Holy sunshine, Batman! It’s so nice to not be soggy on harvesting day!

Here’s what’s in the box this week: -Zucchini -Patty Pan Squash -Small Delicata Squash -Parsley Plant -Kale -Cucumbers

-Banana peppers

-Cauliflower

So for those of you who are familiar with delicata squash know that they are not usually this small. I wanted to experiment with growing them in the spring/early summer rather than the fall, and this is the result. However, I did notice that I had several unripe on the vine that were much longer, so this first harvest may have just been the result of all the rain. We shall see!

Brown Sugar Delicata Squash

Ingredients -3-4 Delicata squash -2 Tbs olive oil -2 Tbs maple syrup -2 Tbs brown sugar -1 Tsp cinnamon (Or less) -Salt/pepper to taste

Directions -Preheat oven to 400. -Halve the delicata squash, remove the seeds, and cut into ½ inch-ish slices. -Line a sheet pan with foil. You may want to spray with cooking spray or coat with butter. -In a bowl mix the olive oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt & pepper. - Pour the mixture over the squash and toss gently to coat. -Bake for 20-30 minutes, until squash is slightly browned and tender.

I also fried some Patty pan squash this week, and it was so yummy! I prefer cornmeal instead of panko on my fried squash & zucchini, but I was out so I used panko. Even with Panko, it was still delicious. Just make sure you add plenty of seasonings, and get the oil/butter in the pan plenty hot before dropping them in!

Fried Pattypan Squash

Ingredients -1-2 pattypan squash, sliced ¼” thick -I egg -2 Tbs milk -2 cups cornmeal or panko -1/2 Cup parmesan cheese -2 Tbs Olive oil -4 Tbs Butter -salt, pepper, and your favorite seasonings (garlic powder is great!)

Instructions -Beat eggs with milk in a shallow bowl. Mix dry ingredients in another shallow dish. -Dredge your squash in the egg mixture, then firmly press into the breading mixture. Make sure to coat all sides. -In a large heavy bottomed frying pan, heat the oil and butter. When a crumb dropped into the pan sizzles, it’s time to add the squash. Carefully add each slice until you have a single layer in the pan. -Let the squash brown for at least a couple minutes, then flip and let the other side brown. -Place the slices on a paper towel or wire rack to drain excess oil. Enjoy!

Good news of the week: WE HAVE RIPENING TOMATOES!! Finally! Looking at the thousands of green tomatoes on the vine has been so frustrating! We also have some peppers starting to produce. Mainly just banana peppers at this point, but I did notice a few small peppers started on some of the bell plants. But the ghost peppers are still just teasing me.

In other farm news, the first crop of eggplant has started to flower, so we should have eggplant in a couple short weeks. We also have several green cantaloupes on the vine, which I’m trying desperately to keep out of the mud that refuses to dry in the back field. The green beans are also flowering, along with some purple green beans I planted just for fun.

Next Thursday is the 4th of July, so we need to schedule drop of/pick up either the day before or the day after. For those of you that pick up from me at the bank: I am off Wednesday the 3rd, so if you’d like your basket Wednesday instead of Friday, let me know and I will plan on meeting you somewhere that afternoon. Alternatively, if you will be out of town or prefer not to have a basket for the holiday week, we can just do a double share the following week. Either way is fine, just let me know and we will get you taken care of! ☺