Summer Week 11: Trip to the Desert

Cosmo, the Cucumber Cowboy. What a great helper.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Cucumbers
• Green Onions
• Purslane
• Beet Greens
• Lettuce
• Zucchini and/or Summer Squash
• Dill or Cilantro
• Garlic

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON:
Green Beans
Basil
Shelling Beans

I so apologize for this late post. My amazing iMac has been giving me fits, shutting down abruptly when it gets hot, which it has been a lot lately. It took a while to figure out that it only did it when it gets hot. Which is why now I’m posting early in the morning when it has been cool all night. Thank you, Greg for your suggestions yesterday: I plan on taking care of it tomorrow and getting her opened up.

It has been amazing, hot, summer weather. Planting is furious now as we meet our winter planting deadlines. The cucumbers have exploded, so you can expect a lot of them in the coming weeks. Unfortunately, the lettuces have all bolted, even the Speckled Bibb, which is usually the last holdout. There will be more, but not for another week or two.

The real newcomer this week is the Purslane. I know a lot of people have asked me what it is, and I was anxious to get a new How To Eat It page ready for it. It is now done, and you can find a number of recipes. It is very popular in Mexico, and for this reason I sell a lot of it at the Columbia City Farmers Market. Surprisingly, it is also very popular in Eastern Africa, Turkey, and Greece. It is so fun to go to a market with many cultures. Much to learn.

A glowing handful of zucchini blossoms. This is about 30. They have to be picked in the early morning or they melt.

The summer squash have exploded as well, and the plants are covered in blooms every morning. Be sure to let us know if you would like to try some blossoms.! I need to know the day before so I can pick them when they are at their peak.

The last picking of fava beans was not for eating. They are starting to dry on the plants, so we picked about 40 pounds to save for seed. We should end up with about 20 pounds of seed to plant in the spring.

We have more green beans coming—they are just blooming—but the fava beans are finished. We picked the last of them to save for seed, and the next day we had winter’s kale planted in teh same spot.