Well, tomato season is coming along! Harvesting tomatoes is incredibly satisfying. They are a lot of up-front work. We plant seeds, then pot up the seedlings into bigger cells, then transplant into beds with some kind of mulch, then trellis and prune, pick off hornworms, bite our nails about late blight and other diseases . . .and then, 4 months after starting we're ready to pick tomatoes . . . and the crates fill up so fast.
That's Avery in the tomato high tunnel, and Morgan and Harvey in the background. Haley is hidden by the massive plants! We snuck in the tomato harvest after a long day of other harvesting. The slowest harvest of the day? Beans. Beans are the opposite of tomatoes. We direct seed beans in the ground, and do most of our cultivation with a tractor (we did have to hand weed these beans once). Almost all of the labor in beans is in harvest. . . it is excruciatingly slow and why most CSA farms only have beans in the share if there is a pick-your-own option. Our soil fertility is still a work in progress and these bean plants could be a bit easier to pick and heavier yielding, but still, trying to harvest beans profitably by hand is nearly impossible. It's why they've developed varieties that can tolerate the toughness of mechanical harvesting.

Anyway, we grow and harvest these beans to make you happy - so we hope you enjoy them!
We've managed to get some very important cultivation done this week. As well as some very much needed mowing, both of field edges and drive paths but also of old plantings that we no longer need. It was so wet we couldn't get our tractors our to cultivate or mow except in desperate situations - it feels good to be catching up. And our team has been hoeing like crazy in the sweet potatoes and winter squash - these plantings are really looking well loved.
This is a rather plain email today. I've got to get out to prepare more beds for planting another round of lettuce, as well as fall broccoli, napa cabbage, celery and more . . . so I've got to finish this tonight! Please enjoy the bounty of summer!
So . . . What's in the Share?


1.5 pounds tomatoes (don't worry, your huge tomato haul is just around the corner)
3/4 pound green beans
2 pounds of potatoes (we had to clear out a section of the field that was so wet the potatoes were starting to rot). If you plan to try and keep these potatoes, please keep them in the fridge. New potatoes have very thin skins and haven't cured, so they don't store very long out of the fridge. We had to wash them because they were literally coated in mud and some of the thing skins peeled off during washing. I recommend making a big potato salad and eating it all week!
3 pounds Mix: Cucumbers, zucchini, squash, eggplant, fennel, Red Long di tropea Onions, Ailsa Craig Onions, maybe the first peppers.
Choose one green: cabbage, micro greens, pea tendrils, arugula, kale
1 Bunch Carrots
More recipes from our recipe queen Jess:


TOMATO, PEACH & BURRATA SALAD
Cherries, peaches, tomatoes and burrata cheese with a zesty herb filled dressing with just enough sweetness.

CHARRED KALE PIZZA WITH GARLIC
This is our new go-to pizza. Loads of garlic, a melty cheese blend and crispy kale on top. Still good reheated too!

GRANNIE'S FRENCH SWISS CHARD
Rosemary, golden raisins and pine nuts go SO well with swiss chard. Who knew??

CHEESY STUFFED TOMATOES
A little bit of a different spin on stuffed tomatoes with pistachios and golden raisins.

CAPRESE SKEWERS
Cherry tomatoes, peaches, mini mozzrella balls, fresh mozzarella and a hot/sweet jalapeno lime oil if you really want to gild the lily!F

ENNEL AL FORNO
Don't be afraid of fennel even if you're not a fan of the anise-flavor. Cooking it softens the anise and bumps up the sweetness.

THAI CHICKEN & ZUCCHINI NOODLES
Zucchini, bell pepper and rotisserie chicken served over a bed of linguine and tossed with a killer Asian sauce.

15 MINUTE CUCUMBER-AVOCADO SOU
6 ingredients all thrown in the blender. Does it get easier than that? The hardest part of this recipe is making the asiago topped bread to go with it and if melting cheese on bread is more than you can handle, just skip the bread. (Seriously though - don't skip the bread).
REMEMBER! IF YOU WANT TO SWITCH YOUR PICK UP DAY I PREFER 48 HOURS NOTICE WHENEVER POSSIBLE!

If you can't make it, please feel free to send someone else to pick up your share, or reach out to us and we can coordinate an alternate pick up plan.
CSA Pick Up Hours:

Holliston Community Farm
34 Rogers Rd, Holliston
Tuesday, 1pm-6pm

Weston Nurseries
93 East Main St (but don't use the main entrance. At the light in front of the Nursery, turn uphill on Legacy Farm road and make your first right. It's a back entrance and you'll see the box truck!)
Thursday, 12pm-5pm

On Farm
65 Brookline St, Pepperell (but really it's more like 60 Brookline st, just east of where the GPS will take you. There's a big sign and a parking lot.)
Thursday 4pm-7pm



FLOWER SHARES :
Remember to change the water for your flowers daily, if possible, trim the stems after 3-4 days. Keep the bouquet out of the sun and in a cooler part of the house for longer vase life.
Enjoy!
Brittany and the Upswing Farm Team