Farm Update
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| Here's Fred in front of one of the large loads of butternut squash he brought in this week! |
Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing well! Here we are in October, which means that we are nearing the end of CSA season. The CSA will go until the last full week of October, so the final drop-offs will be Monday October 24th through Thursday October 27th. Although the end of the season is approaching, we still have four weeks of great veggies ahead to look forward to!
This is the time of year where nature starts slowly sliding into its winter rest. We had our first light frost last week, which fortunately was light enough not to do much damage to most of our crops, except that it pretty much put an end to our basil. As the weeks go on, the lower and lower temperatures will start killing our summer veggies one by one, until only the most coldhardy crops survive. That's the point when it's time to finish up the CSA for the year, because we won't have enough variety to keep 300-ish families in high-quality veggies indefinitely. My guess is that you guys don't want a bunch of shares of just potatoes, kale, squash, and onions, so the end of October is a natural stopping point for the CSA. That's also the time of year when Fred and I are ready to come in out of the rain and rest our bodies and minds. On a beautiful sunny fall day like today, its easy to imagine keeping going for longer, but once those cold rains start to fall (which is pretty much every day for the second half of October), we start thinking about sitting in front of the fire with warm cups of coffee instead of harvesting in the mud.
That said, today the sun is shining, and we still have plenty of great things coming out the fields and hoophouses! We brought in two huge wagonloads of butternut squash this week, which are now safe and sound in one of our empty hoophouses (unheated greenhouses). This time of year, we've usually cleared out our summer plantings from some of our seven hoophouses, but we haven't planted the kale, lettuce, and spinach we intend to overwinter in those spaces, so they're the perfect place to store large amounts of onions and squash. When I see trailers full of squash in the hoophouses that were full of zucchini plants just a few short months ago, and were full of little baby spinach plants nestled under protective layers of plastic a few months before that, I am reminded of the cyclical nature of the farm. Each season comes back around in its turn, and although we're starting to wind down now, it will be late spring again before we know it.
And with that in mind, it's time to start thinking about the 2023 CSA season! If you already know you want to sign up for next year's CSA, you can start doing so now! Here is the sign-up form for the 2023 CSA season! Like this year, it will be 19 weeks of delicious organic veggies at all the same drop-off locations! The only change is that the price will be going up a little bit. As we've all noticed, everything costs more these days, including all of our supplies and fuel we need to grow and distribute our crops. So we're going to need to increase the share costs just a little to offset the increase in expenses. Half shares will be going up from $330 to $340 next year, and full shares will be going up from $610 to $630. So a half share will set you back around 53 cents extra per week, and a full share will cost an extra $1.05 each week. Not so bad, now that I think of it. And anyone who signs up and puts down at least a partial payment before December 31st will lock in their 2023 share at the 2022 price. So if you know you want to sign up, you can do so any time! And if you still want to think about it, you have until the end of December to decide if you want to get the early bird discount, and then price goes up on January 1st. Just let me know if you have any questions about any of that! Thanks so much, and I'll see you all at the drop-off!
What to Expect in the Shares this Week
If you pick up at our Alma, Mt. Pleasant, or Midland drop-off, here are the options for your shares! If you have a half share, you’ll choose one item from each choice category, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two. And if there is something you don’t like or can’t eat, you can bring it to the trading station at the end and trade it for something you like better.
- Butternut squash
- Sweet potatoes or potatoes
- Brussels sprouts or lettuce
- Carrots or arugula
- Delicata squash or bag of onions
- Radishes, kale, cilantro, or microgreens
- Onion, bell pepper, or garlic
If you pick up at our Lansing, Okemos, St. Johns, Midland hospital, or Alma hospital drop-off, or if you have home or workplace delivery, here are your options! We have three different prepacked shares, and you can let me know which one you want by filling out this quick form by lunchtime the day before your drop-off. If you have a half share, you can choose one of these options, and if you have a full share, you’ll choose two.
Share A:
- Butternut squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Lettuce
- Carrots
- Bag of onions
- Kale
- 2 garlic
Share B:
- Butternut squash
- Sweet potatoes
- Brussels sprouts
- Carrots
- Delicata squash
- Radishes
- Onion
Share C:
- Butternut squash
- Potatoes
- Brussels sprouts
- Arugula
- Delicata squash
- Microgreens
- Bell pepper
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