A few weeks ago I posted a picture of our broody black duck nested up in a patch of hollyhocks. Unfortunately, when we checked on her a few weeks ago, she got up to scare us away and we saw she was actually sitting on 10 black rocks! We’ve used some smooth river rocks next to the house to diffuse run-off from the roofs, and poor Mama Duck mistook them for eggs. Cayuga duck eggs are grey and just about the size of the rocks, so she gathered them with her beak into a soft bed of twigs and her feathers. She reminds me of the very worried Jemima Puddle Duck from a Beatrix Potter book who spends all day looking for the egg she lays and loses each morning. Of course, the farmer takes the eggs to eat, but Jemima has no clue and just keeps laying and looking. Confused like our little mama, who is going on three weeks of sitting.

Somehow we still got ducklings, though! Nine showed up this morning at the paddling pool with a different mother than the one we’ve been watching. We had no idea another nest was started. So we are thrilled by the ducklings: their tiny fuzzy bodies, delicate peeping voices and the darling line they make behind the mom as she takes them around the farm. We will have to make sure they stay out of the paddling pool for a while, though, since they won’t float until their feathers come in.

We are also thrilled this week by the strength and condition of our summer crops. The tomatoes have outstripped their trellises and continue to climb. The squash blanket their field with enormous green spiky leaves. And the basil looks as though no one ever picks it – full and fat even the morning after a harvest. We are so very thankful for what the hot weather is producing for us now. Here’s what else is in the box:

Herb Bouquet:: We had such a great response to the Peppermint in the last boxes, we’ve put more in this week. Great in tea, lemonade or chopped over fruit salad. A new and special treat is the purple-topped Anise Hyssop, which is an amazingly sweet and licorice-y herb. Used commercially to flavor rootbeer, anise hyssop makes a nice tummy-soothing tea and aids digestion. The flavor complements lamb and chicken and is wonderful to lightly flavor baked goods. The Pineapple Sage is still beautiful, and the Oregano is at its peak. Now would be a great time to save some out to dry. Ditto with the Thyme, which we stuffed in its own little bag. You’ve got a few sprigs of Parsley this week, and a few stalks of Lovage. The grey herb is Wormwood – not to eat unless you’ve got parasites! But a sprig in your sock or sweater drawer will repel moths. The little yellow button flowers are Tansy – also not to eat. Use in your compost bucket and fruit bowl to repel fruit flies.

Tomatoes – Oh boy oh boy! These are hitting their stride here at Circle M. You should have a variety of ripe reds, yellows, oranges, whites and blacks. We are doing our best to keep them from getting bruised on their way to you. Don’t store these in the fridge, as they’ll soften up faster. Use the softest ones first, since you can’t judge ripeness based on the color of these heirlooms.

Summer Squash – New varieties to us this year are the curly light green zucchini and the pale rounded white. We also have the typical dark green. In this week’s box you may also have some warted yellow crooknecks, which are to eat even though they look more like gourds. Peel the skin and use as any crookneck. Finally, we are really enjoying the Celestial Scallops – a mix of different colored little patty pans. All of these can be sliced or diced and sauteed in olive oil or butter. We like to throw some sprigs of thyme in while frying them, then we simply pull out the stalks when we serve. Diced squash are great in all manner of soups and salads. Try cutting the larger squash into cubes and adding them to kebobs. Or cut in long slices and grill with your burgers.

Cucumbers – Martha Stewart had a ton a great cucumber recipes in the last issue – we’ve included some below. I’m not ashamed to say I love Martha for the seasonal recipes and the excellent horticultural information in her magazine. One summer staple we enjoy around here is adding cucumber slices to a pitcher of water and serving it chilled after a few hours. A reflexologist I once went to told me that cucumber water helped flush toxins out of the system after a workout or massage. I consider gardening to be both!

Swiss Chard – These tiny leaves are so delicious. The plants are starting to go dormant in the heat so we may not see these again until fall.

Okra – I love okra. I was first introduced to it some 20 years at a truckstop in Missouri on the first car trip to visit my inlaws. The whole pods were battered and deep fried. Yum! A slightly less decadent version of Southern Fried Okra is included below. We think of Okra as a Southern and Cajun staple, but it’s also very common in African and Indian cooking, having been brought to America by slaves. A very elegant way to enjoy this vegetable is to wash, cut the tip and stem off, then slice into 1/2 inch lengths – the cut makes a star shape! Then simply saute in butter with curry powder and tomatoes.

Basil – We never ever get sick of basil around here – in fact we make and freeze pesto in the summer and it’s usually gone by November! As they say in Martha, “Make pesto while the sun shines…” But we realize some of you might not be quite as enamored so we’ve provided a few new recipes to try that might take you out of the pesto rut.

Sweet Corn – Full disclosure: we didn’t grow this corn, a neighbor did. Our sweet corn is still growing out there, and it should be beautiful and ready in a few weeks. But when our neighbor put this out at the side of the road this week, we snapped a bunch up and thought we’d share it with you, too. We can’t guarantee it’s organic like the food we grow here, but you can be sure it’s as fresh as fresh can be.

Rhubarb – What an amazing year for rhubarb. We weren’t going to pack any more until we read some fabulous recipes – again in Martha Stewart. (I just finally got around to paging through some of the summer issues I’d received, so that’s why I can’t stop talking about her!) We put one recipe below, but see all 33 at marthastewart.com.

Squash Blossoms – This is a once-a-year treat we really hope you’ll be able to take advantage of. These are just incredible stuffed and lightly fried. See the recipe below.

Flower Bouquet: Well, grass is what we really seem to be excelling at growing this year, so we’ve picked the prettiest heads we’ve got and combined them with lovely red amaranth, purple buddleia and pink Queen of the Prairie from the garden and goldenrod from the hedgerows. We rarely have so many varieties of grass going to seed and it’s quite amazing to see the variety of different heads they produce. The green baskets are Queen Ann’s lace starting to go to seed.

Cayenne Fried Okra

5 to 10 okra pods
1/2 C flour
1/2 C cornmeal
1 C buttermilk (or yogurt watered down slightly with water)
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 to 1 tsp cayenne pepper powder, depending on your appetite for spicy
Salt and pepper
Canola or other oil suitable for frying on high heat

Heat 1/2 inch of oil in skillet or wok on medium high heat. Mix flour, cornmeal, chili powder, cayenne and salt and pepper (to taste) in a pie plate. Wash okra and discard tips and stems. Slice into rounds diagonally so you have long oval slices. Dip slices in buttermilk, then in flour mixture. Lay in a single layer in hot oil. Fry 5 minutes or so on each side until golden brown. Remove with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels. Serve salted.

Martha’s Lillet-Basil Cocktail

1 C ice
1/2 C Littet Blanc (an aperitif made with white wine)
1 oz gin
2 TBSP fresh orange juice
1/4 C loosely packed fresh basil leaves, plus some sprigs to garnish
Splash of tonic water
1 cucumber spear, for garnish
1 cinnamon stick, for garnish

Put ice, Lillet, gin, orange juice and basil in a cocktail shaker and shake well. Fill a glass with new ice, strain mixture into glass. As tonic water and garnish with cucumber, cinnamon and basil sprig.

Basil Stuffed Squash Blossoms

6 to 8 squash blossoms, lightly rinsed
3/4 C ricotta cheese
1/4 C fresh shaved parmesan cheese
8 large basil leaves
Olive oil

Drain ricotta in a sieve 3 hours, discarding liquid. Season with salt, pepper and parmesan cheese. Heat 1/2 inch oil in skillet on medium. Place 1 tablespoon of ricotta mixture on each basil leaf, pinch leaf closed and gently insert into squash blossom. Lightly fry stuffed blossoms until golden, serve immediately.

Greek Salad Pita Wrap
from Martha Stewart Aug 2010

1/2 C reduced-fat plain Greek yogurt
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest and 2 TBSP lemon juice
1/4 tsp finely grated garlic
4 whole wheat pitas
2 small cucumbers, sliced thinly crosswise
1 C small tomatoes, halved or quartered
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
3 oz reduced-fat feta cheese, crumbled to make about 3/4 C
1/3 C pitted Kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
1/3 C coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley

Preheat oven to 375. Stir together yogurt, lemon zest and garlic. Arrange pitas on a baking sheet, bake until warm and pliable, about 3 minutes. Toss lemon juice, cukes, tomatoes, onion, feta, olives and parsley. Divide yogurt mixture among pitas and spread over one side. Divide salad mixture among pitas and roll each to close. Wrap in parchment paper to secure.

Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake
from Martha Stewart May 2010

For the topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
Coarse salt

For the cake:
1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for buttering pan
1 pound rhubarb, trimmed and cut on a very sharp diagonal about 1/2-inch thick
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
Coarse salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated orange zest plus 1 tablespoon fresh orange juice
2 large eggs
1 cup sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Make the topping: Stir together butter, flour, sugar and 1/4 teaspoon salt until moist and crumbly.
2. Butter a 9-inch round cake pan (2 inches deep). Dot with 4 tablespoons butter (cut into pieces). Toss rhubarb with 3/4 cup sugar; let stand for 2 minutes. Toss again, and spread in pan.
3. Whisk together flour, baking powder and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt. Beat remaining stick butter and cup sugar with a mixer on medium speed until pale and fluffy. Beat in zest and juice. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time, until incorporated, scraping down sides of bowl. Beat in flour mixture in 3 additions, alternating with sour cream, until smooth. Spread evenly over rhubarb. Crumble topping evenly over batter.
4. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and top springs back when touched, about 1 hour. Let cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake, and invert onto a wire rack. Let cool completely.