Week 9


Saturday evening, just after the stand closed, our neighbor rode by on his bike.  I thought to myself that I hadn't seen him in a while.  A moment later I turned around to see him talking with Kelly.  He had spied a large package of sausages and a big bowl of potato salad in his fridge before he left his house and as he was riding by it occurred to him to ask us if we wanted to come over for a bite.  Getting to know the neighbors has been one of the best parts of the farm and it is something that may not have happened if we didn't sell directly off the farm.  There are three houses on Shincke Road that look out over the pond across the street.  It took us a while to get to know the three couples.  I am sure they thought we were out of our minds when they saw us trying to grow vegetables.  Admittedly we did a lot of ridiculous things when we started but in our defense we were just making do with what we had - limited knowledge and limited resources.  I think that after seeing us out there day after day and seeing the mess we started out with slowly improve they realized that we were in it for the long haul. Over time we got to know them and they have all become dear friends.  Dinner turned out to be the perfect summer meal.  We ate outside.  The sausages were great, the potato salad had a little curry powder and peas from their garden in it which reminded me I really need to get out of my potato salad rut (mayo, celery seed, scallion, egg and S&P - boring, right?).  I blanched some green and yellow beans, chopped some tomato and doused it with a basil vinaigrette.  Sometimes I forget how good green beans are cooked and in a salad.  We left around dusk, went back over to the farm to turn off water and as I walked towards the spigot I was reminded of just how lucky we are to do what we do and live where we live.  It was a nice feeling because there were a couple times last week in the heat of the day when I was doing a task that was taking me about twice as long as I thought it should that I had the complete opposite feeling.   Good company, nice weather and a tasty meal was a happy way to end the week.

Lettuce
Beets
Sweet Onions - big and juicy
Broccoli
Green Beans/Wax Beans
Cucumber
Parsley
Cherry Tomato - Small Only
Slicing Tomato - Large Only
Green Pepper - Large Only

Several herbs taste great with green beans - basil, tarragon and parsley are all good choices.  Below is a very simple and easy recipe.  If you don't have pine nuts the recipe will still be good.

Green Beans with Parsley, Lemon and Garlic

One of your fellow farm share members mentioned her partner makes a delicious Russian salad with green beans and a walnut dressing.  I couldn't wait for her to bring the recipe so I found one on line.  I didn't get a chance to make it but it looks interesting.  While searching for the recipe I discovered that it is from Georgia which is a region with fantastic food.

Green Bean and Walnut Salad