On the final week of Summer Share deliveries, we have so much to be thankful for. We had a bountiful year and were able to pack the CSA boxes full each week with a wide variety of vegetables in each box. We had a wet spring and a dry summer which works very well for vegetable farming. We had to do very little irrigating this season which makes it much easier on the farmers. It has been a dry Fall which has been very helpful for getting all of our roots out of the ground and into storage. We made it to the end of a long, productive season with all of our fingers and toes in tact.
I feel especially thankful for our little life out here. I’m thankful for you for valuing fresh, local and organic food enough to be willing to sign up for this little CSA out of La Farge, Wi. Without people like you who are willing to support small, family-run businesses and are willing to make the cooking commitment to chop and sauté and eat all of these vegetable every week and every other week, Adam and I may no be out here doing this work that we love so much.
I not only appreciate that you financially support our farm, but that you also read your newsletters and are interested in fostering some kind of a relationship with your farm. Even if that relationship is only looking at the pictures in the newsletters, reading the newsletters and eating the food. Most of the food that we eat from day to day, we have no idea where it came from. We don’t know where our beans, sugar, flour, salt, noodle or rice comes from. But we can know where our local vegetables come from. It’s food with a ‘face’, as they say.
I am also thankful, woah, so thankful, for all of the people who get into their cars and drive here every day to help on the farm. Some days I’m tired, and some days I just have the task at hand on my mind, and I don’t always get to say it to our amazing helpers, but golly do I appreciate these people. Without them, we could not produce crops. But just so you all know, I actually sing “Good job, everybody” songs to them in the field and thank them often for all of their help.
I am thankful for my able body that I am a able to do this work. Thankful that my mind and body support me and my husband and my family in the physical, mental and emotional demands of this work. How lucky I am to get to do the work that I love and that it feels purposeful to me and uses my gifts and talents so that I can share them with the world.
I didn’t take a lot of photos this week. I think I’m a little tired at the end of the season! But a crew member did take a short video of us cutting brussels sprouts that I thought I could share in place of photos.
Also below is a youtube short that my daughter made of our family making apple cider on Sunday to process the rest of our apples. She also fed some cider to her rabbits apparently!
What’s in the Box?
Brussels Sprouts- 1 half to 3/4 stalk of Brussels sprouts. We left the work of snapping the sprouts off of the stalk to you. Snap them off the stalk and store them in a plastic bag in the fridge until you get a chance to gobble them up. Interesting fact, my ten year old noticed that the center of the brussels sprout stalk is the same texture ansd flavor of Kohlrabi. (both plants are in the brassica family).
Kohlrabi- 1-2 purple or white kohlrabi per member. Also called a ground apple. Do you remember these from the Spring/early summer? Kohlrabi grow best in the cooler months of the year.
Pie Pumpkin- One pie pumpkin per member. Will store just fine on your countertop. Do not refrigerate.
Sweet Potatoes- 2.5 lbs per member. Do not refrigerate. Stores best at 55-65 degree storage.
Rutabaga- One rutabaga per member this week. Looks a lot like a large turnip, but it’s definitely a rutabaga;). Mashed rutabaga is absolutely delicious!
Cauliflower and Broccoli– Either one broccoli or one cauliflower! Prefers to be kept very cold!
Leek– We went through the patch and pulled one large Leek per member. Leeks are in the same family as onions and garlic. Leeks take a very long time to grow which is why we harvest them in the fall. They are a lovely addition to fall soups!
Parsnip- 1lb per member. Parsnips will keep until spring if you wanted to keep them that long. They store terrifically well in a plastic bag in the fridge. But don’t store them, eat them!
Peppers- Approximately 5 peppers per box. Peppers ranged from green to yellow to red this week. It’s the very end of the pepper season (and CSA box season), so we picked pretty much any pepper that was large, regardless of the color.
Kale- Either one bunch of lacinato or green curly kale. A lovely addition to fall soups.
Green Cabbage- One head of green cabbage per member this week.
Next Week’s Best Guess: No Summer CSA box next week! Are you signed up for a Fall Share and a Thanksgiving Share?
Recipes
No Bake Pumpkin Pie Cheesecake
Brown Sugar and Bacon Glazed Brussels Sprouts
Slow Cooker Stuffed Pepper Soup
