This Week's Share--Happy Summer Solstice

Well summer is certainly starting off with a bang! Its hot and its really really dry. I am hoping for rain this week, the garden is looking very crispy and its having an adverse effect on the crops. The lettuce has quite a bite and without the neccessary rain, the beets and carrots just are not getting large enough to harvest. Luckily the snap peas are still going strong, they are very sweet, a perfect summer treat. It just so happens that the good folks at CCDwell recently posted this recipe for a spicy lemon dip to pair with snap peas. A nice light and refreshing treat.

Speaking of refreshing I have included lots of mint in this week's share--so you can make mint tea, the perfect drink for this hot weather. Click link for a Basic Sun Tea recipe, add a little orange juice for Mint Tea Punch. Combine the snap peas, mint and the garlic in this quick and delicious recipe. Speaking of garlic, the garlic in this week's share is green or fresh garlic. The cloves still have not fully formed and contain a lot of moisture. The fresh garlic has a lot of heat to it, which is mellowed by cooking and is also almost creamy in taste because of the water still contained in the bulb.

This week's share also contains basil plants. A last minute addition for your garden. You will be able to choose from two types of red basil, a lemon basil which smells just wonderful, and a little bush basil called pistou, that is perfect for container planting. The lemon basil also makes a great addition to flower arrangements, although you can certainly cook with it. The "pots" the basil plants have been planted in are fully biodegradable, so you can just stick the whole thing in the soil.

Finally I am giving out compost bags with your share. This way you can bring your vegetable scraps back to the farm and we will compost it here to provide future compost for the garden, complete the cycle. You are more than welcome to add vegetable scraps, eggs shells, coffee grounds, tea,the occassional cheese and bread products to the bag--however please avoid meat scraps and citrus (citrus rind takes a really long time to break down and the meat attracts rodents and our dogs :) Once again, happy summer, enjoy this week's share.

This Week's Share:
Basil Plants
Lettuce Mix
Cooking Greens
Green/Fresh Garlic
Snow and Snap Peas
Compost Bags