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Didja think I got fired from the farm? I know you’ve been waiting with bated breath to hear what bugs bit me, what we harvested, and what twang I listened to to and fro. In case you’re wondering why the two-week pause, I didn’t get ‘round to writing a Week 8 post and was out of town last week. And yes, I missed the farm!

So yesterday. Up before dawn (not easy for this girl). Mellow drive. Beautiful, dewy morning. Chilly. (I’m still in denial that fall is soon upon us, even though it’s my favorite time of year.) 

First thing? Potatoes. I got to (grunt) drive the shovel in while Joey tugged on the stalks, pulling up gorgeous red new potatoes. Bright red jewels, comin’ up right outta the dirt. Next? Zucchini and cucumbers. There’s a bit of an issue with squash bugs; they’re really destructive (and ugly) and I don’t feel bad about squashing them. And they look mean.

Next? Sungold cherry tomatoes. The vines were thick with these little nuggets, most of them too young to harvest, and we had to rifle through for the orangest of the orange tomatoes. Now, I’ve never been a big tomato person. I can certainly enjoy myself a nice caprese salad, as long as the tomatoes are heirloom. And salsa is pretty good. And a BLT is nice now and then. But I’ll tell you, I’ve never tasted anything like these cherry tomatoes. They’re candy, with a deep, earthy flavor, like nothing I’ve ever tasted. Amazing.

So what did I do for my post-farm meal? I forked a sungold, then forked a ciliegine (little cherry-sized balls of fresh mozzarella), and dipped the fork in fresh, homemade pesto. Oh summer, why must you leave us so soon?

Back to the farm … the sungold vines are right next to the basil, so I could have just stayed out there all day getting drunk on the aroma of tomato and basil leaves and gorging myself on these orange jewels. But I had to move on to the hot peppers, which were also a feast for the eyes. 

The CSA boxes were simply gorgeous – deep purples (onions and eggplant), vivid oranges (cherry tomatoes and hot peppers), and deep reds (tomatoes). The eggplant are almost too gorgeous to cut into, but I think I’ll manage. Baba ghanoush is one of my favorite foods of all time. Mmmm…smokey, smokey baba ghanoush.

Unbeknownst to me until writing this, aubergine is not just the name of that rich color that makes people swoon, but is also another name for this gorgeous vegetable. (Did you know this?) With its deep, reddish purple-brown coloring, and patent leather-like skin, eggplant is one of those vegetables that people love to ogle, but many know not what to with.

There is always eggplant parmesan, which can be quite tasty, but eggplant is spongelike and can get mushy if not prepared properly. Mush + too much cheese = not too appetizing.

Eggplant is cooling, tones the stomach and large intestines, moves blood in the lower parts of the body, and is rich in potassium. Want to learn how to get more of this vegetable into your regime? Check these recipes out.

All told for the day: red new potatoes, green beans, sungold sherry tomatoes, red tomato, eggplant, sweet peppers, hot peppers, cabbage, cucumbers, zucchini, summer squash, sweet onions, basil, garlic, and dill seed head.

And lest I forget, today’s soundtrack comes from my favorite musician of all time, “the poet of the common man.”