today's harvest

BAG RETURN: Good job last week! Please keep it up!

FULL SHARES:

maybe a melon*

4-6 cucumbers**

1-4 summer squash+

bunch chard

beans++

3-5 slicing tomatoes#

pint cherry or salad tomatoes#

1-3 eggplant or 2-3 sweet bell peppers

bunch broccoli, head cabbage, bunch onions, or bunch sweet frying peppers

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

2-3 summer squash or 1-3 eggplant

4-6 cucumbers**

head cabbage

2-4 slicing tomatoes#

beans++

cutting garden

*We are starting to harvest our melons as they ripen. Some of you will be getting musk melons, and some will be getting watermelons. The musk melons may need a little more time to ripen up. You can tell when they are ripe when the end is a bit soft and the melon is fragrant. Watermelons will not ripen off the vine, so if we accidentally gave you an unripe one, please let us know and we'll get you another next week.

We harvest the musk melons a little under-ripe because once they start to smell, they become very attractive to all manner of bug and beast.

You can all expect to receive melons over the next few weeks.

**Our cucumbers are really producing this year! If you're having trouble keeping up, look up how to make quick pickles on the internet. It's quick, and they'll last a good deal longer.

+Some of the zucchini will be of a size ideal for stuffing, parmesan, or zucchini bread.

++At the time of this post, we are still picking beans. You will be getting a lot of beans again. If you are having trouble keeping up with them, we'd recommend freezing them. Again, there are instructions for this all over the internet.

#Some of the slicing tomatoes may need a few days to ripen up. Also, some of them split a little in all the rain. Be sure to protect them from fruit flies. The cherry tomatoes are either black or orange. The salad tomatoes (Jaune Flamme) are meant to be orange — some of them may need a bit of ripening. They are a great size for salads, but you can do anything with them!

CUTTING GARDEN: NEW THIS WEEK: In addition to the sunflowers and hot peppers that are now available, you may now pick HUSK CHERRIES! Husk cherries are like little tomatillos, but very sweet. They grow in a paper lantern, and are ripe when both the paper and fruit are golden. They are just starting to ripen, so you may only find a handful this week. The ripe ones tend to fall off the bush, and usually remain in good shape as they wait on the ground for you to swoop them up. Feel free to carefully pick up the branches of the plant to look for fruit underneath. The bushes are the sprawling creatures that are threatening to overcome the rest of the pyo garden.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: was OK last week, though we still seem to be missing quite a few bags. Please remember to bring back your bag(s).

FULL SHARES:

bunch beets w/ greens

2 heads garlic

3-5 cucumbers*

2-4 summer squash**

2-3 eggplant or 3-4 sweet peppers

2-4 slicing tomatoes or pint cherry tomatoes+

bunch onions

bunch collards

cabbage, broccoli, or frying peppers++

beans°

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

2 lb potatoes

head garlic

2-3 summer squash or 1-3 eggplant

bunch onions

pint cherry tomatoes or 2-3 slicing tomatoes+

beans°

cutting garden

*Some of you will be getting an heirloom cucumber called "dragon's egg". They are whiter than the Boothby's blonde. Don't put them in fire. :)

**Some of you will be getting an heirloom squash called "Benning's green tint". It is white to pale green, and saucer shaped. It can be treated like any other summer squash.

+You will be receiving a variety of heirloom tomatoes this week. Most are red, but a few are orange or black. We tend to harvest the slicing tomatoes a little under-ripe for better transport. A day or two in a paper bag (not in the refrigerator) will ripen them right up.

++We are in cabbage looper season. This means you should soak your broccoli in salted water for ten minutes before cooking. Cabbage loopers are little green caterpillars that hide in the florets. Speaking of florets, we are mostly harvesting the side shoots of the broccoli plants. The stems of these tend to be more tender, so won't need peeling or cutting away before cooking.

°We are still harvesting beans at the time of this post. Beans this week include french filet, yellow wax, and green.

CUTTING GARDEN: The flower and herb garden is looking great. You may cut several small bunches of herbs or one large one. You may pick a large bouquet of flowers. NEW THIS WEEK:

There are some green jalapeno peppers ready for picking. They should be about the size of an average thumb. A few sunflowers have begun to bloom. If you get here soon enough, you may take a cut or two for your bouquet. They will be more abundant over the next few weeks. Please cut down to the next small bud on the stalk.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: is getting worse every week again! Please remember to bring your bags back so we have something to put vegetables in. We're very close to changing the system so that you have to bring your own bag and transfer your veg from one to the other. We don't want to institute the new system, but if bag return does not improve, we will have to.

FULL SHARES:

2-4 summer squash

3-5 cucumbers

2 lb potatoes

bunch chard

bunch onions

bunch sweet frying peppers

bunch turnip*

beans**

cabbage, broccoli, tomatoes, or hot peppers+

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

2-3 cucumbers

2-3 summer squash or 1-3 eggplant

bunch carrots

bunch onions

beans**

cutting garden

*The turnips this week are good for boiling, grating or roasting. There's a bit of superficial damage to some of them, but we can't see how deep it goes without cutting the root. So if you get any turnips w/ extensive damage, let us know and we'll make it up to you.

**We're still sorting out the beans at the time of this post, so are not sure how much everyone is getting yet. This week we have green beans, french filet beans, purple beans, and yellow wax.

+The hot peppers are about 3-4 inches long and pale yellow in color (Hungarian hot wax). We have a few heirloom slicing tomatoes in some of your shares this week. We pick them a little under-ripe so that they transport better. A day or two in a paper bag should see them ready for slicing.

CUTTING GARDEN: The flower and herb garden is looking great. You may cut several small bunches of herbs or one large one. You may pick a large bouquet of flowers. NEW THIS WEEK: A few sunflowers have begun to bloom. If you get here soon enough, you may take a cut or two for your bouquet. They will be more abundant over the next few weeks. Please cut down to the next small bud on the stalk.

CROP UPDATE: Tomatoes — they seem to be taking a long time to ripen for us this year. But there's a lot of fruit on the plants, and we should get greater and greater numbers now that the first have begun to ripen.

Today's harvest

BAG RETURN: Just OK last week. We nearly ran out of bags. Please remember to bring back your bag — better yet, if you have a habit of forgetting, bring your own bag and leave our bag in its place.

SHARES LEFT BEHIND: If you are going to be away or are unable to pick up your share, please let us know. There have been 2-4 unclaimed bags for the last few weeks. We are able to salvage some of the food, but a lot goes to waste.

FULL SHARES:

1 lb + adirondack red potatoes*

bunch carrots**

3-4 summer squash

3-5 cucumbers°

2 bulbs garlic

1-2 eggplant or 2-3 sweet bell peppers

bunch collards+

1 1/2 lb beans++

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

1 lb adirondack red potatoes*

1-2 summer squash

2-4 cucumbers°

1 bulb garlic

bunch beets w/ greens°°

2-3 sweet bell peppers

bunch kale+

1 lb green beans

cutting garden

*Adirondack red potatoes have red flesh.

**If you're not going to eat your carrots right away, we'd recommend cutting off the greens.

°Some of you will be getting Boothby's blonde cucumbers. They are pale yellow, short and stout. They are not overripe pickling cucumbers! :)

°°Beet greens are edible raw or cooked. Some of the beets are golden.

+The collards and kale this week are not the prettiest, but still delicious. We recommend cutting it thin and braising.

++Full shares will be getting either yellow wax, purple, or french filet beans.

CUTTING GARDEN: The flower and herb garden is looking great. You may cut several small bunches of herbs or one large one. You may pick a large bouquet of flowers. NEW THIS WEEK: Hungarian hot wax peppers (medium hot) are ready to pick when they are yellow to orange in color. There's likely not enough for everyone this week, but if you love hot peppers please pick a few. Smaller chilies will be abundant a bit later in the season.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: Well done again. Please remember to bring your bag back this week.

FULL SHARES:

2 lb fingerling and/or new potatoes*

2-4 cucumbers

2-4 summer squash

2-3 sweet onions

bunch kale**

bunch herbs+

broccoli, cabbage, eggplant, or sweet peppers°

beans++

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

1-2 summer squash or 1-2 cucumbers

3-4 sweet onions

bunch chard

bunch herbs+

1-2 sweet peppers°

beans++

cutting garden

*The shape and size of fingerling potatoes make them ideal for roasting, boiling or grilling.

**The kale has a lot of tiny holes from flea beetles. If you cut the kale thin and braise it, you'll barely notice the holes.

+We needed to cut the basil for you this week to ensure good future growth of the plants. Some of you will have chives instead.

++This week you'll be getting either yellow wax, green, french filet, or purple beans. We're still picking at the time of this post, so we're not sure how much you'll be getting. Everyone will be getting at least a pound.

°The sweet peppers include bells and longer, thinner frying peppers.

CUTTING GARDEN: The flower and herb garden is filling out very nicely. You may cut several small bunches of herbs or one large one. You may pick a large bouquet of flowers.