I am delighted to report that since last week, the farm has received over 3 inches of rain-with more in the forecast! Most of it fell in a moderately gentle shower with mild wind speeds. The majority of the rain had time to soak in with little to no erosion in the fields. While it’s a couple months too late to be much help for crops, it has put an end (or a long pause) to farmer Adam needing to irrigate. We’re thankful for the rain and the contribution to the water table. The trees and perennials and pastures will benefit the most at this point. Meanwhile, we’re back in our raingear, muck boots and enjoying the reprieve from the heat and perpetual sunshine.
The sound of rain falling on the rooftop is like the sound of jingle bells to my ears. The cooler weather that is so lovely for sleeping, the early evenings that are dark by 7pm and the sound of rain on the roof have a soothing effect to weary and bleary-eyed farmers who have been giving 110% of themselves to the farm for the last 6 months. The falling leaves promise that the summer will not go on forever and a season of rest is approaching. Fall has a way of reminding us of our own mortality and if we are present enough, we will learn to cherish each moment of its colorful glory rather than wish it away.
I have friends, and I’m sure you do too, who do not love Fall. They dislike winter even more. The cooler weather and the lack of sunlight are enough for them to feel unhappy for more than half the year. One hidden and unforeseen blessing of being a farmer is that Fall and Winter become a joyful and welcome phase of the year. For me winter equals more time with my children, more time for cooking, being creative, being slow, listening, reading, being present, and sleeping more- all of the activities that offer a regenerative balance to my life. Ah, winter, how I love you!
Last week, before all the rain came, we did a fair amount of digging. We almost harvested all of our potatoes from the fields, cleaned out a bed of beets, a bed of carrots and even found some time to begin a little field clean up by rolling up some drip tape that we’re done with.
We’re watching our fall successions of broccoli and cauliflower mature beautifully. We’re excited to start sharing some gorgeous cole crops here in the fall that thrive in the cool season.
The fall carrots, sweet potatoes and radishes will soak up all this moisture and hopefully size up to a bountiful harvest. We will begin harvesting sweet potatoes next week to share with you all in the last two summer share CSA boxes. Sweet potatoes are an interesting crop because they need to cure in a high-humidity storage space kept around 80 degrees for 1-3 weeks while the starches turn to sugar, the skins toughen up, and the overall storage life of the potato is secured.
We’re hoping that regular, soft rainstorms return to being a normal phenomenon here in Southwest Wisconsin. We’re hoping that the status of “exceptional drought” drought is lifted from our area. We’re hoping that the temps this Fall are mild and moderate, the frost holds off a few more weeks for prolonged pepper and tomato harvest, and the crops continue to look as good as they have been looking all summer long for the last three Summer Share deliveries! Cheers to an epic season at Small Family Farm!
Do you see the dark red, almost maroon/brownish colored splotch over Southwest Wisconsin? That’s us! We are in the “Exceptional Drought” Zone. No the Dry, or Moderately Dry, or Severly Dry or Extremly Dry, but the Exceptionally Dry. We may be leaving the ‘exceptional drought’ status after all the rain we have received in the last week. Just had to show you this to prove it was REAL folks!
Tomatoes– 2 lbs tomatoes mixed varieties. A reminder to remove your tomatoes from the bag and allow them to air out and sit at room temperature outside of the plastic bag at room temp. Tomatoes love 50 degree storage temps. We pick any tomato with a ‘blush’ which means any amount of color that it has started to turn, we pick em. They still qualify as ‘vine ripened’ tomatoes even when we do it this way. We highly recommend not putting tomatoes in the refrigerator as refrigerators tend to suck flavor out of tomatoes and inhibit ripening. For maximum flavor and enjoyment, allow them to sit on your counter to ripen and promptly use up once ripe! Tomatoes have peaked and are on the decline.
Chesnook Red Garlic– A bulb of hardneck variety garlic for your cooking pleasure. Does not need refrigeration. Tucked inside you bag of tomatoes.
Hungarian Hot Wax– Hungarian Hot Wax, also called Bananna Peppers, will turn red if allowed to sit on the plants. They turn a touch sweeter when fully ripe like this. Tucked inside your bag with the tomatoes.
Yukon Gold Poatoes– 2 lbs per member. Potatoes did very well this summer even in the drought conditions with drip irrigation.
Red Kabocha Squash– These are the bright orange hard squash at the bottom of your box. Do not refrigerate and allow to sit on your counter until you get a chance to use it up. Red Kabocha are my personal favorite squash variety. They have a flaky, sweet, orange flesh that is smooth and absolutely delicious! You may never buy a different variety of squash ever again!
Celeriac Root– These are the very funky looking root vegetable with their greens still attached. The celeriac root leaves and stems are edible like celery and can be added to any soups or stews. For best storage, remove the greens and store celeriac root in a plastic bag in the fridge. This ancient root with store for a terrifically long time in a plastic bag in cold storage, but don’t wait! Rise to the challenge, peel your celeriac root and use the potoato-like root to make celeriac mashed potatoes, or dice it into small cubes and add it to any chicken soup or stew.
Sweet Peppers– 4-5 sweet peppers per box. We grow a very wide variety of peppers ranging from red, orange and yellow bells to the long, sweet carmen types that are pointed at their tip (these are still a sweet pepper and not a hot pepper). Peppers are a very special fall treat. Time for roasted peppers or stuffed peppers or however you like to eat them! They freeze very nicely as well if just cut up and put in zip lock bags.
Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes– .75 lb bag per member. Allow to ripen at room temp if needed. Enjoy them while they last!
Onion– Gotta have onions every week!
Carrots– One pound per member. Deliciously sweet carrots this year! Yummy!
Red Curly Kale– Happy that the kale is tender again here even in this later part of the season.
Lettuce- Finally we have lettuce again! We sure do miss it when it’s gone after that long run of it in the Spring! You may have received either a red or green leaf lettuce.
Kohlrabi– One per member. These kohlrabi responded very nicely to the drip irrigation which we definitely would not have without farmer Adam’s hard work getting water to the crops this late summer. You may remember from receiving kohlrabi in the spring to peel the outer skin off the outside of the bulb and enjoy the crispy, apple-like centers. The leaves are edible like kale.
Green Cabbage– Artost is the variety. Not necessarily a storage variety, but it will keep for awhile in the fridge. Many of the heads sized up very nicely, we did have to pick a few heads that were on the smaller side.
Next Week’s Best Guess: cabbage, potatoes, winter squash, kohlrabi, sweet peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, hot peppers, beets, brussels sprouts?, onion, cherry tomatoes
