Rising River Farm CSA Newsletter
Box 8*** August 9th, 2006
13208 201st AVE SW -Rochester, WA 98579
(360) 273-5368
risingirverfarm@yahoo.com www.risingriverfarm.com

Sprinkles this morning.Sounds like they won’t last long, however. Feels refreshing after my recent trip to the desert of Eastern WA. I just returned from a 5-day trip with the kids to Walla Walla for a family reunion. It was near 100 most days. Once you cross the mountains it is a different world altogether- hot, dry, and brown except where irrigation performs its miracles. It was interesting to see another type of agriculture-acres of wheat fields, orchards, and vineyards and machinery that makes our tractor look like a riding lawn mower!

Every time I leave Western WA I realize how much I love this friendly and moderate climate. Any temperature extreme only lasts a few days at most and then we are back to our normal 70-ish temps. Plants thrive here and our season is long, relatively speaking. I enjoyed not working for a few days and the cracks in my hands actually got clean! Now it is Jim’s turn to vacation with the kids (as farmers, it is nearly impossible to go on summer vacations with the whole family!) Jim is taking the kids to Maine for 12 days to visit his mom who lives minutes from the beach. They are all very excited. I’ll stay here to run the show and, I’m sure, better appreciate all the managing Jim does each day. This newsletter will be shorter than usual as Jim leaves tonight and there is a lot of info. to pass on before he leaves. I’ve got lists coming out of my ears!

Most of you have been so timely with your CSA payments. Thank you, thank you! If you still owe a bit, I have attached a note on your box with your balance due. We are flexible about payment as long as there is a mutually agreed upon plan in place. Call me if you need to work something out or if your records differ from mine.

As far as box content, there is nothing new to speak of. We are taking a week off of beets and chard. You will see them again next week. This week’s potato is a russet called Nooksack. They are quite a bit smaller than your standard Idaho lunker, but they are flaky and wonderful all the same. The corn is getting oh so close and we are getting more tomatoes and sungolds with every picking. Eggplant is making its way around the box rotation-keep an eye out for it.

A recipe (of sorts):
Veggies shish-ka-bobs: At a loss for what to do with all those veggies? What do you do with one eggplant? Need to use up last week’s produce before the next box comes? Well…chunk up any and all veggies: onion, zucchini, eggplant, lightly steamed potatoes, etc. Toss with a vinaigrette type marinade or just olive oil, salt and pepper, poke onto shish-ka-bob skewers and throw on the grill. Turn periodically until all is tender.

Enjoy!
Jennifer