June 16th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

Well we are finally in the fruit season.  This week we have our first blueberries, and you will see more.  These came from Neil Taylor’s farm in South Ga.  I have also been promised a nice watermelon season next month from Farmer Brooks – yummy!  This summer should hold plenty of beautiful fruit for us.  The cucumbers are not slowing down so get used to having this in your diet for a bit.  I added a recipe this week that is also a chilled soup, but I couldn’t resist.  It is a Borscht that is so easy to make, and we have beets and cucumbers so try it out.  It’s really pretty too.

The beets might be disappearing for the season, but the carrots are going strong. You might notice this week’s carrots are smaller than the ones from last week.  We finished a mature bed last week, and now we have started a younger bed of carrots.  They will grow and be available for a while.  The green garlic is a real treat and new to a lot of you.  You can eat this entire piece, including the stalk and the skin on the cloves.  I chop the entire thing up to make something, or I put some oil on it and grill it.  Let me know if you have questions about this.

Our farmers are harvesting huge amounts, so I am able to pick and choose a little bit this month.  If there is something you love more than other items, I really appreciate your input.  This is OUR food each week and OUR money that we give to the farms.  Please let me know the items you love, the items you prefer from one farm over another, and the items you don’t know what to do with.  I try to bring everything I can to our table, but now we are in the month of plenty so let’s have what we love!  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Cabbage

Heirloom lettuce

Fingerling Potatoes (Rose de Finn or Banana)

Cucumbers

Beets with Greens

Carrots

Green Garlic

Blueberries

As we go into these super hot months, please take care of yourself.  Our farmers are out in the sun a lot but with plenty of water and regular breaks in the shade, they stay healthy.  Do the same for yourself.  The cucumber is really refreshing for that reason and other water-rich veggies are around the corner…to-ma-toes.  Thank you for my break in the country today.  Have a great week, and remember I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

Namaste,
Margie Thorpe

June 9th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

We are stepping from our spring crops and into the warmer weather foods with local cucumbers and squash this week.  To celebrate these hot June days, we all have some mint in our baskets this week.  It really does help cool you down naturally.  Use it in some tea or water or try the recipe for cucumber mint chilled soup I posted this week on the website.  I loved smelling nothing but the fresh mint as I drove back from the farms!

We have more kohlrabi this week and for those of you that have grown to love this fresh treat, they are at the end of the season.  For those of you that are not so crazy about this purple wonder, this will be our last week for this season.  I am roasting mine with some of the carrots!  By the way, all of your produce this week came from Serenbe Farms with the exception of the beautiful fingerling potatoes.  Please give me feedback on your food if you love it or find other sources more or less desirable.  The farmers ask me for input and you are my source!  Brooks Garcia grew the nice potatoes again this week.  These are Rose de Finn and look like a smooth piece of ginger.  Fingerlings are best used for roasting or pan-frying.  Boiling them will get a softer potato than other varieties.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Rose de finn fingerling potatoes

Heirloom Head lettuce

Russian Red Kale

Carrots

Cucumber

Yellow squash

Kohlrabi

Mint

Next week we already have our berries on reserve!  Fruit season is upon us!  We made it through another winter and spring and now with the summer crops we will enjoy a little more refreshing water and sugars in our food.  Yeah!

For those of you that are getting the eggs, please, please, remember to save your cartons and return them.  The cost our farmers, Mike and Evie, quite a bit and getting the recycled ones really helps!  If you haven’t ever tried the eggs, check out the email for extras you receive each week.  During the summer, our extras might not be available quite as often.  The goat farm does not produce as much milk now so we will only offer cheese every few weeks.  I will always keep you posted as to what is available, and remember I am always happy to TALK FOOD!

Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe

June 2nd, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

We have beautiful variety this week from several farmers in the area.  I am really excited to have the season’s first potatoes for us.  Brooks and Camille at Moonbeam dug all day to make sure we had these purple delights this week.  Be sure to refrigerate these though because they do not have a thick storing skin.

Serenbe has harvested cauliflower for all of us, as well as your kale this week.  The cauliflower is a rare treat so enjoy and let me know if I should beg for more for us.  I added a recipe this week for the cauliflower so be sure to check it out.  Andy at Whippoorwill Hollow has grown your bok choy and the garlic.  It is so exciting to be in the garlic season again.  I will try to get this as often as I can for us so we can all put some away for the cupboard.  Woodland Gardens grew the gorgeous cucumbers.  We have had these before so for those of you that are new, you are in for a treat!  I can’t want to slice into one of these.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Beets with tops

Kale

Bok choy

European cucumber

Kohlrabi

Purple heirloom potatoes

Cauliflower

Garlic

As we move from week to week, trying different fruits and veggies that some of us
have never had and some of us have never had fresh harvested, please feel free to ask questions about cooking or storage instructions.  Many of you are concerned about how to store your food properly.  Most everything we get needs some refrigeration, with the exception of your summer tomatoes.  The greens will always benefit from a cold-water bath before storing them in your lower area of the refrigerator.  Even though the beets and kohlrabi are roots, please keep these in the fridge as well and remember, I am
always happy to talk food!

Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe

May 26th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

This week has been a strange mix of spring and summer temperatures.  The same is true with our baskets.  We still have some beautiful spring crops like your beets and turnips coming in while we have had to say goodbye to our beautiful strawberries.  The temperatures are getting too warm and dry for this crop, but the good news is that blackberries and blueberries are just around the corner.

You’ll notice an unusual green in your basket that is similar to arugula in appearance.  This is from Serenbe Farms and is a wonderful cooking spice or salad green with origins from Japan.  Check out the website for added recipes to use this rare item.  You’ll notice that we also have carrots once again.  Taylorganics was kind enough to harvest the last of their crop for us.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Beets with tops

Kale

Green Onions

Rainbow Chard

Mizuna

Japanese Turnips with tops

Carrots

Garlic Chives / Chives

This week begins Memorial Day weekend, and I hope your basket of veggies coming from our local farmers will help you think of creative ways to eat locally on these traditional cooking holidays.  When you plan your cookouts, challenge yourself to take one additional item away from the grocery store and find it somewhere from a local butcher, baker, or cheesemaker.  You are already ahead of the game with this basket.  Enjoy….and remember, I am always happy to talk food!

Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe

May 19th, 2010 by Margie

Dear Vegetable Husband Customer,

This week we have kohlrabi again from the folks at Taylorganics.  So I decided that it was Kohlrabi festival time.  Check out the website for two different recipes for Kohlrabi and even a very strange video on Kohlrabi courtesy of a fellow basket subscriber.  The video is in the “Community Love” section on the website.  My favorite way of using this wonderful spring vegetable is still cut into cubes and roasted.  Let me know what yours is.

Taylorganics also harvested our beets this week and, yes, the beautiful strawberries.  As some of you might remember, we enjoyed strawberries from the Miles farm in middle Georgia as well as from Woodland Gardens in Athens, Georgia.  Now this week, see how you like strawberries from nearby Ellenwood, Georgia.  Hopefully, we’ll all be lucky enough to do taste tests of strawberries from patches all over Georgia – a job I will not turn down.

For those of you who are new to having a vegetable with roots in your kitchen, this adds an additional level of freshness.  This watercress is from the guys at Neva Farms and will only be harvested when you clip it for your salad or cook it.  I know I have mentioned before, but over 50% of the nutrients in our vegetables are lost 72 hours after harvest.  Think of how many people never access the nourishment that we are enjoying each week.  Below is your list of goodies for this week:

Heirloom Lettuce Head

Bok Choy

Onions

Mixed Kale

Watercress with roots

Beets with tops

Kohlrabi

Strawberries

As a reminder, next week is the beginning of the Memorial Day weekend.  Please remember to let us know if you’re going to be away and if you need special arrangements on your delivery.  And remember, I am always happy to talk food!

Gratefully,
Margie Thorpe