Acorn Squash...and Fresh Salsa

Hey yall,

So I returned this week from Maine. Not to make you jealous or
anything, but the highest temperature we got was 88, I think, and even
then we could just jump into the lake or retreat into the woods. The
vacation that I'd planned months ago just happened to end up falling
during an extremely hot week here, it seems. But I guess you can't go
wrong planning a vacation away from this area in July. It was good,
but it's even better to be back and be tending the crops. LaVonne did
an amazing job last week, and she had some help harvesting from my
mates at Ever Laughter Farm--they're young farmers who sell at South
Estes Market (by A Southern Season) on Saturdays, with veggies, pork,
and free-range eggs, so check em out sometime! They have a website,
too. Everlaughterfarm.com

All this rain we've been getting just beaten the tomato crop almost to
a pulp. Split, cat-scratched, and bursting. I was talking to my
friends at the Carrboro Market today, seasoned, expert growers, and
they confirmed that you gotta have some cover to grow nice tomatoes in
a rainy period--whether it be a greenhouse, hoophouse, high tunnel or
haygrove. And it rains a bit more up there in the microclimate north
of Hillsborough. You don't need heat, but you need to have a way to
moderate the climate, to protect from wind and rain. Tomatoes in these
structures are grown just like any other, organically, in the dirt.
You can irrigate just as much or as little as you want, to control the
flavor intensity of the tomatoes at the time you want it, but you keep
the rain off the leaves and fruit, which invites disease and poor
tomato quality. I might have the opportunity to lease a small
(50-foot) structure next year from NC State. We'll see, it's a little
investment for sure, but you'll love having beautiful, smooth-skinned
tomatoes if it's a rainy July next year.

So needless to say, the tomatoes this week are for the most part what
we call "canners," as opposed to camera-ready "slicers." Great for a
fresh tomato sauce with basil, or spicy, juicy fresh salsa. I wish we
still had cilantro, but there's just too much heat to keep a crop
going without it bolting really quickly. Maybe you know somebody with
a shady garden who's growing some. Anyways, a rough recipe for fresh
salsa will follow the harvest list.

Here goes:

1 acorn squash (it's been cured for storage, so don't worry about
cooking it right away--should keep up to 4 months)
1/2 of a Spanish Moon melon (heirloom, crazy type)
A few ripe tomatoes
1-2 hot chili peppers (Jalapeno and/or Serrano)
Some basils
1-2 little leaf cucumbers

For the salsa, you wanna get maybe 1/2 of a medium onion, any color, a
couple cloves of garlic, a lime, several sprigs of cilantro, and your
peppers, and tomatoes. De-seed your peppers and tomatoes, then dice
everything up, the garlic and peppers somewhat finer than the onions
and tomatoes. Chop up the herb and combine it with the other
ingredients. Squeeze some lime over it all, salt to taste, and put it
all in a bowl in the fridge for at least half an hour to let the
flavors combine. You got some good salsa. LaVonne and I did this many
times last summer in Maine. I think you'd call this a Pico de Gallo
type salsa, just the basics you know. Pick up some peaches from Mr.
Ferguson at the market and try a peach salsa...mmm.

Alright then, see ya tomorrow!

Ben