newsletter week 9

Red Springs Family Farm
July 22, 2010 week 9

Tomatoes Lettuce Pepper
Garlic Summer Squash Sweet Corn
Eggplant Green Beans
Okra or Cucumber Cantaloupe/Watermelon
Herb bag: Basil & Parsley

Welcome to the mid-season abundance ~ full heat, unseasonably regular rainfall, rampant growth, and big production. Enjoy!

Okra plants grew a foot taller over the past few days. Watermelons and tomatoes began to split as the recent downpours saturated the soil. Sad as that is, there’s still plenty to eat, and canning season has begun. Eggplants are just beginning. They won’t be a regular, weekly item for quite awhile, but these nice plump black globes were weighing down the eggplant branches.

We didn’t think there would be enough green beans to send this week, but we were proven wrong this morning. You have all the ingredients for a small batch of ratatouille this week.

It’s been a busy-bee week on land. Sunday night’s thunder and lightning storm shook the house and kept us awake. We felt fortunate the next day when we learned that Tompkinsville, (not too far from here) got a whopping FOUR INCHES of rain. We got just over a half inch, which was perfectly sufficient considering how fast and hard it fell. We took a day easy for Coree’s birthday, and enjoyed a meal at a new restaurant outside of Nashville, the Farm House. It is a thrill for us to pay someone else to cook and do dishes, and we were particularly satisfied because the restaurant uses primarily locally sourced and sustainably farmed meats and vegetables. Support local business – the quality is well worth the price.

The next round of corn isn’t quite tassling yet – this round sure came in nice.

Grilled Corn on the Cob
To prepare corn for grilling, peel back the husks but do not tear them off. Tear out he discard the corn silk, and then pull the husks back over the cobs. Some cooks moisten the husks with water before grilling which helps keep them from burning, especially over a very hot fire.) Put the cobs on the hot grill over medium-low fire for 7 to 8 minutes, turning every few minutes. Before serving, check one to make sure it is done. Serve with sweet butter and salt. Or serve with lime wedges and a mixture of salt and cayenne to sprinkle on the corn.

We’re short on time today. Harvest is a time consuming process these days!

Best regards, Paul, Coree, and Lulah Entwistle

“The soil is the great connector of lives, the source and destination of all. It is the healer and restorer and resurrector, by which disease passes into health, age into youth, death into life. Without proper care for it we can have no community, because without proper care for it we can have no life.”
~ Wendell Berry, from his essay The Use of Energy