STANDARD REMINDER

Please be sure to wash your weekly share thoroughly before serving. To preserve freshness, it is NOT ‘table ready’ (i.e., pre-washed). We deliver your Olin-Fox Farms’ produce right from the fields to ensure highest quality.

Looks like the same story again this week. The heat continues with little or no rain, but now even with the constant watering, the weather is really starting to have an impact on a number of the farms. Holly Hills has been hit so badly, many of the summer crops may not recover or may not produce large quantities for the remainder of the season. Canning Farm may lose a lot of their feed corn, melons and cucumbers. All we can do it hope for the best and start preparing for fall planting. Thanks to everyone's hard work, many crops are still producing well and will get us through the Summer Program.

Many items you receive will have a shelf life of a week or more. However, we suggest for best quality and taste, we do not recommend that you keep your produce that long. We will try to note the types of produce that do not have a long shelf life. For instance, we do not coat our cucumbers with vegetable oil or carnuba wax. Therefore they only have a couple days of shelf life. Tomatoes are usually picked vine ripe and are ready to eat and should only be kept on a kitchen counter for a couple of days. Things like greens and salad mixes will normally keep up to a week, but once again we do not recommend that you keep them that long.

Crop Report

The tomato harvesting has started off good for many of the farms, but if Holly Hills does not get any rain soon, the Brandywines may be lost for the season. The drought has also put an early end to the first planting of cucumbers at Canning Farm. More cucumbers are expected from Canning's second planting and with Mother Nature's help, more varieties will come from Holly Hills and Garner's. The eggplant and peppers are starting to produce well and should start showing up in your shares this week or next. We are also hoping the sweet corn will hold on for a couple more weeks. Please note: because the sweet corn you receive is naturally grown, some ears may contain a corn worm or two. Another tip: if you plan to store it for any period of time, simply cut the tip off the corn to reduce any further damage to the corn by the corn worm. We are happy to announce that as part of the fruit for the Summer Program, all shares will be receiving blueberries this week.

4 Ears Argent Sweet Corn (due to drought), Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Beefmaster Tomatoes, Sweet Olive Tomatoes, German Stiffneck Garlic, Blueberries, Bell Peppers, Melon, Eggplant

Recipe

Gazpacho

A lovely cool summer treat.

4 cups fresh tomatoes 1 small, well-minced onion

1 minced green pepper 1 tsp. Honey

1 diced cucumber Juice of ½ lemon + 1 lime

2 Tbs. Wine vinegar 1 Tsp. Tarragon

1 Tsp. Basil 1 Clove crushed garlic

Dash ground cumin ¼ cup freshly-chopped parsley

Dash Tabasco Sauce 2 Tbsp. Olive Oil

Salt & Black Pepper to Taste

Combine all ingredients (puree if desired) and chill for at least 2 hours.

Ethan Brent, Official Newsletter Focalizer, is on vacation this week.

Bon Appetit!