Week 5

I was about to write that new potatoes are the vegetable I look forward to the most but as I was about to start typing I wondered how many times I have said that about other vegetables.  I am always enamored with whatever I haven't eaten in months.  I am the same with flowers.  Daffodils are my favorite, followed by lilacs and so forth.  However, I think that new potatoes still get me more excited than anything else in the garden.  I even contemplated buying some from another farm a couple weeks ago.  I dug some last week and then we ate them three nights in a row.  One night we had some as an appetizer and then I prepared them a different way with dinner.  I know, I am crazy about potatoes.  In New England new potatoes, peas and salmon are all traditional July 4th foods.  When the Northeast had wild salmon runs and most people had a garden all three timed well with the 4th.  These days it is not as common of a meal but when Kelly and I lived in Maine many folks would search out new potatoes and peas at the farmer's market for the 4th of July.  New potatoes are great steamed and tossed with some butter or olive oil and some fresh herbs. My favorite way to prepare them is to cut them in half, steam them until tender and then pan fry them so the cut side gets nice and crispy.  I usually just season them with salt and pepper but last week I tossed a bunch of chopped parsley and minced garlic in the pan for the last 30 seconds and then placed the potatoes crispy side up on the plate and topped with with parsley and garlic mixture.  Most new potatoes in the store are not really new potatoes.  They are just small potatoes(often red) or a thin skinned variety.  A true new potato can be any color it is just a potato that hasn't fully matured.  As a result it is often smaller, has a barely there skin and tends to be waxier and hold its shape better when cooked.  I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Carrots
Lettuce
Cucumber - Last week the small shares had a traditional slicing cucumber and the large shares had a slicing cucumber and a Japanese cucumber.  This week you will all have a Japanese style cucumber.  They have a thinner skin, a smaller seed cavity and a crisper flesh.
Scallions 
New Potatoes
Snap Pea - These won't be around much longer.
Broccoli - Large Only
Rainbow Chard - Large Only

Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend.