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Week 16 from Valley Flora!

Beet Box -

Week 16 from Valley Flora! Napa Cabbage & Cipollinis!
Thanks for eating locally from our family farm!
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What's Cookin' at the Farm...
  • Mid-September Bounty!
  • Ratatouille Time
  • Sweet Peps - Get 'em Before They're Gone!
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What's In Your Share This Week:*
  • Cipollini Onions
  • Head Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Tomatoes
  • Eggplant
  • Dill
  • Sweet Corn
  • Sweet Peppers
  • Melons
  • Napa Cabbage
  • Beets
On Rotation:
(Some locations will receive it this week; others in a future week)
  • Zucchini
*Harvest Basket contents may vary between pickup sites in a given week depending on what's ripe and ready on the farm. Don't worry - if something is on the list but not in your tote, you'll get it soon!

The VF Crystal Ball - What might be in your share next week...
  • Onions
  • Carrots
  • Chard
  • Corn?
  • Parsley?
  • Lettuce
  • Potatoes
  • Celery?
  • Fennel?
  • Zucchini
  • Tomatoes
  • Eggplant
  • Peppers
Mid-September Bounty
This is always one of my favorite totes of the season: when the napa cabbage shows up alongside the sweet peppers and the cipollini onions. If you haven't had cipollinis before you're in for a treat. They are by far the most pungent onion we grow, so be prepared for a cry-fest when you cut into them. And though the tears will be flowing mightily, don't be deterred: get them cut up and into a frying pan with some olive oil. Cook them down until they're soft and carmelized and then behold the wonder! How can something that was making you cry 10 minutes ago turn into something so richly sweet!? (I thought only young love was like that.) So be warned, chances are you'll find yourself leaned over the pan spooning them into your mouth with abandon, screw the rest of the recipe you were following that began with "sautee the onions..." 
Semi-flattened gold cipollinis, mil grazie Italia!
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Ratatouille
Speaking of recipes you should or shouldn't be following, there is one thing that you really should be making right now, and that's ratatouille. I'm a half-beat behind in suggesting this because the zucchini is pretty much over as of this week, but it doesn't really matter because you can make ratatouille with any combination of late summer veggies, like for instance eggplant :), and also tomatoes, peppers, onions, even corn.

Ratatouille was a late summer staple in our house when I was growing up. My mom would make a big pot of it from the garden harvest and then freeze the leftover for winter meals. We usually ate it atop polenta, but you can team it up with pasta, any kind of grain or rice, alongside chicken or fish, with eggs, or eat it straight. If it's your first time making it, you might want to follow a recipe but you can also free-form ratatouille pretty easily. Also keep in mind that you if you're shy on zukes but rich in eggplant this week, just substitute. You might need more tomatoes than you have in this week's tote (the tomato yields have been disappointing for us this year), but those are pretty easy to come by in early September. Maybe your SunOrange cherry tomato plant is pumping out little candy bomb fruits by now? Yes? Toss them in!
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Special Order Sweet Peppers!
Pepper fans! It's your moment! Sweet peppers are available right now and they won't be around forever, so get yourself some peppers to freeze, roast, pickle, and eat like popsicles! They are super easy to put up for winter: just chop and freeze, no extra steps. You can email Bets, the Grand Poobah of Pepper Production, and give her your NAME, PICKUP SITE, PHONE NUMBER and the QUANTITY and TYPE of PEPPER you want! They are $22 for 5 pounds, and you can choose from Stocky Red Roasters (that's the red Italian type pepper in your share this week) or a mix of her various roasters: Stocky, Gypsy, and Glow (the orange pepper in your share).
 
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The Farmstand is Open for Summer Hours!
 
Every Wednesday & Saturday (rain or shine)
9 am to 2 pm

Fresh Produce
U-Pick Strawberries & Flowers
Homemade Jam & Hot Sauce

Please bring your own bags and u-pick containers!

Directions to the Farm
For Recipes & Cooking Inspiration:
 
Valley Flora Recipe Wizard
Our own collection of recipes gathered over the years.
 
Epicurious
A vast collection of recipes, searchable by one or multiple ingredients
 
Full Belly Farm
Recipes from one of my favorite farms in California, pioneers of the organic movement since the 80s.

Farm Fresh to You
A storehouse of recipes, searchable by ingredient.
 
Helsing Junction Farm
A Washington farm that has a good collection of seasonal recipes geared toward CSA members.
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