Early summer happenings

Well I say early summer and somehow it's already July! It's been a busy season so far and a HOT one! We survived that June heatwave, just barely, but the upside now is that even high 80s feel positively balmy! It's amazing what a few degrees, and a decrease in humidity, can do for one's outdoor experience.

We are now picking tomatoes from our high tunnels several times a week, bringing in multiple crates of gorgeous red, yellow, and purple fruits. The Sungold cherry tomatoes are absolutely popping in there as well, and so fantastically vibrant in color. The field tomatoes are starting to come in as well, soon we’ll be swimming in tomatoes!

To perfectly pair with your tomatoes, our first basil crop is looking great. We have traditional green Italian basil, a deep purple variety that has a familiar basil flavor with a hint of anise, and then a Thai basil that is fantastic in noodle dishes or summer rolls. I love this fragrant herb on all sorts of salads and dishes, with tomatoes involved or not!

The cucumbers continue to roll in with gusto. Our crop in the high tunnel is truly massive, I need to climb on some upturned crates now to reach the highest ones! They have grown to probably 10 feet tall or more at this point! The field cucumbers are also chugging along nicely, with oodles of pickling cucumbers coming in lately. If you haven't made your own pickles before, now is the time! I like to make fridge pickles; these don't require any special equipment or knowledge - just make a hot brine with some vinegar, water, salt, and any spices you like. Then pour it over your cucumbers, whole, chopped into long spears, or sliced into little rounds, and refrigerate! After a day or two in the fridge your pickles will be sour, crunchy, and ready for sandwiches, burgers, and straight snacking from the jar!

Watermelons and cantaloupes are showing now, with some very adorable small fruits. I am so excited for some OAF fruit!

The spring carrot crop we seeded back in April looks fantastic! Some years the carrots are so-so, and some years they are big and juicy. We are happily in one of those latter years. We’ve harvested two of three rows so far, with one more to come and they have sized up beautifully. Great to shred into a summer slaw, roast for a salad with feta and herbs, or turn into vegetarian hot dogs!

Green beans, or in our case green and yellow and purple beans, are a fun summer treat. While tedious to harvest, these snappy vegetables are super tasty both raw and cooked. Eggplant is starting now too, we have dark purple, stripy, and a long light purple variety.

Leeks are a fun new item we’re growing this year, a sweeter, milder member of the allium family. With many layers inside, cooked leeks get super soft and silky and can be made into all sorts of fun dishes! Grilled and served with a red pepper, almond romesco sauce, roasted and braised into a melty side dish, or combined with potatoes into that signature soup, leeks are an all-around star!

Even though we’re in the full swing of summer now, we’re already planning and planting for the fall. Sweet potatoes are out there, doing their thing. Winter squash is popping up with bright green leaves. We’re mowing and turning over fields in anticipation of August plantings of all those fall greens!

We hope that you're enjoying some of the summer bounty, wherever you are! If you'd still like to join the CSA to get some of this beautiful food - we still have some space! Head to our GrownBy store: https://grownby.com/farms/one-acre-farm-tgc/shop and get yourself a CSA share.

Happy summer and as always, reach out with any questions to support@oneacrefarm.com.