What’s Inside This Week?
July 23, 2026
Essentials Box
- Lettuce Mix, 8oz, $5.00
- Basil, 3oz, $3.00
- Avocado, 3oz, $5.00
- Tomato, 1–2ct, $6.00
- Broccolini, 1 bu, $4.00
Original Box
- Essentials Box, plus:
- Arugula, 8oz, $5.00
- Parsley, 3oz, $3.00
- Strawberry, 1 clam, $6.00
- Cherry Tomatoes, 1pt, $4.00
Hearty Box
- Original Box, plus:
- Kale, 8oz, $5.00
- Eggplant, 1lb, $4.00
- Melon, 1ct, $4.00
See you at the Old Town Market!
We’ll be at the Old Town Market this Friday — come buy eggs and say hello. Same giveaway as last week: one raffle entry for every $25 you spend with us at the market.
Field Notes
A misty, overcast day rolled through yesterday, and after a stretch of intense heat, it was more than welcome. The plants seemed to feel it too — especially the cold-tolerant crops, which visibly perked up in the cooler, softer light. It’s a good reminder that even in the middle of summer, a break from the heat does everyone on the farm some good, plants and people alike.
A misty morning, welcome after a run of intense heat.
The plants enjoying a cooler, misty day — especially the cold-tolerant crops.
We’re closing in on finishing the greenhouse conversion into a dedicated seed starting and microgreen growing space. Two things left: shade cloth over part of it, and fans installed. Once those are in, it’ll be fully operational for the next stage of planting.
The pollinator project took up a lot of our week — and it was hot, hot, hot sun the entire time. We spent long stretches installing PVC pipes for irrigation and junction boxes for electrical, laying groundwork not just for the plants but for future use of the space as an event area down the road. We kept the days shorter than usual simply because the heat made it necessary. Better to pace the work than push through and burn out the crew.
And finally — there are ripe tomatoes on the vines. FINALLY. Jeremy has been especially excited that they were getting close. It made for a very funny discovery this week: it turns out he can’t actually see red from green. We knew he was colorblind, but had no idea, all these years running a farm full of vegetables that depend on exactly that color distinction. We’re still laughing about it.
Ripe tomatoes on the vine, finally! Jeremy is thrilled — even if he can’t quite see the color change himself.
Come find us at the Old Town Market this Friday — eggs and a hello waiting for you.
Storage Tips
Greens: lettuce mix, arugula, kale → wrap in a towel, bag in the fridge; use within 5–7 days.
Herbs: basil → jar of water on the counter, never the fridge. Parsley → damp paper towel, bagged in the fridge; use within 4–5 days.
Brassicas: broccolini → fridge crisper, loosely bagged; best within 3–5 days.
Nightshades: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, eggplant → counter, never the fridge; use within a few days for best flavor.
Fruit: strawberries → don’t wash until ready to eat; fridge, use within 2–3 days. Melon → counter until ripe and fragrant, then fridge. Avocado → counter to ripen, then fridge.
Tomato Basil Panzanella with Broccolini
A tomato basil panzanella turns ripe summer tomatoes, toasted bread, and torn basil into one of the best things you can eat this time of year — and adding roasted broccolini gives this tomato basil panzanella real substance, turning a side salad into dinner.
Ingredients
- 4 cups crusty bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
- 1 bunch broccolini, trimmed
- 2 large tomatoes, cut into chunks
- 1 pt cherry tomatoes, halved
- 1/2 cup fresh basil, torn
- 1 small shallot or 1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
- 5 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- Salt & black pepper
- 1/3 cup shaved Parmesan
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Toss torn bread with 2 tbsp olive oil and a pinch of salt; toast on a sheet pan 10–12 minutes until golden and crisp.
- Toss broccolini with 1 tbsp olive oil, salt, and pepper; roast on a separate sheet pan 12–15 minutes until tender with crisp edges. Cool slightly, then chop into bite-size pieces.
- Whisk remaining olive oil, vinegar, and garlic for the dressing.
- In a large bowl, combine toasted bread, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, broccolini, basil, and shallot. Drizzle with dressing and toss gently. Let sit 10 minutes so the bread soaks up the tomato juices.
- Top with shaved Parmesan just before serving.
Panzanella — the original way to use up ripe tomatoes and stale bread
Panzanella is a traditional Tuscan salad built specifically to use two things that overlap constantly in a summer kitchen: peak-season tomatoes and bread that’s gone a little stale. The tomatoes release their juices as the salad sits, and the bread soaks them up instead of going to waste. It’s one of the original zero-waste recipes, centuries before that was a phrase.
The tomatoes are doing the real work here, so use the ripest ones you have — the kind that are almost too soft to slice neatly. Those are exactly the tomatoes that make the best panzanella, because they release the most juice. If your bread isn’t already a day or two old, toasting it in the oven does the same job: it dries the crumb out just enough to absorb liquid without turning to mush immediately.
Broccolini isn’t traditional in panzanella, but it earns its place here — roasted until the edges char slightly, it adds a savory, slightly bitter contrast to the sweetness of the tomatoes, plus real substance that turns this from a side dish into something you can make a full meal of. Once you understand the basic panzanella formula — ripe tomatoes, toasted bread, good olive oil, fresh herbs — you can swap in whatever needs using: cucumber, roasted peppers, green beans, even melon for something unexpected.
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