If you ask the ten foot tall beanstalk, the height of Summer is upon us. Popping cherry tomatoes, slicing up cool cucumbers, and enjoying sweet stone fruit—it doesn’t get much more divine (or physically demanding) than the onset of August. Our burgeoning to-do lists are testing the constraints of our yellow legal pads and inboxes this week, but the good stuff coming out of our fields is a reminder of what it all adds up to…exciting, delicious, life affirming food that it is even better shared.

After too many months of waiting, it is officially tomato season. Though we aren’t opening up bulk sales just yet, we have Wild Hare tomatoes for the whole CSA this week (and some extras for sale too—little ones to start the week, and maybe some heirlooms by the weekend—we’ll see what four hot days in a row does on the ripening front!) We’ve also managed to grow a successful test crop of fresh Walla Walla Sweet Onions this year, so a nice Tomato, Cucumber & Sweet Onion Salad should be near the top of everyone’s menu this week.

We’ve reached the midpoint of our Summer Season, and about this time each year, the Zucchini and Summer Squash go bonkers. They’re the original “pick me” girls of the agricultural world, I swear. They’re relentless, and I know you feel it on your tables too! For much of the year, I wake up, and make a list of exactly how much we need to harvest in a given day (ie: 200 heads of lettuce, 12 bunches of Chard, etc). But many of the crops we enjoy most at this time of year—the Cucumbers, Zucchini, and any day now Tomatoes and Beans, dictate how much or how little is ready for harvest and insist that we go through and pick them several times a week. We do what we can to keep up; however, we’re calling it what it is and giving ourselves over to our late-Summer overlords.

Hot days are on their way, and I’m sweating just thinking about it. But, there will be fresh Red Haven Peaches from Okanogan on hand too, and that sort of syrupy sweetness goes a long way. I’m the sort of person who will go to great lengths to avoid cooking when it is hot, but shredding up a quick slaw, splitting a head of lettuce down the middle for a nice wedge salad, or if I am feeling ambitious, popping those halves onto the grill for a hot bit—those are the kinds of summer meals that I can muster up the energy to make when the temps creep up. While I may not be thrilled about the heat, I am overjoyed that our Napa Cabbage and Little Gem Lettuces are ready for harvest this week. Little Gems are SO CUTE. They’re smaller, squattier heads of lettuce that still form nice little hearts. Napa is frilly, elongated and can be used to make anything from Kimchi to a creamy slaw. Such a treat!