Share week 12: Preserving the Bounty

01 Aug Share week 12: Preserving the Bounty

As the bounty continues to roll in from the fields, it’s great to think about how to preserve the summer flavors for when the weather turns foul. Putting up food for later is one of the best ways to maintain your local eating habit even when the CSA season ends–and with such gorgeous shares, it’s easy to do.

CSA share, week 12, 7/31/12

I spent the day canning some of our super-flavorful beefsteak tomatoes and making a batch of these Oven-Dried Cherry Tomatoes. (Half-bushel boxes of tomatoes are still available for purchase–email to reserve a box and we’ll have it ready for your next pick-up). New to canning? Sign up for the tomato canning workshop on August 18th, 10-2pm, here at the farm. Led by canning teacher, blogger, and cookbook author Marisa McClellan (of Food In Jars fame), this workshop is not to be missed. Details and registration information are on our website.

Also available for purchase are half-bushel boxes of cucumbers. No need to pre-order. Boxes will be available for $15 in the CSA pick-up room this week (just bring checks or exact change, please). These cux work great for sliced pickles–and no need to bother with the canning process with this recipe for Fridge Pickles!

Here at the farm, we’ve been trying to preserve the bounty in another way: in between harvesting thousands of pounds of tomatoes, melons, cucumbers, and squash, the crew is running around trying to get more crops in the ground so that we can keep the bounty coming. Cold-loving crops like kale, broccoli, and cauliflower all get their start in these hot days of summer.

Text and photography by Kate Darlington – Blooming Glen Farm second year intern, fresh food enthusiast, and budding food blogger. She also writes for the Digging Deep Campaign as well as for her personal blog, Growing Things.