If you follow Circle M on the blog page, you’ll already know that we’ve thrown in the towel on our tomatoes for this season. We’ve got the late blight fungus that you’ve likely heard about on the radio by now. Our closest neighbors have burned their plants and we’ll be stuffing ours into plastic bags so as not to infect our compost or land for next year. It’s the same strain that was responsible for the Irish Potato Famine and is threatening both tomatoes and potatoes in Wisconsin. The northeast has seen something like 70% loss of its tomato crop. That’s the bad news. The good news is, we’ll be bringing you tomatoes from our farm neighbors who haven’t got the blight. Many thanks this week to Hillspring Eco-Farm and Snug Haven Farm. Obviously, we won’t be able to bring you as many tomatoes in as many heirloom varieties as we’d planned, but you’ll definitely get a juicy taste of summer’s best. Thankfully on a farm as diverse as ours, there is always something thriving when others fail. This week we’ve got stunning Swiss chard and multi-colored green beans. Here’s what else is in the box:

Basil - If you haven’t frozen several batches of pesto yet this summer, we encourage you to start now! We always freeze some every time we make a batch, and the freezer stash is still always gone by October. We resolve to do better this year, and hope you will, too. Pesto is just so good on everything from pasta to sandwiches to pizza.
Rio Grande Russet Potatoes - These lovely baking potatoes are wonderfully fluffy to mash or eat right out of the skin. Don’t expect to store them, however. We suspect there are some that are affected by late blight, or The Plague, as we call it around here. We didn’t wash them, also to give them the best shot at not starting to rot – so wash just before using.
Zucchini - I love to read British gardening books over the winter and I love how they call zucchini courgettes. Click that link for some great recipes from River Cottage, an organic farming organization over the lake.
Summer Squash - Yellow Buttersticks.
Okra – We barely have any of these Southern soul food treats, but we thought you could each have at least a few to add to a squash saute this week. The glutinous nature of okra will create a nice sauce with the very wet squashes. We hope to have more of these soon. Okra, an African import, likes it hot, and the weather is finally cooperating.
Tomatoes – You’ve got tomatoes this week thanks to Snug Haven Farm and Hillspring Eco-Farm. It’s good to have good neighbors.
Tomatillos
Shallots – Milder and more tender than onions, use raw in salads and dressings or cooked. The red are Prisma and the orange are Picasso. Very nice in pickles! Store in the fridge.
Fresh Onions – We wanted to give you a few of the many varieties we grew this year, all of which have different characteristics and different uses. The yellow round ones are Frontier and are a nice strong crisp bulb, good for salsas. The flattened white bulbs are Borrettana Cipollini, an Italian favorite for boiling whole or braising. Mild flavor. The flattened yellows are Dutch Stuttgarter.
Swiss Chard – If you don’t already love this, you will after you try the recipe links below.
Beans – Yellow and purple string beans – delicious!
Eggplant – Just a few of these most gorgeous of summer fruits. Try in our member recipe below.
Cucumbers
Sweet Peppers – Still waiting for these to turn red – you’ve got sweet greens and a bit spicy Hungarian Hot Wax.
Hot Peppers – We’ve made up little bags of hot peppers, so you won’t bite into one thinking it’s sweet! You’ve got purple and green blunt-ended jalapeno-types. Tiny little hot hot Ho Chi Mihn and Bulgarian Carrot Chilis
Herbal Bouquet: Summer Savory (use just like thyme, it’s a bit milder), Lemon Balm, Parsley, Sage, Chocolate Mint

Crab with Summer Squash Pasta Salad
This is from my friend and neighbor Michelle.

One large yellow squash
One large zucchini
½ lb package of crab legs, real or imitation
1 lb pasta
½ C mayonnaise (or more to desire)
Dash or more of Tabasco or other hot sauce

Dice squash and zucchini and saute in butter or olive oil until tender. Cook pasta. Cool. Cut cooked crab legs into 1 inch lengths. Combine mayo and tabasco. Add to pasta with squash, zucchini, and crab. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve chilled.

Confetti Couscous
This is from Farm Member Emma Cornwell, adapted from Cooking Light Magazine. Good luck in your first year of college, Emma!
2 baby eggplants, cut into ½ inch slices
2 zucchini or summer squash cut into ½ inch slices
2 bell peppers, seeded and cut into quarters
2 cups water
1 ½ cups chicken broth
2 cups uncooked Israeli couscous (large pearls)
3 Tbsp red wine vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp Dijon mustard
½ cup chopped fresh basil
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Heat grill to medium-high. Coat eggplant, squash, and peppers evenly with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place on grill rack; grill 3 min. on each slide, or until slightly charred. Cool and chop. Place veggies in large bowl. Bring 2 cups water and the broth to a boil in a medium saucepan. Stir in couscous. Reduce heat and simmer 8 min. or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add couscous to veggies. Toss. Combine vinegar and mustard in a medium bowl, stirring well. Gradually add ¼ cup olive oil to vinegar mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Drizzle over couscous; toss to coat. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Stir in basil. We put fresh diced tomatoes and feta cheese on top as well. This recipe yields 8 servings and can be made ahead of time, but add basil just before serving.

We’ve included these last two recipes to entice you to purchase pork chops and bacon from us for the next delivery! We’ll have more Swiss chard, and we’ll have a hog back from the butcher. Think about it!