In the box this week you can expect green cabbage, red beets, a variety of patty pan squash, long summer squash, yellow or green zucchini , orange carrots, some cukes (still regrowing from the deer feast), the last of the broccoli (on Wednesday only), some yellow broad-beans, and perhaps a bit of okra. I will know for sure once I began packing the harvest into boxes! The okra plants are stunted this season, so the amount will be limited. Then again, that seems to suit most families as many do not like okra.
I love the sweetness of roasted beets! Please remember that beet juice will stain anything it touches! To remove the pinkish stain from your fingers, try rubbing with salt or lemon juice. Also, ingesting beets will stain bodily fluids of people sometimes. This is called beeturia. The discoloration is due to betalain, a natural pigment found in beets. Not all people experience this; but if you are one of select who does, please do not be alarmed. It might be the time to bring out your “red” dish towel if you have one.
Speaking of roasted . . . a friend was telling me how she sliced patty pans and roasted them in EVOO with onions. I think I will give this a try tonight as we have been steaming patty pans recently. A change will be nice. A word on the yellow broad-beans. Robert and I think they are tougher than the green beans; therefore, I steamed a batch last evening for two (2) minutes instead of the one (1) minute setting which I typically use for veggies. We thought they were prefect–with butter, of course!
We do now have a twirling eight-foot fence around the gardens. It rather makes me dizzy to look at it on a windy day. Here’s trusting the Mama deer feels the same way. Robert saw the spotted fawn again last evening. He is about the size of large dog now! He very agilely ran from one tree line to the other when Robert was harvesting squash. I think they surprised one another!!
Cane Creek Asparagus & Company CSA 