As a farmer, it seems almost absurd to talk about peppers and tomatoes in late January. When you put the tiny seeds in soil, you’re really just going through the motions of what you know to be true. But really, you aren’t quite visualizing rows of tomatoes or imaging spicy jalapenos… you’re more invested in the crops currently ready in the fields and summer feels like a faraway dream.

Fast forward to June 26, a few days past the summer solstice and just after the first official day of summer, and quite suddenly every pepper plant in the field is laden with ripe fruit. The summer sunshine and the radiating heat is doing its job. Perhaps it’s a similar experience for CSA members: you become so familiar with crops like beets and radishes, and just when you think you’ve reached your limit, boxes are packed with heat-loving peppers and a rainbow of tomatoes. Though the seeds were sown long ago, the shift happens abruptly!

This week conducting a roll call of some summer hallmarks - those veggies that give a resounding “HERE!”, declaring their place among the treasures of summer. We hope you really savor the flavor of the season, the taste of summer fruit. They are not the same flavors as vegetables who prefer a cold afternoon, and instead, summer vegetables hail from tropical and equatorial regions. They are not just heat-tolerant, but they are heat-loving, growing into their best selves while the rest of us try not to melt. Consume these flavors, and maybe you’ll adopt some heat-loving attitudes as well. Choose to cook dishes that call you to summer and root you around a table or checkered blanket.

Peppers:

Most of you pepper plants don’t get very big. You waste no time growing tall and instead turn your attention to the production of tiny (usually white) flowers. And once these flowers mature, your crunchy walls begin to emerge, eventually forming your own unique shape and your own specific palate. Some of you are strictly hot or strictly sweet, and some of you waiver in-between. You can be tiny (pequin’!) or large. You can be squatty and round like a pimento, or long and lean like a banana. And once you start, there’s really no stopping you. If picked continuously, you will continue to flower and fruit as long as the days are hot, which is an eternity. Peppers, you are a cornerstone of most summer crop plans, but despite your omnipresence, we won’t take you for granted. The sweet and the green bells among you provide the background flavor for so many soulful dishes - whether you’re hiding in a Cajun or Creole “holy trinity”, in a Spanish soffrito, or roasted and blitz for some Mexican flair, you provide a foundation of deliciousness. But, you can also stand alone. We’ll pick you, a poblano if we want a kick or a red Carmen for something sweet, scoop out your pithy insides (you didn’t need those, did you?) and stuff you with leftovers, mixed, or not, with a cooked grain. We’ll surround you in inches of liquid or tangy tomatoes, and bake you until your walls steam soft. You are the ultimate vessel, and you put the taco salad-shell to shame. We grow more varieties of you, glorious peppers, than we do any other vegetable at the farm. You are as diverse as the bugs on the ground and the citizens of the world, and we love you all!

Eggplant:

Eggplant, oh eggplant, I’m sorry you’re so misunderstood. Though you often act like a sponge, I hope you don’t soak up the negative talk around you, and instead plump your flesh with rich tomato sauces and sweet and spicy glazes. Or maybe, you’ll be coated with breadcrumbs and fried till crisp. You make a wonderful addition, or even substitution, to meat - stretching your silky texture and weaving your way into every bite. When touched by fire, the smokiness you take on is truly intoxicating, creating the perfect base for a dip like babaganoush, caponata, or even baingan bharta.

Squash:

Steadfast squash. One of the three sisters and as kind as they come. When other crops are proving difficult, we know we can count on you. There are squash bugs and vine borers that attempt to ruin your crop, but with ease and grace your defeat those pests, cranking out patty pan, zucchini, yellow, and butternut babies. We love the bright yellow flower that emerges from your tubular stems, and we are constantly amazed when a 2-inch squash nub grows into an 8-inch baton in what feels like an afternoon. If we sat with you long enough, we think we could see the fruit growing. But of course, you don't require us to sit with you, and instead do your thing with little thought.  Really, you are the star of summer, the cucurbit queen, a versatile vegetable who can sneak its way into so many recipes. We promise to compost our preconceived notions of how boring you are, perhaps even turning to this list for alternative ways to invite you to our table.

Tomato:

Summertime’s diva, you often occupy the spotlight with your glowing red skin and sweet tangy insides. Even before you’re technically show-ready, you’re still a farmer’s favorite.  You get special treatment from the moment your seeds arrive in the mail, beginning your life inside the farm office while others are born in the greenhouse. Once planted, you’re still needy - requiring wooden stakes and rolls of twine to prop you up. But all this fussiness is forgiven when we eat your first fruit, plucked from the vine and plopped into our mouth. You’re so sweet! So fun to harvest, and a joy to admire once piled in bins and methodically organized in grids. Once a tiny and wild vining fruit, you have made your mark on history and spanned the globe. What would spaghetti be without sauce or fries without ketchup? There are no limits to how we can enjoy you, but when we get stumped we’ll just go to this archive. 

Melon:

Melon, you’re truly everyone’s favorite friend. You’re the rosy magnetic force at the party, and folks of all ages smile when they see you arrive. They say you hail from the desert, but I can’t imagine how something so sweet and juicy can come somewhere so dry and arid? You’re playful and fun, and an incredibly good sport when people involve you in summertime games and sandy picnics. Farmers’ move and carry thousands and thousands of pounds of you every year, and you’d think that for this reason, they’d shun your arrival. But no! Instead, they toss you around with joy, and celebrate with snack if your bright pink, yellow, or orange flesh accidentally explodes on the packing shed floor.  We love you, melon, and we love you summer. Thanks for reading!