We made it to week twenty! It’s a bit of a marathon physically as your farmer working through the season from march to October with just a handful of days off so i’m looking forward to the slowdown to reorganize and rebuild and take some time to heal the body. I’ll be packing the last boxes as full as possible for everyone and I hope everyone has found value, health, and energy in receiving and eating the fresh veggies all season. If we could keep growing with the decreased light and temps we would but it just doesn’t work so well so now its the time of year to clean up all the fields. It will take a good month just to wrap things up here by cleaning up the fields and getting our garlic planted for next year, and to finish drying and shucking our hemp crop. After that it’s time to prepare the plan for the 2021 CSA season including our crop rotations, seed stock, taxes, organic certification, and many other exciting piles of paperwork 🙂 By March 1st we start back up seeding crops like onions so we really only have a 3 month transition period between seasons to handle organization and projects. I’m hoping another greenhouse grant is on the horizon next year and i’ll be doing some tree removal work to prepare for expansion over the off season too and looking into plans for building a pack shed which would give us better handling facilities and also better ergonomics and less lifting if we get a slab of cement to work on in an enclosed barn. The walk in cooler I have had the last 14 years is really wearing also and I hope that a new cooler at floor level on a cement slab will be in the future here and make our work less heavy and more efficient. Sign up for next season is now open on the website so I can take sign ups any time from now until spring. We did sell out this year before the start and most people like to sign up in spring but I do encourage everyone to do it as soon as they can as I’m expecting an earlier sell out date for next year. I will also send out email reminders this winter and spring as we get closer to the start date. This week I have some more good fall crops for you all so here is the rundown on the crop list for our final week in week #20!
Acorn Squash: These golden fleshed squash are best baked and i cook them face down around 375 for 30-45 minutes or until you can put a fork through them. Maple syrup and butter are my favorite on winter squash.
Sweet Onion: These extra sweet onions are good raw or cooked and will also store at room temp easily up to two months
Red Radish: Our red radishes are crisper and spicier then the french breakfast radishes.
French Breakfast Radish: These are softer and not as hot as the red radishes. radish tops are edible if you saute them and similar to arugula.
Curly Kale: One of our staples of the CSA season curly kale is good for salads and sautéing.
Cherry Tomatoes: Still going right through the frost in our newer greenhouse, these cherry tomatoes are the tastiest varieties we’ve found over the years.
Green Pepper: All our pepper plants will be harvested before frost Sunday night as we hustle to bring in all the peppers we can gather so there should be a lot to distribute this final week.
Ají Rico Pepper: These red elongated chili peppers are mild and not too spicy. I like them with tomatoes for fresh pico but they are good cooked too with a nice fruity flavor and less heat than a jalapeño.
Habanero Pepper: These deep orange to red fruits are fruity and plenty hot, do be careful working with these as the oils can get on fingers cutting boards, when you go to make sauce etc. They can be good in jams, salsa, and pickling too.
Pea shoots: Our most grown and popular microgreen pea shoots was where micro greens started for us and this batch is pretty tasty.
Green Cabbage: These green cabbages will hold well in the humid crisper if you have not used your other ones yet. Home made saurkraut is a fun project you can do with just a glass salad bowl, salt, and a few canning jars. I use a whole cabbage sautéed with onion to serve with rice and your favorite protein for a delicious stir fry.
Thats all our crops for week twenty! Thank you again to everyone for being a part of the CSA season and I hope to see you all back for a lot more farm fresh organic vegetables next year! -Kyle and Family
