Share Notes Sept 29 & Oct 1, 2022

Share Notes Sept 29 & Oct 1, 2022

CSA Share Notes:

We’re back! The fall crops have been difficult to get established the past 4 weeks but it looks like we’re finally going to have some cooler weather which they -and we- will love. Our early plantings of spinach, carrots and beets burned up before they could get much of a start so we’ve plowed them under and begun another round for you. The hearty fall greens (chard, kale, and others) are doing great, but they’ll be happy for the cooler nights, too. Quick roots like radishes and turnips are going to be ready soon, and there’s still loads of our late summer crops doing great out there.

Some sad news: we decided to try a 1/4 acre of fall tomatoes for you this year.  Even in a good year we only get a harvest out of fall tomatoes before the first frost about half the time, so it was a bit of a gamble, anyhow. But immediately after we planted them and for 3 nights in a row a big group of hogs got into them, tearing up that nice soft patch of freshly tilled soil, and yanking out the baby tomato seedlings. After the first night, we spent the whole next day replanting them and putting up a fence. Which totally didn’t work.  The third night we communicated their unwelcome a bit more clearly (with our rifle) and they haven’t retuned. Sadly, that section of the garden was quite trashed so we won’t have fall tomatoes this season. Ya win some, ya lose some! Luckily we’ve kept them away from all the rest of the garden.

Thank you so much for partnering with us this growing season. Each week of the harvest will look a little different, with the first few harvests largely resembling summer shares, while the cool weather crops continue to mature.  Then those hot season crops will phase out throughout October and November, leaving all the hearty and leafy cold crops. We’re talking loads of roots, bunches of nutritious leafy greens, salad mixes, and more.  Hope you enjoy the season!

Here’s your vegetable line up:

  • Arugula — peppery and so delicious. We love a good arugula salad fixed up Greek style: kalamata olives, good feta, cucumber, peppers, tomato.
  • Spring Mix — This mixture of Asian greens is fantastic in a flavorful salad or can work for braising too. The many textures and colors make it super visually appealing.
  • Kale — For all the shares this week, Red Russian to the large and mini shares, curly Winterbor kale for the Regulars.
  • Chard — Large shares only, this tender leafy green is excellent braised, in a salad, or even roasted till crispy.
  • Cucumbers — Large and Regular shares this week. Crunchy and delish.
  • Pak Choi (or bok choy) — Plenty for everyone! This Chinese cabbage is fantastic in soups and stews, used in a slaw, tossed in a stir fry, a curry, or fried rice. It’s super versatile.
  • Onion — Some for everyone.  These are reaching the end of their storage life, so we’ll give out quite a lot of them until we use them all up.  You may notice a little black dusty mildew under the skin. It’s a specific onion mildew that is totally harmless and rinses off super easily.  Don’t fret! Just peel off the outer layer and the rest of your onion will be delicious.
  • Bell Peppers — Colorful and crisp, and just a sampling for the regular and large shares. We won’t have a ton of peppers this fall, but we’ve got a little to spread around till frost!
  • Italian Peppers — This is also a sweet pepper like bell peppers (meaning, it isn’t spicy like a jalapeno or poblano) and is great cut into rings for pizza or salad, or dipped into hummus. The regular shares get to try them this week.
  • Jalapenos— A few for everyone to give your food a little kick this week.
  • Okra — This mix of lovely colors are our three heirloom varieties of okra.  This crop craves super high heat.  Grill it, or roast in a hot oven. Eat them as soon as you can to make sure they’re fresh and tender. **They don’t stay very tender off the plant for more than 2 or 3 days** so if you wait longer than that to enjoy them, some of the larger pods will be woody, just discard those. Everything was very tender when picked and if eaten as fresh as possible will be tender for you, too.
  • Garlic — This is some of the best garlic we’ve grown! Enjoy a few nice bulbs from this year’s harvest.
  • Sweet Potatoes — These lovely taters are grown right down the road by our friend and neighbor Tony Philips. He’s a fantastic sweet potato farmer, and while he’s not organic, he uses minimal inputs and never sprays the post-harvest potatoes with anti-sprouting hormones (Which are some of the worst endocrine disrupting and thyroid harming chemicals we could ingest on our food. Buying organic potatoes and sweet potatoes whenever you can helps you avoid this. Or if you know your farmer, you can ask if they use these nasty chemicals!)

Veggie Storage tips:

All your various greens as well as you cucumbers, peppers, and okra and will keep longest stored in the fridge sealed up in produce bags or other airtight containers. Onions, potatoes, and garlic prefer a dry, room temperature spot, out of direct light.  Everything will need a thorough washing before cooking, but leave the dirt on until you’re ready to use them to prevent spoilage.

We’d love to hear stories and recipes of your culinary adventures this week. Send us a note or post a comment of how you’ve used your CSA share.

Your farmers, Jess & Justin

Regular

 Regular Share top left to right: Spring Mix, bagged curly kale, arugula (2nd row) cucumber, garlic, jalapenos, bell pepper, onions, and Italian pepper (bottom row) Pak Choi, okra, and sweet potatoes

Large

 Large Share  top left to right: pak choi, garlic, jalapenos, and sweet potatoes (2nd row) onions, bell peppers, cucumbers (3rd row) chard, spring mix, okra, arugula, and Red Russian Kale.

Mini

 Mini share top left to right: Spring mix, pac choi, arugula, (bottom row) Red Russian Kale, sweet potatoes, onion, garlic, jalapenos, and okra