Last week was a big week on the farm. We started delivering carrots to various locations in the Duluth area, we got all our garlic harvested, and the curing process has begun, and we harvested baby carrots. 

We know many have been asking about where you can find our carrots. Up to this point in the season our CSA members have gotten exclusive access to our early crop, but now our carrots are back on shelves at both Duluth Co-ops, Kenwood and Cloquet Super One (Plaza and Lakeside soon), and Carlton Meat and Grocery. If you take a trip up to Grand Marais, you will soon find our carrots back on the shelves at the Cook County Co-op. 

Garlic can be eaten straight out of the ground. It has a mild flavor, and a subtle sweetness to it. The papery outside is still damp and not protective, so the garlic only lasts for a week or two before it will start to rot. This is why we cure our garlic. The curing process is where we spread out all the bulbs, and use fans to fully dry the protective paper. This process not only makes the garlic last for months, it also enhances the sharp garlic flavor. You’ll soon be seeing it in your share boxes.

At the end of the week, we got our first round of baby carrots out of the field. This means even more delicious produce will be hitting grocery store shelves very soon. 

This week will be spent doing lots of harvesting. Most of our vegetables seem to be hitting peak abundance right now. It’s also the time of year where we start harvesting some crops so we can till the field and plant a cover crop. If we sneak it in within the next month, a cover crop will still have time to grow before we lose too many sunlight hours.

In your box this week:

Tomatoes – Bell Pepper – Jalapeno – Carrots – Cucumber – Zucchini – Basil – Green Beans – Red Cabbage – Cilantro – Onions

This green bean salad is a fun summer side dish. It’s got crispy green beans, crunchy nuts, and creamy goat cheese. The recipe calls for radicchio, but you can easily substitute some of the red cabbage in your box. It won’t have the same bitterness that radicchio does, but it will have a similar crunch, and add beautiful color.

This cilantro sauce recipe is a bright and versatile sauce that is perfect for summer. If you’re feeling a little spicey, try adding in some jalapeno. This sauce is perfect on top of steak, chicken, fish, tofu, or beans. It’s also delicious as a salad dressing.

This tortellini with roasted veggies, is my go to “fancy” pasta salad. I call it fancy because there’s no mayo, and it uses tortellini which is arguably the fanciest of all pastas. It’s a great way to mix and match both veggies and flavors. The recipe gives you a great start on what to add to the pasta, but feel free to play around with whateve vaggies are in your fridge.