We harvested the dry beans last week and today. We hand pulled them plants and piled them on a tarp laid on the hay wagon. When the tarp was full of each variety, we brought them back to the barnyard to thresh and then store in buckets. Soon we will winnow them and they will be ready to eat! The giant sunflowers are almost ready as well. The seeds are fully formed but need to dry more. The plants are buckling over because of the weight of the heads. One variety called Hopi Black Dye stains your hand purple as you eat the seeds. We have been thinking about dying the raw carded wool from our sheep and I was excited to see the strength of the color of the seeds. I wonder if it would make a good dye...
Full sunflower heads
Our weekly greenhouse seedings are slowing down. Almost everything we will harvest this year is in the ground or will be soon. We only have lettuce left to seed and transplant. Jay tilled the empty beds in the flower field today. We will fill up that garden with winter vegetables for ourselves. It will be good practice for us to see how the fields produce during the winter.
This week's pick list:
- Pesto Basil
- Tomatoes
- Sweet Peppers
- Hot Peppers
- Padron Peppers
- Eggplant
- Zucchini and Summer Squash
- Cucumbers
- Broccoli
- Cauliflower
- Cabbage
- Leeks
- Onions
- Garlic
- Lettuce
- Celery
- Potatoes
- Kale
- Chard
- Beets
- Rutabaga
- Carrots
- Basil, Parsley, Dill, and Cilantro
- Strawberries
- Flowers
- Pick your own Cherry Tomatoes and Tomatillos
Sacred Basil
As some members have discovered, there is sacred basil, also known as tulsi, planted in the flower and herb gardens for tea. It has a sweet fragrance and flavor that I love and so do the bees! Please feel free to harvest some. You can make fresh tea with it or dry it to use later.
Romesco Sauce (Adapted from serious eats.com)
- 1 1-inch thick slice of crusty bread, crust removed and cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 large tomato
- 5 cloves unpeeled garlic
- 1/2 cup almonds
- 2 medium red or orange bell peppers
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons sherry vinegar
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Preheat oven to 375°F. Place almond, garlic, bread and tomato on baking sheet and place in the oven. Roast almonds until fragrant and bread is crusty and just starting to brown, about 10 minutes. Remove almonds and bread and continue roasting garlic until soft and tomato until tender, about 20 minutes more. Remove from oven, let cool slightly and remove skin from tomato and peel garlic.
While other ingredients are roasting in the oven, roast peppers over an open flame on a gas stove or grill or broil in the oven until the skins are blackened. Place in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap and let sit until cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Remove charred skin, seeds, and cores.
Place bread, tomato, almonds, peppers, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, salt, and pepper in the bowl of a food processor. Purée until smooth. Taste and season with additional salt and cayenne pepper as needed.