“The fullness of life is only accessible
in the present moment.”
~Eckhart Tolle
Summer Share Box 9 Crop List
- Sweet Corn – All Shares
- Red Potatoes – All Shares
- Cabbage – Full & Single Shares
- Summer Squash – All Shares
- Zucchini – Full & Single Shares
- Cucumbers – All Shares
- Eggplant – Full Shares
- Sugar Snap Peas – Full Shares
- Kale – Single Shares
- Melon – Half Shares
- Mini Tomatoes – All Shares
- Slicing Tomatoes – All Shares
- Beaver Dam Peppers – Single Shares
- Cayenne and/or Jalepeno and/or Hot Wax – Full & Half Shares
- Thyme – Full & Single Shares
- Dill – Half Shares
Farmer’s Notes
*We only squeaked out a 1/4″ of rain last weekend, so still irrigating 24/7. I know some of you in the T.C. and my family in Iowa had severe storms.“Don’t just do something, sit there.” This little twist by Thich Naht Hahn on a much more familiar phrase calls me to slow down, reflect, and be more intentional in my living. It is really hard!! I get up in the morning and look at my list from the night before, then I make a new list and prioritize each task. I never get those lists completed – you know what I mean. This farm has so many turns and angles and corners to peak around that it is certainly impossible to ‘be on top of it all.’ Right now, as the rain continues to skirt around us, two summer interns return to college, and we plant for fall/winter and harvest all the summer bounty, I long for the winter evenings by our wood stove where I can indeed sit and meditate.
This week we will be featuring corn. Developed over 7,000 years ago from teosinte, a wild grass native to central Mexico, corn has been on this continent for ages. Particularly in the midwest, it seems like it grows everywhere. However, the miles and miles of corn we drive by to go literally anywhere is mostly field corn, not sweet corn. Field corn, a grain, is harvested at the dent stage when its kernels are dry and fully matured whereas sweet corn is picked immaturely and eaten as a vegetable. Although very different in taste and use, the two types are related. Sweet corn is a genetic mutation of field corn that was first identified and grown by multiple Native American tribes. Today, sweet corn’s popularity has been furthered by hybridization which makes the crop more disease resistant and helps it mature uniformly. I find it so satisfying to watch sweet corn seedlings come up because they all germinate and grow at exactly the same rate.
Sweet corn can be boiled, grilled, or steamed. It pairs great with beans because each food provides the essential amino acids that the other is deficient in, leading to a complete protein dish. Enjoy!
~Farmer Ana
Some recipes to try:
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings
Prep Time
20 minutes
Cook Time
15 minutes
Servings
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 65 minutes |
| Servings |
loaves
|
- 1 cup butter melted
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1/2 TBSP lemon zest finely grated
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp pure almond extract
- 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 3 large eggs
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 3 cups all purpose white flour divided
- 2 cups grated summer squash
- 1 TBSP poppy seeds
Ingredients
|
|
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Place oven rack in the center of the oven. Generously spray two 8.5-inch loaf pans with cooking spray and coat evenly with flour to prevent sticking.
- In a large mixing bowl, add melted butter, white sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice, almond and vanilla extract and cream together until fluffy and light in color.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and mix until fully incorporated before adding another.
- Evenly sprinkle the salt, baking soda, and baking powder over the top of the mixture and mix well.
- Add the flour ½ cup at a time and mix entirely between additions.
- With a rubber spatula, gently fold in the summer squash and poppy seeds.
- Divide the batter evenly between the two prepared loaf pans.
- Bake at 325 degrees F for 60-65 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of the loaf comes out clean. Be careful not to check the loaves early or you may cause them to sink slightly in the middle.
- Place loaves on cooling rack to cool 5-10 minutes before carefully removing from the loaf pans to cool completely (about an hour). One of our interns made this for dessert and it was sooo delicious, I just had to put it in the newsletter!
- Store covered well for about three days or loaves can be frozen. To freeze loaves, cool completely and then pack into gallon freezer bags and seal. Best if frozen the same day as baked.
