Welcome to the Quarry Veggie Box week 6!

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Hakurei turnip is a Japanese salad turnip. There is no need to peel it unless you choose to. It will replace radishes in the box and bring a sweet crunch to your salad. We are harvesting early before the bugs take too big a share in the harvest. They will be back in the fall.

We want to stress that the food has come early and fast this year. The boxes are much bigger than anticipated. You are participating in a kind of a glut. Later boxes may not be so abundant, and we don’t want to disappoint you if that happens. As the season progresses, we will have a better handle on how to manage quantities. Don’t expect the glut to last forever, but while it does, we will offer suggestions about ways to handle all this food.

For example – zucchini. What do you with zucchini that are big?

1. Grill them. Slice them about ¼ inch thick. Bathe them in olive oil, salt and pepper and lay them on your grill (on a grill pan if you have one). You will find the thickness that suits you after the first try or two. When the bottom side gets a bit brown and crusty, carefully flip them over and grill the other side. The interior will become soft and creamy, the coat is a bit crispy. They go with virtually anything.

2. Make a Gratin. Slice them in two lengthwise. Use a spoon to scrape out the seeds and then fill the cavity with a mixture of garlic, onion, bread crumb or bread chunks, herbs of your choice (sage is good), cheese if you like, salt and pepper. Top with parmesan. Put on a baking sheet or in a flat casserole and bake at 400 F until everything is soft and cooked and the parmesan is browned. Delicious.

3. If it’s a busy week, chuck them in your food processor and buzz them until they are small chunks. Then bag and freeze them for winter soups, stews and casseroles. If you have a terrific recipe, please share. We’d love to hear from you.

Quarry Farm wouldn’t be what it is without the help of the many volunteers who come to live and work on our organic farm. Here are some of the volunteers that have helped to make it all happen.

Rebecca from Germany – Rebecca was with Quarry Farm during the winter. She took great care of the animals and poultry and helped dig the plant beds.

Rachel from New Brunswick – Rachel arrived in March and worked hard to prepare the plant beds. She stills lives at Quarry Farm but now works off farm.

Red from southern Italy is Rachel’s partner. He is just beginning to work with the veggie box program and is proving to be a very good researcher.

Jase from Australia -Jase helped with the construction of the packing shed, with excavation and with installing the roof. He is also trained as a graphic designer and designed the Quarry Farm logo and website.

Erin from Ontario has just joined the team and plans to be with us for the rest of the summer. Erin’s work was organizing kid’s camps. She realized that she wanted to learn about agriculture and sustainability. She spent seven months in Latin America working on four different farms, and at one of them, she met Daria who promptly invited her to Salt Spring. Welcome Erin!

Have a great week and keep us posted on how you are managing the food. Happy dining!

The Quarry Team