CSA Week 8

Happy Thursday folks! Here's what's in the basket this week:

• Summer squash

• Patty Pan squash

• Zucchini

• Cauliflower

• Beets- 3 varieties

• Hot banana peppers

• Green and purple beans

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Beet Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 bunch of beets

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil

• Sea salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

• Scrub the beets with a vegetable brush and remove tops. Use a mandolin slicer to slice the beets super thin (like maybe 1/16 inch).

• Place the beets in a bowl and add oil and salt. Toss well. (Separate the beets by color if you're using both red and golden). Let the beets sit in the bowl for 15-20 minutes to "sweat."

• Toss again, then drain the liquid. Lay the slices on the baking sheet in a single layer. Bake for 45 min- 1 hour until crisp.

• Remove from oven and cool completely before stirring in an air-tight container.

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I never did get time to post a bonus blog with extra recipes last week, so I'll post that this afternoon. I found a couple more good ones too!

This week I was able to get most of the tomatoes trellised and suckered, and I noticed we FINALLY have some ripening! Just look at those lovely Sun Gold tomatoes! This cherry variety is my personal favorite, and I know many of you love it too. Usually this variety is the first to ripen, and the other varieties are usually close behind. I would predict tomatoes for next week's delivery, but I don't want to jinx it!

I was also able to get a good picture of some tomato plants that have been trellised a few times using my Florida weave system. The twine gently supports them enough to keep them upright, and is fairly easy to do as long as you stay on top of the new growth. This row actually is ready to be trellised again at the top. I let the Black Krim tomato plants get away from me a little, and they ended up growing crooked and I broke a few while attempting to string them up. The good thing about this crop is that they will regrow where broken. It's the only time I actually appreciate those sucker vines! These plants in the photo are the Yellow Pear tomatoes, and if you look at the bottom of the plant you'll see several green ones. Any day now!