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.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: Please remember to bring back your bag.

FULL SHARES:

2 lbs new potatoes

2 bulbs garlic

1-3 summer squash (size dependent)

3-4 sweet onions

1-2 heads radicchio

bunch chard

small bunch salad turnips*

green sweet peppers or broccoli

bunch herbs**

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

1 lb new potatoes

1 bulb garlic

1-2 summer squash or cabbage

2 sweet onions

2-3 heads baby lettuce

bunch beet greens w/ baby beets+

bunch herbs**

*The purple top salad turnips will need some trimming due to worm damage. In most cases this will mean cutting away a bit of the turnip. But if you get a turnip that is mostly not usable, let us know.

**The sage, marjoram, and oregano really needed cutting so we did it for you. You'll have one or another these herbs in your share this week.

+Beet greens are edible raw or cooked. Small baby beets can be prepared and used like a full grown beet. These are in your share because we thinned a beet bed. The beets that remain in the ground can now grow larger.

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.

CROP UPDATE: We are transitioning from spring and early summer crops to mid and late-summer crops. The summer squashes are really starting to yield, and you can expect a lot more over the next several weeks. Cucumbers are in full bloom and many small cucs have set. You can expect to see the first cucumbers next week, and then increased yields after that. Green and wax beans are starting to form. You should see the first harvest next week. Tomatoes are growing on the plants and blossoms abound. We should start seeing our first ripe tomatoes in ten days to two weeks. The peppers are looking good. You'll be seeing green ones initially, and then more colorful ones in August. The eggplants are a bit behind as the plants have been under attack by potato beetles. We have been diligently combating the beetles, and the eggplants will be coming a little later this year. Midsummer carrots and beets should be ready for harvest in the next few weeks.

The peas and fava beans are done for the year.

The kale and collards strained in the heat, and suffered an apocalyptic and unusual mid-summer flea-beetle attack. We'll be babying the plants over the next few weeks to get them ready for later harvests. By way of contrast, the chard is doing very well.

Earlier in July we sowed our fall carrots and beets, and are now prepping beds for other fall crops.

In the greenhouses we are growing lettuce, choi, and napa cabbage for planting later in August.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: was much better this last week — Thank you very much. Also, thank you to the several people who brought extra bags.

REMINDER: The slow food picnic is at the farm this Sunday from 11:30 to 3:30. Details are here:

http://slowfoodseacoast.com/category/blog/events/farm-picnic-2011/

FULL SHARES:

bunch chard

bunch kale

2 lbs new potatoes

3 heads radicchio

3-4 sweet onions

bunch broccoli

bunch cilantro*

bunch parsley*

3 heads baby lettuce

first of the cabbage or summer squash

fava beans**

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

bunch kale

1 lb new potatoes

1-2 heads radicchio

2-3 sweet onions

2 heads baby lettuce

bunch cilantro*

bunch parsley*

fava beans or peas**

cutting garden

* The cilantro and parsley needed to be cut more aggressively this week so we went ahead and harvested it for you.

**At the time of this post, we're still picking the beans and peas, so we're not quite sure how much everyone is getting yet. Please see our website, or the link in our weekly email, regarding how to prepare the fava beans.

CUTTING GARDEN: Even though we cut the parsley and cilantro for you this week, there are still many herbs and flowers in the cutting garden. Please cut generously among all the herbs, and pick a small bouquet of flowers. We have basil, thyme, oregano, marjoram, rosemary, tarragon, chives, and sage.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: If you are returning your bag, thank you and congratulations. For those of you who haven't been, you've had an epic week. We are now missing even more bags than last week. Which makes more work for us. So please make a better effort — you can do this.

FULL SHARES:

bunch couve (collards)

bunch scallions

snap and snow peas

bunch salad turnips

bunch carrots*

1 1/4 lb new potatoes

head napa**

2 bulbs fresh garlic+

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

bunch couve (collards)

bunch chard

small bunch scallions

snap peas

2 bulbs fresh garlic

1 1/4 lb new potatoes

bunch salad turnips

cutting garden

*The carrots are Paris Market carrots. They are an early season quick crop, due to their short and stout shape. If you don't eat them soon, cut off the greens. The greens can be frozen and used for veg stock.

**Napa cabbage provides many hiding places for insects and slugs. We'd recommend cutting it and washing thoroughly before eating. Sometimes the inner stems, which we can't see without cutting, are damaged — if your napa cabbage is too damaged to use, let us know and we'll put something extra in your bag next week.

+fresh garlic has not been cured, so will not keep as long as storage garlic. The fresh taste and juiciness are a July treat.

CUTTING GARDEN: There is an abundance of flat-leaf parsley and cilantro, so please snip a bunch of both. You may also take small bunches of oregano, marjoram, thyme, tarragon, chives and basil. There are enough flowers beginning to bloom for a small bouquet. Please snip more generously within the two yarrow patches and the daisy patch. Reminder: the cutting garden accounts for a portion of your share value — please take advantage of it. You are welcome to come any time during the week. If you are physically incapable of walking to the cutting garden, please let us know and we'll cut for you.

In general, most herbs and flowers can be snipped back to where you can see new growth or blooms emerging further down on the stem. Cilantro and chives can be cut down to about an inch tall, and will grow back. With parsley, you harvest the lower leaves, leaving the crown intact.

today's harvest

BAG RETURN: is going poorly. We're already missing at least 50 bags. Please remember to return them, and if you forget, do make an effort to come later in the week, or to the farmer's market in Portsmouth and return them. Please open your returned bag on the shelf so it has a chance to air out.

CSA PLANT GIVE-AWAY: Any plants barricaded with orange tape are off-limits. Please feel free to walk through the greenhouses this week and take any plants that aren't restricted.

RECIPES: If you are ever unsure what to do with anything in your share, there are recipes on our website. Also, please send us any recipes that you'd like to share.

FULL SHARES:

bunch kale

bunch collard

1-2 heads lettuce (size-dependent)

1-2 heads napa cabbage (size-dependent)*

1 head bok choi

snap and snow peas

cutting garden

SMALL SHARES:

bunch kale

1-2 heads lettuce (size-dependent)

1 head napa cabbage*

1 head bok choi

snap peas

cutting garden

*Napa cabbage provides many hiding places for insects and slugs. We'd recommend cutting it and washing thoroughly before eating. Sometimes the inner stems, which we can't see without cutting, are damaged — if your napa cabbage is too damaged to use, let us know and we'll put something extra in your bag next week.

CUTTING GARDEN: There is an abundance of flat-leaf parsley, so please snip a bunch. You may also take small bunches of cilantro, and little snips of oregano, marjoram, thyme, and basil. There are enough flowers beginning to bloom for a very small bouquet. Please snip more generously within the two yarrow patches.

In general, most herbs and flowers can be snipped back to where you can see new growth or blooms emerging further down on the stem. Cilantro and chives can be cut down to about an inch tall, and will grow back. With parsley, you harvest the lower leaves, leaving the crown intact.