"This sense of independence which it gave was second only to the sense of perfect beauty..."
- Robert Marshall (about the Alaskan Wilderness)

What’s in the box this week:

... and if you have an extra-fruit share:
two baskets
of strawberries

Happy Fourth of July! As I walked the farm this morning, I wondered what celebrating our independence from British colonialism 225 years ago means as we approach another 4th of July holiday. I am convinced that the Founding Fathers were motivated by the vast, seemingly unlimited richness and awe-inspiring beauty of the wild and untamed countryside. Both fear and fascination are triggered when we spend time in the wilderness. I remember some of my greatest experiences (and initiations as a teenager) were the times spent camping and hiking in remote wilderness areas. It was then that I experienced that sense of quiet inside and "bigness" outside of myself. Conserving natural resources instead of exploiting them offers this country a physically and spiritually better future than the immediate cashing of our assets would. Just as it does not seem intelligent to put the California coast at risk for a week’s worth of crude oil, or invade our last wilderness sanctuaries in search of a little gold, silver or oil, so it doesn’t seem intelligent to pave over and poison the land and people that grow our food. As I farm this land, I know that my decision to grow healthy food is directly linked to my ability to listen to the land, hear what it says, and understand what it can and cannot do. Independence Day to me means taking the responsibility to honor, and follow the freedom of, this relationship of listening to nature. - Tom


Member to Member Forum
We have had very little response to our suggested community farm days planned for August and September (see last week's member-to-member forum). If you are interested in any of these events, please let us know very soon so that we can make the necessary arrangements. If you don’t have last week's newsletter, you can click here to view it.

Remember, if you wish to communicate something to the rest of the CSA membership, you may use this forum to do so. To submit something to be included here, please contact the editor (see below) by Sunday to get it into the following week’s newsletter.


Crop of the Week
The Squash Family: Botanically recognized as "Cucurbita", it contains 27 different members or species and originated in North and South America. Squash are renowned trailing and climbing plants producing sometimes very large and curious looking fruits, such as the pumpkins and gourds, winter and summer squash. Squash were originally an important food plant in the pre-Columbian diet of the Americas, which was based on corn, beans and squash. The word "squash" was derived from a North-American Indian word meaning "food eaten raw". There are more than 10 different types of summer squash alone. The more "unusual" type you have received is the light green and round ones. They are wonderful grilled or sautéed.

Where do these delicious melons come from? Greg from Happy Boys Farm is picking his first cantaloupes this week. Greg has been a longtime organic grower (20+ years) dedicated to growing really high-quality vegetables and fruit, mostly sold through farmers’ markets (some of you probably know him from Santa Cruz, Los Gatos, and Willow Glen). He has a bumper crop this week, and we are happy to diversify our fruit supply with these juicy sweet treats.

Notes from Debbie’s Kitchen . . . . . . . . Have a recipe you’d like to share? Contact the newsletter editor.

Oooh boy, Tom didn't write much this week, so I've the luxury of lots of room for recipes ('course we're talking about the print version -- here on the web I've got all the room I want)! Anyway, I had this wild-hair idea: how 'bout instead of 'recipes', l give you a week-in-the-life-of-Debbie's-Kitchen scenario, telling just how I might go about using every item on the list this week? - Debbie

Broccoli: I love making a broccoli-cheddar pasta. Put a pot of salted water on to boil. Meanwhile, cut your broccoli into florettes (stems can be peeled and cut into bite-sized sticks). Grate up a goodly pile of cheddar. Have butter, flour and milk standing by. Dump some penne into the boiling water (takes about 10 minutes or so to cook). When there are about 4 minutes left on the timer, dump the broccoli in with the penne. Melt a tbsp. or two of butter in a skillet over med-lo heat; whisk in a wee bit of flour (maybe a teaspoon) and when it is all incorporated pour in enough milk (maybe 1/4 C or so), all the while whisking, to make a slightly thickened roux. When the pasta/broccoli has about 1 minute left to cook, dump the grated cheddar into the roux and whisk until melted. You should have a nice creamy cheese sauce! Brrring!! Pasta and broccoli are done! Drain well and then add to cheese sauce (or visa-versa) and serve!

Cantaloupe: Not too hard... cut it open, scoop out seeds, cut in slices and peel. Eat á lá carte, or wrap some proscuitto around the slices and serve as an appetizer. Or cut into bite-sized pieces and serve with a scoop of cottage cheese.

Carrots: These are a staple, like potatoes. Versatile: peeling is optional, cooking is too, but I do recommend scrubbing clean with water and a vegetable brush! Cut them into pieces and boil in a little water for 10 minutes. Drain off water and add a little butter, honey and salt to the pan. Simmer until glossy. Grate 'em raw into salads, or eat 'em raw as sticks... with or without a dip.

Chard: Wash, chop, steam, sprinkle with vinegar and salt. Or wash, chop, sauté in a little garlic and oil, then add some walnuts, and dress with a splash each of soy sauce and balsamic vinegar.

Cucumbers: Quick 'n dirty: peel, slice thinly into a shallow bowl, sprinkle w/salt and pepper, add some red wine vinegar and a splash of water. Spoon the vinegar mixture over the cukes until it seems well distributed. Plunk on the table with forks for everyone.

Garlic: eeek, I use this for everything! Chopped or crushed into marinades or salad dressings, minced and sautéed with chard (above). I'll wait to tell you about roasting it 'til the weather is a little cooler though...

Kohlrabi: I've got a routine for these babies now. Cut the greens from the bulbs, wash and store separately. Chop and saute greens like chard, or chop and toss into soups or stir-frys. My fave thing to do with the bulbs is just peel, cut in half, and slice into half-moons for use as a crudité, or throw into a stir-fry or soup.

Lettuce: Salads! If it is romaine, I like to make a caesar (email me if you want to know how to make the dressing). The leaves make good 'scoops' for cold pasta and grain salads too. Red and butter leaf lettuces are good with either fruity or savory dressings. Try lime-soy-garlic-olive oil-cilantro, and crumble in some feta and toss in a few kalamata olives if you have 'em.

Onion: Not like anyone needs instructions for these, but... reds I like to slice thinly into salads with fruit and cheese, or chop/slice and add to cooked dishes where the color complements the other ingredients. (see Summer Squash, below, for example)

Potatoes: I always wash 'em but never peel 'em. Make mashed potatoes, clam-potato-carrot pasta (or soup) or pan-fry with lots of garlic until all is brown, add salt and pepper, and eat for breakfast!

Radiccio: Other than for salads (it is pretty bitter, so offset it with a sweet or fruity dressing), I discovered you can cut it in wedges, brush with oil (I always use olive oil), sprinkle with salt and pepper and grill!

Spinach: cook same as I would chard, or use fresh in salads.

Summer Squash: Cut up and steam, slice raw into salads, or add to stir-frys and pasta sauces. I made a pretty side-dish sauté with sliced squash (light green), carrots (orange) and red onion (purple), then dressed w/melted butter, minced parsley (dark green) and some salt!

Strawberries: Easy! I use 'em in agua fresca, in daquiris, cut into cereal, or sliced onto buttered-honeyed toast! Not to mention strawberry-rhubarb (or strawberry-rhubarb-nectarine) pie!!

*Click Here* for a link to a comprehensive listing of recipes from Live Earth Farm's newsletters going back as far as our 1998 season! You can search for recipes by harvest week OR by key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly.