CSA #7 (7/8/2025)

Because of this week’s big garlic harvest (see Farm Notes below), Henry didn't have time to do his usual field walk to figure out what goes into your CSA this week. So it may turn out to be a little different than what’s below, but it’s our best guess!

In Your CSA This Week (probably!)

• Carrots

• Onions: The onion season will only last a few more weeks, so you can store them on your counter or in the fridge to use later in the summer.

• Garlic: You’ll get small ones from today’s Garlic Harvest because the small ones don't keep as long as larger ones.

• Kale, possibly a choice of Kale or Cabbage

• CHOICE of Zucchini, Summer Squashes, or Beans -- There won’t be many beans because the very hot, dry weather is keeping them from producing much, or from sizing up. But there are lots of delicious Zucchini and other Summer Squashes!

• Shiso — Choose from Red, Green and Korean shiso. Henry may substitute with other herbs if there’s not enough shiso for everyone. If you’re not familiar with shiso, see the Food Notes below.

Food Notes: Shiso

You may have seen Green Shiso leaves as a garnish or as a part of a sushi platter at Japanese restaurants. But Shiso has many uses outside of a Japanese restaurant! In particular we recommend a simple and refreshing Summery Red Shiso Drink that will also cure whatever ails you! Henry said he tried fancy sports drinks and other supposed remedies, but the only thing that keeps him from getting leg cramps is Aka Shiso Drink 赤紫蘇ジュース    In addition to curing leg cramps, shiso is anti-inflammatory, antiviral, good for the respiratory tract and gives you energy

Green Shiso is a wonderfully complex herb, great chopped and mixed into green salads, egg salads, potato salads, and even fruit salads. You can also dry the leaves and then use them as a seasoning sprinkled on rice, omelets, and soups.

Or try this Green Goddess Dressing livened up with Shiso!

Green Goddess Dressing with Shiso

Green Goddess is a classic and versatile dressing. It makes a great dip for the raw carrots in your share this week, or a wonderful dressing for any salad.

1 cup parsley leaves

1 cup shiso leaves

3 tablespoons minced chives

1 garlic clove, roughly chopped

2 anchovy fillets

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon sherry or rice vinegar

½ cup grapeseed oil

½ cup mayonnaise

Kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

In a blender, combine the parsley, shiso, chives, garlic, anchovies, lemon juice, vinegar and canola or grapeseed oil. Blend until smooth, about two minutes. Add the mayonnaise, and blend again until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

The Great Garlic Harvest is underway! Henry and his team dug up all the New York White today, and it’s now hanging in the barn to cure. They will start in on the French Red tomorrow, and then move on to the remaining half-dozen varieties the rest of the week. By week’s end, we hope to have 20,000+ garlic plants out of the ground and hanging up to dry!

Farm Notes: The Great Garlic Harvest

Garlic is one of the few crops that Henry does not plant in consecutive staggered plantings all season long. Instead, we plant it all at once in early November, and likewise harvest it all at once, in early July.

Well, not quite all at once, as you know from the garlic scapes and green garlic in your early season CSA shares. But those harvests of a few hundred plants a week are nothing compared to the 20,000+ plants that must be harvested in the first week of July. So Henry needs all hands on deck to dig garlic from 5 in the morning until 6 or later in the evening, with a 2-hour siesta during the hottest part of the day.

It’s a lot of work, and it needs to be done as fast as humanly possible, because the sooner we are done, the sooner we can get back to the weeding, the planting, the trellising of tomatoes, and the myriad other farm jobs that we set aside temporarily for the Great Garlic Harvest.