After a brief hot spell several weeks back, the weather here has settled into the fairly predictable routine of morning fog, afternoon sunshine and fog again in the evening. For the crops that we grow, it has been just about perfect. Lettuces, bunched greens, broccoli and its relatives, and strawberries all find the moderate temperatures here along the coast to their liking—and I have to say that I do too. I always find it a big relief to come back home after doing a hot weekend market over the hill.
Despite the cooler outdoor temperatures, we are able to maintain the inside of our high-tunnels a good 10-15 degrees warmer—right where peppers, tomatoes and basil really like it. The tomatoes that some of you will receive this week are the first of the year. Although the flavor is decent right now, it will steadily improve as the season progresses. Managing moisture is key to getting good flavor with tomatoes. Holding back the water and slightly stressing the plant improves flavor and sweetness. We wait to cut the moisture back, however, until after the plants have completely sized up, which should be in the next week or two.
Romano beans are coming in and should be in the boxes next week (the long flat ones), along with another planting of filet beans. Cranberry shelling beans are still a ways off, but the plants are looking good. Peppers (bell, corno di toro, and padron) are coming along nicely, and are probably a few weeks off.
We have a lot of lovely basil right now. You have Thai Basil in your CSA boxes, and we have put Genovese Basil, which is sweet and perfect for pesto, on the web store. (See Chef Andrew’s notes below for the distinction between these basil types.) Pesto is easy to make and freezes well. We like to make big batches of pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then you have those wonderful cubes of flavor to add to whatever you are cooking or make a quick pasta meal. The blueberry patch is winding down for the year, but we continue to have strawberries, bulk mokum carrots, honey, and single bunch flowers to offer as extras.
Note to members paying quarterly: this is the 18th week of the season (mid-way point — wow, that went quickly!). If you are on the 9-week payment plan, it’s time to add a payment for the next nine weeks. If you are on automatic payment the payment will be automatically made at the end of this week. If you are not on automatic payment, please go to your account and make a payment now for the next 9-week session. Or, if you prefer, you can send us a check for $216 for vegetables/fruit only, $288 for veg/fruit plus flowers (High Ground Organics, PO Box 2601, Watsonville, CA 95077.
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