From the Garden this Week…

From the Garden this Week…

Tomatoes, Green Onions, Green, Yellow Beans and Dragon’s Tongue Beans, Cucumbers, Summer Squash, Basil, Lettuce Heads, Carrots, Bell and Hot Peppers, Peaches and Pluots

Coming Soon… Eggplant and Cilantro

Using your Produce… by Julie Moreno

This week we have another batch of sweet corn coming. This is a different variety than we had a few weeks ago, let us know if you have any preference. This is also an heirloom corn, so it will be a little different than what you will find in the store. Another new planting of green beans is being harvested this week to. These types of crops we plant in succession throughout the summer so that we can keep sending them your way. This is different than tomatoes and basil, where we plant just once or twice and harvest from the same plants every week. This is partly why we have so many these days. If we don’t plant enough in the beginning, we can’t make any changes to the quantity available to harvest during the season. Enjoy this one-pan pasta dish for an easy weeknight meal. The tomatoes and onions cook right along with the pasta in the same pot. I call it my drought recipe, because you don’t have to dump any water down the drain.

One-Pan Pasta

¼ onion, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, crushed

2 cups tomatoes, coarsely chopped, (peeled first if desired)

½ cup basil leaves, coarsely chopped

12 ounces linguine or spaghetti

2 teaspoons salt

1 pinch crushed red chile flakes

2 tablespoons olive oil

5 cups water

Parmesan cheese, to garnish

fresh ground pepper, to taste

Place all of the ingredients except for the parmesan and pepper into a large pot. Cook on a high heat for 2 minutes, submerging the spaghetti into the water once it’s softened enough. Lower the temperature to medium-low heat and stir frequently until the liquid is absorbed. Serve with more fresh basil, fresh ground black pepper and Parmesan cheese.

Flowers and More Flowers

It’s great to send out these colorful cuttings. Just a few seeds in the ground yield a bounty. I hope that you enjoy the color in the baskets.

Peppers and Tomatoes…

With peppers and tomatoes coming at full speed, this Spanish Piperade recipe is a great way to reduce and concentrate the flavors of the summer. Serve this as a sauce for chicken or on slices of crusty bread.

Spanish Piperade

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion (chopped)

5-6 sweet peppers (seeded and chopped)

2 cloves garlic (crushed and finely chopped)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika

1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

2 large tomatoes, diced

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Sauté the onion, peppers, garlic, salt, paprika, black pepper, and sugar, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked through. Add the tomatoes to the cooked vegetables and simmer the mixture, uncovered, for 15 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce has thickened.

Metaphors of Soil and Soul . . . by Cindi J. Martin

I wonder if you would agree with me that it is by God’s grace that we continue to enjoy the beautiful ripening fruit of relationships? It is not a given. It is not to be taken for granted. It is not without the continual, unrelenting hard work of “weed picking” in our garden of relational communication. Communication is such a simple word. But it is such hard work even after years of practice. Yes, some things do get easier. But God humbles me frequently in a relationship that has changed or is new. Suddenly, I am a novice all over again.

I was reminded of this, as I watched our Professional Market Gardener, Anna Hazen, out in the garden, humbly pulling weeds from among our tomato, squash, green bean, cucumber, and watermelon and cucumber rows. I was reminded how much easier it is to pick out weeds when they are small. Left unattended for even a few days and they surprise me with how quickly they mature, how deeply they grow roots, cast their seeds, and multiply in our good garden soil!! If we are not vigilant, constantly scanning for weeds, they gladly compete with and drain our vegetables of vital nutrients.

In my closest relationships, there are two huge weeds I scan for every day: a lack of gratitude and failure to address hurts. I have to ask myself daily, “Have I said thank you to that person today?” Then I scan my thoughts and emotions for signs of any disappointment, frustration or anger. God and I look for early signs of a hurt in my heart and whether or not I need to bring something into the light with someone in my life. Am I willing to humble myself and do this in a timely manner, so it does not become bitterness, resentment, or a critical spirit? Or am I avoiding picking this particular weed and hoping it will just go away and die of its own accord? Feeling a sense of distance in a relationship may be a signal that I have an untended weed sapping the strength out of the Lord’s planting in my relational garden! Humble honesty in friendship is like well-timed weed picking.

“Speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body

of him who is the head, that is Christ. . . Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth,

each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger. . . ”

– Ephesians 4:15, 25-26