CSA Newsletter for Week 14

Farm Update

Fred takes a break from the sweet potato
harvest to strike a pose for the camera.

Hi everyone!  Even though we have one more week of summer on the calendar, fall is definitely upon us!  The traditional fall veggies are starting to make their appearance in the CSA shares, and we were thrilled to add sweet potatoes and butternut squash to the roster last week!  In fact, last week and this week, harvesting as many sweet potatoes and winter squash as possible (as well as the other veggies in the shares) is the name of the game.  Another thing we spent way more time on this week than we would have liked was avoiding the mosquitos!  They were just ridiculous this week!  Did you guys notice that too?  Another big deal around the farm this week is our upcoming annual inspections.  Next week (not this week, but the following one), we’ll have both our organic certification inspection and our GAP (food safety) certification inspection, so there is always a flurry of activity surrounding those.  Both certifications involve a massive amount of paperwork, so Fred and I will spend the next week making sure our I’s are dotted and our T’s are crossed in preparation for the arrival of those inspectors.  There will be a lot of making sure our harvest logs are up to date, that all of our seed purchases are recorded and verified, and making the farm as shiny and sparkly as you can get a place that is, by definition, covered in dirt.  So wish us luck with that all the preparations, and we’ll see you this week for week 14!

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.

• Sweet potatoes

  

  The beets are growing up quite nicely in the coldframe.

• Cherry tomatoes or slicing tomatoes
• Butternut squash
• Potatoes or lettuce
• Basil, microgreens, or kale
• Delicata squash, leeks, or a bag of small/medium onions
• Bell pepper or large onion

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:

Sweet potatoes                     Sweet potatoes
Cherry tomatoes                   Slicing tomatoes
Butternut squash                  Butternut squash
Potatoes                                Lettuce
Kale                                      Basil
Delicata squash                    Leeks
Large onion                          Bell pepper

Recipes

When I was a kid, I thought I didn't like sweet potatoes.  That's because we only ever had them on Thanksgiving, and my wonderful aunt who brought them was fond of mashed sweet potatoes with those little marshmallows on top, which is probably my least-favorite preparation.  So I was very surprised to learn as a pseudo-adult how much I actually love them!  So if like me, you prefer your sweet potatoes unmashed and unmarshmallowed, try out this awesome recipe for Oven Roasted Sweet Potatoes.  Or if this fall weather is making you feel like baking a pie, here is my go-to Sweet Potato Pie Recipe!