SM26 (WK9): Eggplant Wonderland
Dear Farm Community,
We’re living in an eggplant wonderland! Six beautiful varieties of eggplant are at their peak right now ~ some long, some fat; some big, some teeny; some purple, some greeny! Eggplants truly thrive in the heat. While many vegetables slow down during the hottest stretch of summer, eggplants absolutely love long, sunny days and warm nights. It’s one of our major “maintenance harvest” crops during the summer. That is, crops that we harvest at regular intervals throughout the week, picking everything on the plant that is ready. Think: tomatoes, okra, peppers, cucumbers eggplant, beans, and more. This approach to harvesting ensures that everything that makes its way out into the world is the perfect size and ripeness. Many other crops on the farm are harvest-what-you-need-and-let-the-rest-keep-growin’ … think sweet potato greens, bagged greens, green onions, parsley, basil, etc. Lots of our cooler-weather crops fall under this second category.
So that means in the summertime, sometimes when the plants are thriving we simply HAVE to harvest an absurd amount of something. Aint no way around it. That 400lbs of eggplant is coming in from the field whether we like it or not! And after that, it’s our job to make sure it gets to someone’s plate.
Sometimes we need a little help to make that happen! We want to give a sweet little shoutout to Chef Julia LeRoy from Everyday Alchemy for helping us spread the word about our delish eggplant this weekend! Julia’s Everyday Alchemy pop-up at the Freedom Farmers Market on Saturday featured our cute-as-can-be fairytale eggplant, grilled up with our banana peppers (another bumper crop item) and sweet onions over a delish local chevre. It was sooooo yum and I’ll be damned if we don’t have some new eggplant fans out there ~ we sold out at that market! While that recipe isn’t yet on her website, check out this similar one for a savory grilled veggie platter and join the eggplant lovers club :-)
Besides living in our purple eggplant paradise, we’ve been prepping for……. FALL! That’s right, we’re seeding arugula, radishes, brassicas, and bunching greens as we speak. Fall is on the horizon, and last Friday’s weather really made us believe that we’re not doomed to million degree days until the end of time. Even thought we’re back to walking around in hot soup this week, Friday’s cool rainy weather gave us the zoomies as we harvested in the rain, got psyched on sub-80 temps, and had some fun despite being soaked to the bone. A couple-a farmers had the zoomies so bad they raced each other back to the pack shed at the day’s end. Who do you think won?? (You’ll have to visit our instagram page to see!)
Since we are firmly in our eggplant era, obviously y'all are gettin' some beautiful, stunning eggplant this week! No matter which variety makes its way into your shares, there's a delicious way to enjoy it. Eggplant has a wonderfully mild, creamy texture that happily soaks up whatever flavors you pair it with, making it one of the most versatile vegetables of summer.
If you're looking for a classic, Baba Ganoush (or as a toddler friend of the farm calls it, “Baba Noosh”) is hard to beat. Roasting the eggplant until it's deeply tender and caramelized gives it a rich, smoky flavor that's blended with tahini, lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil into an irresistibly creamy, garlic-forward dip. Bonus points for roasting your garlic alongside the eggplant - this will mellow out the bite and give it more dimension! Once done, finish with a drizzle of olive oil and scoop it up with warm pita, spread it on sandwiches, plop it onto a grain bowl, or serve it alongside fresh crudité and crackers for an easy summer snack or appetizer :-)
Eggplant also shines when sliced and grilled, roasted until caramelized with olive oil and herbs, cooked into a pasta dish, layered into a hearty eggplant parm, or added to a colorful summer ratatouille. However you prepare it, don't be shy with the seasoning!! Eggplant loves garlic, fresh herbs, lemon, and a generous drizzle of good olive oil.
Wearing Purple ,
Diamond Hill Farmers
get the zoomies with us:
standard share: okra, shishito peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, garlic
large share: okra, shishito peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, summer squash, garlic, melon, cucumbers