You can always drive way North to cool off

Aww, image from the first share, just a few weeks ago :)

Hello all you shareholders out there!

As most of you are hopefully aware of by now, it is hot.  It's so hot that it's a news story.  In fact, we'd say it's fashionably hot.  Irrigation is the name of the game over here.  As you guys may notice roaming around town, plants are smaller than normal at this point in the season.  We're hoping that this weekend, we'll get some MUCH needed relief.  Do a rain jig.

On to a better topic, Dave has been making some amazing food.  It all started with some chili, some venison teriyaki, some gnocchi, and moving onto this morning, a delicious chard, onion, and mushroom omelette.  He had nothing to do with the frozen snickers bars.

This week, we harvested a bunch of summer squash, which includes some really unique varieties.  We're hoping that at the pick up you guys try the Lebanese White Bush squash, Eight Ball zucchini or the Italian varieties of zucchini (Costata Romanesca and Coccozelle).  Other news from the field includes lots of irrigation to keep those tasty plants hydrated and some greenhouse plastic removal.  We remove the plastic simply so that it doesn't have to weather every storm until next spring.  Yesterday, the thermometer on the porch said 104.  In the greenhouse, it must have been 120.  Stef wasn't in the greenhouse for very long, but a little bit goes a long way.  Visions of being in a rotisserie roaster were enough to make her dream up a slip 'n slide.  And then a slip 'n slide appeared.  ..... Nope.  But she did play in the horse trough.  Beans were picked and afternoon siestas were mandatory.

Haiku of the Week

Golden wheat left bare

Groundhogs dance under the shade

Dave waits in silence

CROP OF THE WEEK

Beans

This week's crop of the week is everyone's favorite - beans!  They are so tasty and so nutritious.  Beans are high in choline, which can improve mental functioning.  They are slso high in vitamins A, B, C, potassium, protein, iron and calcium.  And let's not forget, beans are very high in amino acids, which makes them very valuable for vegetarians.  This week, you will be receiving a mix of beans in your share.  The varieties are as follows:

Dragon Tongue (flat, striped purple)

Provider and Jade (2 types of standard green beans)

Indy Gold Bush (yellow wax bean)

They are all good both raw or cooked, so do experiment (unless you eat them all before you get home).

The old rhyme, "Beans, beans the musical fruit.." suggests that beans cause yes, flatulence.  In fact, scientists have discovered that it is oligosaccharides (sugar molecules also found in cabbage) that cause this.  Normal human digestive tracts do not contain any anti-oligosaccharides and therefore need to be digested by bacteria in the large intestine.  Gas is produced as a byproduct, hence the tooting. 

The world leader in production of green beans is China, followed by Indonesia and then Turkey.  [information from the last 2 paragraphs taken from Wikipedia]

RECIPE OF THE WEEK

We know you know what to do with green beans.  We're sure all of you have your favorite green bean casserole recipe, your favorite seasonings (ours is just salt, pepper and butter), but here's a new twist on an old standard:

Summer Seasoned String Beans

[recipe adapted from allrecipes.com]

1 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP butter

1 ham hock

Fresh Green Beans, ~ 1 lb

6 small red potatoes

Dry vegetable soup mix (can use vegetable boullion cube)

1/2 TBSP sugar

1/2 TBSP pepper

Heat the oil and butter in a large pot.  Place ham hock in the pot, and brown on both sides.  Reduce heat to low.  Place green beans and potatoes in the pot, and pour enough water to cover.  Mix in the soup mix, sugar and pepper.  Simmer 1 hour, or until the beans and potatoes are tender.   Remove the hock and shred meat into pot before serving.

yumyumyum.