Letter from a Farmer,

It has been a wild week. Since Thursday evening we have received 6 inches of rain. And most of it fell very rapidly in two violent storms. Our phones were beeping with tornado and flood warnings, trees fell on our fences, and the fields filled with rain water. Fortunately the creek hasn't gone high enough to reach our vegetable fields, just the spot where we normally place our irrigation pumps. We had already moved one pump to high ground last week and Keri rushed out in a break in the torrential rain on Thursday to pull the other one to a safe spot. Sunday morning and evening two more storms passed through with hard rain and winds. It's a muddy, wet mess out there. And we count ourselves lucky.

So many other farms in the northeast especially in Vermont and farms along the Connecticut River in Massachusetts are completely under water. Many of them will be done for the season. Our hearts go out to them. We have all put so much work into our farms to get this far into the season and to have it wiped out over night is a hard, heart breaking experience.

We are fortunate to have fields high up out of the flood plain (although those even have giant puddles in them today). This is where we have all the summer crops growing (tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons, onions, zucchini, cucumbers). These fields dry quickly so are difficult to keep irrigated in droughty weather. Which is what we were experiencing for the past two years and again in May and June. The lower fields are much richer and provide the nutrients that heavy feeding crops like cabbage, broccoli, and sweet corn need. They also grow nice carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes. So this year all of those crops are planted in the lower fields near the Kinderhook Creek. These soils stay wet which isn't helping us now. We are concerned about crop losses from the plants sitting in wet soil for too long.

Friday was a rough day after the first three inch deluge Thursday night. When we left the farm Thursday evening we were feeling good about having so many plants in the ground, the carrots & beets cultivated, a bunch of fall cabbage and kale cultivated, and some sweet potato beds hand weeded. We were planning on continuing the cultivation Friday after harvest. But instead we were dealing with puddles and mud. The farm team rallied and hand weeded the rest of the sweet potatoes (except for the section under the pond the rain left behind). And we came up with a new plan for our fall crops.

We will move the rest of the fall plantings of broccoli and cauliflower to a drier field. We will also seed a bunch of faster growing crops like bok choi and tatsoi in the greenhouse to plant out later in case the cabbage in the wet field doesn't make it. We can also direct seed more greens like kale and tokyo bekana in the dry field to make up for possible losses of kale. It is too late to seed more beets and carrots. We are hopeful they will be okay as long as it doesn't keep raining. Both crops are quite small right now and planted on high raised beds so their roots aren't sitting in water logged soil.

It isn't a perfect plan and we may experience quite a few crop losses. We will see how the weather treats us the next few weeks. And for now we will keep slogging through this wet, muddy year to get you your veggies. ~Jody

Carrot ridges filled with rain water

Storm blew the sweet corn over

The Kinderhook Creek flooding its banks where we normally park the irrigation pumps.

CHICKEN #1: THIS WEEK

BEEF #2: Week of August 1

CHICKEN #2: Week of August 15

If you can't pick up your egg or meat share a particular week, please contact the farm and we can hold your share and send it another week.

ROXBURY FARM CSA

GRASS FED BEEF

We have beef available to purchase by the cut or by the quarter of a steer

Click HERE to see what cuts are available

Click HERE to purchase a quarter of a steer

Rain pond in the leeks, parsnips, and sweet potatoes

This week's full share: head lettuce, bell peppers, fresh onions, chard, new potatoes, parsley, eggplant, cucumbers, jalapenos, summer squash, zucchini, and scallions

FRUIT SHARE: peaches

This week's small share: head lettuce, bell peppers, fresh onions, eggplant, new potatoes, parsley, cucumbers, and scallions

head lettuce, carrots, cilantro, scallions, onions, cantaloupe, eggplant, bell peppers, hot peppers, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, and hopefully sweet corn

COOKING TIPS AND RECIPES

We recommend signing up for the Farm Share newsletter from Alexandra Stafford. It has great cooking tips, recipes, and other helpful items to help you make the most use of your share. Click HERE to sign up. If you have a website, blog, or newsletter as a go to for CSA share recipes please share them with us!

New potatoes: Store in the fridge. Gently rinse before cooking.

Warm New Potato Salad with Parsley

2 pounds new potatoes

5 tablespoons mild olive oil

1 fresh onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice (1 cup)

Salt

1/4 cup loosely packed chopped parsley

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon-style mustard

Freshly ground black pepper

Place the potatoes in a large pot; add enough cool water to cover by several inches. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook for 15 minutes (small potatoes) to 30 or 45 minutes (larger ones). Test for doneness by inserting a thin skewer, which should meet with little resistance.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a small nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until the oil shimmers. Add the diced onion and a light sprinkle of salt; stir to coat. Reduce the heat to medium, further adjusting as needed to keep the onion from browning. Cook for 6 to 8 minutes, until the onion is tender.

Whisk together the parsley, vinegar and mustard in a mixing bowl. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in the remaining 4 tablespoons of oil. Taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed.

When the onions are done, stir them into the parsley dressing. www.washingtonpost.com

Mashed Eggplant with Capers and Parsley

¼ cup large capers, preferably salt-packed

2 pounds medium eggplants

Salt and pepper

Extra-virgin olive oil

1 cup thinly slivered scallions, plus more for garnish

1 cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish

½ teaspoon grated garlic

1 teaspoon lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons yogurt

1 pinch cayenne

Baguette toasts or pita bread, for serving

Put the capers in a bowl and rinse off salt thoroughly with lukewarm water. Soak rinsed capers in lukewarm water for 20 minutes. Drain and rinse again, then blot dry. Chop roughly and set aside.

Heat oven to 400 degrees. Peel eggplants and cut into 1-inch cubes. Toss cubes in a mixing bowl with salt and pepper, then drizzle with 3 tablespoons olive oil and toss to coat. Place on a baking sheet in one layer and roast uncovered for 15 to 20 minutes, or until golden and tender when pierced with a fork. Cool.

Put cooked eggplants in a food processor and pulse briefly. Add capers, scallions, parsley, garlic, lemon zest and juice, pomegranate molasses, yogurt, cayenne and 2 tablespoons olive oil and blend until well combined. Transfer to a bowl. (May be prepared and stored at cool room temperature, covered, up to 2 hours in advance, or refrigerated for up to a week.)

Before serving, taste and adjust seasoning. Serve eggplant spread on toast, sprinkled with scallions and parsley, or as a dip for pita bread. www.cooking.nytimes.com