July 21st, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

I am so excited to be bringing us the first of our summer sweet peppers.  There are several varieties from Woodland Gardens and they are beautiful colors so I hope you enjoy.  Woodland Gardens also proved us with the cucumber once again.  Your basket has a bunch of leeks from Walker Farms a little further south.  These will always come out of the ground a little sandy when we are getting regular storms.  They can be difficult to keep whole and remove all the dirt from the core.  When I slice them for cooking, I always soak the slices in a bowl of water to remove the excess dirt that gets in the inner layers.  Cooking it whole you can slice it in half lengthwise can help with the cleaning.

I am happy we are still getting carrots this week but Paige at Serenbe said the bed was getting fairly ready to turn.  It’s been fabulous having carrots and the tops for so long!  Enjoy them while you have them.  They are going away as summer crops continue to appear.  The sweet peppers are the newest in the summer line up this week but the okra and eggplant is around the corner.  Serenbe harvested the swiss chard for us this week and I know several of you have missed the cooking greens.  These will be available next week too! Yeah!  I think the lemon basil will go well with it.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Sweet peppers

Swiss chard

Rainbow carrots

European Cucumber

Arugula with roots

Leeks

Lemon basil

Blueberries

This morning started off rough with our vegetable husband van having a flat tire.  I had no way to call the first farm to let them know I was delayed but I just kept working to solve the problem quickly without getting frustrated.  I really believe that our food taste so much better because it has been loved from beginning to your table.  I would not want to bring any hostility to our harvest but car problems and delays can be tough in the heat.  Thanks to some help from a few great people along the way, the tire got patched, I got on the road and my own daddy went to one farm for me as a way to get me back on time.  Team work!  I am so thrilled that no veggies were stranded on the side of the road in July!  Life has a way of working out, and my dad seemed to enjoy seeing the farm.  Have a beautiful week and remember, I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

All the best,
Margie Thorpe