CSA Newsletter for Week 13

Farm Update

Our chicken girls have definitely been enjoying how fast
the grass has grown since it's been so warm and rainy!
They've shown their appreciation by finally transitioning to
almost all full-size eggs, rather than the medium-sized pullet
eggs a lot of them had been previously laying. (I don't know if
the grass actually had anything to do with it, but the timing
was pretty spot-on!)

Hi everyone!  It definitely feels like fall out there today!  We’ll likely get the last of the warm temperatures this week, then it will truly transition away from summer for good.  And like the weather, the vegetables are also in transition.  Yesterday we started our large sweet potato harvest, which is a sure sign of fall!  We were pleased to see that many of the sweet potatoes look like they’re a good size, because you can never tell what they look like under the soil until you dig them up.  Some years they’re just kind of spindly and disappointing, but this year they look nice!  We’re also continuing to plant our hearty fall greens outside, because they can withstand the cooler temperatures that we’ll be getting over the next few months.  We actually transplanted the last of the outdoor lettuce yesterday, and then the next planting will be in the greenhouse, because by the time that will be ready, it will just be too cold, windy, and damp in the open air for lettuces to do well.  Some of you were able to get the first of the winter squashes in your shares last week, and this week we’ll be doing a major winter squash harvest, so there will be more coming!  We’ve been doing a little weeding this week, but the weed pressure this time of year is a lot less forceful than in early- and mid-summer, so it’s a lot easier to keep up with now.  The pace of the work at the farm is starting to slow, which it does every year as nature starts its slow wind-down to winter.  So let’s all enjoy this last warm week, and the last few weeks of true summer veggies!  Here we go into week 13!

What to Expect in This Week's Share

If you are picking up at one of our traditional style drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland), here’s what the options will be at the different stations.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item at each station, and if you have a full share, you choose two items at each station.

• Cherry tomatoes or spring mix

  

  Ben harvests cherry tomatoes in the coldframe.
  Bless that boy for putting up with me randomly
  taking pictures of him working when I happen
  to be walking by! 

• Basil or kale
• Potatoes
• Bag of small/medium onions, leeks, or microgreens
• Green pepper or large onion
• Sweet potatoes or butternut squash
• Pears, apples, or tomatoes

If you have a prepacked share (Midland hospital, St. Johns, Lansing, Okemos, or home delivery), here are your options.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose either share A or share B, and if you have a full share, you can choose two of them.

Share A:                               Share B:

Cherry tomatoes                  Spring mix
Kale                                     Basil
Potatoes                               Potatoes
Bag of smallish onions        Leeks
Green pepper                       Large onion
Butternut squash                 Sweet potatoes
Pears                                   Tomatoes

Recipes

It doesn't happen all the time that I get super excited about a recipe idea, but I have to admit, scrolling through these 26 Easy Butternut Squash Recipes from Good Housekeeping, my eyes were getting wide and I decided I have to make each and every one of these before squash season is over.  Butternut squash, leek, and goat cheese galette!  Butternut squash pancakes!  Spice-Roasted Butternut Squash with Cider Vinaigrette!  There are so many amazing recipes here, we'll all be going happily squash-crazy until there isn't a single one left in the field! :-)