Weekly farm news and the Barn Loft Rented!!!

You can access our online store using this link. Log in by clicking the icon of the person in the top right hand side of the web page, if you are using a desktop or click on the menu icon if you are using your phone.  All orders need to be placed by Thursday at 8 AM so that we will know what to harvest for your share!   Please return your boxes because we re-use them.

We are offering french filet beans this week, and normally like to offer beans for a couple weeks off a crop, but the groundhog devoured nearly the entire crop.  So we harvested what we could and are thankful there is enough for your shares!!!  The groundhog also ate an entire succession of lettuce, but we are estimating that there is enough oakleaf heads for this weeks share. It is hard to imagine that there can be as many groundhogs as we’ve seen thriving on a 1 – 1/2 acre plot of land, but there is, which Carl said is due to good organic food.

A good bit of our time last week was spent cleaning, which we are thankful for, as we had back to back reservations in the Barn Apartment both scheduled at the last minute.

You will probably need to white list our email to receive correspondence from us because we have changed our email from farmer@MountainHarvestOrganic.com to Farmer@MountainHarvestOrganics.com (our email is organics plural).

Your Farmers (and cleaning staff),
Carl and Julie

Our sweet  sweet bell peppers are mixed colors of red, yellow. Bell peppers are on the â€œDirty Dozen” list as contaminated from pesticides and herbicides in conventional agriculture so be thankful that we have carefully grown these organically so they are healthy for you. They are excellent sliced for snacks, a topping for sandwiches or salads. Try this Romesco Sauce that may be used as a dip or as a topping for a quiche! Roasting almost any pepper transforms the sweetness into an incredible snack so consider taking a little time to do this. We typically cut our bell peppers in half, de-seed them, then roasting in the oven to speed up their cooking time. Once peppers are roasted, this recipe is excellent!  If you’re in the mood for stuffing peppers, this recipe for vegetarian quinoa stuffed peppers, or if you need some meat seasoning, these meat stuffed pepeprs. Stuffing peppers has been popular since we can remember, so the NYTimes suggest these stuffing options. This recipe for red pepper sauce can be used on pizza, pasta, or your favorite grain such as quinoa.

We’re offering both a Farmer’s Choice Veggie and Farmers’ Choice Veggie & Meat Share.  Items common in both shares are listed first, followed by items specific to the veggie share the finally the veggie/meat share. The Farmer’s Choice Veggie & Meat share normally has less smaller portions of vegetables. )

• Green Cabbage:  This variety has very thin and tender leaves that make it great for cole slaw, either creamy or with a vinaigrette. 
• Beans: French Filet.  These beans are six to seven inches long and are harvested when the pods are the size of a pencil.  These long and slender beans are especially tender and have a well-developed bean flavor with a French flair known as Haricot Vert.
• Cucumbers: Slicing. These slicing cucumbers are great on salads, sandwiches and just eating plain. When cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers are in season, we love this cucumber salad.
• Basil:  This Genoveste Basil is preferred for pesto!!  We like to use this in tomato and basil salad.
• Tomatoes: Slicing.  The slicing tomatoes are perfect for sandwiches, burgers, or for eating sliced with a little salt!
• Onions: Leeks. This amazing vegetable has a mild onion taste so it works well braised, roasted, in soups, quiches and tarts;. 
• Peppers: Sweet Bells. These sweet bell peppers are mixed colors of red, yellow. Bell peppers are on the â€œDirty Dozen” list as contaminated from pesticides and herbicides in conventional agriculture so be thankful that we have carefully grown these organically so they are healthy for you.

The following are included only in the veggie share:

• Eggplant: Mixed Globe and Asian: These slicing cucumbers are great on salads, sandwiches and just eating plain. When cucumbers, tomatoes and sweet peppers are in season, we love this cucumber salad.
• Lettuce: Lucky for us, the groundhog left enough lettuce for your share!!!! These

The following are included only in the meat share

• Ground Beef: This makes a great addition for stuffed peppers along with the tomatoes in your share!!! 

We love that we hosted a group of friends who traveled here from both Charlotte and Atlanta to meet up for some rest and relaxation in the Mountains!  Carl enjoyed talking technology with them because they are all involved in hi-tech industries.  One even commented, “Your’e blowing my mind….  You mean, your are both farmers who can write code???”.  The star of the show for guests this week were the cherry tomatoes!!! While providing farm tours, we always suggest that guests sample the cherry tomatoes.  Before our guests checked out, they even inquired about u-pick cherry tomatoes so they could take some home.  Most certainly we said yes!!!

Above is the Pearl Crescent butterfly!