CSA Share Notes June 18, 2026
Summer season week, 2!
If you’re new to the CSA experience, be sure to check out our CSA member guidebook that gives you so support in getting started with our CSA. It’s chock-full of our best tips and loads of veteran member wisdom.
Check our farm instagram to see the crew digging in the potato field for you this past week. We’re working on writing up some farmhand bios, so you can get to know all of the crew who are making your share happen.
Here’s this week’s vegetable line-up:
Fresh Basil — Important note! This crop will ruin in the fridge. It cannot tolerate temperatures below 50 degrees. Just trim the stems every few days and keep in a glass of cool water on the counter. If yours is wilty when you unbox, shock it in a sinkful of cold water for an hour or so to see if it perks back up. It’s usually very resilient, but sometimes it takes a very long time to recover! If it doesn’t revive, hang to dry for a couple of weeks, then crumble it up in a jar to use all summer in any Italian dishes you prepare.
Eggplant — We had just enough for everyone to get a little bit this week! You may have a lovely Italian heirloom, slender Japanese, or adorable fairytale eggplant. You’ll eventually get to try them all. We always cook our eggplant on very high heat: roasted in a 450 degree oven or on the grill, or on a blazing hot cast iron. It’s excellent with just a little bit of char on it to bring out the sweetness and reduce the “squeak” factor folks sometimes dislike. Also, this eggplant is super fresh, so you don’t have to “sweat” it if you eat it up soon.
Sweet Peppers — Everyone received a few lovely sweet peppers this week- We have Carmen, the dark green triangular pepper that looks a lot like a poblano, but these Carmen have no heat, they’re only sweet. We have Goddess, the very slender, pale greenish-yellow pepper. It looks like a large banana pepper, but just like the Carmen, these Goddess peppers have no heat, all sweet. And then there are our two lovely Bell pepper varieties, green, and purple. Yes, purple! Throughout the season, you’ll get to try them all. Use our images below to tell them apart, and to distinguish them from your hot peppers. It can be easy to confuse the goddess pepper with the piquant cayenne, especially,
Hot Peppers — Just coming on, we should have these regularly for you! Everyone received a handful of hot peppers, in a mixture of Jalapeno, Shishito, and Cayenne. In the images below you can see all three types to help you tell them apart from your sweet peppers. If the heat is too much for you, this is a perfect item to gift. They do store really well in the fridge, as well, so if you want to collect many hot peppers over a few weeks, you’d have enough to make a batch of pickled peppers, or even pepper jelly!
TOMATOES! — It’s true, our very first tomatoes are ready! We had just enough to give a tomato or two to the Large and Regular shares. More on the way. Everyone also got a green tomato. These are best used in a green tomato salsa or chutney with your peppers and onions, or -of course- to fry! If your green tomato has a little pink blush to it, it may ripen on your counter all the way to red, but if it does not,
Potatoes — Beautiful potatoes. A few shares received White Kennebec, but most received Red Lasota. A good potato salad, or some nice hash browns served at Sunday brunch are in order.
Onions — Red and yellow onions going out this week. We grow the same yellow onion cultivar that has made Noonday famous: the sweet and crisp Yellow Granix. Enjoy!
Okra — We are just beginning to pick this item so we don’t have very much yet. We only had enough for the Mini shares to receive this item this week. We recommend roasting or grilling. This heirloom okra is amazing!
Radishes — This final daikon radishes were harvested today, and that’s the last of the radishes till fall! These spicy guys will store for a very long time in the fridge, so no need to use them all up right away.
Cabbage — For everyone! We used ours in a delicious Thai peanut salad this week, with cilantro, lime, red onion, and sweet peppers, and a fantastic peanut dressing. Of course there’s always slaw, stir fry, or an Irish cabbage and potato stew!
Veggie Storage tips:
Counter storage: Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onions, and BASIL: Do not store in fridge! Store your basil bouquet style, in a fresh glass of water. Trim the stem every couple of days and enjoy fresh basil leaves all week.
Fridge storage: Peppers, radishes, cabbage, okra. Seal them up in a bag or container to retain moisture for longest storage life
Everything wants to be washed well before cooking, but keep the dirt on till then, to prevent faster spoilage.
We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Tag us on Instagram or Facebook, showing us how you’ve used your CSA share.
– Your farmers, Jess & Justin
Regular Share
Regular Share top left to right:
Basil, Carmen peppers, Goddess peppers, 3 hot peppers (cayenne, shishito, jalapeno) Italian eggplant (some received Japanese), petite cabbages, (2nd row) onions, 1 green and 1 red tomato, daikon radish, and potatoes.
Large Share
Large Share top left to right:
Basil, Carmen peppers, Goddess pepper, 2 bell peppers, 5 hot peppers (jalapeno, shishito, cayenne) Italian eggplant, (2nd row) onions, 2 green and 2 red tomatoes, potatoes, medium sized cabbages, and daikon across the bottom.
Flower Share
Bouquet share:
Loads of zinnias, cone flower, celosia, dianthus, Irish Eyes rudbeckia, giant marigolds, and a little bit of fragrant stock and bouncy verbena! Some of you got bright bouquets, and some got vintage tones. I try to switch it up to make sure you experience a variety throughout the season.
Mini Share
Mini Share top left to right:
Basil, Goddess peppers, 3 hot peppers (shishito and jalapeno pictured here) Bell pepper, Italian eggplant, petite cabbages, (2nd row) potatoes, 1 green tomato, onions, okra, and daikon radish