Today was a tough one out at the farm–for once the mosquitoes weren’t too bad, but instead it was hot hot hot.  We tried to work quickly to get the sensitive greens in out of the sun before they got wilty, but no one was trying to keep the workers from getting wilty.  I’m personally hoping that we get the big storm they’re predicting for tonight–we could do with some relief from this heat.  Also, we definitely need rain out at the farm.  Some crops are flourishing with the irrigation, but not everything is being watered, and rain is much better than irrigation for crops.

While I was busy with the harvest at the farm, Michelle and Peter

were picking up something like 14 bushels of tomatoes from Goetz Farm and Tantre Farm at the Farmer’s Market.  Tomorrow we’re going to have a busy day processing these tomatoes and preserving them for our winter season.  I’m excited to get this big job taken care of, and it’s fun sometimes to have a BIG project and a BIG team to get it done.  I expect we’ll put on some tunes and get out our knives and work through it.  Watch out for stories from Tomato Day in future blog posts.

Speaking of stories from the kitchen, last Friday we had a special celebration.

It was Jordan’s birthday, so Michelle ordered a catered lunch from Pilar’s Tamales and Veronica baked a spectacular carrot cake.  The whole kitchen team took a little time off from cooking to celebrate with special guests, kitchen alumni Kevin and Cynthia, as well as Jordan, of course.  It was great to have a moment together with the kitchen team.  See additional pictures in Tuesday’s blog post.

So, without further ado (because I see the storm is coming and I’ve got to get the laundry off the line), let me unveil this week’s farm share and menu after the jump.

The building blocks of this week’s menu:

Hot peppers – 1 branch

Sweet peppers – 2

Beans – 1/2 lb

Summer squash – 2

Baby Napa Cabbage – 2 1/4 lb

Spaghetti Squash – 1

Tomatoes – 3 lbs

Garlic – 1 bulb

Basil – 2 branches

Eggplant – 1

Potatoes – 1 box

Corn – 4 ears

So, after some consideration, here’s the plan:

Stir-Fried Teriyaki Beef with Vegetables – A fabulous marinade with all of the best of the season’s veggies, including that mountain of napa cabbage–yum.

Roasted Chicken with Rosemary Orange Butter – This recipe was such a hit earlier this year that we decided to repeat it.  My rosemary plants need trimming and with the zing of citrus and Calder Dairy’s butter… need I say more?

Spaghetti Squash with Tomato Sauce – Spaghetti squash is a unique squash with a spaghetti-like texture and a pleasantly sweet flavor.  I’m sure you’ll enjoy it with our flavorful tomato sauce.

Zucchini Bread – We are getting a spectacular recipe from Veronica for this, and I know the combination of Westwind Milling flour and Community Farm zucchini will make this breakfast/dessert favorite out of this world.

Roasted Potatoes with Rosemary and Garlic – We’re kind of on a roasted veggie kick lately, but I don’t think you can go wrong with the tasty simplicity of roasted potatoes.

Baba Ganouj – This looks like a bumper year for eggplant, so we’re going to make you this traditional Middle Eastern eggplant favorite from Moosewood.

All of this makes for a somewhat ambitious menu for us, but if we have time we’ll also make our first batch of Pesto of the season–if we run out of time, we’ll process the basil and save it for distribution next week, so never fear.

See you on the other side (of Tomato Day)!

Mary