Farm Notes

Holy guacamole, how is it JUNE?! Last week, Matthew and I were able to sneak away for a few days to the gulf coast of Florida for some sunshine-filled time off with family. After a whirlwind spring, this trip was just what we needed to rest and restore ahead of an even busier summer season ahead. Once we got back to the farm, it felt like summer had officially arrived.

And now all of the sudden, I’m up to my elbows in tomatoes, zucchini, and cucumbers… not to mention a lot of weeds! Let’s just say this week has been a lot of playing “catch up” and whipping the garden back into shape. And after an incredibly dry few weeks, all of the sudden we have been inundated with rain around here. While we definitely needed the moisture, of course now all I want is some sunshine! We’re in an important window where we are starting to harvest garlic (which has been growing for over 6 months) and potatoes (which we planted in March), and all of the rain means it’s harder to cure/properly dry these veggies after they are harvested… which isn’t good, obviously! Thankfully, it looks like there is sunshine in the weekend forecast and we’re slowly but surely crossing things off the never-ending farm to-do list.

Over the next week or so, we will be planting heaps more veggies… from sweet potatoes (!) to our 2nd successions of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and summer lettuce. I’m especially excited about the sweet potatoes, because I’ve never grown them before and I’m eager to give them a try. Stay tuned for a tutorial on how we plant the sweet potatoes slips next week. :)

Kitchen Notes

Earlier this week, I hosted a mini virtual cooking lesson focused on Knife Skills! In case you missed it, the link to watch via our private Facebook group is HERE, or you can tune in via our shared Google drive folder HERE. In this lesson, I dig into the main knives you need in your arsenal, how to keep your knives sharp (and safe), how to hold your knife, and how to properly chop, dice, chiffonade, and mince!

Here are a few links to the knives/tools I recommended in this lesson:

And now for an early Summer recipe! This is a quick, colorful salad is perfect for hot summer days when zucchini is flowing from the garden, and you don’t feel like turning on your oven or stove. For this recipe, it’s best to use small to medium sized squash, as larger squash will have tougher skin and larger seeds. This recipe is lightly adapted from the cookbook 'Ruffage' by Abra Berens.

Shaved Summer Squash With Herbs, Lemon & Parmesan

INGREDIENTS:

2-3 zucchini summer squash, shaved thinly into 1/8" slices (a mandolin works best for this)
1 cup assorted coarsely chopped herbs
4 oz Parmesan cheese, peeled into ribbons
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Between 1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice

INSTRUCTIONS:

Toss together the shaved squash, chopped herbs, Parmesan ribbons, salt + pepper, 1/4 cup of the olive oil, and the lemon juice.
Taste and adjust the seasoning, adding more olive oil and/or lemon juice as needed to make it well dressed and flavorful.
Serve within the next 30 minutes. If serving later, shave the zucchini in advance but dress just before serving.

Today’s Stats

Low temp: 77F
High temp: 66F
Sunrise: 6:01am
Sunset: 8:30pm
Moon phase: Waning crescent
Additional notes: Rainy all day!