What’s Inside This Week?
September 17, 2026
Essentials Box
- Microgreens, 1 clam, $5.00
- Shallots, 8oz, $3.00
- Basil, 3oz, $3.00
- Stonefruit Mix, 1.5lbs, $6.00
- Lunchbox Peppers, 1pt, $4.00
Original Box
- Essentials Box, plus:
- Heirloom Tomatoes, 1–2ct, $4.00
- Bunching Onion, 1 bu, $4.00
- Beets (trimmed), 1lb, $4.00
- Cauliflower, 1ct, $3.00
- Spaghetti Squash, 1ct, $4.00
Hearty Box
- Original Box, plus:
- Roma Tomatoes, 1lb, $4.00
- Eggplant, 1lb, $4.00
- Carrots, 1 bu, $3.00
- Strawberries, 1 clam, $6.00
Big news from the garden crew
Our Garden Manager Myron and his wife Colleen are expecting their second child. We’re holding down the garden while they prepare, and eagerly awaiting their return once the family is settled.
Field Notes
We’re grateful for the weather finally cooling down, even knowing it comes with dwindling daylight and longer, cooler nights ahead. We spent Monday planning out the rest of fall and into winter, and we’re truly excited about how the garden will transition through the colder months. We’re also planning a lot of starts for spring — if you’re interested in preordering a few spring starts for your own backyard garden, we’d love to hear what you like to plant so we can seed exactly what you’ll be looking for.
The sunflowers in the garden have begun to dry out, and the birds are having a field day with the seed heads. The tomatoes, meanwhile, are still going strong. As we head into winter, we’ll be sticking to a rotation of arugula, kale, lettuce mix, and spicy lettuce mix for our greens, plus microgreens. We’re staggering the rows now, so as growth naturally slows down with the cold, we’ll still have enough coming through each week.
We’ve got some new help on the farm too — a volunteer through WWOOF USA, and a friend from Lompoc named Ray, who’ll be joining us a couple days a week. And our first round of Community Garden Work Days has wrapped up. We’re so grateful for the community and the help we had. We’ll relaunch work days once Myron is back and settled into the swing of things in the garden.
Waylon helping in the garden, learning how the hose works.
A tiny frog on the pattypan squash leaves. Easy to miss how much life is here if you don’t move carefully.
Storage Tips
Herbs: basil → jar of water on counter, never fridge.
Alliums: shallots, bunching onion → cool, dry, dark place; fridge once cut.
Peppers: lunchbox peppers → fridge in a bag; 1–2 weeks.
Nightshades: heirloom, roma tomatoes, eggplant → counter, never fridge.
Roots: beets, carrots → fridge crisper, bagged.
Brassicas: cauliflower → fridge crisper, loosely bagged; 5–7 days.
Squash: spaghetti squash → cool, dry counter; keeps for weeks whole.
Microgreens: keep in clamshell, fridge; use within 5–7 days.
Fruit: stonefruit → counter to ripen, fridge once soft. Strawberries → unwashed, fridge; 2–3 days.
Stonefruit & Basil Salad with Microgreens
Stonefruit basil salad with microgreens is a simple, beautiful way to close out the last of summer’s stonefruit — ripe fruit, torn basil, and a generous handful of peppery microgreens, dressed in nothing more than good olive oil and a splash of vinegar. This stonefruit basil salad with microgreens takes fifteen minutes and needs no cooking at all.
Ingredients
- 1.5lbs stonefruit mix, sliced into wedges
- 1 clam microgreens
- 1/4 cup fresh basil, torn
- 1 shallot, very thinly sliced
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup crumbled feta or burrata
- Flaky sea salt & black pepper
Instructions
- Whisk olive oil and vinegar together. Toss in shallot and let it sit 5 minutes to soften and mellow.
- Arrange stonefruit wedges on a platter.
- Drizzle with the shallot vinaigrette. Scatter microgreens and torn basil generously over the top.
- Finish with crumbled cheese, flaky salt, and pepper. Serve immediately.
Why microgreens belong on more than just toast
Microgreens are often treated as a garnish, but they hold their own as a real component of a dish — especially paired with something sweet like ripe stonefruit. Radish and sunflower microgreens bring a peppery bite that plays off the fruit’s sweetness the same way arugula does in a classic caprese, while adding a delicate, fresh crunch mature greens can’t quite match.
The technique in this stonefruit basil salad with microgreens is really just assembly — there’s no cooking, no complicated steps, just good ingredients layered with a little care. That makes it a great template for using whatever’s ripest and freshest in the box that week: swap in peaches, nectarines, or even melon depending on what’s on hand, and the microgreens and basil will do the rest of the work.
Because microgreens are so delicate, add them at the very last moment — right before serving, not while the fruit is still being arranged. They wilt fast, and their crunch is the whole point.
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2026-09-17 CSA by Megan_Raff
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