We’re so thankful to everyone who came out the farm on Sunday to show their support, walk around with us, and share food with us! We’re thankful for the beautiful weather that made Sunday a success and for a bountiful fall harvest that has allowed us to be able to fill your CSA boxes this season with higher value items than we have ever been able to fill CSA boxes before. Thanks, Drew, for giving tractor rides around the farm!
This season has been incredible. Our best growing season ever, in fact!
Doesn’t it always feel like when you talk to farmers they have a very woeful story to tell about how the weather was too hot or too cold or too wet or too dry this year? Some farmers I know are never quite happy with the hand that they’re dealt. The prices of the crops are always too low and the cost of seeds, maintenance and repairs are always climbing higher. Fertility is never quite right, disease pressure is persistent and the insect populations seem to get heavier. We farmers have so many things to complain about! Granted, they’re valid arguments! But maybe we wouldn’t be so sorrowful to listen to if once in a while we simply proclaimed “it’s been a good year”.
Once in a while nature shows mercy on us. She showed us a mild, dry season with no terrible national disasters, no devastating blights that whipped out entire sections of our fields and no major expensive tractor or farm repairs that could cripple our finances. We’ve made it out the other end whole and nourished. We feel a bit used, worn and tired, but that is to be expected after a demanding and productive season. Increased harvest yields added more to our workload this summer than we projected, but it was a blessing that benefited us all!
We’re thankful. So very thankful for very few rainy harvest days that make harvesting miserable. We’re thankful for increased soil fertility. We’re thankful for really good neighbors. We’re thankful for meeting our CSA membership and financial goals. We’re thankful for a super rockin’ worker-share crew. We’re thankful for the upcoming growth of our personal ‘small family’ and for all of the livestock and creatures that live on this farm and contribute to it’s ecosystem. We’re thankful for all of the people out there in the world who are sharing information about food and food culture and showing that they care about where their food comes from, what’s in it and how it’s grown. We’re thankful for the community of people who infuse this farm with life and for a damn good year!
Russet Potatoes- More dense potatoes for storage!
Scarlet Nantes Carrots- Store carrots in the pastic bag in the fridge to preserve moisture.
Acorn Winter Squash- Yeah, this is the squash that looks like a large acorn with the blue skin. Slice the acorn squash lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and place face down in a pan with a half inch of water. Bake for 1 hour and serve with butter and maple syrup and you’ll be in acorn squash heaven!
Parsnip Root- These are the white roots that are loose in the box. You’re used to seeing them a bit larger in the stores coated in wax, but these are the real deal. Parsnips will keep for monthes in a plastic bag in the fridge. They’re a delicious, sweet root that is best when cooked. Can you tell that parsnips are in the same family as carrots?
Walkin’ on a country road!
Sweet Peppers- The pepper plants were nailed by the frost twice last week exposing the fruits to an intense week of full sun. Some fruits were even frosted on a bit. The fruits don’t seem quite as crisp and fresh as they did a month ago, but we figured that we still had a very nice pepper giving left to share with you. Use these guys up sooner rather than later!
Hot Pepper- Either a small hungarian hot wax pepper or a long and skinny chili pepper.
Kohlrabi- You may have received a white or purple kohlrabi. Peel kohlrabi and eat raw or use in a stir fry. Remember that you can use the kohlrabi leaves like kale in cooking!
Zefa Fino Fennel- Beautiful fennel bulbs! You may remember the fennel from this spring. It’s the funky vegetable that’s in the same family as celery and you can cook with it interchangable. It has a licorice flavor that is made mild when cooked. You can also use the greens for garnishing or flavoring in cooking.
Packman Broccoli- Large broccoli heads for all! Some of our broccoli became a bit overmature this week in the heat and with our busy schedules we didn’t get it harvested on time. But it still looked pretty good, we thought!
Tomato Mix- 3.3lbs of tomatoes. Tomatoes are looking a bit cracked, blemished and scuffed this week in our final week of tomatoes. We figured that an ugly tomato is better than no tomato at all. Some people like to cook with green tomatoes! They should still ripen nicely on your countertop.
Cut Spinach- A huge bag of spinach this week for everyone! .83 lbs of spinach! Whoa!
Leeks- Leeks are in the same family as onions. Cook with your leeks like you would with onions. Use the entire stalk with greens. You can even eat leek roots!
Potato-Leek Soup with Celeriac
Creamy Coconut Carrot Ginger Soup- (Thank you Adrianne for sharing this one at the potluck;)
Walking the farm tour out to the pigs in the pasture under the hallmark maple tree on our farm.
