Week 16: "Plant a little garden, eat a lot of Peaches!"

Beans and beets!

Hi there!  This is our 16^th box of the season.  It's an odd combo of foods, but maybe some of you (like me) have some produce holding over, like some basil, an onion and some carrots or tomato. . .

This week's box:  a full pound of green, broad and long thin beans.  The length of time for cooking them works out because some are flat-ish and some are round but thin, so go ahead and let them be mixed for cooking if you want to!  The beans and. . . yes, beets. . . are from Yonder Farm.  Watershine says it's the nicest beets of the season, with beautiful lush tops, so enjoy!  You mightn't get beets again this year!  (no promises, though :))

JC Kauffman, owner of Filaree Fruit, gently selects the ripest peaches.

BEET~~ Beta vulgaris~~  Very versatile, cooked or raw.  High in nutrients, vitamins A & C, also the carotenes.  If you use the beet greens, you'll also get generous portions of Vit. C, calcium, and iron.  Tremendously long storing, sweet and delicious, and colorful (use as lipstick!). If you grow to enjoy beets, you are in luck.  They are available much of the year.  1^st baby beets of season in June, hearty throughout the season, finishing at late frost.  After harvest, will retain their integrity for 3 months, or longer if stored properly.  ~no need to peel, just scrub clean (trace minerals lie just below skin)

~grate into most any salad, cooked or raw  ~cube into veggie soups or stew  ~serve sliced, steamed beets at room temp., tossed in olive oil with dash of salt and pepper, or use a simple vinaigrette

~to bake, cut off leaves and wash roots.  Bake at 350 d. for 1-2 hours or until easily pierced.  Rub off skins and cut off roots.  Serve whole or sliced.  ~~beet chocolate cake  ~young beets can be enjoyed tossed raw into a mixed green salad (we'll  get you some of that next week!)  ~try beet greens steamed or sauteed or in any dish calling for a mild, tender green such as spinach.  STORAGE TIPS:  beet greens best used fresh, as wilt quickly  ~store greens wrapped in a damp cloth or in a plastic bag in a drawer of the fridge  ~to maintain firmness of roots, cut off leaves and stems 1-2 inches above the root crown.  Store in a plastic bag or tupperware and refrigerate in the hydrator drawer.

Perfect Red Haven peaches sit in a box, waiting to be packed. 

FRIED BEETS 'N' CARROTS

From Asparagus to Zucchini,  A Guide to Cooking Farm-Fresh Seasonal Produce

2 TB olive oil

2 tsp cumin seeds

2 med. Beets, quartered, sliced ¼” thick

2 med. Carrot, sliced ¼” thick

tamari sauce (or soy, braggs, shoyu)

beet tops, fresh spinach or chard

Heat oil in skillet.  Add cumin; cook about 1 minute. Add beets and carrots; fry until tender.  Remove from heat, sprinkle on some tamari, serve. 

Variation:  save the tops.  When the beets and carrots are tender, add chopped greens, cover and cook until soft.  Toss mixture, sprinkle with tamari, serve.  Makes 2-4 servings.  

Peach trees glow in the early morning sun at Filaree Fruit.  JC remarked that he feels like he lives in a tropical land when he picks peaches.

Also in the box:  cucumbers and garlic from 8^th Street Greens.  The garlic is Music Pink, 1 big and one medium size.  It's a nice spicy porcelain variety, not easy to peel but fun to slice the big cloves.  I'm looking forward to growing very amazing garlic next year.  I can feel the good crop happening already!  I'm going to fertilize perfectly, water perfectly, weed most excellently and harvest at just the right moments!  Ya with me? !!!  The full shares also get ½ pound salad.  The peaches are small fancy Red Havens from Filaree Fruit.  

JC sets his organic peaches in a waiting, padded box.

Next week's box might be plums, potatoes, carrots, salad, summer squash... and I keep hopin' for melons.  This week's fruit share:  extra peaches, a ½ pint of blackberries, some Santa Rosa plums (Bartella's, certified organic)  and some nectarines with dimples.  The dimples make them #2s (Bunny Laine, certified OG).  But the dimples with my smile make me a fancy :)  I bring you all your baskets of food on my birthday...  it's a good job to have, and I feel grateful for this life.

Best to you  ~~Shannon