as it eliminates the daily chore of feeding and moving them.  There are peppers coming, tomatoes forming and I spied the first few Blacktail Mountain Watermelons in the patch.  It also looks as though I will need to start makin’ kraut next week as the cabbages are getting pretty darn big. AND the county fair is next week.  Busy but fun times are ahead!

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Something great about this year… I only turned on the water 3 times. Once when I planted the cabbage, once when I planted the tomatoes and peppers and once just after planting some seeds in front of a forecast hot, dry spell. The timeliness of the rains has been amazing.  We have pretty much caught an inch each week. This gives adequate moisture, time to dry out and till and plant, and moisture to help pull weeds.  Rain also keeps many bugs away as it can literally wash them off the plants and just isn’t as favorable for some insect growths.  It does increase some disease issues,  but nothing too terrible quite yet.

When it comes to harvesting crops and filling up the crop box timing also goes into what is ready when.  Will that broccoli make is another week before flowering?  Do I have to pick cabbage too?  Will these beets get too big?  So sometimes you might get something a bit more than desired other times not what you are hoping for.  The cabbage is rolling on its 3rd week – but that should be it for a while.  But the broccoli made it the week like I hoped and you should have received some beautiful heads of it.  Also new this week were some zucchini.  Some are little – great for grilling and frying up and there is a big one or two for bread or muffins.

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The golden beets are still going strong and onions are bulbing nicely.  Within the next week all the garlic will be pulled and hung for curing, so you can anticipate some each week.  If you ever want a larger amount of garlic, just say the word and more can be available if you have the need.

With the kale there is some beautiful ferny leafed stuff called fennel. Typically it’s let go a bit longer and the bulbs get larger as that is used more commonly, but I thought I would throw some as you know to dabble with a bit.  It has a strong anise flavor, which calls for some unique recipe ideas. A quick google search brings up a few ideas from Martha Stewart and  the Huffington Post.  A little bit roasted with beets and root vegetables. If you don’t like it, throw it in a vase with some flowers.  It still looks pretty.

The potatoes are the patriotic red, white and blue assortment.  The purple ones are called Magic Molly, the red ones are called Adirondack Red and the white are German Butterball.

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The yellow wax beans and green beans are still coming in strong. A great way to use them, and the potatoes, is in Vomacka Soup. This recipe is from the famous Schumacher Restaurant in New Prague.

The bees have been busy in the cucumber patch, so get ready for those and I am headed into the Black Currant patch this week.  Just a few insights to what is ahead.

While most are not really excited about gaining weight, when the box gains weight I am delighted!.  That means we are moving on from the season of leaves to things a bit more substantial.  Today’s CSA share has some familiar faces…Onions, Lettuce,Arugula, Garlic Scapes Golden & Chioggia Beets, Sugar Snap Peas and Snow Peas.  The box also contains a few newcomers including Potatoes, Green Beans,  Kale and Cabbage.

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As you head out to prepare for the 4th of July, hopefully amidst hot dogs and s’mores you can find some interesting ways to use up this weeks box.  Cabbage is great in slaw, but really sweetens up when cooked or braised a bit.  It can be wrapped in foil with butter and grilled, boiled on the stove or attempt this great oven roasted version with bacon.

You were provided with a pretty generous bag of Sugar Snap Peas with this box.  Of course eating them raw is always a treat. But steaming or sauteing them also really brings out the sweetness. You may notice a few pods have white splotches, that is thanks inpart to the brief hail we had earlier in the week.  It doesn’t hut them in the long haul; it is just cosmetic.

The lettuce has moved on from leaves to full blown heads.  Speckled Trout is the variety of choice this week.   It was not really washed as that extra water held in the heads only shortens the shelf life so it will need to be washed well before using.

I am glad for these long days this time of the year as it helps in getting all the various chores done.  We have been butchering chickens, hatching new layers, prepping goats for show, baling hay, planting some later crops and weeding, weeding weeding.  Luckily we have not needed to water much.

The melons and cucumbers are making vines and flowering well.  Late cabbage is forming nice heads and we are near the time to harvest the garlic!

Hopefully this weekend I will find some quiet time to dive into the three new reads I picked up.  The Grafter’s Handbook is all about grafting which I might actually save fore winter reading.  I am hoping the Art of Natural Cheesemaking by David Asher spawns some creative ways to use some excess goat milk and maybe I will pick up a new trick or two from Will Bonsail’s Essential Guide to Radical, Self-Reliant Gardening.

I hope you enjoy this weeks share and Happy 4th of July!