It's a Beautiful Day on the Farm

The sun is shining and carbon dioxide is being consumed at a rapid pace! There is a lot of stuff ripening in the garden...
Here are my recommendations for this week:

BEANS - They are so easy to freeze and enjoy the garden-fresh taste all year long. Simply blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, plunge into ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain and place in freezer bags. In an hour or two, you couly have enough to last for months!

CUCUMBERS - I love pickles and my mom has an easy recipe for jarred pickles that doesn't require canning or fridge space. For a special this week, I'll throw in the garlic and dill for free with your order of pickling cucumbers! See the recipe at the end...

ZUCCHINI/SUMMER SQUASH - I know I've said it before, but these guys are my favorite and I have a new reason! Yesterday I (and Jana) attended a family picnic and I needed to bring a dessert. So I tried a recipe for a Zucchini Dessert. I had everyone thinking it was an apple streusel bar! They didn't believe me that it was the lowly zucchini. They are fabulous and so easy to make.

POTATOES - The potatoes are getting large now, some bigger than my fist! Rough chop them with the skins on, boil, and mash...light, fluffy mashed potatoes! Or slice them about 1/4 inch thick place on foil, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle a little seasoning salt. Fold up foil and grill with your favorite meat...delicious!

CROP - QUANTITY - PRICE
Broccoli - $2.00 per head
Cabbage - $2.00 per head
Mesclun Salad Mix - $3.00 per bag
Beans - $2.00 per bag (please specify yellow or green)
Swiss Chard - $3.00 per bag
Slicer Cucumbers - 2 for $1.00
Pickling Cucumbers - $2.00 per pound
Beets - $2.00 per bunch (6 beets in a bunch)
Zucchini - 4 for $1.00
Summer Squash - 4 for $1.00
New Potatoes - $2.00 per pound
Baby Romaine Lettuce - 1 gal bag - $3.00
Garlic - 2 plants - $1.00
Onion - 2 plants - $1.00
Shallot - 1 plant - $1.00

What can I bring you this week? Please email your orders by 6pm on Wednesday for delivery on Thursday, August 21st. Thanks!!

Mom's Famous Pickles
Wash cucumbers and remove spines. Use clean canning jars, rings and new lids. Put some dill in the bottom of the jar. Pack cucumbers into jar. Add the following:
1 tsp pickling spice
1 bay leaf
1 pinch red pepper
1 1/2 tsp canning salt
1 clove garlic
Put some dill on top. Fill with cold tap water. Dry rim of jar. Put on the new lid and ring, make it tight! Shake the jar to distribute the spices. Let jars sit until the pickles start to turn color (from bright to dull green). Shake jars again and place in your fruit room/pantry/shelf etc. This recipe is for pints, for quarts simply double the spices and use more dill.