Night temps are falling,

Tomatoes are slowing,

I’m not writing a poem though.

The up-and-coming fall crops are looking happy and healthy – lettuce bed is looking nice, high tunnel cucumbers are looking far healthier than the ones we grew in the Spring. We’d let the spring arugula and mizuna plants re-seed themselves, and thinned out the resulting dense patches this week. The fall radishes are fixing to be impressive.

We cut down the rest of the potato plants, weeded out a lot of seed-laden menaces, red mustard was thinned (thanks Tara & Cullen!)

Kristin’s been canning split and ugly tomatoes in several ways, canning even eggplants (the eggplants are doing great this year (you might want to polish up on your eggplant recipe repertoire BTW)).

This week though, there aren’t any eggplants in your box – it was far too full of:

• Carrots –  We restrained ourselves from harvest early young carrots all season, so they could grow up like these!
• Savory (nope that’s not Rosemary – maybe next year)- would be good with potatoes and with spaghetti squash. You could throw the whole thing into simmering soup, and then fish our the sticks later.
• Red Potatoes

• Spaghetti Squash – Halve it, scoop out the seeds, roast in the oven like any winter squash (or microwave it). Scrape out the strandy innards with a fork to use however you like … we like it with a light sauce like butter, parmesean, and herbs. Maybe some chopped and drained tomatoes; a lot of people try spaghetti sauce, but it kinda just turns it to a pile of mush.  You could also make fritters – combine the cooked flesh with an egg, salt, pepper, maybe herbs, and a little flour. Fry little patties of the results in a pan.
• Beets – a random mix ofThee-Root Grex, Cylindrica, Detroit, Chiogga, Burpee’s Golden, and Red Ace varieties
• Sweet Peppers – Even the scary red ones that look like giant cayenne peppers are mild this week!

• Tomatillos & Cherry Tomatoes
• Beans – Probably the final beans of the season, but some of the later-producing varieties might surprise us, 

• Zucchini
• A lovely slicing cucumber, or two
• Onions

• a single ear of Heirloom Sweet Corn –  You are now fostering a Rescue. The second patch of sweet corn was decimated from above by birds and from below by rodents. Only a few cobs made it through unscathed.

  

  Kristin is harboring suspicions about even the hummingbirds, although woodpeckers are a more likely culprit. Anyway – with just a cob, I’d just cut it off the cob, and add to something else – a salsa, soup, salad …