CSA share week #8 Saturday July 16th and Tuesday July 19th

In your share this week  
- carrots
- radicchio
- genovese basil (Tuesday received theirs early this past Tuesday)
- lettuce
- celery
- pickling cucumbers
- summer squash (most likely the last week of this for now)
- zucchini (most likely the last week of this for now)

easy refrigerator pickles
-pickling cukes
- dried dill (if desired)
-2 garlic cloves, sliced
-1 quart of water
-1/2 a cup of vinegar
-1/4 a cup of sugar
-1/6 a cup of salt
-1 teaspoon of pickling spice

Cut pickling cucumbers lengthwise into spears either in halves or quarters depending on size preference. In a large bowl, combine the cucumbers, dill as desired and garlic; set aside.

In a pan over medium/high heat combine the remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook and stir until sugar is just dissolved. Pour over cucumber mixture; cool.

Transfer to jars if desired and cover tightly. Refrigerate for at least 24 hours. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Zucchini Parmesan
2 large zucchini, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
1/2 a cup fresh chopped basil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (16 ounce) jar spaghetti squash
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large pot boil the zucchini until tender; drain. Meanwhile, in a medium frying pan heat the olive oil over medium heat and saute the onions and garlic until the onion is tender.
3. Combine the zucchini, onion, garlic, and basil in a 9x12 inch casserole dish and mix well. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the mixture and stir well. Top with mozzarella cheese.
4. Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until heated through and cheese is bubbly.

Radicchio is an Italian salad/cooking green that grows in a dense head. It is slightly bitter. like catalogna, escarole, eggplant and other bitter vegetables you can soak radicchio in cold salted water before serving to remove the bitterness.The following slaw recipe sweetens it up with honey and nectarines.

Radicchio slaw with nectarines
1/4 a cup buttermilk
1/4 a cup sour cream
1 tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp. honey
salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 head radicchio shredded
2 nectarines cut into small cubes

1. In a large bowl, combine the buttermilk, sour cream, vinegar and honey; season with salt and pepper. Whisk in the olive oil.
2. Add the radicchio and nectarines to the dressing and toss to coat.

A big thank you to all of you who have been giving me recipes, I look forward to using them in the blog, I try to pick kid friendly recipes as much as possible if you have noticed my fondness for healthy "junk food" items like kohlrabi chips and zucchini fries!

The cherry tomatoes are just starting to color and I am really hoping they will be ready in quantity to give out in the share by next week.

Many of you have inquired about whether we grow fruit and for some reason I often forget to mention the melons,  we grow several varieties of melons, I am also hoping to convince the farmer to let us grow strawberries next year, it took me 2 years of constant pestering for him to let me start a CSA so I'm hopeful. The other thought is contracting with another local farm that does grow fruit for an add-on fruit share, I'd love to hear if anyone would be interested in this, most likely it would not be organic. I am also hoping to find a way to make eggs available on a consistent basis. Also with the cut flowers I have the dilemma that some members really want flowers and some really don't, they would prefer only edible items which is understandable. We try really hard to make everyone happy. Next year we will most likely have a separate flower share for those interested where you get a bouquet every week during the flower season. Again I'd love to hear if anyone is interested in this.