It's really summer.

A heat wave. Peppers are in. Tomatoes are in. Eggplant is in.
MELONS are in! What a surprise. Usually the first few melons only just trickle in at the end of July, buy we used a little floating row cover to protect our early melons from striped cucumber beetles, and there was the added benefit of extra warmth (plus this super hot summer) which really pushed them along.

The share was already planned when the melons were discovered while harvesting zucchini yesterday, so it's just going to be a bigger share.

Tomatoes are still a little light, we're waiting for the second tunnel to ripen, but the tomato forecast for August is looking good. We are hoping with the few little hits of rain we've gotten in the last few days that we can get our lettuce and greens game back in shape, but for now we have some excellent cabbage, and what's more cooling than a nice slaw? I made one on Saturday with fresh garlic, mustard, olive oil veganaise (we just like the flavor over mayo) and salt and it was so good with our grilled vegetables and tomato/lentil salad and even better the next day at lunch.
It was the first day in a month that everyone who was scheduled to work was at work yesterday and it felt really good. For various reasons we've been short 50-60 hours of help each week for the last 3 weeks. I'm feeling like we might actually get it all done this week, and maybe even a little catch up. We've got a really great team that works really hard to grow the food we bring you each week. I know you get to see Gracie and Lindsay and Avery and Joella, but there is also Hayden, Tori, Claire, Mary, Kerry and now Niara, our newest crew member who is from California and will be working with us until the end of November. Remember the people who distribute our veggies also crawl around on the ground hand weeding them in all kinds of weather, do a full days work on a 95+ degree day (we do start early to try and beat the heat, but when the day starts at 80 degrees . . . ) so make sure you let them know how grateful you are.

You always tell me, and it feels great, in fact, I can't wait to actually make it to a distribution again next week, it's been much too long. Make sure you share the love with our team!
It's a lovely flower share this week! Zinnia, cynoglossum, matricaria and giant marigolds are in and looking beautiful!

In the height of summer, flowers are in an urgent rush to go to seed and don't like to be hot. Keep them in a cool room, out of direct sunlight, change the water at least every other day, and trim the stems mid-week for longest vase life!
We've still been managing to get some really important work done. We got the garlic harvest completed last week and early Monday (only 10 days late) we seeded the fall carrots. As a part of the grant I wrote for improving on-farm fertility we received a top dresser. This tool is like a manure spreader but instead of flinging compost every where, it drops it directly on the bed and its tires fit in our drive path so the beds on either side don't get crushed. Right now we are still buying in compost (although we've just started making our own for next year) so we use is sparingly . . .it costs $50/yard delivered.

We top-dressed the carrot beds before seeding, because germinating carrots in a heat wave can be really hard. The compost on top of the bed acts as a mulch, keeping the soil a little more moist throughout the day and also keeping the soil from crusting over if it does dry out. We did use the overhead irrigation at night in "quick passes" just to keep the soil moist, and while I was at market on Saturday Kevin used a flame weeder (a propane tank backpack with a blow-torch wand) and killed all the weeds in the 9,600 bed feet of carrots. I didn't manage to get a picture yesterday, but the carrots are popping and they look great. We'll have carrots all fall and winter for our fall and winter shares.
AND . . . (almost done I promise) thanks to all of you for being a part of our CSA. We love that we can count on you to show up every week, rain or heatwave. I would not be farming if it were not for you, that is absolutely for sure, so thank you, thank you, thank you.

And thanks to everoyne who came to market to support us and buy MORE veggies on Saturday. We felt all warm and fuzzy from all the love - like a 95+ degree, direct sun kind of warm. ;)
So . . .What's in the share?

Choose 3:
1 pound tomatoes
.75 pound green beans
1 bunch beets
1 bunch kale
1 bunch chard
1 bag micro greens
choose two "herbs" (yes, one of your choices in the choose 3 is to choose two herbs): scallions, dill, basil, celery
One small head lettuce
Mix and Match 7 pounds:
fresh onions (ailsa craig, one of my favorite varieties and red long di tropea, another favorite!)
eggplant
carrots (no tops)
green and purple peppers
cucumber
zucchini
summer squash
green and red cabbage
beets
fennel (might run out before the end of the week)
AND cantaloupe (limit one cantaloupe/share)

Maybe some slight variations from this and a few other surprises as the week goes on.
Recipes

Hi - Jess Girotti here. This week's featured veggies are cabbage and eggplant so I've added an eggplant recipe page to the website. I've also been getting some great tips and recipes from other members. Keep them coming! If you have a recipe that you love that you'd like to share with other members or if a recipe link isn't working for you, feel free to email me at jgirotti@live.com. Don't forget to check out the recipe pages on the Upswing website if you need more ideas for your other veggies.

Red and green cabbage are our featured veggies this week, so I've been working on trying out a bunch of coleslaw recipes. This one was the winner. Despite its unassuming name, this slaw is just a step above the rest with its addition of dill and mustard. I also like that it uses honey instead of sugar and also uses scallions. I also threw in some matchstick carrots and loved the additional color.

Smokey steak and crisp tender grilled veggies make these fajitas perfect for a hot summer night.

JESS'S FAVORITE GRILLED EGGPLANT PASTA RECIPE
My favorite thing to do with eggplant is to slice it (3/4" thick), brush it with some olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill it. When it's got some good grill marks on it, I chop it up into big chunks and toss it with some pasta, your favorite sauce and some chunks of smoked mozzarella. Top with fresh basil (or parsley) if you've got some handy.

Here's another great meal for a hot summer night (or lunch, or appetizer for your next big barbecue). Grilled eggplant, zucchini, scallions and bell peppers tossed with cherry tomatoes and an herby vinaigrette and served up on top of a slice of toast smeared with hummus or goat cheese.

BASIL STORAGE TIP
Here's a great tip from fellow CSA member Laura Johnson: We just got back from Italy where we learned this little tidbit from a chef there. Instead of making pesto with the basil harvest you can just finely chop it (I did it with my food processor, maybe that released too many oils and will discolor as a result), put it in a jar, cover the basil with oil olive and he says it will stay from summer until the following spring in the fridge. No more freezing pesto cubes! I just did it with our big basil harvest. Seems like a mini lifesaver :)

This recipe comes from fellow CSA member, Ann Pilch: I tried this recipe last week. So much flavor for so little work and so few ingredients! I cut the butter to 4 Tbsp. which was more than enough.
Sincerely,

Your Farmers
Brittany and Kevin
Thanks for the spring pic, Melody!
Pick Up Details:

Holliston Community Farm
34 Rogers Rd, Holliston
Tuesday, 1pm-6pm
Park beyond the farm stand (up the hill, past the yellow house)

On Farm, Pepperell
65 Brookline St, Pepperell (parking is more like 50 Brookline on maps)
Tuesday/Wednesday 2-6pm or Thursday 2pm-6pm
Park in the lot near the greenhouses with the white 'Upswing Farm' sign

Weston Nurseries
93 E Main St Hopkinton (but don't pull into the main entrance!, see parking info below)
Thursday, 1pm-6pm
Just west of the nursery is a traffic light. Turn up the hill onto Legacy Farm Rd North and then take your first right into the back gravel parking lot to park. You will see our truck and tents from the street.

Call 508-215-8378 with questions. If you text, please make sure to include your first and last name in the text.

Email brittany@upswingfarm.com with any planned schedule changes
Storing Produce

Greens: In a plastic bag in the fridge, not near the freezer. (Ideally between 34 and 40 degrees with 98% humidity.) If they don't come in a bag, undo the twist tie when you get them home and put them in a bag. They will wilt without one.

Root veggies: All roots (even most potatoes) want to be in the fridge. Fresh onions will also want to go in the fridge. The whole green stalk is edible and delicious. You should twist roots like radishes, beets, turnips and carrots off of their greens before storing. The greens are all edible - so you can store them separately if you plan to eat them.

Herbs and scallions: Unless you are drying them, they can go in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Tomatoes: Don't like the fridge! Store on the counter at room temp.

Cucumber, zucchini, eggplant, peppers, beans: In a plastic bag in the fridge.