News from Loon Organics Farm
by Laura Frerichs, Tastemaker in Residence
A big shout out this week to our Loon crew that took over the farm for us for an extended weekend so that our family could get up North for a vacation. Thanks, Sophie, Liz, Luke, Josie, Abby, Jenny, Jenn, Alex, Alayna and Jenna for helping out while we were away! We explored the North Shore with our boys, visited five State Parks, and camped next to Lake Superior at the amazing Tettegouche State Park. It was beautiful weather and great scenery. We’re grateful for a little break away from the farm and for our wonderful staff.
We returned to a continued abundance of tomatoes and the first ripening of the sweet and hot peppers, which led to visions of fresh salsa in our minds. Cilantro is a challenging crop to produce in the heat of summer. It germinates poorly in the dry summer and quickly bolts (puts up a seed stalk) in hot weather. We have more cilantro coming in time for tomato season, but we often use basil in our salsa instead of cilantro for a sweet flavor. Make sure to wear gloves when cutting up your jalapeño peppers. Leave the seeds in your salsa or dish for way more heat. We usually remove the seeds and chop the jalapeño to add to our salsa. We also have been loving the honey lime jalapeño dressing from the Week 3 newsletter as a topper for any greens or steamed veggies.
Since tomatoes are in full abundance, it also means CANNING TOMATOES are ready! Folks that reserved those shares earlier this year, you’ll be hearing from me soon. If you didn’t reserve any canners, but would like a box or two, please e-mail me. The quality is excellent right now and I have both beefsteaks and heirlooms. Romas will come later in the season from the field. 20-pound boxes are $25 for CSA members.
PESTO SHARES (2 lb basil, 4-5 bulbs garlic and pesto recipe for freezing) are also ready and can start going out to folks soon. If you reserved a pesto share, you will get an e-mail from me soon as well. Pesto shares are $28.
One other piece of exciting CSA news is that Nistler’s sweet corn crop is in early and looking good! We will have corn from him in our boxes starting next week for two weeks. Returning Loon members will remember that we don’t have enough land to grow sweet corn, but source it from our friend Jeff Nistler that grows some of the best corn around. It’s not certified organic, but it is not sprayed and is non-GMO. It also tastes great. Can’t wait to share it with you all next week! –Laura + crew.