Although hot, summer weather will very likely continue in central Texas for several more weeks, this is the final week of our “Summer” CSA season. Our Fall season starts next week, running 12 weeks through mid November. Our greenhouse is full of tender seedlings of kale, Swiss Chard, cabbage, and other greens. Our Fall garden is already half full of various squash, pumpkins, and green beans we planted several weeks ago. The sweet potato patch continues to thrive since planting several months ago. The first several weeks of the “Fall” season we expect our Summer okra, tomatoes, melons, eggplant, etc. to continue, adding squash, pumpkins, and sweet potatoes near the middle, with the greens and lettuce ready to harvest later as the weather cools in October and November. We’ll continue to add sunflower sprouts weekly until the garden greens are ready.
So for this 10th week of summer, here’s our expected harvest, though there will likely be changes throughout the week depending on conditions:
Full share
Sunflower sprouts (double portion), Melons (double portion), Okra (double portion), Squash or cucumber, Eggplant or black eyed peas, Tomatoes or pears, Basil, Garlic, Shallots, Sweet potato leaves (double portion)
Half share
Sunflower sprouts (double portion), Melons (double portion), Okra, Basil, Garlic, Shallots, Sweet potato leaves (double portion)
Some of the okra and melons this week are from our friends at Bernhardt’s Farm
Blessing Falls Farm CSA Full Share, Summer Week 10
We hope you’ve enjoyed the sweet potato leaves the last several weeks. Some are calling these greens another “superfood”. This from Prevention magazine:
Sweet potato greens as food may be getting more affection soon, thanks to a new analysis published in the journal HortScience that found the leaves have 3 times more vitamin B6, 5 times more vitamin C, and almost 10 times more riboflavin than actual sweet potatoes. Nutritionally, this makes the greens similar to spinach, but sweet potato leaves have less oxalic acid, which gives some greens like spinach and chard a sharper taste.
Recipe
That same article at Prevention recommends preparing greens like this:
Sautéed Sweet Potato Greens
1 lg bunch sweet potato greens (about ½ pound)
½ sm white onion, diced
2 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper
1½ Tbsp maple syrup
1. REMOVE sweet potato leaves from stems and set aside. Remove smaller stems from the larger, tougher stems. Discard the larger stems and roughly chop the smaller stems.
2. HEAT olive oil in medium-sized pan over medium high heat. Add onion and sauté until just softened, about 3 minutes.
3. ADD stem pieces and sauté until tender, about 5 minutes.
4. ADD leaves, salt and pepper to taste, and maple syrup. Sauté until leaves are wilted, about 2 minutes. Serve.