Week 3

Finally, summer is here!  Oh wait, it has been summer for the last month.  When I first moved here I heard the word Junuary used to describe a cold and rainy June and I thought it was funny.  I don't find myself wishing for Junuary but I do find myself wishing for rain on a daily basis.  There is no sense in complaining about the heat, which I kind of like, but I am all about wishing for rain as a positive alternative to whining about how hot I am.

Every summer I have a wish list of sorts.  It is stuff I want to make and eat and places I want to go.  I call it a wish list because I don't usually go anywhere in the summer (not that bad of deal, really) and I don't always have the chance to cook an elaborate meal.  This summer I am determined to do something that has been on my wish list for years - go to a Tacoma Rainiers game.  I bet you didn't know I was a baseball fan.  Actually, I am not, but there is just something really summery about having a beer and a hot dog at a minor league game.  On the eating front I have too many to list but held over from last year and still on my mind are peach pie, cold cucumber soup and beet burgers.  You are getting beets in your box today and I will include a link to the recipe…maybe you will get around to making them before I do.  I do realize that I am not going to convince those of you who don't like beets to like them but I am also including a recipe for a vegan chocolate beet cupcakes that I hope to make soon for the two guys working with us this summer and a beet hummus that seems to be a little trendy at the moment with customers at the stand.  I made it by tossing a beet into my usual hummus recipe which involves no measuring and as a result never tastes the same.  For those of you who prefer a recipe to just throwing everything willy nilly into the food processor I have included a link below.  In the hummus I made the beet flavor was subtle but the color was amazing!   I didn't use any mint but I love mint with beets and that sounds good.  I also like cumin with beets and a few toasted cumin seeds might be a nice garnish.

Have a great first week of summer.  We should have zucchinis and new potatoes for next week.

Carrots
Snap Peas
Beets
Garlic
Japanese Cucumber - Last week the small shares had an American slicer and the large shares had an American slicer and a Japanese cuke.  This week everyone is getting a Japanese style cucumber.  They are the one that we prefer but you can let me know what you think.  In general you will see more American style slicing cukes in your boxes because we grow more of them.  In order to get a nice looking Japanese cucumber they need to be trellised and pruned and we only do that in the high tunnels.  The American slicers get a small planting in the high tunnel for early cukes and then our field planted in larger quantities.  
Berries - You will have some berries  - they may be all strawberries, there may be some raspberries - tough to make an accurate prediction.  Our raspberry patch is in decline.  We tilled up some new ground but it wasn't ready to plant this spring so sadly an epic raspberry year is ways in the future.
Butterhead Lettuce - Large Only
Salad Mix - Large Only
Parsley - Large Only
Swiss Chard - Small Only

Beet Hummus looks beautiful and tastes great.
Vegan Beet Cupcakes  Beets and chocolate sounds weird but it actually is pretty tasty and a great way into fooling someone who doesn't like beets into eating them.
Grilled Beet Burgers - It was the color of these burgers and the pretty photos that intrigued me along with the thought that they are nothing like anything I normally cook.  The fact they have feta cheese in them probably peeked my interest as well.