June 22 or 25

Bag Contents:  1 frisee, 1 celery, 1 bunch of purple basil, 1 head of german white garlic, 1 bunch of red beets, 1 head of red cabbage, 1 pound of cucumbers, 1 bunch of torpedo onions.

Storage:  Frisee, celery, beets store in the refrigerator in a bag with the air squeezed out.  Garlic, keep in the fridge not in a plastic bag.  Cabbage, onions, cucumbers keep in fridge drawer bagged or unbagged.  Basil will keep best in a paper bag on your counter.  It will wilt a little but keep its flavor.  In the fridge, it turns slimy and doesn't last as long.

I must apologize that the cucumbers aren't the best we've ever grown.  It is very hot and VERY dry for June and I tasted some cucumbers Monday and thought they were good so we put them in the shares this week and then last night I put some in a slaw for dinner and they were pretty bitter.  Some are good and some are not.  If we hadn't already made the bags up, I wouldn't include them but it is done so we'll leave them and just not consider them valuable (so we'll compensate next week).

So, yes, the lack of rain weighs heavy on our minds.  We can irrigate and are spending an enormous amount of time moving sprinklers and starting up pumps but it is not the same as rain.  Things grow much better with rain.

We put the basil and garlic in this week thinking you might be ready to make pesto.  The dark purple basil makes a good pesto and is a different color to experience.  Torpedo onions are great for use anywhere that you need an onion.  If you like to grill, try grilling them whole with some olive oil and salt and pepper.  The celery is stronger in flavor than that which you might buy in the grocery store.  The leaves are flavorful and make a nice substitute for parsley (though you use less).  It makes great soup broth, is good in potato salad, good sauteed with onions and added to beans or lentils.

Frisee and Flageolet Bean Salad

2/3 cup dry flageolet beans (sub navy beans)
3 T extra virgin olive oil
15 anchovy fillets
juice of 1 lemon
1 large garlic clove
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 T flat leaf parsley or celery leaves!, roughly chopped
1 head of frisee, washed and broken into individual leaves

1.  Cook beans in a pot with 4 cups of water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook until tender.  About 1 hour.  Rinse in cold water, drain, and set aside.
2.  Place olive oil, anchovies, lemon juice, garlic, and pepper in food processor.  Pulse until finely chopped.  Place parsley, frisee, beans, and anchovy dressing in a bowl and toss to combine.  Serve immediately.
if you don't eat anchovies, this is still good, you'll just need to substitute some salt and add more oil and 2 T of the cooked beans to the dressing