CSA Newsletter for Week 17 of the 2023 Season

 Farm Update

Here are all the veggies unloaded from the truck
and ready to start getting set up on the tables for 
our Mt. Pleasant CSA drop-off on Tuesday.

Hi everyone! Hope you're all doing well!  The weather has definitely shifted at the farm, and we are fully into fall now.  The colder, wetter weather and the fact that it stays dark at lot longer into the morning have definitely made working out there a lot harder.  Fortunately, we are almost done with all of our large harvests; we finished harvesting the rest of our squashes this week, and we are almost done bringing in the sweet potatoes as well.  Once those major harvests of literal tons of storage vegetables are in, our workload decreases quite a bit.  That is fortuitous indeed, because that's right around the time the weather becomes decidedly uncooperative.  Working in the fields in June and July is one of the best, most joyful types of work, even though the hours are long and the pace is relentless, because we get to be out in the warmth and the sunshine, with the breeze and the sounds of nature around us.  Working out there in October, although the pace has slowed down and we don't have enough daylight to put in the kind of hours we worked in June, feels like much more of a slog.  Often, we're harvesting in a chilly rain with fingers that are a little bit numb from cold, battling to keep all of our freshly harvested greens out of the mud.  It's a much different type of work than it was during the summer, and we really relish the opportunity to come in for lunch, change into dry clothes, and eat something warm.  We also appreciate working in the coldframes a lot more this time of year, because it's warmer and dryer than it is outside.  We harvested the last of the tomatoes last week, and we're currently taking out all of our tomato vines from the coldframes so we can use that space to plant green garlic and leafy greens for overwintering.  When we pull out the tomato vines, it's an annual milestone that signals that the farm is getting ready to go to sleep for the winter and the season is almost done.  

Fortunately, even though the tomatoes are officially over, we are headed into one of my fall favorites, brussels sprouts!  Nothing says autumn like a plate full of brussels sprouts, sweet potatoes, and hearty winter spinach, and I am looking forward to the first brussels sprouts of the year for dinner tonight.  I have also been loving our radishes lately!  We've been eating a lot of simple salads with radishes sliced really thin on top, and I love the peppery flavor and pretty color they bring to every dish.  Most people go crazy for pumpkin spice everything when the weather turns colder, but to me, these are the real flavors of fall.

And as a reminder, sign-ups for the 2024 season are officially open!  If you already know you want to sign up for next year, you can do so starting now!  Just fill out this form, and I'll put you on next year's membership list!  For anyone who signs up and puts down at least a partial payment before December 31, you lock in this year's price of $340 for a half share or $630 for a full share at one of our regular drop-offs, and after the new year, the price will go up to $345 for a half share or $640 for a full share.  (Just add $95 to that if you're signing up for home or workplace delivery.)  Just let me know if you have any questions about any of that!

And here we go into week 17 of the CSA! 

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. 
 

• Spinach or spring mix
• Small or medium squash
• Potatoes or leeks
• Carrots, butternut squash, or Brussels sprouts
• Sweet potatoes or arugula
• Onion, green pepper, or 3 serrano peppers
• Radishes, kale, or cilantro

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:

• Spinach
• Honeynut squash
• Leeks
• Butternut squash
• Arugula
• Green pepper
• Radishes

Share B:

• Spring mix
• Honeynut squash
• Potatoes
• Brussels sprouts
• Sweet potatoes
• Onion
• Radishes

Share C:

• Spinach
• Carnival squash
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Sweet potatoes
• Green pepper
• Cilantro

Recipes

I am really appreciating radishes lately.  I love their peppery kick in my salads, but they are also really great cooked.  So if your kids won't eat them because they're "too spicy" (this is an oft repeated refrain in my house as well), there are a lot of really great ways to prepare them that bring out their natural sweetness and cook out the peppery flavor.  Check out these Garlic Roasted Radishes, and turn radishes into a delicious, warm comfort food!  Perfect with dinner on a chilly evening!