VEGGIE OF THE WEEK IS PEPPERS
Sweet peppers, lunchbox peppers, bell peppers, Italian frying peppers, hot peppers – so many PEPPERS to choose from!
We started growing lunchbox peppers in 2014 and the first time we harvested them we thought, “I don’t think this is worth it, they’re so small and it’s back-breaking to pick them.”. But then we tasted them … and we were hooked. We pack them for customers in half pound bags but we take home 2 pounds a day and eat them in a sitting. As I sit and write this I’m snacking on these sweet treats. They are a dream to grow but even better to eat. With few seeds, all near the stem, you can eat the little red ones in one bite, leaving only the stem, making these a perfect snack for busy families. This variety doesn’t have the problems that bell peppers do so they’re also our most productive pepper. For a list of all the peppers we’re growing check out the VEGGIES! page.
Not to be confused with HOT PEPPERS. Lunchbox Peppers and some of our Bell Pepper varieties look like hot peppers but we’re very careful to grow them far away from each other, to pick them at different times, and to carefully label them. We would never want someone to take a big bite out of pepper and find out it’s HOT. But we are growing hot peppers, and this year, with all the heat and drought, they are really hot. If you are a hot pepper connoisseur these are the peppers for you. Carefully selected and harvested by our farm children, who are hot pepper connoisseurs, these freeze well and make superb hot sauce.
“What do you get if you cross a chili pepper, a shovel, and a terrier?
A hot-diggity-dog!”
With all the rain we got on Saturday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, our Tomatoes exploded, literally. They didn’t know what to do with all the water (having acclimatized themselves to a slow irrigation drip) – and they split, cracked, exploded all over. We’ve worked at removing all the tomatoes so that new ones can come in all sweet and shiny.
Which is a good segue into imperfect produce …. We’ve all been accustomed to “perfect” vegetables that are sold in grocery stores. What most of us don’t know is that in order to get those “perfect” veggies a farmer must not only use unsustainable, polluting, and harmful methods, they must also plant 3 to 4 times more of a particular crop, which means 3/4 of a crop goes to waste. We cannot farm in this way, it goes against all we are and how we live. Our chickens and our composters don’t want or need that much food. So yes, our produce is often imperfect, it looks the way it would if you grew it yourself. But it’s healthy and fresh, it’s good for your body and good for the environment. Imperfect produce is a trend, google it!
Before we get to the vegetable selection for the week (ignoring the BIG name we gave this blog post 😉 ) we want to thank our dear, dear farm friends who’ve stepped up to help us this week. It’s been hot, the work has been hard, it’s rained hard on us, we’ve worked long, long hours, but in the end everything gets done. Young and old, new and familiar, have all helped out this week. We had a lovely visit from a member and their little one who came to pick their own basket of tomatoes for turning into sauce and salsa. So many lovely visitors this week. Thank you all 🙂
This week our salad mix contains some borage leaves. They feel a bit prickly on the lips but once you chew them they’re like a refreshing cucumber and the prickliness becomes but a memory.
We have cherry tomatoes, a variety of other tomatoes, beans, eggplant, gorgeous scallions (try dehydrating them for a surprising snack!), garlic, and some surprises.
On Saturday August 27th we welcome back Jackie from Another Way to our farm market, this time to talk about Crystals! Facebook event can be found at this link.
From 8:00 AM until 2:00 PM, Jackie will be available to answer your question as it relates to crystals. She can share which crystal would be best suited for you or how to use crystals. You could ask which crystal would be the best to use for a specific condition; how to use your crystal; what to use your crystal for. Using Hibiscus Moon Training and intuition to answer your crystal questions. Crystals will also be available for sale.
Until next week!
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