The second week of the summer is here and it’s been a steamy one!
We’re thankful for the rain and a break from running irrigation. While Florida summer’s notoriously deliver some tough elements, there are many crops we grow that can withstand them well. If you’re curious, some of what we’ve been harvesting lately includes okra, basil, moringa, pears, figs, eggplant, malabar, turmeric, potatoes, and a variety of peppers. Our team is also staying plenty busy with animal care and pasture rotation, planting, spreading cover crop, weeding, and laying hay mulch. We bumped our start time back to 6:30am to beat some of the heat!
All this talk of heat makes me think of the very best remedy – popsicles. I was looking over this week’s share list and thought hmmm, I bet tulsi basil popsicles would be super refreshing. And then, bam – blueberries! Tulsi basil blueberry popsicles, even better. A quick search revealed that there was already a lovely recipe starring these two ingredients on the Wild Garden Farms website (recipe & link below).
This week’s share includes a nice mix of crops grown on the farm, along with a few summer staples from partner growers. The pears in your share this week are grown in our orchard and are the Baldwin variety. A wonderful do-it-all pear, Baldwins are great for cooking or fresh eating. They are not hard pears by any means, but will have a semi-firm texture with juicy, sweet flesh. Visually, they have that classic oblong pear shape and blushed, golden yellow skin. We hope you enjoy these awesome Florida pears!
From our farm this week:
Tulsi Basil
Florida Pears
Fingerling Sweet Potatoes
Green Tomatoes
Turmeric
From partner growers:
Red Cabbage (New Sprout Organic Farms)
Green Zucchini (Watsonia Organics)
Blueberries (BlackWater Farm)
Red Beets (Clem’s Organic Garden)
Recipes
Tulsi Basil & Blueberry Popsicles
Source: Wild Garden Farms
Stay cool and refreshed while receiving the adaptogenic benefits of holy basil & antioxidants from blueberries!
Ingredients:
- 4 tablespoons dried OR 1/2 cup fresh holy basil OR 3 bags of tulsi tea
- 2 cups blueberries
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup (or sub for sweetener of your choice like honey) OR omit sweetener
- pinch of sea salt
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions:
- Bring 2 cups of water to a boil in a covered pot.
- Turn off the heat and add holy basil to the water. Stir, cover and remove pot from heat. Let infuse 20 minutes.
- Remove tea bags or strain leaves from tea and pour into blender with remaining ingredients. Blend well.
- Turn off blender. Stir gently with a spoon to release any bubbles and gently tap the blender on the counter top to release more.
- Pour into popsicle molds.
- Freeze until firm and enjoy!
One pot for ease, turmeric and curry for comfort.
Source: Food & Wine
Pasta with No Cook Zucchini Sauce
Transform raw sliced zucchini into a pasta sauce without having to cook or heat it! This one calls for lots of garlic and you may want to add less.
Source: Epicurious