CSA Share Notes June 25, 2026
Summer season week, 3!
We’ve got a great veggie line-up for you this week. By now, cool-season crops have pretty much wrapped up and we’re in full summer veggie mode. Tomatoes are beginning to ripen, eggplant and peppers are really filling out, and more is on the way!
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 few days, then crumble it up in a jar to use all summer in any Italian dishes you prepare.
Squash and Zucchini — Yay, finally this crop is kicking into gear! The large and mini shares received zucchini, and everyone received a squash or two. We should have a good bit for the next 3 weeks or so. These would be fantastic in a veggie lasagna with your eggplant.
Eggplant — Lovely Italian heirlooms for the Large shares, slender Japanese for the Regular shares, and adorable fairytale eggplant for the Mini shares. The Italian types are perfect for a bolognese or veggie lasagna, the Japanese types are fantastic in a curry or stir fry. The Fairytale are a Japanese type too. 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.
Italian Sweet Peppers — Everyone received some. We have Carmen, the dark green triangular pepper that looks a lot like a poblano, but 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 are sweet, not hot. 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 cayenne, especially.
Lunchbox Peppers — These little cuties went to the Mini shares this week. They’re just like a bell, but petite.
Bell Peppers — And then there are our two lovely Bell pepper varieties, green, and purple. Yes, purple! Enjoy.
Hot Peppers — Everyone received a few cayenne, and the Large and Regular shares received a couple of jalapenos. 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 hot sauce, pepper vinegar, pickled peppers, or even pepper jelly!
Tomatoes — These are coming on slowly, but we should have a lot of them soon. Always store your tomatoes at room temperature, and place them “shoulders down" or some would say upside down. This will keep them in tip-top shape while you await for them to fully ripen. If a tomato ends up with a bad spot, it’s probably from the leaf-footed bugs piercing into the skin with their little mouth part. Jerks! Just cut that part out and enjoy the rest.
Potatoes — Beautiful white kennebec potatoes. We’ve dug at brought all the Red Lasota to your kitchens already, and now we’re digging up the White Kennebec for you to enjoy.
Onions — For everyone this week.
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!
Veggies from neighboring farms:
Cucumbers: Highway 19 Produce from down south of Athens grew us these nice big cucumbers. We’re so glad to have something extra tasty for our CSA members this week! We’ve sold next to fine folks at Highway 19 at regional farmers markets over the years and we’ve known them to be hard-working, honest folks. We checked in on their specific methods for growing the cucumbers you received: They were fertilized with a non-organic fertilizer through the irrigation lines, but they haven’t had any chemical pesticide, herbicide, fungicide, etc. They’re “clean” and for that we’re so grateful!
Veggie Storage tips:
Counter storage: Tomatoes, Potatoes, Onions, and BASIL.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, turnips, squash, zucchini, eggplant, cucumbers, 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
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Regular Share
Regular Share top left to right:
Turnips, squash, cucumber, Japanese eggplant, cayenne peppers, and basil (middle row) bell pepper, 2 Italian peppers, jalapenos, and a couple of tomatoes (bottom row) onions, okra, and potatoes.
Large Share
Large Share top left to right:
Turnips, zucchini, squash, Italian eggplant, cayenne peppers, and basil (middle row) bell pepper, 4 Italian peppers, jalapenos, and a couple of tomatoes (bottom row) onions, cucumbers, and potatoes.
Flower Share
Bouquet share:
Loads of zinnias, cone flower, celosia, dianthus, 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:
Turnips, zucchini, squash, Fairytale eggplant, cucumber, cayenne peppers, and basil (in the center) Lunchbox peppers and a bell pepper, (bottom row) potatoes, onion, a couple of tomatoes.