Farmer No. 2's Mom's Cucumber Salad 
We have enough plants working on the farm to do small harvests like this two or three times a week. There are two types of tomatoes that we picked this morning. The smaller darker ones are heirloom Black Plum tomatoes. The second type is a hybrid tomato suspiciously named Health Kick. This tomato is engineered to have 50% more of the anti-oxidant lycopene than the typical tomato. There is an in-depth review of Health Kick tomatoes grown in Cleveland, Ohio here.
The 2007 cucumber season was extremely productive and 2008 is looking good so far. We harvested five of the biggest cucumbers with many still on the way. The three red dots on the bottom represent the first harvest of the hot pepper plants we have.
July 25, 2008
and the cucumber and corn (behind) patch.
The search for a recipe took awhile. Which of Le Techniques would showcase eggplant best? It originates from India and naturally that seems like a good starting point. Partly out of pantry supplies and partly out of laziness Le Indian Technique was quickly ruled out and grilling was decided on. Some nobody name chef Bobby Flay wrote a recipe with a chili pepper and fresh oregano dressing. So that's it piled on top of the eggplant. Farmer No.2 is 80% positive the measurements were correct but the dressing was a little strong. In small doses it tasted delicious. 
Trivia: Eggplant is richer in Nicotine than any other edible plant. However, it would take 20lbs of eggplant to match the nicotine in the average cigarette. Wikipedia
We actually harvested two eggplants but it turns out an army of tiny white bugs has been using the Antigua as a cafeteria. It's our fault. We need to make sure none of the produce touches the ground because the pests will get to it. Combining clipping the lowest branches and using stakes/trellises will help out.
The farm also brought in two tomatoes the size of golf balls.
Red Potatoes - try grilling them, it is delicious and fast. Coat with olive oil, sprinkle salt and grill for 10 minutes on each side until soft.
Our biggest harvest yet - 3 banana peppers, 3 BIG Great Stuff peppers, beans, Chiogga beets and our first tomato!
How hard can it be to grow basil? It's not difficult to grow, it can survive mediocre conditions, but to make the leaves taste better the plant requires maintenance. It is important to limit the height of the plant by regularly pinching off branch tips and cutting off the top of the main stem before it flowers. The flowering screws up the oil content in the leaves so a bushy basil plant is happier than tall leggy one. This image shows post grooming. 
Farmer No. 2 lobbed off a good 8 inches and turned it into a big green bouquet. The grooming should probably go down even further but it already might be too late for the plants. Nick the Farmer said he'd give us some of his.
Photos by University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Mithun and SOA Architects.
For two mouths, 1/50th bushel is perfect for Beets In Vinaigrette. The recipe didn't call for this, but the beet greens were steamed and it was all tossed together. Parsley was also picked on the farm. 
Their parent, Golden Giant Pepper Plant was mysteriously severed at its base today. Total tragedy. 
One possible explanation are those cats again. Border Security may have scared the cat so much that it jumped right into the plant breaking it and forcing us to prematurely harvest its peppers. 
Look how productive the last two weeks has been for our pink italian bi-color eggplant plant. The farm's other eggplant variety is the Antigua Eggplant which is also producing nicely.
Nick's Giant Cucumbers are on their way. If they live up to last year's staggering growth they will hit 20+ inches.
Presentation matters. There are a lot of distressed boxes and wicker baskets holding produce tied together with twine. This is a table of different cherries.
The swiss chard looks corn fed. We have chard as well but we've had to pick the leaves before they get this large or they get sun burnt.
The Thai Hot Pepper plant has dozens of little peppers coming up.
