"I am only a child, yet I know if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this Earth would be..."
- Severn Cullis-Suzuki, age 12, Earth Summit, Rio de Janeiro, June 1992

What’s in the standard share:

... and if you have an extra-fruit option:
Peaches, strawberries, plums and raspberries

CALENDAR


Aug 8, 9, 10 - Children’s Mini Camp
Friday evening to noon Sunday

Sat. Sep 20 - Fall Equinox Celebration
3pm - 9pm
with the Banana Slug String Band!

Sat. Oct 26 Halloween Pumpkin Palooza
all day.
the Banana Slug String Band will play here too!

The art of waiting. Last week I was in a constant hurry, impatient to get things done. We all go through these cycles where we stay up late, get up early, skip meals, cut corners, drive too fast, or work ourselves into a frenzy to get something done in less time. By rushing from one thing to the next, it seems one is constantly poised to seize the future. Plants aren’t like that. As a farmer I may have schedules to get stressed out about, but plants simply have cycles. One of the most important yet least mentioned aspects of farming is the art of waiting. There is nothing passive about this waiting. This waiting is filled with work that prepares or gives condition for that which we are waiting for, to flower and give fruit in the "fullness of time." As we wait our work is guided by our understanding of the conditions and our ability to adapt to the natural cycle of the seasons. Waiting for the right time, for example, means to sow seeds when the temperature and moisture are ideal for germination, to water and cultivate at the right stages of crop development, and to harvest at the right frequency and optimum maturity to capture the best flavor, nutritional value and freshness.

While cutting flowers on Friday I realized that the sunflowers towering over my head started as small seeds planted in the greenhouse during the cool days of April. Since then, they have simply taken each day at a time, steadfastly progressing through each moment it takes them to grow through their natural cycle. There is no forcing them by artificial means. As I contemplate the beauty of a radiant giant sunflower with a honeybee heavy with pollen resting on it, I am reminded of balance and harmony, a lifestyle grounded in the sacred. I decide to be less impatient and continue my practice in the art of waiting. – Tom

Crop of the Week
I was re-reading last year's newsletters for inspiration and noticed our TOMATOES ripened about three weeks earlier than last season's. Also I came across a bit of tomato history which I thought would be interesting to share again. This "pomme d’amour" or "love apple," as the French sometimes call it, is native to Ecuador and Peru and was cultivated in Central and South America as early as the fifth century. However, it only arrived in the United States a little over 200 years ago with European explorers. The Spanish explorers brought the tomato to Europe in the 1500s and only the Italians showed any interest in this berry from South America. The rest of Europe considered the tomato as a poisonous plant, probably because of its relation to the deadly nightshade weed. Many of the nightshade species contain a chemical alkaloid, both medicinal and toxic. Many plants that are important to us – including eggplant, peppers, potatoes, flowering nicotiana, and petunias – belong to this family. Luckily for us, however, the fruits of tomato, peppers, and eggplant are completely safe to eat, even when they are green. Only potato tubers can make you sick if you expose them to enough sunlight, which makes their skin turn green. So here is an important storage tip if you don’t consume all the potatoes you receive weekly. Place them in a paper bag (not plastic) in a cool and dark place to prevent them from turning green. This way you can enjoy them for many months to come.
Do you realize that tomatoes are the ultimate antioxidant powerhouse? The red color is formed by a pigment called lycopene – a member of the carotenoid family – which turns out to be a powerful scavenger of oxygen free radicals. Free radicals are supposed to be the primary reason why we age and succumb to age-related conditions such as cancer and heart disease. Scientist have shown that carotenoids, such as lycopene, delays the onset of these degenerative diseases by boosting the body's antioxidant capacity, and that cooked tomato products (including tomato paste, tomato sauce, even pizza sauce) pack more bioavailable lycopene, about four times greater than the raw fruit.

Membership Drive
We still have shares available. Please continue to spread the word and let friends, neighbors, co-workers know about our CSA program. We try to always make brochures available in the inside back pocket of your pick-up site binder, so feel free to take a few to give out, or call us and we can send you a flyer to post in your neighborhood's local shop or bulletin board.

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

We're starting to get green beans and tomatoes like nobody's business, so here are some ideas to get you through your bounty. First, a tomato soup that's all about tomato (no stock, no spices or special flavorings). I think I clipped it for that very reason. If you're looking for more variety in tomato soup ideas, there are also Italian and Indian-style tomato soups already on the recipe database (online). - Debbie

Tomato Soup with cream or without
adapted from "Soup A Way of Life" by Barbara Kafka
serves 6

1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 medium onion
3 lbs. fresh tomatoes*
1 tbsp. kosher salt
1 C heavy cream, optional

*[If you have a food mill you can just cut them into chunks; the food mill will separate out the seeds and skins. If you don't (I don't!), you'll have to peel and seed the tomatoes before making this recipe. If you don't know how to peel tomatoes, see recipe database, or call me! – Debbie]

In a medium saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Stir in onion and cook, stirring occasionally, for 7 minutes. Stir tomatoes into onions, raise heat and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, covered, for 45 minutes. Pass through fine disc of a food mill (or purée in a blender) and return to pan. Heat soup through. Season with salt. If using, add cream. If you like, you can garnish this soup with 1/4 C narrow strips of basil, with chevril, or with croutons.

The following recipe was given to me last year by member Sue Burnham (a regular contributor). She says it has a real unusual flavor, kind of sour/tart.

Lemon Green Beans with Cashews
from Kristin Jarden's Vegetarian Cookbook (Indian/vegetarian)
serves 4 to 6

about 1 1/2 lbs. green beans
3/4 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. ghee or oil
1/3 C cashews (chopped, broken or whole)
2 tsp. black mustard seeds
1 tbsp. ginger, minced
1 tbsp. ground coriander
1 to 2 whole dried chilies, slit (or 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes)
1 pinch asifedita (fairly important)
3 tbsp. fresh cilantro, minced
2 tbsp. lemon juice

Trim beans and cut into 1" pieces. Sprinkle with salt and steam or boil until tender, then drain. Heat oil in a wok or skillet over medium heat, lightly fry cashews until golden. Remove with slotted spoon, drain and set aside. Fry mustard seeds in same pan until they pop. Add ginger and fry 20 seconds. Mix in ground coriander, chilies and asifedita, add green beans, cilantro, lemon juice and cashews. Sauté another 5 to 7 minutes to heat through.

Okay, I lied [about the recipes being for green beans and tomatoes only this week].
Here's a beet recipe. - Deb
(Also, FYI, in the paper version of this newsletter the below recipe was truncated down to fit 'cause I was short on space. No key info was left out, but all of Madhur's great commentary was! It was too good to leave out here though, so I have re-written this recipe here in its entirety.)

Beets with Mint and Yogurt
from Madhur Jaffrey's World Vegetarian
serves 6 to 8

Madhur Jaffrey says, "a word of warning: I have a friend who at first refused to eat this dish because of its color, a wild, alarming fuschia. He complained that it did not look "natural." Since then he has been persuaded. The taste, he said, won him over."

This is generally served at room temperature or chilled.

1 (8-ounce) beet or 2 smaller ones, boiled or roasted in foil
2 C plain yogurt
3/4 to 1 tsp. salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/8 to 1/4 tsp. cayenne (optional)
2 1/2 tbsp. finely chopped fresh mint
1 tbsp. vegetable oil (I like to use olive oil)
3 small garlic cloves, peeled (or 1 large garlic clove, cut lenthwise into 3 sections)

Peel the beet and grate it coarsely. Put the yogurt in a bolw and beat it lightly with a fork or a whisk until it is smooth and creamy. Add the salt, pepper to taste, and cayenne, if using. Mix. Add the mint and beet. Mix gently.

Put the oil and garlic in a small frying pan and set over medium-high heat. The garlic will eventually begin to sizzle. Press down on the garlic with a spatula and let it sizzle some more, turning the pieces once or twice, until they turn a medium brown. Now pour the flavored oil and garlic into the bowl with the yogurt and mix.

*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 key ingredient. Recipe site is updated weekly during the season.