The winds of Fall blew onto the farm this week. It feels a little like taking a nap in the middle of the day and waking up slightly disoriented. The days have suddenly become shorter in a way that doesn’t feel fair. I sometimes think that someone is laundering time from me. Like whole monthes of my life are gobbled up by a time-hoarding monster. When did the leaves on the maple tree turn yellow and red or orange when just yesterday-I swear they were green? As I stroll the baby to sleep alongside the country roads, the wheels on her stroller crunch dried leaves and I find myself steering away from them as they might be making too much noise for a baby trying to fall asleep. As much as I wish someone would stroll me to sleep down a country rode with fallen leaves, I remain alert as a guard dog because someone is trying to rip the rug of time right out from beneath me.
The peppers turn colors quicker in the fall. It is as though they sense that time is running out and if they’re ever going to show us what they’re made of, they had better get going.Oooh, the bounty!
I’ll admit that this is my favorite time of year. I love the cool wind on my weathered cheeks. My bones feel tired at the end of a long season. My enthusiasm begins to wane for the start of the week and the day. And this season has offered a new set of challenges for me to share half of my energy with another human and forfit half of my time on the playing filed of the farm. And while perserverence remains a strong suit of mine, I cannot match my efforts with an equal amount of fervor at th end of the season. My loyalty to this farm and the CSA model and this small family of ours does not wavre, but I humbly reveal that I love 60 degrees and sunny with dry air and a north wind.
Potatoes- Red Norland Potatoes fresh out of the earth Saturday. We do not wash our potatoes because (well, it’s a LOT of extra work and handling of the potatoes) and they keep much better when they’re dirty. These red beauties were a prolific variety for us this year.
Carrots- We reached the end of a carrot bed that had the monster carrots in it and are now digging carrots from a fresh new bed. The new carrots were impressively sweet. Many more carrots to come!
Dragon Tongue Beans- These are a flavorful heirloom variety of beans. Unfortunately their beautiful purple streaks disappear once they are cooked. We love the way they don’t even get stringy even when they’re on the large side.
Broccoli- Much nicer looking broccoli this week. I told you we knew how to grow broccoli, we just need nature to cooperate with cooler temperatures and a little rain (although irrigation lines are to thank for bringing this broccoli to life!).
Cucumbers- Possibly the final week of cucumbers. A few lemon cukes and a regular cucumber for everyone this week. Love your cukes while you’re getting them, they’re just about goooonnne!
Sweet Pepper Medly- Sweet Peppers galore! We’re having a great sweet pepper year with a beautiful array of yellow, orange, red, and pink peppers. The beauty of CSA is that you’ll receive pepper varieties that you may not usually find at the supermarket or even the Farmer’s Market at times.
Hungarian Hot Wax- These would be the lime green, red or slightly orange little peppers (depending on how ‘ripe’ they are). They’re long and pointed shaped. They’re on the spicy side, so watch out!
Jalapeno Peppers- These were all red this week! The Jalapeno Peppers are HOT, so have fun with them in salsa or pass them on to a friend who loves to cook spicy food. 
Many hands make light work when harvesting carrots on Monday morning
White Onion- Another white onion for your everday cooking. Does not need refrigeration but will keep well on the counter in a cool, dark and dry place.
Eggplant- Either a long and thin Japanese Eggplant or a traditional round eggplant. Eggplant production is slowing down quite a bit now as eggplants love the heat.
Tomato Mix- Another nice offering of tomatoes around 4.87lbs per member. Still a very nice bag. There may be a mix of unripe and ripe tomatoes in your bag. Be sure to leave your unripe tomatoes on your counter to ripen. Some tomatoes will ripen red, orange, yellow, or purple. Just give them a very gentle squeeze to know if they are ripen. So far I haven’t gotten any complaints about TOO MANY TOMATOES! Yum!
Sun Gold Cherry Tomato- These little guys are very ripe. We had a small issue with some of them cracking on us. I would use these guys up sooner rather than later. We ran out of our plastic clamshell containers and switch to using small paper bags for shipping the cherry tomatoes this week. A slightly more generous portion as well.
Curly Leaf Parsley- Very nice sized bunches of curly leaf parsly. Use fresh in your sauce, salads and soups or dehydrate in your dryer and use in the winter monthes as a ‘fresh’ reminder of your fond summer days as a CSA member with the small family farm.
Lettuce- Either a red or green leaf lettuce for each member this week. The heads were looking so beautiful and it was such a joy to harvest them. The irrigation lines came in handy once again when helping thse guys fill out. Keeps best in a plastic bag in the fridge to preserve moisture.
Roasted Tomato Soup (Thank you Kate Parks for sharing this Recipe with us!)
Frijol Mole (Green Bean Dip) (Thank you, Kristin Koepke for posting this one from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle;)
Eggplant Gratin (Deborah Madison Recipe)
