For those of you following the milkweed saga, I’m pleased to report that all three of the caterpillars we watched pupate inside the house made it to the butterfly stage as well. Two popped out of their shells while we weren’t looking, but one emerged right in front of my eyes!

How cool is that? This monarch burst out of its shell just as I was looking at it – taking a break from some computer work. You can see two more pupae in various stages of completion on other branches in the picture. Each starts out very light green with some amazing gold flecks, then turns darker each day until you can actually see the black leaves of the butterfly curled upside it. When the butterfly exits the pupa, you can see that the shell is actually clear. Somehow it seems to be such a miracle when it takes place on your dining room table, yet the number of monarchs flitting around outside indicates it’s a miracle taking place pretty often outside.

Truly, there are so many miracles taking place out there all the time, and many of them are in the gardens. One we experience daily here now is the rapid growth of cucumbers and squash over night! And the rapid ripening of tomatoes on hot sunny days. We could harvest tomatoes, squash and cukes every 15 minutes in this weather and we’d still have some get away from us! Here’s what’s in the box:

New Potatoes – Because of the accelerated pace in the gardens this year, it is actually time to harvest all the potatoes. These Red Pontiacs are actually one of our “late” varieties – those that we plant to harvest in fall to store through winter. But the plants are finished growing and have died back, so we brought these up and they are gorgeous – and huge! These are a dry sort of potato – excellent for mashing. Very sweet, they are also great to bake. Try one wrapped in foil and thrown into your next campfire.

String Beans – Not our prettiest beans, to be sure, but tasty. The heat makes the beans grow sporadically so it is hard to get a number of them all at one size. Our advice this week is to cook or steam these longer than you normally do. The small ones may be too mushy, but the larger ones will be done.

Tomatoes – My land, we’ve got tomatoes! This year’s tremendous harvest absolutely makes up for last year’s total loss of the crop to blight. I’ve never tasted so many sweet varieties. You’ve got a bag of big old slicers, in multi colors, and a bag of smaller fruits that are good for cutting up into salads and such. There are so many good tomato recipes we want to give you it is hard to hold ourselves to just a few each week. Send us your favorites, too! Let us know if they are getting to you bruised and we will try to pack them better.

Summer Squash – We are so rolling in squash right now! We’ve given you a big bag of thyme because we love to have squash simply sauteed in olive oil and seasoned with a generous amount of thyme. Add a few cut up tomatoes and you’ve got a very classy, healthy lunch. When you get sick of thyme, you can season with basil instead! Look for dark green, white and curly zucchini this week, as well as some very young tender scallops.

Swiss Chard – We are struggling to come up with greens for you to eat in the heat. This swiss chard is nearly dormant and not growing very fast, but the leaves are still very very tender.

Basil – Hip hip hooray! Gorgeous and still going strong.

Cucumbers – These are hitting their peak right now. You could have green, yellow, white or brown cukes, from different countries and cultures, as well as a few round Middle Eastern or tiny lemon varieties.

Herb Bouquet: We have some crazy fun stuff in your herb bunches this week. The most dramatic is the tropical-looking Lemon Mint – the tall stalks with creamy- white flowers. Try in tea or a tea bread. There are also a few medium-sized stalks of dark-leaved Chocolate Mint. You also have a few sprigs of flat-leaf Parsley and a stalk of fuzzy-leafed Pineapple Sage. The very bright green leaves that are highly serrated are Lemon Balm – so fragrant and tasty in tea, or in dressings. Also wonderful chopped and sprinkled over pasta. You can add it to pesto for extra kick. The white flowers are Garlic Chive Blossoms – pull apart and use to garnish omelets or veggie dip. The light yellow blooms are Jade Sunflowers, not to eat, just for fun. Also not to eat are the bright yellow button-flower – Tansy to put in your fruit bowl to repel flies – and the grey leaves of Wormwood. Wormwood is an artemisia that will get rid of internal parasites, but we use it in the sweater closet to repel all the moths that sneak into the house this time of year.

Thyme – This is in a little bag by itself. You’ll want this to saute with summer squash.

Garlic – You’ll want this giant heirloom garlic to make bruschetta with the tomatoes and basil.

Rhubarb – We’ve packed a lot of this for you and we didn’t think we’d do more, but then we found some more amazing recipes on marthastewart.com. We’ve included one below, but see them all here.

Bruschetta
Some people get excited about tomato season for BLTs. Not me. I’m a bruschetta girl. I will eat these garlicky little toasts until I’m sick! The only other food I’ll do that with is Fried Cabbage and Noodles. Luckily their seasons don’t generally overlap. You’ll need a baguette or two, tomatoes, garlic, olive oil and basil. So basic, yet so incredible. Cut the baguette into ovals on the diagonal, brush with olive oil, and toast on a baking sheet in a 350-degree oven for 5 minutes. Meanwhile, press 3 garlic cloves into a bowl. Add 2 or 3 finely chopped tomatoes and about 1/2 cup of diced basil leaves. Salt and pepper to taste, then add enough olive oil to hold the ingredients together (a few tablespoons, max) and spread by the teaspoon onto the toasts. Eat and try to stop yourself before they are all gone.

Blender Gazpacho
from Martha Stewart Living, Aug 2005

1 C small pieces of day-old bread, rustic is best, crust removed
1 small garlic clove, minced
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
1/2 cucumber, peeled and cut into 1-in pieces plus eight thin rounds for garnish
1 1/2 C coarsely chopped jarred roasted red bell peppers
2 lbs beefsteak tomatoes, cored and quartered
2 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 Tsp coarse salt, pepper

Stir together bread, garlic and vinegar and 3/4 cup cold water in a medium bowl. Process cucumber, peppers and bread mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Puree half the tomatoes in the blender, and transfer to the bowl with cucumbers. Puree remaining tomatoes, slowly adding oil while blender is running. Transfer to the bowl, whisk to combine, season with salt and pepper. Refrigerate until chilled, then divide among 4 bowls and garnish each with 2 cucumber rounds.

Cucumber-Potato Soup
This is a version of vishyssoise that substitutes cukes for leeks, which is perfect for us since this year the leeks succumbed to weed pressure in early spring. Plus, cucumbers are much better in a cold soup. From Martha Stewart Living this month.

1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
1/2 C chopped onion
1 russet potato (but your Red Pontiac will do!), peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
2 medium cucumbers, peeled and coarsely chopped
coarse salt and fresh pepper
1 1/4 cups chicken stock
3/4 C buttermilk
3 TBSP chopped fresh dill (sorry, ours is finished!)

Heat oil in medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook onion until soft, add potato and cook until almost tender. Add cucumbers and season with pepper, cook until almost tender, about 5 minutes. Add stock, cover and bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer until ingredients are all tender, about 12 minutes. Working in batches, puree mixture in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl. Add buttermilk, dill and 3/4 tsp salt. Chill and serve in 4 glasses, each garnished with a cucumber spear.

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.

Strawberry Lemon Balm Butter
This is from my mother-in-law, Rhonda Marion, who’s my go-to expert for all things herbal.

1 cup unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup finely chopped strawberries
2 tablespoons chopped fresh lemon balm
3 tablespoons powdered sugar (or to taste)

1. Mix together the butter and powdered sugar until creamy (mixer, food processor or by hand).
2. Add strawberries and lemon balm just until combined.
3. Fruit butters are very good on biscuits, muffins, scones, waffles, etc. You can serve immediately, but it is usually best to chill overnight. Can be stored in the refrigerator several weeks or in the freezer three months.

Michael Perry’s “Truck” Tomato Sauce
This isn’t a recipe as much as a book excerpt. From Michael Perry’s delightful, “Truck: A Love Story,” this recipe is actually attributed to Tom Colicchio’s “Think Like a Chef.”

“I roasted [the tomatoes] in a deep pan with salt, olive oil, cloves of unshucked garlic, and sprigs of thyme. You ladle off the juice every twenty minutes or so and freeze it for a sweet, delicate stock best consumed during snowstorms. The residual pulp gathers body from the garlic and spirit from the thyme. The spent garlic, when squeezed warmly from its husk directly upon your tongue, will slacken your face and make you shimmy.”

Zucchini-Basil Soup
This recipe link comes to you as a result of my being late with the recipe list! Farm Member Brigid sent this to me last night, after getting her box home. She made this with ingredients from the last box and said it was delicious.