This week on the farm we are feeling the transition into Fall. The cool, misty mornings turn into sunny, warm afternoons and then the temperature drops again into cool, dark, sleepy evenings. I’m dreaming of pumpkin bars, apple cider and tomato soup with fresh baked bread. The darkness in the evenings, the sound of the crickets and the warmth of the home contrasted with the cool outdoors feels assuredly like Fall.
We had a long, slow gentle rain fall on the farm on Saturday where it rained all. Day. Long. Miraculously the rain gagues measured only 1.5 inches. We feel blessed that the rain fell so gently after hearing of other areas receiving over 5 inches of rain. Then again on Monday morning we harvested tomatoes and peppers in the rain all morning which kept switching from drizzle to light rain all morning, but enough to keep us all focused under the hoods of our rain gear. We have been lucky and haven’t had too many rainy Mondays this year where we needed to be harvesting out in the rain. But you can’t win ‘em all!
We’re operating with a shorter crew these days. We lost a portion of our crew this back-to-school season when our teachers and students all went back to the classroom. We’re down to the backbone crew who has been with us since the start of the season. We are still looking to hire a couple extra people to help us finish off the season, but finding crew members for just the last few months has been tough.
In the farm house Grandma Jane has been helping to preserve some of summer’s bounty making tomato salsa for our winter enjoyment. The house is steamy and warm and the stove is filled with canners, the counters filled with jars and the deck is filled with bins of tomatoes and onions and buckets of compost. Such a busy time!
It is looking like we will be blessed this week with sunshine and weather in the 70s and even 80’s again! We will use the rest of this week to harvest our potatoes if the soil dries out enough. We will continue to bring in the winter squash varieites and try to keep up with the tomato harvest which is heavy and strong.
We are starting to think about sharing some of our fall gems for the last four boxes of the summer CSA season. We have celeriac root, brussels sprouts, leeks, sweet potatoes and daikon radishes to share. The sweet peppers are always a treasured item in these late-summer/early Fall days where we will continue to pick until the first frost hits. First frost could come as early as late September, but if we’re lucky it could hit in early to mid October sometime. Who knows! Generally we get a little cold snap with a frost at some point that kills our peppers and then it warms up again after that which is a little frustrating.
We are looking forward to Fall Potluck event as well on Sunday, October 2nd which is free! We invite you all out to the farm! Bring a dish to share, your kids, and plates and silverware if you are able. We will be offering wagon ride tours of the farm, apple cider pressing on an old-fashioned hand-crank cider press (roll up your sleeves), Turtle Stack beer and Apple Cider! Our children will also be offering pony rides for tips on our pony, Rusty, between 3 and 4pm. Fingers crossed for nice weather!
Tomatoes- 8-8.5lbs tomatoes. Tomatoes are still hitting hard, but the peak has peaked. A reminder that we pick any tomato with a ‘blush’. This means we pick anything with any early signs of ripening. We need to pick them this way or they become too soft for handling and shipping. Tomatoes prefer a 50 degree storage temp. But once you receive them we recommend taking them out of the plastic bag and allowing the to ripen at room temperature. Never put a tomato in the fridge unless it’s in danger of spoiling from being too ripe. Refrigerators take the flavor out of tomatoes. A mixture of romas, yellow heirlooms, pink heirlooms, yellow heirlooms, red slicers and yellow slicers. You’ll receive a mix of varieties this season from all the different kinds we grow! See images above of funky heirloom behavoir. If your tomato is shaped funny, it’s probably an heirloom! But their flavor is superior!
Carrots- 1 pound bags of carrots.
Spaghetti Squash- These are the big yellow balls in your CSA box with a hard stem. Not to be mistaken for a melon! Spaghetti squash aren’t the best keepers, so we like to give these first. They are all the rage in the gluten-free world. We like to cut them in half, discard the seeds, and then bake them face-down with a little water in a pan for about an hour and then when they are baked their flesh resembles spaghetti noodles!
Onions- One yellow onion per box this week.
Broccoli- The Fall Broccoli is starting and looking really nice! We were so happy to be able to share this with you this week! Needs to stay very cold to stay fresh!
Potatoes- 2lb bags of red potatoes this week. We don’t wash potaotes as we find they keep a little better with the dirt on.
Cabbage- A lot of these cabbages were absolutely huge! Not a storage variety of cabbage. This Artost variety is a more tender cabbage with airier heads. Not as dense as a storage cabbage.
Sweet Peppers- 3 Sweet Peppers per member this week. You may have received either a red, yellow or orange bell pepper. So far it’s turning out to be a really nice pepper year! Yahoo! Peppers prefer 50 degree storage like tomatoes. The counter is a little too warm and the fridge is a little too cold, but pick your preferred spot or eat them up!
Cherry Tomatoes- .6 lbs of cherry tomatoes per member this week. I am loving that we are able to bag these cherries in paper bags this year instead of using plastic clamshells. A little less plastic being used in the world!
Green Curly Kale- We picked these bunches of kale so you have greens in your cooking to sneak in this week. We’re loving all the red, orange and yellow food, but gotta keep the greens going in too!
Next Weeks Best Guess- Potatoes, winter squash, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, sweet peppers, broccoli, cauliflower, onion, eggplant, beets?, red curly kale?
Recipes
Spagetti Squash Pad Thai from Once Upon a Pumpkin
Roasted Tomato Sauce Recipe from Homestead and Chill
Veggie Fajitas Recipe from Nora Cooks
Lemon Parmesan Kale Salad from Peas and Crayons
