CSA Newsletter for Week 16

 

Farm Update

Our trailer was loaded down with squash
after the big harvest on Friday!

Hi everyone!  It was another busy week at the farm, and I am glad to announce that we now have all of our storage crops out of the field!  We traditionally think of fall as harvest season, because that's when farms do a huge, all-hands-on-deck harvest of potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, onions, and other crops that will get them through the long, cold winter.  We don't have very many people working for us this time of year (just Fred and three part-time people who each come in a couple days a week), but we were able to round up a great crew on Friday to bring in the squash.  We had Fred, his sister Mary, our employee Lindy, her boyfriend Blake, and his friend Josh, and the five of them brought in all the remaining squash from the field.  So now that the massive harvest push is done, our day-to-day harvest for the CSA will be a lot more manageable.  We'll still be harvesting things like kale, lettuce, leeks, carrots, beets, and tomatoes, and peppers daily.  The warm season crops (tomatoes, peppers, and the like) will start to peter out as the season goes on, to be replaced by more root vegetables and leafy greens.  We did have some frost this week, but it wasn't nearly as bad as the forecast predicted, so the summer veggies aren't quite dead yet!  We'll still have cherry tomatoes in the shares this week, and while the larger tomatoes aren't going to be listed in the shares, it's likely that we'll still have some on the trade table, or interspersed on the tables throughout the week.  And there are still four more weeks of great veggies!  So we'll see you at the drop-off for week 16 of the CSA!

What to Expect in Your Share

If you are going through the line at one of our traditional style drop-offs (Alma, Mt. Pleasant, and 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! 

Lettuce

Sweet potatoes or potatoes

Squash or cherry tomatoes

Carrots or beets

Kale, cabbage, or fennel

Onion or garlic

Leeks, microgreens, radish

If you have a prepacked share, here are your options.  If you have a half share, you’ll choose either share A, B, or C, and if you have a full share, you can choose two of them.  So just fill out this Google form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off to let me know which share you want for this week!  If I don't hear from you, I'll just choose for you. :-)

Share A:  Lettuce, sweet potatoes, cherry tomatoes, carrots, kale, onion, and leek.

Share B:  Lettuce, potatoes, squash, carrots, fennel, onion, and leek.

Share C:  Lettuce, sweet potatoes, squash, beets, cabbage, garlic, and radishes.

Recipes

With more of a chill in the air, doesn't it just seem like the perfect time to make Potato Leek Soup?  This recipe calls for Yukon Gold potatoes, and those are not the potatoes we have in the shares.  But really, the author just wants to make sure that you're using a potato with great flavor, and our Red Norlands will certainly make a delicious soup!  So check out this Potato Leek Soup from Once Upon a Chef!