Howdy, Misfit Members! Hope everyone had a great 4th of July weekend. Here's what's in your box this week:
-Lettuce-
-Red Butterhead
-Baby Romaine (bi-weekly only)
-Green Tomatoes
-Green Beans
-Zucchini
-Yellow Squash
-Delicata Squash
-Broccolini
-Peppers-
-Jalapeno
-Gypsy (sweet)
-Cucumbers
-Kale mix (bi-weekly only)
**Due to the heat this week, I wasn't able to run the lettuce through the ice bath, so definitely make sure y'all wash it in cold water. It was so hot, even at 7 a.m., that the heads of lettuce would have just turned into a ball of mush, so they went straight in the fridge.
Fried Green Tomatoes
Ingredients:
-2 medium green tomatoes
-Oil for frying
-1/3 cup flour
-1/4 cup milk
-1 large egg
-1/4 cup cornmeal
-1/4 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
-Salt & pepper to taste
Directions:
-Slice tomatoes into slices 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
-Pour enough oil in a skillet to fry the slices in- about 1/2 inch. Heat over medium heat until a breadcrumb sizzles when dropped into it.
-While waiting on the oil to heat, gather three dishes. In one dish, combine the flour and 1/2 tsp of salt. In the second dish, whisk together the egg and milk. In the third, combine the cornmeal, breadcrumbs, and salt & pepper.
-Press each slice of tomato into the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, then the cornmeal mixture.
-Carefully place the slices into the hot oil. Fry about one minute on each side until golden brown.
-Drain the tomatoes on paper towels.
*I prefer straight cornmeal instead of the cornmeal/breadcrumb mixture, but that's just a personal preference. Either way works!
This week I noticed a few tomato hornworms on the tomato plants. Since Misfit Farm moved to a new location this year, I wasn't sure what insects I would have to deal with, but I was certain these big chompers would show up sooner or later. These guys are pretty destructive, just one of them can ruin a tomato plant in the matter of a day. They will strip every single leaf from a plant. The most annoying thing is that they only tend to take a few bites out of a perfectly good tomato. Like come on, I would share one if you'd just eat the whole thing instead of a bite of all dozen tomatoes! They can also grow very large, I've seen them up to six inches long before. I usually remove them from the plant and feed them to my chickens as a treat. They love them! The best way to deal with them though, is by parasitic wasps. In the photo, you can see a bunch of white things hanging out of the back of the hornworm. This is one of my favorite things to see all season, and I always share a photo of the first one I see! Those are wasp eggs, and will eventually kill the hornworm. When I see this, I leave it alone because I know it will be dead soon and those wasps will continue to prey on these hornworms and keep them managed for me. Nature is kind of crazy sometimes!
I forgot to take a photo of it, but we have sweet corn tasseling and tiny ears starting on the first planting! We also have eggplants starting, and the peppers are starting to really come on. Almost all of the tomatoes are starting to ripen. The first few that ripened this week unfortunately mostly had blossom end rot, but I corrected that with a calcium supplement and the ones ripening now look perfect! We also have a few cantaloupe and watermelon growing on the vines, so it shouldn't be long for those to be ready.
That's all for this week! Have a great week and remember to wash your produce!
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