Full Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Thyme, Collard Greens, Salanova Baby Greens, Red Kuri Squash, Koginut Squash, Kohlrabi, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Daikon Radishes, Bread Flour

Small Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Collard Greens, Red Kuri Squash, Koginut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Daikon Radishes, Bread Flour

Coconut Collards with Winter Squash

Any winter squash will work in this recipe; finish with cilantro

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Carrots with Thyme

Easy and nutritious for a cozy winter meal

Whole Wheat Bread

It’s the perfect time of year to make your own bread using Amber Waves whole wheat bread flour

Carrot Daikon Stir-Fry

Add additional veggies and/or protein for a meal or as a side with dumplings

Roasted Red Kuri Squash with Chile Powder

A perfect mix of spicy and sweet, rub the squash with coconut oil, dried ancho chili powder, a little maple syrup, and salt

Carrots are root vegetables that add color and texture to salads. They are delicious roasted or eaten raw. One serving provides over 200% of your daily recommended vitamin A requirement. Carrots mature over two months and are available beginning in July at Amber Waves.

Surprisingly, carrots were originally purple but were bred to be orange in the 16th century. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant your body converts into vitamin A. 

Roasting carrots in the oven is easy, delicious, and so satisfying. Here’s a simple roasted carrot recipe.

Remove the green tops from carrots to prevent them from drawing moisture from the roots. Keep carrots in an open container with a moist towel for up to two weeks. If carrots lose their firmness, place them in water to crisp them up again.

Full Share:

Garlic, Thyme, Dill, Cabbage, Lettuce, Radicchio, Kale, Honeynut Squash, Mashed Potato Squash, Acorn Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Purple Top Turnips, Beets

Small Share:

Garlic, Thyme, Dill, Cabbage, Kale, Honeynut Squash, Sweet Potatoes, Carrots, Purple Top Turnips, Beets

Peppered Squash Gratin

Cook until tender and caramelized, and add lots of pepper. 

Charred Cabbage and Carrots

An interesting combination of flavors: sweet, salty, tart, savory

Winter Beet Salad with Pomegranate

A stand-out salad perfect for any holiday dinner

Roasted Honeynut Squash with Radicchio and Miso

Substitute Amber Waves wheatberries for the farro

Citrus Glazed Sweet Potatoes

A tangy glaze with the flavor of marmalade

Purple Top Turnips are known for their vibrant purple-topped, creamy white roots and are a staple in many traditional dishes. They are a root vegetable belonging to the brassica family, which also includes cabbage, kale, and radishes.  They have a distinct purple color at the top of the bulb, which transitions to a pale white at the bottom. They are mildly spicy and peppery but become milder and sweeter when cooked and are a good source of vitamins A and C, potassium, fiber, and antioxidants. Use the highly nutritious greens in salads, sautés, or soups. 

Enjoy these turnips raw, roasted, boiled, or mashed. Slice them thinly and add them to salads, or use the thin slices to dip in hummus or your favorite dip. Peel and cut them into cubes, then roast them in the oven with salt, pepper, olive oil, fresh thyme, rosemary and garlic until golden brown. Mash them like potatoes and add butter, salt and pepper. Add these turnips to soups or stews. 

Full Share:

Garlic, Scallions, Thyme, Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Honeynut Squash, Mashed Potato Squash, Sweet Potatoes

Small Share:

Garlic, Scallions, Thyme, Cabbage, Spinach, Honeynut Squash, Sweet Potatoes

Crispy Parmesan Thyme Sweet Potato Stacks

Layer sliced sweet potatoes iin a standard muffin pan

Creamy White Bean Soup with Kale

Don’t forget a crusty bread for dipping

Roasted Cabbage with Parmesan, Walnuts and Anchovies

Try roasting cabbage. It’s delicious especially when it caramelizes

Easy Vegetable Curry with Sweet Potatoes

A one-pot curry with Indian species, add any veggies you have

Cabbage is a versatile veggie that can be enjoyed in various ways. It's excellent for a crunchy slaw, but it's equally delicious when cooked. You can sauté or roast cabbage with curry powder and coconut oil for a flavorful dish.Try making sauerkraut to preserve cabbage - all you need is salt and cabbage! Here’s a farmer's favorite caramelized cabbage recipe, one of the easiest, most delicious ways to cook down a whole head of cabbage until it's falling apart tender. Or, make a slaw with a savory peanut dressing, a Thai spin on classic coleslaw.

Store cabbage whole and unrinsed in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.  Cabbage will last up to two months when stored this way.

Hello from the fields,

Well this is a wrap on CSA season 16! We’re celebrating having packed well over 5,000 boxes for you in 2024, and giving you a taste of the east end flavor arc over the course of the last six months. Amber Waves has grown considerably since our humble beginnings in 2009 with only 18 member families, but our Community Supported Agriculture program remains at the heart of our farm, from our crop planning to our crew’s work schedule. Your consistent support over the years has given us the freedom to expand our acreage, trial new crops, varieties, and growing methods, to focus on flavor and quality, and to make the health of our soils a priority. In each of the last 16 seasons we have tried to improve our performance over prior years by making sure you get a good mix of your classic favorite veggies but also the opportunity to try something new, abundant bonus items to round out your personal preferences, thoughtful recipes to accompany your weekly shares, joyful flower-cutting in the pick-your-own fields, and a loyalty discount in our market. We’re so happy to share this abundance with you because of your commitment to the farm early in the season; your wintertime signups help us get through the slimmest days of winter, so we can afford to buy seeds and tools, hire staff, and get the season rolling. Stay tuned for 2025 signup details coming your way in January!

Pulling off our weekly CSA distribution is a massive undertaking. Countless hours (we actually did count! It’s 495 labor hours per week!) harvesting, washing, counting, packing, moving heavy bins and boxes, selecting recipes, writing field notes and newsletters - this takes huge effort from many members of our team, we couldn’t do it without them. 

As we’ve mostly put the fields to bed (mowed, tilled, cover cropped) we farmers are looking forward to a little rest ahead, and before we know it we’ll be back at it. There are so many ways you can stay involved at Amber Waves until your next main season pickup in May:

Support our year-end fundraising campaign. As a 501c3 non-profit organization we rely on philanthropic support to operate our many educational programs. We are a community farm, and it takes the whole community to pull this off - thank you in advance for your support of our work!

Pre-order your Thanksgiving sides, veggies, and treats (hurry! Deadline is November 16!)

Sign up for our Early Winter CSA Share!

Join us for Deck the Farm in December

Shop local! Browse thoughtful holiday gifts for your family and friends

Thank you for your membership and your support. We are grateful for your partnership, whether you’re one of those 18 families that started us off in 2009 or if you just discovered us this season. We hope you have a cozy, healthy winter and we can’t wait to see you back at the farm soon.

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Full Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Collard Greens, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Carrots, Butternut Squash, Fennel, Broccoli

Small Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Collard Greens, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Carrots, Butternut Squash

Butternut Squash and Spinach Lasagna

A delicious, meatless vegetable lasagna

Carrot Quinoa Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

Shred the carrots in a food processor

Southern Style Collard Greens

Slowly simmered with ham for a savory, authentic Southern flavor

Raw Collard Greens and Roasted Delicata Squash Salad

For a festive fall salad, use butternut squash if you don’t have Delicata

Roasted Carrots with CilantroYogurt Sauce

A light and easy appetizer or side

Collard Greens are a milder member of the brassica family and can be eaten in many ways. They are nutrient-dense, a good source of calcium, folate, and vitamins K, C, and A and high in fiber and antioxidants.

Use them raw as a sandwich wrap instead of a tortilla; their sturdiness holds a wrap together very well. Collard greens also hold up well in veggie stir-fries: slice them thinly and stir-fry them with your favorite vegetables. 

Stir into a soup, shred them into a casserole or add to a chili.  Collards are traditionally a Southern food cooked low and slow, with smoked meat, onions, and garlic to render them tender and flavorful. 

Enjoy them raw. Tenderize the leaves so they’re ready for your salad bowl. Massage sliced collards with olive oil and salt until well coated, then drizzle with an apple cider vinaigrette and put it in the refrigerator for at least 3-4 hours. Add sun-dried tomatoes, chopped onion, garlic and red pepper flakes.

Make a collard slaw by chopping collard leaves into thin slices, combine with chopped cabbage and julienned carrots, and toss with dressing.

Hello from the fields,

 Last week we traveled to the annual FIELD School Conference where our Apprenticeship Coordinator, Danielle, and I presented to fellow on-farm educators about our new farmer training program here at Amber Waves. This year’s conference was held in Madison, WI, and welcomed representatives of Apprenticeship and Incubator programs from around the country. Attending this conference is a great way to learn educational tools and models that other organizations are using to train the next generation of farmers in the US, and also an important way to share our methods of training new farmers on a production-scale farm like ours. As the products of an Apprenticeship Program ourselves (at Quail Hill Farm around the corner), Katie and I started our new farmer training program to pay it forward, doing our part to provide critical knowledge to newcomers in our industry, where the average age of a farmer is 58 years old. In the thirteen years since we have started our program, more than 60 young people have graduated, starting several new farms and food businesses of their own around the country. Training new farmers is at the core of our daily work on the farm and is the most labor-intensive, expensive of our mission-driven programs. It’s also my favorite thing we do; interacting with and instructing our energetic team of apprentices never gets old, and I love learning what our alumni have gone on to accomplish. Happily many of our alumni are still with us (eleven of them!), making up nearly all of the farm’s middle and upper management positions; it’s extraordinary to watch the evolution of the knowledge and skills each season. We hope you had the chance to meet a farmer this season at CSA pickup or in the Pick Your Own fields, their work ethic and expertise is what keeps the farm going!

 We hope you enjoy this week’s box grown by our apprentices and crew. See you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Full Share:

Garlic, Scallions, Rosemary, Kale, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Red Kuri Squash, Delicata Squash, Daikon Radishes, Broccolini

Small Share:

Garlic, Rosemary, Kale, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Red Kuri Squash, Daikon Radishes

Roasted Red Kuri Squash with Tahini Sauce and Kale

There is no need to peel the skin

Pan-Fried Daikon Cakes

A crispy, savory fritter with an Asian twist

Kale Pesto with Whole Wheat Pasta

Try the whole wheat L’Isolina pasta in our market

Red Kuri Squash Soup

The recipe is from legendary chef Alice Waters

Baked Kale Chips

A crispy, homemade snack

Amber Waves grows Red Kuri, a Japanese variety of Hubbard squash. This bright orange, teardrop-shaped winter squash is known for its smooth, creamy texture and slightly chestnut-like flavor. It is a smaller member of the Hubbard squash family and typically weighs around 2 to 4 pounds, making it easy to work with in the kitchen. Red Kuri is sweet and nutty. Our farmers enjoy preparing it by roasting the squash in the oven and drizzling it with a sriracha yogurt sauce and lots of fresh cilantro.

Red Kuri squash contains vitamins A and C and is a good source of fiber, potassium, and magnesium, making it a healthy addition to a balanced diet. 

You do not need to peel your Red Kuri squash. It’s optional since its edible skin becomes tender when cooked. You can roast it, puree it for soups, or even stuff it for a hearty main course. Its rich flavor shines in risotto, curries, and desserts like pies or muffins. When roasted, the flesh caramelizes beautifully, adding a natural sweetness to meals.

Store red kuri squash in a cool, dry place for up to a month. Once cut open, you can keep it in the refrigerator for up to a week. For longer storage, freeze cooked squash.

Here are some cooking ideas:

Roasted Red Kuri Squash Soup: Blend roasted squash with onions, garlic, broth, and coconut milk for a silky, rich soup.

Stuffed Red Kuri Squash: Scoop out the seeds and fill the squash with a mixture of cooked grains, nuts, cranberries, and herbs for a beautiful presentation.

Simple Roasted Slices: Toss sliced red kuri with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until caramelized to a golden color. This dish makes a perfect side dish or salad topper.

Hello from the fields,

On Friday we prepared the field for garlic planting. It was a day that we’ve come to expect as typical of the 2024 fall season: sunny and unseasonably warm. I spend far less time in the fields than I used to, a double edged sword of a successful operation is that you replace yourself in tasks you’ve mastered (and loved), instead outsourcing them to other eager members of the team as you take on yet more challenging or important tasks, or sometimes the tedium that’s harder to outsource. But one field task I’ve held onto over the years is preparing beds for planting. We have an extraordinary, if finicky, mulch layer that gathers soil into a raised bed, runs a row of drip tape, drops fertilizer on the soil surface, and covers the bed with a layer of biodegradable mulch film, two discs burying the edges along the way. When it runs well, it’s a dream, when it acts up, you want to pull your hair out. 

Garlic beds are always the last of the season, and Friday’s session was that occasion. As the operator I stay put in the seat for most of the session, climbing down only to help replace a roll of mulch film or drip tape, or to help refill the fertilizer hopper. A partner stays on the ground, securing the mulch and drip tape at the start of each bed, then watching for malfunctions as we cruise along at about two miles per hour, finally cutting me loose, tying me off, burying the bed end, and waiting while I do a several point turn to situate myself in the opposite direction to prepare the next bed. I wait for an audible “GOOD!” from my partner before taking off again on the next stretch. On a good day, we lay about 10 beds per hour. As I’m driving down the field all of my attention is focused on driving straight with one hand while hovering my other hand over the controls, adjusting the angle of the machine to maintain the appropriate amount of soil forms the bed: too little soil and there will be a gulley in the middle of the bed, too much soil channels the fertilizer to the middle of the bed while it should be spread evenly over the bed top. I keep my eye on the discs burying the bed edges, too little soil risks exposing an edge to the wind or rain, either of which can unceremoniously rip the film from the bed; too much soil along the edges creates an untouchable strip that we’ll never be able to mechanically cultivate (kill weeds), because we’ll risk tearing the film with sharp blades. The process is repetitive and meditative, we work our way back and forth, across the field, slowly filling up empty tilled ground with the potential for new life, new food, new activity. 

The time I have between beds, when my partner is on the ground tying me off or setting me up for the next pass, are some of my most treasured moments on the farm. From here I watch the crew, take note of the crops and field conditions on either side of me, and watch the clouds and birds. Depending on how fast my partner is, it's about 20-90 seconds between beds; not quite enough time to do anything meaningful on my phone, not quite enough time to do much at all besides watch and wait. Over the course of a bed prep session it’s a cumulative 10 to 60 minutes of quiet observation, and spending much of my time out of the fields these days, it’s where I gather most of my insight. Early in the season I watch friendships form between new apprentices and older crew members find their voices and confidence in directing the new arrivals. On Friday as we worked our way across the field I watched a crew of six dig and pick up our final bed of sweet potatoes, a milestone to be sure. They high-fived, they cheered, they congratulated each other on an arduous job well done. They’ve cut, dug, picked up, tossed, dragged, and carried about 60,000lb of squash and sweet potatoes out of that field in the last 6 weeks. They deserve to be proud. I’m proud too, sitting in my seat out of the mix, a quiet observer on the fringes of the action. But full of awe and gratitude at the farm we’ve built and the people who devote their bodies and minds to making it run; to caring for our soils; to feeding our neighbors. I’m so grateful to be a part of it, and equally grateful to share it with you each week.

Enjoy the box, deep breaths out there this week everyone.

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Full Share:

Garlic, Saute Bouquet, Radicchio, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Kabocha Squash, Cauliflower, Purple Broccolini, Sweet Potatoes

Small Share:

Garlic, Saute Bouquet, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Kabocha Squash, Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes

Kung Pao Cauliflower

An easy sheet pan meal

Sweet Potato Curry

With chickpeas, onion, spinach and aromatic spices

Kabocha Fried Rice

Consider replacing some or all of the rice with riced cauliflower

Rosemary Sweet Potato Fries

Roast in a single layer if you prefer crispier fries

Cauliflower Cheese Recipe

A traditional British cauliflower recipe

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower

1 tablespoon of turmeric

Olive oil

Salt

2 tablespoons of flour

2 tablespoons of butter

1.5 cups of milk

1 cup of grated cheddar or Gruyère cheese

Instructions: Preheat your oven to 350°F.

Prepare the cauliflower. Cut the cauliflower into florets and season with olive oil, salt, and turmeric until coated. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes.

Make the cheese sauce. While the cauliflower is baking, melt 2 tablespoons of butter in a saucepan. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and stir until it forms a paste. Slowly add the milk bit by bit, stirring constantly until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.

Add cheese. Once the sauce is ready, add the grated cheddar or Gruyère cheese and let it melt, creating a creamy cheese sauce.

Combine cauliflower and cheese sauce. Cover the baked cauliflower with the cheese sauce and return it to the oven for 10-15 minutes or until it's heated through and bubbly.

Serve the cauliflower cheese alongside your roast chicken and farm veggies for a delicious meal.

Kabocha is a winter squash variety from Japan, with dense, starchier flesh than other squashes. Kabocha (ka-BOH-cha) is in the Cucurbitaceae family, related to gourds and pumpkins. Kabocha looks like a small, squat pumpkin, but its sweet, rich flavor and velvety, dryer texture is closer to a sweet potato. Its texture makes it an excellent candidate for roasting, steaming, and frying as it maintains its shape and is also suitable for pureeing or mashing.

Kabocha is full of nutrients that improve health. It provides vitamins A and C, some B vitamins, fiber, magnesium, potassium, and antioxidants, and dried and roasted Kabocha seeds are a good source of plant protein.

Here are a few tips and recipe ideas:

• Grate raw Kabocha into a winter salad, adding a crunch and beautiful color.

• Halve the Kabocha, scoop out the seeds, or use an ice cream scoop. Stuff the Kabocha with panko, grains, cheese, mushrooms, herbs, and greens, and bake until tender.

• Mash Kabocha squash instead of potatoes. 

• Make a creamy Kabocha squash soup.

• Roast the seeds in the oven and enjoy a nutritious snack. 

Kabocha squash can be roasted or steamed and used like any other winter squash. Once cooked, the tough skin softens and can be eaten, depending on your preference.

Kabocha squash is perfect simply roasted, sprinkled with oil, cinnamon, and a pinch of salt. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a baking dish with parchment paper.

Brush the squash halves with oil, and season with cinnamon and salt. Place in baking dish.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes or until fork-tender. Allow the squash to cool slightly, then scoop out the flesh to serve.

Like other types of winter squash, Kabocha has a thick rind that ensures it will keep for up to a month when stored in a cool, dry place. Once cut into, whether cooked or raw, Kabocha squash should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.

Full Share:

Garlic, Basil, Bok Choy, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Broccoli, Tomato, Koginut Squash, Acorn Squash, Beets

Small Share:

Garlic, Bok Choy, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Broccoli, Koginut Squash, Beets

Bok Choy, Broccoli, Carrot, Scallion Stir Fry

Stir fry with a tangy, garlicky, gingery sauce

Roasted Koginut Squash Salad

A fall salad with pecans and pomegranate 

Beets and Greens Bowl

Use Amber Waves wheat berries for the base of this bowl

Grilled Broccoli and Lemon with Chile and Garlic

A savory side with charred broccoli, lemons and anchovies

A newcomer to the winter squash scene, Koginut is the best of both worlds, with edible skin and a velvety smooth texture. It's known for its rich, nutty flavor and creamy texture when cooked, and its appearance is often a deep green or light tan with a smooth, slightly ridged exterior. 

Koginut squash was developed by Row 7 Seed Company and bred specifically for its taste, resulting in a naturally sweet, creamy, and delicious squash. Koginut has a smooth texture, making it perfect for purées and roasting. 

Here are some tasty ideas for preparing your koginut:

• Roasted: Cut it into wedges, drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and roast until caramelized and tender.

• Soups: Its creamy texture makes it perfect for puréed soups. Combine it with ginger, coconut milk, or herbs.

• Curries or Stews: Add chopped Koginut squash to curries or stews for a sweet, nutty flavor.

• Salads: Roast and toss into grain or green salads. Its natural sweetness pairs well with earthy grains like farro,  quinoa, Amber Waves wheatberries and leafy greens.

• Mash or Purée: A side with roasted meats or vegetables.

The most popular method is roasting.Roast at 400°F. Slice the squash in half and remove the seeds. Cut it into wedges or leave it halved. Drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper, and add herbs or spices (thyme, cinnamon, or nutmeg). Roast for 25-35 minutes until tender and slightly caramelized at the edges.

Full Share:

Garlic, Scallions, Sage, Kale, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Spaghetti Squash, Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes

Small Share:

Garlic, Scallions, Sage, Kale, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Sweet Potatoes

Farm Manager Sara’s Fall Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing 

Ingredients:

• Kale (Green Curly or Lacinata), thinly sliced

• Apple (Macoun or Honeycrisp), diced into small cubes

• Feta Cheese, crumbled

• Nuts or Seeds --- Either pumpkin seeds, toasted squash seeds, pine nuts, almonds, or pecans

• Crushed Pita Chips, suggest Stacys Multigrain 

• Roasted chopped sweet potato and sliced red onion (roast at 425 for 30 min -- olive oil, salt pepper, red chili flakes, cumin, a little turmeric) 

• Avocado

Dressing:

Equal parts: suggest 2 tablespoons of all ingredients except the garlic and honey

• Tahini

• Apple Cider Vinegar

• Lemon Juice

• Soy Sauce

• Nutritional Yeast

• A little garlic or garlic powder and honey (these two are NOT equal parts to others)

Seriously Good Tractor Soup

Please support our tractor fundraiser and enjoy a delicious soup! Connsider the importance of a brand-new tractor to our farmers

Baked Feta with Tomatoes

Enjoy with warm foccoacia or spoon over spaghetti squash

Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Scallions and Miso

A simple sidedish with amazing flavor

Spaghetti squash, named for its noodle-like strands, is a healthy replacement for pasta in any meal. To get the longest noodles, lay the squash on its side and cut it into rounds before roasting. After cooking, use a fork to twirl the squash apart into "spaghetti" noodles.

Spaghetti squash is not just a delicious pasta alternative; it's also nutritious. This squash is packed with fiber, beta-carotene, folate, and more, making it a healthy addition to your meals.

Here's a simple and delicious way to cook spaghetti squash: Cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, rub the inside with olive oil and salt, and roast in the oven cut-side down. It's that easy!

Store spaghetti squash in a cool, dry place. It can last for a few weeks if stored properly. If you've cut the squash, wrap the unused portion tightly in plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Scallions are extremely versatile and can add a unique flavor to your dishes. Some prefer only to use the white or purple portion, but you can use most of the green part, although the very top may be a little tougher. With their mild flavor, scallions are more commonly eaten raw than regular onions. We like to use them as a garnish to add brightness to a dish, especially those with Asian flavors, or try this scallion noodle recipe.

The white end of the scallion is more intense and tastes best cooked. The green stems are more grassy and peppery in flavor and best as a garnish. If your recipe calls for cooking the scallion and doesn't specify the green or white part of the scallion, you can assume the recipe wants you to use the white part.

To store scallions:

1. Trim the roots and place them in a glass of water.

2. Cover the glass with a plastic bag and store it in the refrigerator.

3. Change the water every few days. Your scallions should last up to a week.

Hello from the fields,

We just got word that the tractor we ordered this spring is almost ready! This new Kubota tractor is a much-needed addition to our fleet. If you remember my note from earlier this season, we were struck with bad luck this spring related to consecutive and simultaneous breakdowns that put a damper on our ability to keep to our tight production schedule. Our farm is anchored in both teaching and production, and our tractor fleet is critical to fulfilling both these objectives. As a production farm, our aim is to grow as much high quality, diverse food as we can over the course of the season while providing consistency to everyone who depends on us: CSA subscribers, market shoppers and eaters, and food pantries. Our planting schedule is anchored in multiple succession plantings across our broad crop list to make the most of our growing season. At the farm we’re always talking about windows, and when they close, they’re gone, meaning we’ll have a crop availability gap, or we’ll lose to the weeds. When a piece of equipment breaks down, as our aging tractors often do, we may miss a planting window before a rain or a window to mechanically cultivate (kill) weeds before it’s too late. Since purchasing our very first tractor in 2010, we have methodically acquired the most critical pieces of equipment we need for basic tasks (tillage, planting, cultivation). Now that the basics are covered, we are building redundancy into our system by having more than one tractor that can do a given task, so on a Friday afternoon in April when a tractor won’t start, we can sub in another one that’s suitable for the job at hand. 

As a teaching farm, it’s important for us to have a fleet of well-maintained, safe tractors. Our apprentices join us with no experience operating heavy machinery, or perhaps just a few hours here and there. Modern tractors come equipped with seat belts, rollover protection, emergency brakes, shields, guards, and beeps that keep our crew safe. These may sound like basic features, but they are relatively modern additions to farm equipment and small, startup farms are often priced out of these tractors since older, used equipment is cheaper and more widely available. 

So here’s where you come in! As members of our Community Supported Agriculture Program, no one is more loyal to our mission as a teaching farm. We’re asking you to please help us get this tractor paid for so we can get it into our rotation! We are more than halfway there with the generosity of a few dozen CSA subscribers. If everyone pitches in a bit, we’ll be there in no time. Thanks in advance for your support! 

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team (and Fleet!)

Small Share:

Garlic, Dill, Spinach, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Delicata Squash

Full Share:

Garlic, Dill, Cabbage, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Delicata Squash, Zucchini, Cauliflower, Beets

Creamy Lemon Dill Sauce and Salad Dressing

Greek yogurt, lemon, dill, mayo and garlic

Tomato Soup

Don’t forget the classic grilled cheese sandwich!

Roasted Delicata Squash with Smoked Paprika Herb Sauce

Side dish or meal, serve it over your favorite grain

Tomato Chutney

Think of steak sauce and ketchup combined with a little heat

Delicata squash, a butter-colored pinstriped winter squash, has a delicate flavor, pale-colored flesh and edible skin. Cut it in half, remove the seeds, and cut the squash into half-moon slices. Toss with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Roast until golden brown. As its name suggests, delicata has delicate, thin skin that does not need to be removed before cooking or eating. The skin provides much nutrition, so there is no need to peel delicata, yet another reason they are our favorite.

Delicata is a good potassium and dietary fiber source and contains magnesium, manganese, and vitamins C and B. The seeds are also nutritious - try roasting the seeds of any winter squash variety! You can soak them in salty water to help remove the bits of squash flesh, toss them with oil, and roast them in a 400˚F oven for about 15 minutes. 

Delicata squash has a shorter storage life than other winter squashes. Store it for up to three months in a cool, dry place, and avoid refrigeration.

Dill is the classic pickle flavor and goes well with fresh cucumbers, potatoes, and fish. Dill is delicate and works particularly well with eggs or in salads. Try chopping the feathery leaves and adding them to dairy-focused dishes to cut through some of the richness. When used in cooking, dill will lose flavor the longer it is cooked, so add it at the last minute. 

Make tzatziki sauce by combining plain yogurt and lemon juice with chopped garlic, scallions, basil, and dill. Dill is also so good to use as a garnish. The dill leaves are beautiful, and a small sprig of dill can add a noticeable aroma to a dish. Dill is the key ingredient, along with buttermilk, in giving homemade ranch dressing its unique flavor.

Dill is an annual herb related to celery that tends to replant itself and spread widely, which is good to know if you're considering planting it in your garden. 

Storage: Wrap fresh dill in a damp paper towel. Place in a plastic bag or airtight container. Store in the crisper drawer in your fridge for up to two weeks.

Hello from the fields

It’s officially fall: welcome back, delicata squash! We missed you! Farming in a place with true seasons like the northeast has its challenges (a shorter growing season than, say, California), but welcoming back a favorite crop or coveted variety at a certain time of year is like meeting up with an old friend you haven’t seen in a while. There’s a genuine feeling of warmth and nostalgia as you recognize those familiar personality quirks and excitement about spending some time together. When it’s food and not a friend with whom you’re reuniting, the excitement is usually anchored in treasured recipes and favorite dishes to be shared at meals with actual human friends. As farmers we also have questions we’re eager to have answered: how will this year’s yield compare to the past? What about crop quality overall? How will flavor profiles differ? (you know, so what’s new with you??) Out in the winter squash fields the first of our old friends to ripen are delicata and spaghetti squash, some red kuris, honeynuts, kabocha, and acorn. We have a little time before our pals butternut and Long Island Cheese Pumpkins are ready to come to dinner, but we’re eagerly awaiting their return, as well. We’ll harvest these squashes “to order” over the next few weeks, trekking to our Buckskill field weekly to harvest what we need for your shares, the market, and kitchen. By the second half of October, though, the race will be on to get all the winter squash harvested and moved into long term storage, safe from the freezes that would zap them, ruining their shelf-life. Winter squash is one of the few storage crops we grow at the farm (in addition to garlic, wheat, and sweet potatoes); these crops fulfill the rare role of being available throughout the winter, so we’ll pay close attention to the weather as we time our mass harvests later in the fall.

We hope you enjoy these first few delicatas with some new or old friends you’re glad to see! There are many more to come!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Baby Greens, Little Gem Lettuces, Jalapeno Peppers, Sauce Tomatoes, Tomatoes

Full Share:

Garlic, Cilantro, Saute Bouquet, Baby Greens, Little Gem Lettuces, Jalapeno Peppers, Sauce Tomatoes, Tomatoes, Shishito Peppers

Tomato Salsa

Serve with scrambled eggs, wrapped in tortillas and, of course, with chips

Quick Fresh Tomato Sauce

Make a small batch of sauce and fill containers with any leftover sauce for the freezer

Oven Roasted Tomato Tart

Serve with a green salad and save time by using a storebought crust or puffed pastry

Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan and Garlic

Tomatoes topped and baked with a delicious garlicky parmesan crust

Garlic is one of our favorite crops because it is available in slightly different forms year-round and is essential in so many recipes! We harvest green garlic throughout the spring, garlic scapes in June, fresh garlic heads in July, and mature cured garlic beginning in late summer that lasts until next spring if we’re lucky. 

Once we cure it, a process that dries the papery skin of the bulbs, garlic can be stored through the winter. Garlic is incredibly versatile in cooking. It enhances the depth of flavor in slow-cooked dishes and is used in various cuisines worldwide. Use garlic:

• Mince or chop raw garlic and add it to sauces or dips (like pesto or aioli).

• Saute garlic in oil or butter to enhance the flavor of pasta, stir-fries, and vegetables.

• Roast whole garlic bulbs or cloves, creating a soft, sweet, spreadable consistency perfect for bread or mixing into mashed potatoes.

• Infuse garlic in oils for cooking for drizzling over bread or as a finishing touch for many dishes

Garlic is known for its health benefits, especially for heart health. It contains compounds like allicin, which have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects. Garlic is often praised for potentially reducing cholesterol levels and improving immune function.

The herb cilantro is found in many cuisines around the world. Cilantro is used in salsas, Pico de Gallo and guacamole. Its fresh, citrusy flavor complements avocados and tomatoes. It can be used as a garnish for soups and curries and is an essential ingredient in chimichurri sauce. 

Cilantro is also called coriander or Chinese parsley. It belongs to the Apiaceae plant family, which includes parsley, dill, and celery. It has a distinctive flavor and aroma, described as fresh, citrusy, and slightly peppery. Cilantro is often confused with coriander. The seeds of the cilantro plant are the spice coriander.

Cilantro is best used fresh but can be preserved for longer use. To prolong its freshness, trim the bottom off the stems and place cilantro in a shallow cup of water with a plastic bag covering the top in the fridge, or freeze it in ice cube trays with a bit of water for cooking.

Some individuals experience a "cilantro aversion," making cilantro taste soapy or unpleasant. Cilantro aversion is believed to be due to genetic differences in taste perception.

Hello from the fields,

This week we’re sending our apprentices up to Maine for the annual Common Ground Fair hosted by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA). Farmers involved in small scale agriculture are often diehard conference-goers, and as a first year apprentice at Amber Waves, attending a mid-season conference is a sort of right of passage. Katie and I can still remember our first-ever farming conference; we departed Quail Hill and traveled to Amherst, MA in August of 2008 where we had access to tours of other farms, a weekend of workshops, and met other young farmers from around the Northeast. We devoured every scrap of information we could get our hands on in preparation of our ambitious goal to start a farm of our own the next year. Since so many of us in the agricultural world credit hands-on experience rather than formal schooling for most of our training, learning how another farmer has solved a problem is one of the best ways to learn and improve. I walked away from my first farming conference wondering if I’d ever be clever enough to create any version of the ingenious systems I heard other, more experienced farmers describing. 

16 years of growing food for our community has taught us a lot and by now we’ve built plenty of our own systems, but we still relish the opportunity to learn from other farmers. Increasing productivity and efficiency, perfecting the timing of our succession plantings for crop consistency, building healthier soils, and developing resiliency in our crop plans in the face of climate change are all top of mind. This joy of learning and teaching has propelled our Apprenticeship Program for more than a dozen years. The eager young people who arrive at the farm each season craving the skills they’ll need to start their own farms one day drive us to become better growers ourselves and ensure we too will be lifelong learners. The more we learn, the more we can offer to the next generation of sustainable farmers. It takes an entire career to develop the expertise we all seek; fortunately, the agricultural community is one of collaboration and innovation, and I’m already scheming which conferences I’ll attend myself this winter!

While this week the weather has shifted and we can feel a new season in the air, there’s still plenty of time left this growing season to savor our favorite flavors before winter conference season arrives. This week we welcome the first of the winter squash to the box, and there’s plenty more to come! Meanwhile the tomatoes are still rolling in, and the greens are flourishing in these cooler temperatures.

Enjoy the week, enjoy the box, and if you haven’t already, be sure to hit the pick-your-own fields for herbs and dahlias!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Garlic, Rosemary, Kale, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Broccolini, Radishes

Full Share:

Garlic, Rosemary, Kale, Spinach, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Lunchbox Peppers, Caulini, Radishes

Pasta with Arugula and Tomatoes

A quick pasta dish for all types of tomatoes

Roasted Broccolini and Lemon with Parmesan

This recipe will work with sprouting cauliflower and other veggies

Kale Caesar Salad

Fall in love with kale with this tasty and healthy salad

Tomato Salad

Perfect side-dish to help use the abundant tomato harvest

Arugula and Apple Salad 

Top with cooked wheat berries for a satisfying plant-based meal

Spicy Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Kale

A one-pan meal reminiscent of chana masala

Always massage raw kale with olive  oil, lemon juice, or salt to break down its tough texture and make it more tender.

• Kale Salad - Place finely chopped kale in a bowl. Gently massage a vinaigrette (olive oil, vinegar, tsp. of mustard) into the kale and let the kale salad rest for 15 minutes. Finish with Parmesan, salt, and pepper, or add nuts, fruit, raisins, cooked wheat berries, or cheese; goat cheese or feta work best.

• Simple Garlic Sautéed Kale - Sauté minced garlic in olive oil. Add chopped, washed kale and sauté until the color brightens and leaves become tender, just a couple of minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper, a squeeze of lemon and chili flakes, and serve warm.

• Kale Chips - Start by massaging your kale lightly with oil, spread the kale on a rimmed baking pan, sprinkle with salt and bake for 20 minutes at 300 degrees. 

• Kale with Balsamic Glaze - Sauté kale in olive oil with chopped garlic. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and end with Parmesan cheese or toasted nuts.

• Kale Stir-Fry - Stir fry kale with soy sauce, sesame oil, and a little honey. Add sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

• Simple Lemon Kale Salad - Massage chopped kale with olive oil and lemon juice to soften and finish with salt,  pepper, and Parmesan cheese.

• Kale Caesar Salad - A healthier take on a Caesar salad.

• Kale & Apple Salad Toss massaged kale with thinly sliced apples, feta cheese, and walnuts. Dress with a simple honey-mustard vinaigrette.

There are quite a few steps, and you need canning jars, but it is relatively easy to learn how to can. The canning summary is: Fill sterilized canning jars with peeled sauce tomatoes, add citric acid or lemon juice and 1 tsp. of salt to quart-sized jars and boil the sealed jars for a minimum of 45 minutes. Here’s the entire canning recipe.

Hello from the fields,

Aaaah we love September. The weather feels glorious and gentle for working outside, the ocean is still warm, and it’s just a little quieter everywhere. We’re motivated by the hustle and bustle of the summer, and the duty to pack nearly 350 boxes per week throughout August, but packing 175 a week in September is nice, too! Summer crops are still rolling in, and will continue to thrive at least for the next few weeks and hopefully well into October, if the weather holds (it’s always our goal to pick a tomato on November 1st). This time of year is classically known as “harvest season,” although on a mixed vegetable farm we’re harvesting something almost all the time. The abundance of summer crops like tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant start to collide with the arrival of fall favorites like winter squash and sweet potatoes, making this time of year one of supreme abundance. Every fall, without fail, the apprentices return from the first winter squash/sweet potato harvest of the season bright-eyed and elated, their hands full of multi-colored treasures they’ve gleaned from under the leafy canopy of the squash field or unearthed from the sea of sweet potato vines. After six weeks of delicate tomato harvests, a sturdy squash is a welcome addition to the harvest list. By the end of the season we’ll pull about 20,000 lb of squash from the fields, and by the time that’s complete it’s a little less novel than this week’s harvest, but for now, we welcome the variety. Next week, you’ll welcome this new variety to your boxes as well.

This week we’re happy to showcase broccolini and caulini,  two of our favorite crops, and two that we’ve worked to have available for larger stretches of the season each year. Broccolini/Caulini’s growth habit is “cut-and-come-again,” meaning we harvest many rounds of tender shoots from the same plants over many weeks. This detail differentiates broccolini/caulini from their siblings, “regular” broccoli and cauliflower, which are what we call one-hit-wonders - one head or crown is cut from each plant then that plant is done. As eaters and cooks, we prefer broccolini/caulini because there’s essentially no chopping needed, and we find the shoots to be more tender and flavorful than classic broccoli and cauliflower. My favorite way to prepare them is tossed in olive oil, soy sauce, a squeeze of lemon and a dusting of paprika, in the oven on convection at a high temp - 450 or 500 - for about 10 minutes - in a roasting basket with great airflow. They come out crispy and unbelievably delicious, they’ll make you forget about whatever the “main” course was that they were supposed to accompany.

We hope you’re enjoying being on the east end as much as we are right now. Enjoy the box and we’ll see you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Garlic, Parsley, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Peppers, Daikon Radishes

Full Share:

Garlic, Parsley, Kale, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Peppers, Broccolini, Daikon Radishes

Lebanese Tabbouleh Salad

A traditional Tabbouleh Salad is a healthy vegan Mediterranean appetizer made with bulgur, parsley, mint and chopped tomatoes

Fried Italian Sweet Jimmy Nardello Peppers

Pan-fry with olive oil and garlic and finish with basil

Grilled Cheddar Cheese with Tomato

The ultimate comfort food

Daikon Radish Salad

A great side dish for Asian-style dishes

Jimmy Nardellos are an heirloom sweet Italian pepper variety named after Giuseppe Nardiello, or Jimmy Nardello, an Italian immigrant who brought the seeds from the Basilicata region of Italy to the United States in the late 19th century. The peppers are known for their vibrant red color, long, slender shape, thin skin, and sweet flavor. They have a slight hint of smokiness and are a favorite pepper among chefs for their versatility in cooking.

Use these peppers raw in salads. Slice them thinly to add sweetness and color. They are delicious with baby greens, tomatoes and cheeses like feta or goat cheese.

Roasting or grilling Jimmy Nardello peppers enhances their flavor and sweetness. Place the peppers on a baking sheet and drizzle them with olive oil. Roast in the oven at around 400°F until the skin blisters and chars slightly, turning them occasionally. Once roasted, place the peppers in a bowl, cover them with plastic wrap, and let them steam for about 10 minutes, making it easier to peel off the skin.

Sauté these peppers with olive oil, garlic, and onions for a simple and flavorful side dish. Add them to pasta dishes, sandwiches, or as a topping for pizzas—Slice Jimmy Nardello peppers in stir-fries with other vegetables and protein sources. Fill the peppers with rice, ground meat, cheese, and herbs, then bake until tender. 

Jimmy Nardello peppers can be pickled for a tangy, sweet snack or condiment. You can also freeze roasted and peeled peppers for later use. You can also stuff them with soft cheese as an appetizer.

Parsley is a popular herb in various cuisines worldwide. It is known for its fresh, slightly peppery flavor and bright green color. There are two main types of parsley: curly and flat-leaf, also known as Italian parsley. We prefer flat-leaf parsley for cooking due to its stronger flavor and ease of chopping.

Mix finely chopped parsley with softened butter, garlic and lemon zest to make versatile herb butter. Blend parsley with garlic, olive oil and pine nuts to create a parsley pesto.

Try making tabbouleh, a refreshing Middle Eastern salad with lots of parsley and lemon. Freshly chopped parsley also adds a zingy brightness to any dish. Use it to garnish and enhance various dishes, from potato and rice dishes to soups, fish, and salads.

Fresh parsley can be stored in the refrigerator wrapped in a damp paper towel for up to a week or in a glass of water on your counter. Parsley can also be dried or frozen for longer-term storage. 

Rich in iron, folate, and vitamins A, C, and K, parsley is an assertive herb that can be used as a garnish or the star of a sauce.

Hello from the fields,

Small Share:

Garlic, Basil, Lettuce, tomatoes, shishit Peppers, Eggplant, Corn

Full Share:

Garlic,Basil, Broccoli Rabe, Lettuce, Tomatoes, Sauce Tomatoes, Cubanelle Pepper, Eggplant, Corn

Eggplant Caponata

A great make-ahead appetizer

Gazpacho

An authentic Seville, Spain version 

Tomato Risotto

Recommended by a CSA member: a first course or a main meal.

Corn and Tomato Salad

A perfect summer salad

We need your help to buy a new tractor.

August 26, 2024

Dear 2024 CSA subscribers,

What a season it’s been. YOU make it possible. YOU have commitment to your community. YOU support the farm by buying your share up front. YOU are building a resilient local and regional food system by being a CSA member. Thank you!

We have a challenge for the CSA class of 2024. We need your help to buy a new tractor. The total cost is $60,000 and we have a commitment for $35,000 to get us going. We are seeking 100% donor participation from our CSA subscribers this year. If you’ve donated already, thank you! If you haven’t, the time is now! Let’s pull together and buy this tractor.

We have 330 CSA families, so if everyone in the 2024 class donates $75 each we can buy the tractor. If you can donate more, please do!

We rely on our equipment not only to get things done in the fields (tilling, planting, cultivating), we also use our equipment to safely train our crew of young farmers. Each season we invest in our fleet, purchasing either a new tractor or implement that will increase efficiency or enhance our training program. This year, adding another high horsepower tractor to the team is at the top of our priority list.

While the summer high season may be coming to a bittersweet conclusion, there are still many months to go in this year’s farming season. Our farm crew will plant 15,000 garlic cloves and harvest tens of thousands of pounds of root crops, winter squash, and sweet potatoes all by hand. As fields are cleared we’ll sow winter wheat and winter cover crops to protect and enrich our soils.

Meanwhile, our kitchen will be busy making soup for local food pantries and our market will continue to be open 7 days a week year-round. We are continuing to fundraise for our programs so save the date for our Oktoberfeast harvest party on Saturday, October 19th.

Let’s do this.

Thank you for all you do for our community and our farmers.

With deepest gratitude,

Katie & Amanda

Small Share:

Rosemary, Sage & Thyme Bundle, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Sauce Tomatoes, Daikon Radishes, Garlic

Full Share:

Rosemary, Sage & Thyme Bundle, Baby Greens, Tomatoes, Sauce Tomatoes, Shishito Peppers, Zucchini, Daikon Radishes, Garlic

Eileen's Oven Slow Roasted San Marzano Tomatoes

Slice tomatoes in half lengthwise and place them on a baking sheet, cut side up. Drizzle with salt, pepper, olive oil, chopped garlic, rosemary, sage and thyme to taste. Slowly cook tomatoes at 250 for approximately two hours. These roasted tomatoes are delicious eaten right out of the oven or placed in a blender and made into sauce. 

Panzanella Tomato and Bread Salad

A classic Tuscan bread and tomato salad with a simple dressing

Carrot and Daikon Salad 

Finished with a lime, red vinegar and sesame oil vinaigrette

Daikon Chips

A healthy, low-carb snack

Daikon radish is a root vegetable, similar in shape to a large carrot, and has a mild flavor. Kimchi, a popular fermented dish, uses daikon radish.  It's the most commonly eaten vegetable in Japan. Eat daikon radish, either raw or cooked. Raw daikon works well in salads and slaw.  Thinly slice and pickle for sandwiches, especially the classic Vietnamese banh mi sandwich, typically topped with pickled carrots and daikon. Daikon radishes are delicious in stir-fry recipes. Here's a unique recipe: Spicy Daikon Fries, a sure way to have everyone enjoy this radish. 

Additional ideas are to boil daikons, make quick Korean-style pickled radishes, make daikon Kimchi, make daikon chips, or braise them in dashi stock.

Daikons are high in potassium and Vitamin C and contain smaller amounts of folate, calcium, magnesium, and phosphorus. Daikon radish can aid digestion, fight against cancer, and strengthen the immune system.

Hello from the fields,

This week we’re including roma/sauce tomatoes with one of our favorite recipes from our friend, Eileen Roaman. Eileen was a skilled cook and made many extraordinary things, but her simple method of slow roasting roma tomatoes with salt and herbs blew our minds when we were young(er) cooks and farmers back in 2009, the year we started the farm. She would serve them on thickly cut toast, put them in a blender to make an oven-roasted sauce, or freeze them to enjoy on a far off winter day. Eileen was one of our earliest cheerleaders, believing whole-heartedly that we would be successful in our fledgling venture at Amber Waves. An email she sent to her contacts in the spring of 2009 brought us most of our first CSA subscribers, many of whom have remained members and become donors and lifelong friends since then. Though our CSA has increased significantly over the years, we like to think that our membership has grown organically from that early group of 18 members, a 16-year ripple of Eileen. Her kindness, generosity, brutal honesty, and love for plants and gardening knew no bounds. In our first few seasons Eileen’s words of encouragement, surprise lunch deliveries, cashmere sweater hand-me-downs, invitations for dips in her pool, and shared meals were exactly what we needed to feel welcome in a new place. She seemed to know what we needed more than we did, I can’t imagine those early years without her. It was around this time about 10 years ago that we lost Eileen to cancer, a brutally sad loss for our entire community. We always welcome this time each season to honor our favorite Eileen memories, and by sharing her favorite way to prepare tomatoes with you all. 

Whether you knew her or not, please raise a glass to Eileen this week, we miss her!

See you in the fields!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Garlic, Thyme, Lettuce, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes

Full Share:

Garlic, Thyme, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Kale, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots

Roasted Eggplant with Crushed Tomato, Pecorino and Thyme

Simple and easy and also fancy and delicious!

Tomato Tart with Ricotta and Pesto

The tomato tart is an elegant way to enjoy the summer’s bounty.

Baked Tomatoes with Feta and Thyme

Serve as a side dish, or serve with freshly baked bread as a starter.

Baba Ganoush

Enjoy a creamy, smoky eggplant dip as a snack or appetizer with pita chips.

Tomato Bruschetta

A classic: finish with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

You can freeze whole or quartered tomatoes without blanching or peeling them. Just place washed tomatoes in quart-sized freezer bags, squeeze out as much air as possible, and use them for soups and stews in the winter months. The skins can be easily removed after defrosting. You can also freeze tomatoes in containers or wide-mouth canning jars, allowing them to expand as they freeze.

If you prefer to blanch your tomatoes before freezing, blanch them in boiling water for 60–90 seconds or until the tomato skins split. Transfer the tomatoes to a bowl of ice water to cool. Remove the stems, skins, and cores. Place your tomatoes into quart-size freezer bags or containers and freeze. 

Hello from the fields,

We got a little more rain than we wanted last week, but fortunately less than was called for, so we squeaked by without any real problems. We need rain, of course, but torrential rains can cause damage to plants, cause fruit (like tomatoes and berries) to swell and burst, and can wash soil away. Storm systems moving up the coast also carry plant diseases north, so that’s another thing we keep an eye on. A few mostly gentle rainy days gave us a chance to catch up on indoor projects like seeding, cleaning the barn, and even an extra half-day of rest. Now we're back at it this week planting, weeding, and of course harvesting out in the fields. We are in the height of tomato season, we wait all year for this, and we’re so happy it’s here. The crew spends hours a day plucking tomatoes in every color from vines that are now head-high, an arduous but also meditative task. The crew stumbles out of the tomato forest every afternoon sticky and scented with that distinct tomato plant smell that is indicative of the high summer, with cases upon cases of colorful heirlooms, beefsteaks, and cherry tomatoes that pay homage to their work up to this point in the season. 

Meanwhile our greens plantings are still performing well, so this week’s box includes the full lovely mix of luscious salad ingredients. Don’t forget to toast the farm crew over your next tomato salad, those beauties are a labor of love and we’re so happy to share them with you.

Enjoy the week and the box, see you in the fields soon!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Garlic, Basil, Baby Greens, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn

Full Share:

Garlic, Shallots, Basil, Baby Greens, Daikon Radishes, Eggplant, Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Corn

Caprese Salad

An authentic Caprese salad recipe with mozzarella, tomatoes & basil

Summer Corn Salad with Basil and Tomatoes

Grill the corn, use lime juice instead of vinegar or add black beans

Eggplant Parmesan

Easy to make and great for a crowd

Spicy Roasted Daikon Radish “Fries”

Baked “fries” with Asian flavors

With their versatile nature, Eggplants take about 60 days to mature and thrive in the summer heat. They are rich in nutrients, including copper and manganese. From being a delicious pizza topping to a main ingredient in ratatouille, eggplants offer many culinary possibilities.

Amber Waves grows different varieties of eggplant, including the classic Italian heirloom Black Beauty and the stunning purple and white Italian variety Nubia. Grill Italian eggplant with olive oil, salt, pepper, or roast and caramelize it in the oven. Blend with tahini and garlic for baba ganoush or layer with mozzarella, Parmesan cheese, and tomato sauce for eggplant parmesan.

Sicilian eggplants are a round variety with a mild, slightly sweet flavor. They come in different shades of violet, have thinner skin and are less bitter than other varieties. Their round shape makes them perfect for some cheesy eggplant parm. 

Hands down, our favorite eggplant is the Japanese eggplant. They have thinner skin than Italian eggplant and creamy flesh. Simply cut them in half and grill with olive oil and salt. 

The Fairytale eggplant is a mini eggplant with delicate purple and white stripes. We love this eggplant grilled whole, sliced in half lengthwise, or glazed with miso.

Proper storage of eggplants is crucial to maintaining their freshness and flavor. To ensure they stay fresh for about three to four days, store whole eggplants in a cool, dry place, like a pantry, not in the refrigerator. Remember, refrigerators are typically too cold to store eggplant; however, storing them in the crisper is better than leaving them at room temperature.

Hello from the fields,

Today we welcome the first of the “true” tomatoes to the box. What an exciting time and a long time coming! We plant the first round of tomatoes the last week in April, a chilly, risky time to be planting a heat-loving crop, but we’re always aiming to have tomatoes as early as we can, so we go for it. We tuck this first round of plants in under fabric row cover, which provides a few extra degrees of protection from the brisk and windy spring. We wait as long as we can to remove the cover until the plants must be trellised. Tomatoes are far happier up off the ground, so trellising them before they fall over under their own weight is critical. We pound in a 5-foot stake every two plants and then basket weave tomato twine from stake to stake, keeping the plants upright. We aim to install the first string 12 inches above the ground and return to the tomato field weekly to weave another string every 8-12 inches after that until we reach the top of the stake. We plant four successions of tomatoes, each about three weeks apart, which means that as soon as we start picking in late July/early August, we should have a constant supply through the month of October (our goal is to harvest the last of the crop the first week of November, that means we’ve won our game with ourselves). So…tomatoes are a lot of work! But they’re also so special, a true symbol of summer, and a beautiful tomato is like a well-deserved trophy for a farmer. These days the crew is spending a few hours a day harvesting our sixty(!) varieties of tomatoes, from cherries to beefsteaks to heirlooms to romas, and by the end of the month it will be the bulk of the crew’s harvest time, so there are many weeks of these extraordinary fruits ahead. 

We hope you’re as excited as we are about the start of tomato season, as well as the rest of this week’s box!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Rosemary, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Shishito Peppers, Cherry Tomatoes

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Scallions, Rosemary, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Eggplant, Green Cubanelle Peppers, Zucchini, Cherry Tomatoes

Blistered Shishito Peppers

These peppers taste best with a little char. You can find them in our pick your own field.

Zucchini Butter Pasta

Recommended from a CSA Member - a hit we never get tired of.

Grilled Eggplant with Ricotta and Cherry Tomatoes

Classic Mediterranean flavors for brunch, lunch or as a side.

Zoodles with Sungold Tomatoes

Super easy, quick and healthy!

Fresh, ripe tomatoes are a summer staple (late July-October). They are full of flavor and the cancer-fighting antioxidant lycopene. There are more than 10,000 tomato varieties worldwide, and Amber Waves is growing many this year! Tomatoes are one of the more labor-intensive crops on our farm, requiring trellising, pruning, and up to 100 days to mature. 

Cherry tomatoes are a great snack or addition to a salad. Sungolds are a farm favorite but are unavailable commercially because their thin skin makes them prone to bruising and damage. Amber Waves also grows many other cherry tomato varieties, each with a distinct, complex flavor profile and in many colors.

This week, we have everyone’s favorite cherry tomato: orange Sungold tomatoes! We harvest Sungolds when they are entirely orange and at their sweetest. Sungolds are the perfect snacking tomato and will not last long on your counter. 

These cherry tomatoes are a farm favorite but are unavailable commercially because their thin skin makes them prone to bruising and damage. Amber Waves also grows other cherry tomato varieties, each with a distinct, complex flavor profile and in many colors.

Chop cherry tomatoes into salads, savor them for a snack with hummus, or make a sweet, tangy tomato salsa to spread on avocado toast. One of the most popular uses for Sungold cherry tomatoes is as the base for pasta sauce or in your favorite chili recipe. Pair Sungold cherry tomatoes with savory ingredients to balance the dish as a whole. Cherry tomatoes are also popular in Caprese salads, tacos, and any tomato-friendly dish!

Canning or freezing cherry tomatoes is a great way to enjoy this summer favorite in winter.

Hello from the fields,

This is a good box week, we’re excited about all the colors! As we move into August, more and more of our heavy crops are ready for harvest - as opposed to the luscious but lightweight greens and radishes that populate the spring and early summer boxes. This shift in season changes the way we run our daily harvests. Whereas we harvest exactly what we need of bunched and baby greens, head lettuce, radishes, and herbs based on our CSA, kitchen, and retail market, heavy crops get harvested multiple times per week based on what’s ready. We date and store hundreds of full bins in our coolers and pull what we need each day from our cooler backstock (so the coolers start to get pretty full this time of year!). Our internal terminology for this sort of harvest is a “walk.” We “walk” the entire crop to harvest everything that’s ready. “Walked” crops like zucchini, cucumbers, peppers, and eggplant are more prolific when picked regularly, as regular picking encourages more flowering and growth. Annual vegetable plants have a one-track mind: produce seeds. We want the plant to keep working on producing seeds, putting out more fruit. Old, mature fruit left on the plant sends the message of “mission accomplished,” and the plant will slow down in production of new flowers and fruit, instead sending resources to the maturing fruit still on the vine, and that’s where we come in, to harvest regularly, keeping the plant producing.

We break our daily harvests up into “miscellaneous” and “walks” to differentiate between taking specific amounts indicated by orders and taking a “walk” to harvest everything that’s ready. Being on the walks team this time of year is heavy and hard, but there is such fulfillment in finally harvesting the crops that we’ve been caring for since the spring - worth the weight and worth the effort.

We hope you enjoy this week’s box with several new additions, including the first of the cherry tomatoes. So many more tomatoes in all colors, shapes, and sizes to come! 

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Leeks, Basil, Lettuce, Carrots, Cucumber, Zucchini

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Leeks, Basil, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Carrots, Shishito Peppers, Eggplant, Cucumber, Zucchini

Basil Vinaigrette

Savor a summer-time vinaigrette dressing for salads, vegetables and grilling.

Glazed Grilled Carrots

Carrots are caramelized on the grill with soy sauce, balsamic vinegar, garlic and ginger dressing.

Grilled Leeks with Basil and Garlic

A tasty side dish or combine with pasta or use in a sandwich.

Zucchini, Basil & Leek Soup

Serve cold on warm summer days.

2 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 Tbsp butter

one medium onion, chopped

two leeks, white part only, sliced

1 tsp kosher salt

½ tsp white pepper

three very large zucchini, cut lengthwise, then chopped – about 7-8 cups

4 ½ cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 cup tightly packed fresh basil leaves

½ cup parmesan cheese

In a medium-sized pot or Dutch oven, saute leeks and onion in olive oil and butter. Add salt and pepper and cook until softened, but don’t let them brown—about 15 minutes.

Add zucchini and broth, boil, lower the heat, and cook for 15-20 minutes or until zucchini is fully cooked and soft.

Turn off the heat, add the basil and cheese, and immediately puree in small batches in a food processor, blender, or immersion blender. Adjust salt and pepper and add more cheese to your taste, delicious, hot or cold.

Leeks are the onion's delicate cousin. They are part of the Allium plant family, which also includes onions, garlic, and shallots. They have a mild, sweet flavor and can be used in place of onions or cooked and used as the star of a dish. Make sure to wash them well, as there can be soil between the thin outer layers of skin; cut them in half lengthwise and rinse between the layers. 

Leeks can often have dirt and sand trapped between their layers. To clean them, cut off the root end and dark green tops. Slice the leeks lengthwise, then rinse thoroughly under running water, fanning out the layers to remove any sand or debris. Use the white and light green parts for cooking. The dark green leaves are tougher but can be used to flavor stocks and soups.

Leeks are low in calories and are a good source of vitamins A, C, and K.  They contain essential minerals such as iron, manganese, and folate and are high in antioxidants,

Store leeks in the refrigerator, where they should keep for up to two weeks.

Hello from the fields,

The last of the grain has been harvested for the year! The first wheat variety (a hard red winter variety called Warthog) has been cleaned and is already in and out of the dryer. Our next variety, soft red winter, is drying now and the culinary rye and spring wheat harvested yesterday will follow right behind once the soft red dries. What a relief to have the harvest behind us, we’ll pay close attention to maintaining grain quality by keeping dry and safe from critters that would love to share it with us, but otherwise we won’t think much about grain again until we plant in early October. Most of our crops have long (several weeks to a month) harvest windows (kale, cucumbers, zucchini), and/or shorter windows that we stack in successive plantings (we plant baby greens every 5 days to aim for a constant supply). Wheat and a handful of other storage crops make up the shortlist of crops that are planted en masse and harvested once annually, meaning there are some critical and short windows that require action to ensure that crop’s success. Two such opportunities for victory are getting the winter squash and sweet potatoes weeded. Both these crops provide excellent foliar cover - as in their own broad leaves completely blanket the soil with shade, starving any newly germinating potential weed competitors of sunlight (unlike the onions I talked about a few weeks ago, that provide no foliar canopy and cannot out-compete weeds). If we can get these two crops hand-weeded in time (about 3 acres of weeding), they’ll take care of themselves for the rest of the season and we’ll seldom have to go back to them until harvest time in the fall. The long, branching vines adorned with large leaves creep from one row to the next, eventually knitting together a shade quilt that traps moisture in the soil and prevents weeds from succeeding. In reviewing my notes from last year I see we’re a little behind in getting this task completed, so we’re eager to finish that up in the next week, wish us luck!

We hope you enjoy this week’s box - welcome back shishitos! Cherry tomatoes are coming soon; we’re so excited! Beefsteaks and heirlooms will follow right after that!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Onion, Savory, Baby Greens, Balsam Potatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Onion, Savory, Kale, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Cucumbers, Balsam Potatoes, Zucchini

Green Bean Salad with Summer Savory

Enjoy a cold summer green bean salad.

Grilled Zucchini with Burrata

Marinated grilled zucchini and finish with creamy Burrata.

Herbed Potato Salad

Great for a summer picnic. This potato salad is mayo-free.

Summer Squash Tartines

This is a light, easy summer lunch idea. Use summer savory instead of rosemary; it's a similar herb but with a lemon-pepper flavor!

The savory in your box this week is an herb with a peppery flavor similar to thyme and mint combined. It is a key herb in the herb blend Herbes de Provence, typically used in French cuisine. Savory pairs well with chicken and turkey and is often used in stuffings and marinades.

Summer savory is a versatile herb traditionally used in green bean dishes. It's perfect for acold green bean salad. You can also sprinkle it on roasted or mashed potatoes or add it to hearty soups and stews. For a savory boost, try it in omelets, frittatas, scrambled eggs or finely chop fresh savory leaves and add them to salads or salad dressings.

Hello from the fields,

Last week we completed the annual task of harvesting our winter wheat. We only have about three or four acres of grain planted - winter wheat, spring wheat, and culinary rye - but at a target harvest of about one ton per acre, that’s enough to supply our kitchen, CSA, retail, and our handful of wholesale customers. The wheat harvest is always a bit anxiety-inducing because the harvest window is short (we need a hot dry few days) and we use old, sometimes finicky equipment (our “new” combine is from the 1970s) because its size is more appropriate for our extremely small scale. Modern combines designed to harvest tens of thousands of acres are not appropriate for just a few acres (not to mention they sell for nearly a million dollars - not an exaggeration). For the third year in a row we found ourselves with a broken down combine at harvest time, and thankfully for the third year in a row Balsam Farms was kind enough to lend us theirs. We’d never be able to survive as a farm without the help of our neighbors - and we’re grateful for this help once again.

Once the grain is harvested the clock starts ticking on getting it cleaned and dry. We use a simple grain cleaner, basically a wooden box that shakes the grain through a series of screens and fans to remove any unwanted debris that came in from the fields: unthreshed grain heads, bits of grass and weeds, insects, and pebbles. Once clean, we transfer the wheat into a trailer that we modified into a grain dryer (more high powered fans), and work to get our moisture content down from 17% to around 13% for safe storage (moist grain attracts insects and spoils rapidly). We currently have one variety in the dryer and the second variety running through the cleaner as we speak. 

While I was sweating in the cab of the combine last week, the Apprentices and field crew were sweating through the garlic harvest - and they finished! The greenhouses are now full of nearly 20,000 beautiful bulbs; it looks like one of the best garlic harvests ever here at Amber Waves. 

With the garlic and the wheat harvest behind us, we’re zoning in on trellising tomatoes and catching up on weeding this week, all the while bringing in the bounty for your weekly boxes.

Thanks as always for your support in our endeavors. We’re honored to feed you and share our stories along the way!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Red Onion, Basil, Broccoli Rabe, Baby Greens, Cucumber, Radishes

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Red Onion, Basil, Broccoli Rabe, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Zucchini, Cucumber, Radishes

Broccoli Rabe with White Beans and Preserved Lemon

Broccoli rabe and white beans with lots of garlic is one of Farmer Danielle's favorite combinations. Thisrecipe borrows from Deborah Madison; she's also a farmer's favorite.

Cucumber Salad with Mint, Radish and Feta

Fresh mint is available in the CSA Pick Your Own field.

Orecchiette with Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

It's a favorite dish and it will not disappoint. 

Zucchini Scarapaccia

Enjoy a crispy snack or side dish with zucchini and red onion. 

A classic summer herb, basil is most commonly used for pesto. Combine basil, garlic, olive oil, and a nut or seed in the food processor, toss with your favorite pasta, or enjoy with fresh tomatoes and mozzarella. To have basil year-round, try freezing pesto in ice cube trays and transferring it to a plastic bag. When using fresh basil, cut it into ribbons rather than small pieces to avoid bruising. 

Putting basil in the fridge when it’s wet causes it to turn black - so don’t wash it before you put it away! To prolong its freshness, cut the bottom off the stems and place them in a shallow cup of water outside the fridge or keep (unwashed) basil in plastic in the fridge. Change the water every day or two. Basil will last one to two weeks if stored properly.

Broccoli rabe, also known as rapini, is more closely related to turnips than broccoli and has small broccoli-like shoots. This green, also known as rabe, is especially popular in Italy and is often prepared with sausage, white beans, and lots of red pepper flakes—blanch broccoli rabe before adding it to a dish to mellow the bitterness. 

Hello from the fields,

Each week we are excitedly pulling tiny quantities of new items from the fields as we move deeper into our farming season. The first of the sungold cherry tomatoes have ripened (in handfuls’ worth, not bins’ worth yet!) and the earliest shishito peppers and eggplants are emerging and will make their happy return to your boxes in the coming weeks. While we await these coveted fruiting crops, this week we’re just so excited about onions. A seemingly humble, simple crop, onions can be tricky on an organic farm. We plant them as small, bare-root seedlings in the first week of April; transplanting these fragile plants is a tedious, finger-intensive chore as we tuck each plant in carefully, making sure they have strong soil contact and abundant water to have the best chance at a thriving life. Presuming they survive the initial transplant shock, as they grow they maintain an upright growth habit and lack a broad, leafy canopy, so they do a poor job of shading out weeds that sprout up alongside them, meaning they never really reach the point where we can let weeding go as we do with bushier crops (tomatoes, squash, sweet potatoes). As our to-do list lengthens in July, onion tops die back as the weeds take off, and the onions can suddenly “disappear,” making harvest a challenge. But not this year! We had a strong stand of plants from the start, stayed on top of our weeding, and we’re pulling larger, more beautiful onions from the field than we ever have before. Our typical cycle on the farm is that we don’t stay on top of our weeding, harvest too late, resulting in a “bad” onion year, so we tell ourselves that the next year we’ll barely grow any onions. The following year we plant a smaller crop, nail it, and convince ourselves, “we’re so good at onions now! Let’s grow more next year.”  And so the cycle repeats. So…let’s grow more onions next year?

Enjoy the box, appreciate the good onion year : ) see you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Scallions, Parsley, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Carrots, Zucchini, Cucumber

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Onion, Scallions, Parsley, Kale, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Carrots Zucchini, Cucumber

Roasted Carrots

This is a simple and delicious way to enjoy your carrots. There is no need to peel your baby carrots; trim and leave them whole. Finish with chopped, fresh parsley for a burst of flavor and color.

Cold Peanut Noodle Salad with Cucumber, Scallions & Garlic

This refreshing salad is perfect for a hot summer day. Zucchini noodles (zoodles) could be a substitute for soba noodles.

Sauteed Zucchini with Garlic, Mint and Basil

Fresh mint and basil are available in the CSA pick your own field. 

Honey Lavender Syrup

Tasty over fresh berries or roasted carrots.

A Favorite Easy Cucumber Salad

Mix sliced cucumbers, thinly sliced onion, your favorite white wine or apple cider vinegar, a little sugar or agave, a splash of good-quality EVOO, freshly ground pepper, and fresh herbs.

Carrots are root vegetables that add color and texture to salads and are delicious roasted or eaten raw. One serving provides over 200% of your daily recommended vitamin A requirement. Carrots take over two months to mature and are available between July and November.

Surprisingly, carrots were originally purple but were bred to be orange in the 16th century. Carrots are loaded with beta-carotene, an antioxidant your body converts into vitamin A. 

You can also eat the carrot tops, so consider saving them and using them to make carrot top pesto or as a garnish for a carrot-based dish. You can also dehydrate them and use them as a parsley-type herb. 

Remove the green tops from carrots to prevent them from drawing moisture from the roots. Keep them in an open container with a moist towel for up to two weeks. If carrots lose their firmness, place them in water to crisp them up again. Store carrot tops separately in a plastic bag in the fridge.

Rich in iron, folate, and vitamins A, C, and K, parsley is an assertive herb that can be used as a garnish or the star of a sauce. It is popular in various cuisines worldwide and is known for its fresh, slightly peppery flavor and bright green color. We prefer flat-leaf parsley for cooking due to its stronger flavor and easier chopping.

Try making tabbouleh, a refreshing Middle Eastern salad with lots of parsley and lemon. Freshly chopped parsley also adds a zingy brightness to any dish. Use it to garnish and enhance various dishes, from potato and rice dishes to soups, fish, and salads.

Fresh parsley can be stored in the refrigerator wrapped in a damp paper towel for up to a week or in a glass of water on your counter. Parsley can also be dried or frozen for longer-term storage.

Hello from the fields,

Welcome to July folks! These eight or nine weeks in July and August are the most intense for us here on the farm. The garlic harvest is upon us, the wheat harvest follows within the next couple weeks, and our “regular” vegetable harvests intensify as more and more of our summer season crops reach maturity. Meanwhile the weeds won’t quit, and don’t forget about irrigation! But this flurry of activity is what drives us as farmers: the excitement of pulling new things out of the fields each day, the challenges of getting our to-do list done right and on time, and because of our special place on the east end, welcoming many new visitors, guests, customers, and members to farm each day. This is hardly a time for rest, but we can’t imagine more beautiful surroundings in which to let this summertime intensity wash over us and sneak in trips to the beach when we can. It’s our great pleasure to grow and share this bounty with you, we hope Amber Waves brightens your already joyous summer season here on the East End!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Fresh Garlic, Mint, Chard, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Radishes, Zucchini

Full Share:

Fresh Garlic, Mint, Chard, Lettuce, Baby Greens, Radishes, Beets, Baby Greens, Zucchini, Cucumber

Zucchini Ribbon Salad with Mint & Parmesan

A light, 10-minute zucchini salad recipe.

Roasted Radishes with Radish Greens

Enjoy the greens, too. They are quite delicious with a subtle peppery flavor.

Zucchini Stewed in Olive Oil with Onion & Chard

Add thin slices of fresh garlic.

Swiss Chard & Zucchini Frittata

Sauteed veggies, onion, garlic, and fresh herbs.

Mint, a popular herb known for its aromatic and flavorful leaves, is widely used in cooking. One of our favorite things to do in the summer is make sun tea with mint or infuse mint and citrus in water for a cooling drink. 

Fresh mint leaves can be added to fruit or vegetable salads, used in cocktails (like mojitos), iced teas, lemonades, and infused water, and garnished with desserts, soups, and main dishes. Make min pesto, or tzatziki.

Mint stems can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week in a glass of water covered with a plastic bag. Alternatively, mint leaves can be wrapped in a damp paper towel, placed in a plastic bag, and stored in the fridge for 3-5 days.

Freezing mint is fast and easy and retains much of the fresh herbs' taste, smell, and nutrients. To freeze mint leaves, place them in a resealable plastic freezer bag. Place a single layer, squeeze the air out of the bag, and seal it. Your mint will last up to six months in the freezer. You can also freeze mint leaves in ice cube trays with water or oil. Transfer the frozen cubes to a zip-top bag for long-term storage.. 

Uncured garlic, also known as "fresh garlic," refers to garlic that has not yet been dried to extend its shelf life. This garlic is characterized by its green stems and soft, white bulbs. Uncured garlic is fresher and often has a milder, more delicate flavor than cured garlic. The bulbs are soft and moist, and the cloves are easy to peel. However, it has a shorter shelf life and should be used within a few weeks of harvest.

Uncured garlic can be used in cooking the same way as cured garlic. It adds a fresh, slightly sweet garlic flavor to dishes. It can be minced and added to salads, dressings, or salsas for a mild garlic kick. Roasting uncured garlic can bring out its natural sweetness, making it a great addition to spreads or as a topping for roasted vegetables. Use it in stir-fries, pasta dishes, or as a base for soups and sauces.

The green stems of uncured garlic can be chopped and used similarly to scallions or leeks. They add a mild garlic flavor to dishes. Blend the green stems into pesto or other green sauces.

Uncured garlic can be stored in the refrigerator in a loosely wrapped paper towel or a breathable container. It can also be frozen. Peel the cloves, chop or mince them, and freeze them in an airtight container.

Hello from the fields,

This week we welcome the first “real” garlic to the box. We’re putting the entire plant in, roots and stem included, so you can join us in marveling at it - we’ll trim it for you after this week - but it’s such a cool plant we just have to share it with you in its natural form. The above-ground portion is so unassuming, concealing the magic that’s hidden underground. A seasoned eye can spot a good (large) head judging by the thickness of the stem and the plant’s leaf count, but even that foresight doesn’t dampen the excitement of pulling one from the soil. You’ve already had a taste of the garlic crop this season, in the form of green garlic early on (immature plants harvested when they look like leeks before the head forms, planted intentionally to be harvested early), followed by garlic scapes, which are the “flower” of the garlic plant, each removed by hand to redirect the plant’s energy into producing a larger bulb underground rather than devoting energy to flowering up above. For the next three weeks the garlic we’re harvesting is considered “fresh” garlic; juicy cloves enclosed in still-thick skin that will slowly dry down into the papery covering everyone is more familiar with as it ages after it’s been harvested. 

We’re a little on the early side to start harvesting…but usually by this last week in June we just can’t help ourselves, we’re too excited and we like to start digging it. The garlic was planted last fall in three rows per bed, 8 inches between plants. Now that we’re ready to start harvesting, we first straddle the bed with a tractor equipped with a lifting implement that cuts and lifts the soil underneath the root zone, loosening the ground and making each garlic plant easier to pull by hand - which matters, because there are nearly 20,000 out there to harvest. We’ll tackle this once-per-year harvest a few hours at a time over the next two weeks, loading freshly pulled bulbs into the greenhouses for curing (so they last through the winter) and sorting (the largest heads are set aside as this fall’s seed garlic, medium and large heads are for sale and CSA, small ones are set aside as seed for next season’s green garlic, and we farmers take home the “weird” ones, nothing goes to waste!) We hope you’re as excited about garlic season as we are, we’re so glad to share this process with you.

Enjoy the box, see you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team 

Small Share:

Garlic Scapes, Chimichurri Herb Bunch, Bok Choy, Kale, Baby Greens, Zucchini

Full Share:

Garlic Scapes, Scallions, Chimichurri Herb Bunch, Spinach, Kale, Lettuce, Radishes, Zucchini

Chimichurri Sauce

This recipe is more of a suggestion than an actual recipe. Start by chopping parsley, cilantro and oregano, blend with the recipe ingredients and taste your sauce to determine your flavor preference.

Garlic Scape Butter

Perfect for garlic bread, as a finish for steak, fish, or chicken, or mix into pasta.

Zucchini Fritters

Only zucchini, flour, eggs, scallion, and olive oil.  Bill Becker’s favorite! 

Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad

Garlic scapes can be used instead of fresh garlic. 

Leafy greens are some of the most nutritious vegetables we grow, high in B vitamins, iron, vitamin K, folate, and magnesium. The flavor of some greens (especially chard and broccoli rabe) can be strong, so while they can be eaten raw, these greens are most commonly cooked and take between 40 and 70 days to reach full size. Our bunched cooking greens are available from May to November. Many of these greens are “cut and come again,” meaning they produce over a long period, producing new growth throughout the season. 

Storage: Cooking greens should be stored in a perforated plastic bag with a damp paper towel in the refrigerator. They will last between four days and a week. 

• Kale: Our favorite kale for salad is Tuscan, also known as Dinosaur or Lacinato Kale. It is the mildest and turns a glistening dark green color when dressed. When making a raw salad, massage the leaves with olive oil and salt to make them even more tender. The curly varieties can also be eaten raw, sautéed, or roasted to make kale chips. Russian Kale has purple veins and is the tenderest of all the varieties we grow. De-stem mature leaves before use. 

• Bok Choy: Unlike its cut-and-come-again friends listed above, bok choy is a one-and-done crop, technically a type of Chinese cabbage. Bok Choy is one of our favorite greens, with tender leaves and succulent, crunchy stems. It can be eaten raw in a salad or stir-fried with flavors such as sesame oil, soy sauce, ginger, and garlic.

• Chard: Chard is a different cultivar of the same species as beets and shares a plant family (the goosefoot family) with spinach. We recommend cooking chard rather than eating it raw. Add the vibrant stems to the pan before the greens to ensure they cook through. We love sauteed chard with lots of garlic and lemon. 

Small Share:

Garlic Scapes, Dill, Rainbow Chard, Baby Greens, Little Gem Lettuce, Beets

Full Share:

Garlic Scapes, Dill, Bok Choy, Rainbow Chard, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Little Gem Lettuce, Beets, Broccolini, Zucchini

Chard, Ricotta, and Saffron Cakes

You can use a mixture of chard and beet greens for these chard, ricotta, and saffron cakes. Try using our own Amber whole wheat (soft red) flour.

Use the leftover rainbow stems for a simple side with yogurt sauce.

Chard Stems with Sesame Yogurt Sauce

An easy side dish. Enjoy chilled or at room temperature.

Roasted Hasselback Beets with Dill Dressing

Roasted beets with a dill dressing have spring's earthy and bright flavors.

Grilled Garlic Scapes

Place them whole directly on the grill or use a grill basket.

Garlic scapes are a farmer's favorite. Scapes are the tender stem and bud of the hardneck garlic grown at Amber Waves Farm. They appear before the garlic bulb matures. We remove the scape about three to four weeks before harvesting, typically in early July each year.

Garlic scapes resemble long, curly green beans. Although the top of the stem is quite fibrous, you can eat the entire stem. The texture is similar to asparagus. The taste is similar to green onion or scallions but certainly not as strong as raw garlic cloves.

If you are looking for an easy side dish, grill garlic scapes. Place them whole directly on the grill or use a grill basket. Wash and dry the garlic scapes. Cut off the dry ends, toss them in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Cook over medium heat until they are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside (about 10 minutes).

Here are a few additional suggestions to try:

Compound butter

Sautee and add to pizza

Mix them in hummus

Pickle them

Add them to soup or omelets

Garlic scapes can be stored in the fridge in the crisper drawer or with the cut end in a shallow glass of water. Properly stored, they will last for two weeks. They can also be frozen, washed, chopped and stored in freezer bags.

Lavender is an exceptionally fragrant and beautiful herb with many uses. It’s in bloom now in the pick your own field, and you can have the calming scent year-round by drying a bunch—hang it upside down in a dry place.

The name lavender comes from the Latin verb "to wash." Throughout history, it was commonly used in baths to help purify the body and spirit. Due to its aromatic fragrance, it is added to many soaps and body washes.

Lavender is a plant in the mint family that is adorned with violet flowers and green or pale grey leaves. Its flowers and leaves are edible and have a pleasant yet slightly bitter flavor. Lavender grows throughout southern Europe, Australia and the United States.

Throughout history, lavender has been used to remedy various ailments, including insomnia, anxiety, depression, and fatigue. Research has shown that lavender oil may help alleviate insomnia, anxiety, and stress.

Fresh lavender, found in our pick your own field, can be added to sweet and savory dishes for both flavor and its gorgeous color. Add lavender to salads, teas and cocktails. It also works well with citrus, fruits, and desserts like crème brulee. Or, make a simple syrup mixture to flavor summer cocktails, lemonade or iced tea.

Remove the blossoms and use them in a lavender cookie, or steep them in hot water for a soothing tea. Other ideas are adding lavender to lemonade, making lavender butter or infusing honey with lavender.

Hello from the fields,

This week the crew is planting several thousand sweet potato plants. In the world of growing food, a farmer is always many months ahead, living simultaneously in the two realities of what’s coming out of the fields today (garlic scapes! baby greens!) and what’s going into the fields for a future harvest (sweet potatoes! winter squash!). Sweet potato slips arrive in boxes, shipped express from a farm in North Carolina where they’re sprouted from last year’s tubers (you can imagine what they look like if you’ve ever forgotten a sweet potato in the back of your pantry, and later discovered it having sprouted). Once the boxes of slips arrive we hustle to get them planted as soon as we can, ideally within a few days of their arrival. In a good year when the shipping is well-timed the plants arrive perky and leafy, appearing eager to be plunged into the ground. In a rough year they come soggy, slimy, leafless, and smelly, making us doubt whether they’ll survive (and yet they usually do). We almost always plant sweet potatoes and other low maintenance crops we don’t have to tend to every day at our farthest away field on Buckskill Road. In past years this has meant hauling multiple 200 gallon tanks of water from Amagansett to Buckskill to refill the transplanter tanks, wrestling with hoses and immersion pumps powered by drills or batteries or jump packs, it was a hassle. This year we’re reveling in having a working well at that remote field for the first time, which means no hauling water and the flexibility to actually irrigate there. Previously we have transplanted the sweet potatoes and winter squash with tons of water, and then wished for the luck of well-timed rains throughout the hot, dry summer months. This has mostly worked, but the security of irrigation will change how we can operate over there this year and beyond.

Meanwhile in Amagansett the crew and crops are flourishing, as are the weeds, and we are enjoying each other's company, seeing members and customers we haven’t spent time with since last season, and relishing the start of another summer season on the east end. We hope you’re having as much fun as we are, enjoy the box and see you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Garlic Scapes, Cilantro, Kale, Pea Shoots, Broccolini, Radishes

Full Share:

Garlic Scapes, Cilantro, Kale, Baby Greens, Pea Shoots, Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Broccolini, Hakurei Turnips

Broccolini

It's so easy to sautée broccolini with olive oil, chopped garlic scapes, and a squeeze of lemon juice to finish them off.

Spring Garden Hodgepodge

Spring Garden Hodgepodge is a no-fuss throw-together meal that celebrates seasonality (and flexibility) at its finest! Substitute garlic scapes for asparagus, toss in your hakurei turnips or radishes and remember to add their green tops!

A Favorite Kale Salad

All varieties of kale work well for this salad. Remove the stems and finely chop the leaves. Mix in grated Parmesan cheese and dress with a shallot vinaigrette.

Baby greens are one of the fastest growing crops at Amber Waves Farm, ready in weeks from when we sow seeds directly into the soil, depending on the time of year. More tender than full-sized greens, baby greens are perfect to use raw in a salad. Many of these crops don’t like the heat, making it difficult to grow in the hot summer months. Despite this challenge, we do our best to get baby greens into your boxes as often as possible. These greens are great folate, vitamin K, and vitamin A sources.

Storage: The bagged baby greens in your box have been pre-washed. Store your fresh baby greens in a plastic bag or container surrounded by damp paper towels in the refrigerator, lasting up to 5 days.

Pea Shoots: Enjoy these tender, sweet greens while they last—this is a spring specialty! Spring has sprung! Pea shoots are among the first greens we have in the spring. They are a different variety than the peas we grow for pods, but they are simply the pea plant's green, tender leaves and tendrils. We love adding delicate greens to a salad or making a pea shoot pesto!

Arugula: Arugula, also known as rocket, has a spicy bite that makes salads more exciting. A fresh lemon juice and olive oil salad dressing pair well with an arugula salad. Try adding raw arugula to the top of a pizza; the heat wilts the greens, and finish with a lemon vinaigrette.

Salad Mixes: We grow a few different salad mixes at the farm! Each mix has a variety of colors, flavors, and textures to add to a salad. Our signature “spicy salad” mix is a mixture of Asian greens, such as mizuna, tatsoi, Bok choy, and burgundy mustards that give the mix a flavorful, spicy bite! Our other mixes aim to please, such as our “salanova salad mix” with different varieties of tender greens, colors, textures, and flavors.

Baby Kale: Our favorite baby kale variety is Red Russian. It's perfect for adding to a raw salad or sauteing quickly in olive oil and garlic, seasoning with salt and pepper. Look for blue and green leaves and light purple stems this year in your box.

Small Share:

Green Garlic, Sage, Bok Choy, Kale, Baby Greens, Kohlrabi, Sweet Potatoes

Full Share:

Green Garlic, Sage, Bok Choy, Kale, Baby Greens, Pea Shoots, Lettuce, Kohlrabi, Sweet Potatoes

Kohlrabi Stir-Fry

It's a stir-fry box this week! Use the green garlic for this recipe, add some bok choy, and top it with sprouts grown at Feathertop Farm (another local farm started by Amber alums) sold in our market!

Lemon Sage Salad Dressing

How about a sage-based salad dressing for your salads this week? Replace the garlic clove with green garlic.

Mixed Greens, Apple and Radish Salad with a Creamy Sage Dressing

Enjoy a variety of greens from the farm in your salads this week, and finish with a creamy sage dressing. The creamy sage dressing is a welcomed break from vinaigrettes.

Baked Sweet Potatoe Fries

Toss the fries with garlic powder, paprika, salt and black pepper for a delicious, seasoned flavor.

Kohlrabi, also known as a German turnip, is a cruciferous vegetable with a mild flavor and texture of a tender broccoli stem. Kohlrabi is not a root vegetable; it grows above the ground and is part of the kohlrabi stem producing long, leafy greens. We grow green and purple kohlrabi at Amber Waves Farm.

Peel larger kohlrabi with thicker skin, but small ones are tender all the way through and do not need to be peeled. Try it raw with hummus or marinate in lemon juice. When grated, kohlrabi combined with grated carrots makes a delicious slaw. Roasting kohlrabi in the oven with olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper, and top with parmesan is easy and delicious!

Use the greens! The leafy greens can be sautéed as kale or added to soups and stir-fries. Add the stems and leaves to soups and salads. Like all other brassicas, the kohlrabi greens are edible, just like the bulbs, and you can treat the leaves like kale or any other cooking green.

Kohlrabi is low in calories and high in fiber, making it great for digestive health. It's also rich in vitamin C, potassium, and other nutrients like vitamin B6 and folate.

Store kohlrabi in the refrigerator. Kohlrabi will keep for two weeks. Eat the green within a few days.

Sage, known as Salvia officinalis, is a perennial herb with a woody stem, grayish-green leaves, and a distinctly earthy, slightly peppery flavor. It's a member of the mint family and is commonly used in Mediterranean and European cuisines. Sage has a long history of culinary and medicinal use and is known for its aromatic qualities.

Use fresh sage leaves to infuse a robust flavor into dishes, especially pasta and risotto. Pair sage with thyme, rosemary, and oregano. It complements the flavors of poultry, pork, and sausages. Create sage-infused olive oil or butter for a flavorful base in cooking. Heat the oil or butter gently with sage leaves, allowing the flavors to meld.

Try a lemon sage salad dressing. Its robust, fragrant flavor will be a beautiful finish for your box's Amber Waves baby greens and lettuce. Use whole sage leaves or sprigs to season meats before roasting or grilling. This imparts a delightful aroma and flavor to the dish. Garnish your dishes with finely chopped fresh sage over finished dishes just before serving for a fresh flavor.

Sage has a strong flavor, so it's best to start with a small amount and adjust to your taste preferences. Additionally, the flavor of sage can intensify upon cooking, so a little goes a long way.

Hello from the fields,

We hope you’ve enjoyed your first taste of the splendor that has emerged from our Amagansett soils. For as many years as we’ve been doing this (this is our 17th season farming, our 16th at Amber Waves), the thrill and marvel of hauling in freshly harvested, crispy, pungent, flavorful vegetables from the fields hasn't faded. Harvesting vegetables we haven't handled since last season feels like being reunited with an old, familiar friend. Bok choy, it's been a minute, how have you been? The first harvests of the season are also the first time our new apprentices feel the joy and fulfillment of literally reaping what they've sown. Months of preparation are needed to reach the point of harvest, and since there's very little food coming out of the fields throughout the winter and early spring, there's an added novelty to these first CSA weeks of the season. And there's plenty more to come!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team

Small Share:

Green Garlic, Green Goddess Herb Bundle, Bok Choy, Kale, Baby Greens, Radishes, Sweet Potatoes

Full Share:

Green Garlic, Green Goddess Herb Bundle, Bok Choy, Kale, Baby Greens, Lettuce, Radishes, Sweet Potatoes

Thai-Inspired Coconut Curry Soup with Spring Vegetables

Our farmers love this soup! Farmer Danielle made it for the farm crew using sweet potatoes and bok choy from. Amber Waves Farm. It was a hit! 

Amber Waves Green Goddess Dressing

Combine the green goddess herbs with 1 tbsp. of vinegar or lemon juice, 1/4 cup of olive oil, and salt and pepper to taste in a blender or food processor. Blend until well combined for a flavorful dressing.

Chive Blossom Vinegar

Chive blossom vinegar can be used in salad dressings, potato salad, and marinades. You can find more chive blossoms in the CSA Pick Your Own herb area.

Chives produce edible, purple flowers with a mild onion flavor. Infuse chive flowers in white wine vinegar for a few days, and your vinegar will take on an inviting pink hue and develop a delicious onion flavor.

Green garlic is a young garlic plant. Chop, mince, dice, and slice it as you would leeks. Green garlic has a milder flavor than cured garlic, so use it generously.

Enjoy the whole green garlic! Use the white bulb and stalk just like you would garlic. Mince the green tops and use them instead of garlic, or chop your green garlic and roast it with assorted vegetables. The green garlic will get crispy and even more delicious—it turns into delicious garlic chips!

Your green goddess herb bundle consists of chive blossoms, mint, oregano and savory.

Add your green goddess herbs to Greek yogurt or blend into hummus for a tasty radish dip.

Combine chopped green garlic with your herbs and blend with oil and vinegar for a flavorful dressing. The dressing would be delicious, drizzled over roasted sweet potatoes!

Hello from the fields,

And we’re back! And gosh it feels good. Last week we gave a little cheer for “leaf day,” a made-up holiday that Katie and I invented in our more solitary early days at the farm, when it felt like the remnants of the lingering winter stretched on forever, until the leaves finally sprung from every branch in the middle of May, bringing color and vibrancy back to the landscape.

Out in the fields the farm crew has been hard at work preparing for the launch of CSA this week. We have had a fairly cold and wet spring; thankfully, we’ve had enough dry windows to get into the fields with equipment to till, plant, and weed. The earliest crops of the season are often the most painstaking. Things grow slowly when it’s colder, meaning a radish crop that would be ready in 21 summer days might take almost twice as long to mature in the early spring. We do our best to give our young crops as much protection from the brisk temperatures as we can, trudging back and forth across the farm laying out acres of row cover that provides a few extra degrees of warmth for the fledgling seedlings underneath. Weeds also thrive under row cover, so every week we peel it back, weed/hoe/mechanically cultivate, and then drag it over once again, locating heavy sandbags every few feet along the edges to keep the wind from catching it like a sail. Happily, the spring is a mix of this tedious outdoor work in chilly conditions interspersed hours in the 70-80 degree greenhouses, where new crew members get to know each other, some of them making lifelong connections as Katie and I did as young farm apprentices back in 2008 (watch a video of spring on the farm here!) This year’s crew is so far proving to be both joyful and driven. We welcomed back 11 members of last year’s crew to the team, along with six new apprentices from all over the country (more about our Apprenticeship Program here!)

As is tradition, the first box of the season contains a variety of luscious baby greens, pungent and peppery herbs, and fragrant green garlic. It’s salad season for the next several weeks as we track towards cukes and zukes and garlic scapes in June. We hope you enjoy this first box of the season; there’s so much great food and fun ahead - see you next week!

Amanda + Katie + The Amber Waves Team