August 16, 2017

Does anybody else feel that first autumnal nip in the air? Maybe it’s just me, or perhaps it’s because my kids started school again last week, but it feels like fall is almost here. The occasional cool breeze and the chilly post-monsoon nights have me thinking about the coming change of seasons and feeling like I need to enjoy summer while it’s still here! Luckily we have plenty of summer vegetables and fruits to enjoy and more coming on every day. This week we get the first taste of green beans, a summer classic. Our recipe this week combines them with summer squash and cherry tomatoes, using almost half of your share in one meal!

After a relatively dry few days, the rains have returned, and with them another flood, this time at Willowbrook Farm. Saturday evening a storm cell settled firmly above them and unleashed a tremendous amount of rain, causing both a neighboring wash and their irrigation ditch to overflow and fill two of their fields with water. One field had, unfortunately, been decimated by javelina the night before, leading to a loss of 90% of their winter squash crop.

The other field, full of cherry tomatoes and baby lettuces, seems to have fared alright. All the tomatoes have been picked and the lettuce is still there, just with an extra coating of dirt. Even the squash plants have already set roots where stems were buried under mud. Nature is nothing if not resilient, and we have been repeatedly reminded this year that plants can withstand a lot! This year certainly is keeping our farmers on their toes, so thank you so much for your support as CSA members.

Have a great week!
Meghan

What’s in your basket – August 16th

Carrots – Whipstone Farm
Cherry tomatoes – Willowbrook Farm

Cucumbers – Willowbrook Farm
Green beans – Zopilote Produce
Kale – Whipstone Farm
Nectarines – John and Jeremia Rodger
Salad mix – Willowbrook Farm
Summer squash – Whipstone Farm

Green beans are here! Yum!

The fight is on now – it’s us versus the grasshoppers.

Cherry tomatoes and baby lettuce underwater.

Winter squash field. Between the javelinas and the flooding,
this field can’t catch a break!