Dear CSA-ers,

Today's share should include:

One large or two medium lettuces,

Some chantenney and bolero carrots

A pound of potatoes, kennebec and/or yellow finn

10 collard leaves

Farm shares have ten chard leaves and some beet greens

Town shares have six radishes

And.....

ONE HALF OF A PUMPKIN.  No we haven't cut your pumpkins in half, we gave that up years ago.  Some of the town shares will get a pumpkin this week, and others will get them next week.  Farm shares will get them next week, except for those people who are sharing a share (Milwee/Yamrick, Hammers/Clevenger).  Share sharers will get a small New England Pie pumpkin on their assigned week, while the rest of you will get a Cinderella pumpkin, one week or the other.  Alle ist klaar?

SO IT'S OFFICIAL: IT'S BEEN A CABBAGE YEAR

You may be mourning the absence of tomatoes in your share this week.  We did pick about three colanders full, but it didn't seem enough to divide thirty ways, so "the farmers will feed themselves first this week."

A few weeks ago, one of our newer CSA members quite innocently asked (purely out of curiosity, she protests) whether we would be getting tomatoes, or would it be a "cabbage year."  Jim responded with a ten minute combinations of apology/defense and class room lecture on the challenges of growing tomatoes at Hunters' Greens (will we have to warn folks not to mention the "T" word around Jim, as we warn them not to use the "B" word (bitter) around Diane.  We hope not.

Yes, we confess that the tomato crop left something to be desired this year, despite the record number of 90 degree days.  Jim blames it on:  the cool spring, the chicken manure germination debacle, the failed buckwheat cover crop between the rows experiment, the resulting weedy tomato patch, his fear of over watering the tomatoes and getting blight, and the beginnings of a real live case of the blight.

If you would like a further explanation, we are sure professor Jim will oblige.

But of course we have never really meant "cabbage year" literally.  The over-abundance of cabbage this year, Jim blames on the fact that he had three varieties of seed, and so seeded three flats rather than one or two, and that he seeded the cabbage after he had solved the chicken manure germination debacle,  erring on the side of overseeding.

Also, tomatoes and cabbages do have one thing in common:  when it rains, they split.  And so with our August rains, we found ourselves running out and picking tomatoes and cabbages.

Some members offered some relief from the cabbage deluge in the way of recipes, this one from Lisa Giachinno:

Greek Salad with Thyme Vinaigrette

1 1/2 lbs of cabbage thinly shredded
1 med red onion halved and sliced thin
6 ounces kalamata olives pitted and halved
8 ounces feta cheese
1/2 cup olive oil
3 or so tbs fresh lemon juice
splash of red wine vinegar
2 or 3 tbs fresh thyme leaves
1 tsp salt
1 med bunch spinach, washed and stemmed
fresh ground pepper

Toss the cabbage, onion, olives, and cheese together in large bowl.
Whisk olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, thyme and salt together and toss with the salad.  Let the salad stand at room temp for 2 hours.  Adjust seasoning if necessary.
Refrigerate the salad for about 30 minutes before serving.  Just before serving toss the spinach with the salad and seasoning with pepper.

 

I have made this salad several times.  It keeps okay for at most 2 days but if absolutely yum.

Jill Jensen suggests something much simpler, called braised cabbage:  Chop the cabbage, sprinkle with sea salt, fry it on butter on high heat until almost browned.  Additions might include fresh cracked pepper, garlic, onions, sweet or hot chilis and/or dill.  She made an attribution to some famous cable t.v. cook we'd never heard of, who got it from Martha.

Next week is the last week, gather up all your delinquent pillow cases.  If you don't think you'll be seeing us again for a while, you might bring some other container to load your share into.

Until Next week

Bon Appetit