Farm brief: it continues to be hot and dry, so most veggies and fruits continue to mature between three and four weeks early. Garlic and onions have been harvested for curing, and the potatoes are almost ready - enjoying their two week in-ground curing prior to harvest the second week of July. Garlic and onion harvest appear to be great - it can always be deceiving as both can rot during storage for a variety of reasons. Potato harvest will likely be much less than last year due to very early heat. Almost everything else is growing very well, and we are enjoying watching the success of many local heirloom varieties of tomatoes, melons, green beans, limas, corn, and cowpeas. Our only real bust of the season so far seems to be eggplant - our first succession was slammed by flea beetles (the farmer mill calls this the worst season in recent history - it is for us) - and our second succession is now being eaten by the "second" or "Southern" wave of Colorado Potato Beetles, which I think for timing reasons have never seemed to cause our eggplant and potatoes many problems but have been awful the past 7-10 days or so. We are currently handpicking to control in second and third successions in hopes to keep them at bay. The second succession already has small fruit on it, which probably would have been ready by the end of this week if not affected by beetles. Our tomatoes look the best they ever have. We made a few changes to the timing of some varieties based on past seasons' results as well as adding a couple of new-to-us heirlooms and that seems to have made a significant difference. We also added in an organic fertilizer to their potting soil this season to improve root development and prevent nitrogen deficiency prior to transplanting. The peppers also look great. I think we will have ripe peppers by the end of this week (before we would typically have even green peppers)! Also coming along are the dry beans (black, cannellini, Tiger Eye, and Jacob's Cattle), pumpkins and winter squash, melons, sweet corn, and dry corn. We just finished hand pollinating one of our dry corn varieties, Cherokee White Flour (very much endangered) in order to save pure seed for following seasons.
On to tomatillos and lettuce: Megan's Mole Verde. So what exactly are tomatillos? They are a member of the Physalis genus like ground cherries and part of the nightshade family like tomatoes, peppers, potatoes, and eggplant. They typically are green, although they can also be yellow and purple. They come from Mexico, supposedly grown by the Aztecs, and are common in Mexican, Tex-Mex, and many Latin American cuisines. First things first, remove the husk and wash them. This is the best way to store them and also removes the sticky substance in between the fruit and the husk. Mole verde: mole verde is a sauce common in Mexico typically used for pork or beef ribs but that also goes really well with chicken, seitan (my favorite), and tempeh. It is also good with pork chops, cheese enchiladas, and even just as a dip with chips. Traditionally, it incorporates acuyo leaves or leaves from chayote squash. Neither of these are readily available here, so I have come up with a CSA friendly version.
Ingredients:
3 heads of lettuce or 2 heads of lettuce and a bunch of chard (or an combination of the two, or you may substitute spinach, amaranth leaves, lamb's quarters, etc.)
2 small onions, quartered
3-6 cloves of garlic, depending on the garlic and your tastes, whole
4-6 chiles, roasted and peeled (poblanos, jalapenos, and Anaheims are a nice choice)
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1 lb. tomatillos, dehusked and washed
2 small, ripe tomatoes
1 bu. cilantro
1/2 t. cumin, optional
1 sprig oregano, optional, or epazote
1 t. organic, raw sugar
salt
Boil tomatillos and tomatoes for 5 minutes, until tomatillos change color.
Add 1/4 c. olive oil to pot. Warm. Add onions, garlic, chiles, and pumpkin seeds. Cook 2-3 minutes, until seeds begin to brown.
Add tomatillos, tomatoes, and mixture to a blender. Blend with 1/2 c. broth or water. Add back to pot. Blend lettuce and/or greens with herbs. Add to pot. Add sugar and salt to taste. Stir and bring whole mixture to boil. Cover and reduce - it will splatter. Cook for 20 minutes, stirring to prevent burning. Add more broth or water if it is too thick. Use right away or freeze (freezes really well).
