LDF News: Eat our green snack peppers!

Here is Clare, having some quality time with her chickens. 

Farm Views:

• The toads and frogs are singing now, heralding the seasons slow change. In the last three days alone I saw two baby toads, one young tree frog (that was in my kitchen sink!), as well as one out in the field, and a golden cricket! Of course each instance was the highlight of my life. 
• The butterflies are about. It is so lovely to see so many of them.
• Someone took a wrong turn at Albuquerque, or maybe not? I remember seeing these burrowing bumps (there must be an actual name) for the first time. As a big time Bugs Bunny watcher, it blew my mind that they actually existed. It became less funny when I saw them going through a root crop and there were losses below ground. That's the way to live! I wonder how dark it is in there. Some amount of light must come through. Is it like looking through your eyelids? I know what I'll be doing with my spare time. 

Old crops. This is a flower from our summer squash and zucchini planting. The bees are enjoying it and so are the cucumber beetles. While we are working to plant all of our fall and winter storage crops, we are also trying to get the fields we used this spring flipped into cover crop. Feed the soil! Build the organic matter! Increase nutrient and water holding capacity! Increase erosion resistance! Increase food for our microbiome! 

I am still deciding what to put in. The longer it takes me to decide (and get the ground prepped) the less choices I have. We are quickly approaching last planting dates for many crops and covers. I will note, it is unbelievable that the middle of August is upon us. ​

Here are those snack peppers I keep talking about! It turns out you can ripen them off the plant, which I didn't know about. The internet says lots and lots of things about this. The takeaway? Put your peppers in a warm (70 degrees or higher), sunny environment, with a little humidity. They should start to ripen in a couple days. 

We are not going to do that. We are going to bring them to market and offer them to you. to chow down on or ripen or preserve.

---

Ahoy!

In the every changing landscape of our crew we are now, again, looking for farm crew members. If you are able bodied and have a couple weeks, or even a couple days you want to spend weeding, picking cherry tomatoes, or planting, we'd love to have you out, especially over the next 10 days while Fergus is out d

Please eat our green snack peppers this week. They were accidentally harvested before color and there are quite a few. They are jalepeno sized and but not spicey at all. They are easy to use because all the seeds are up in the stem end. You can chop them almost all the way to the top without having to deseed at all.

Things you can do with a green snack pepper:

1. Cut in half and fill with dip (cream cheese with microgreen sprinkles, hummus, salsa scoops, etc)
2. Mini stuffed peppers
3. Slice and add to salad. It is the easiest because you don't have to deseed them.
4. Salsa!
5. Green pepper relish- see the recipe below!

You tell me what else you can do, after you come get them at market and devour them, wishing you had gotten more because they are so delicious and easy to prepare. 

Onward folks, doing the things we can do. 

Cheers,
Helen
she/her/hers
 
In this email:

• Generally important notes
  • We are back at Stockbridge this Friday and hopefully for the rest of the season!
  • A link to our Stockbridge Community Outreach Project
  • Notes for members (or potential members!):
    • Find a copy of the 2025 membership agreement here.
    • It isn't too late to sign up for our Farm Membership! 
  • Here is link to a list of resources to aid in effecting positive social change. Keep your  chin up. 
• Fresh From the field
• Recipe: Green Pepper Relish

Fresh From the Field- 

Greens:
Kale
Micros: Types to be seen!
Pea shoots

Herbs
Basil
Parsley

All Manner of Deliciousness
Cabbage: personal and LARGE for your kraut needs
Celery
Cucumbers
Eggs!! From Hen House Farm- Clare!!
Eggplant
Garlic
Garlic Scapes! 
Ground Cherries
Kohlrabi
Onions
Peppers: Shishitos! Bells! Green snack peppers!
Potatoes!
Scallions
Summer Squash- limited
Big tomatoes! They are here at last. We won't be buried for a few more weeks but there are still plenty to enjoy
Big tomatoes: slicers, paste, heirlooms.
Cherry Tomatoes in earnest!
Zucchini- limited

Coming Soon
Snack Peppers
Watermelon ?!
Canary melon?!

---

Green pepper relish!

Eat the snack peppers!

From Cooks Joy

Simple condiment with bell peppers. (or snack peppers!)


Ingredients

• bell pepper - 1 (about 1.5 cups chopped)- use snack peppers!!
• jalapeno - 1. Ok to skip if you are wimp like me.
• garlic - 1 clove
• spring onion - 3 (about 1/2 cup chopped)
• cilantro - 1/2 cup - packed
• olive oil - 1 tbsp
• salt - to taste
• lemon juice - 1 tbsp

Instructions

1. Chop the vegetables and then add salt, olive oil and lemon juice. Serve over burritos, sandwiches, etc.