Week 15 CSA Newsletter

Tonight the low on the farm is predicted to get down to 39 degrees. I guess this season-changing thing is really happening. Other than the basil (which we harvested a ton of today), this chill shouldn’t harm much, but is sure feels like a shot across the bow. Less direct reminders have been coming from all sides this week, as cooler temps and shorter daylight hours have slowed down growth and production, and the well water is numbing rather than refreshing when we’re washing veggies off.

It’s getting into that time of season when we start harvesting things to salvage them from the cold, deciding what to let the cold finish off and what to cover at nights to keep alive just a little bit longer.

We tore the field tomato plants all down this week – although many still had fruits in various stages of ripeness, the plants were mostly bare of leaves, and this seemed to make for increasingly bland flavor. (Fortunately, the high tunnel tomatoes are faring better and still producing, although even there blight is popping up and starting to spread.)

Even as the days darken and the temperatures dip, the Farm will continue to produce – we have planted plenty of cold-hardy plants to carry us through these last few weeks of the season and beyond … for now, there’s all this:

Box 15:

Celeriac – We cut off the greens so it would fit into your boxes. All of it is edible, although often the stems are used for flavoring soup broth, since they’re sorta chewy. Slicing them up finely avoids that problem though, if you’d like to include them in a dish. The bulbs are often used in soups and stews, as well as salads. It can be eaten fresh or cooked, Google around and find a recipe that sounds interesting!

Watermelon Radish – This is our first year growing these interesting radishes; we ate one last night, sliced up and raw. Findings: the thick skin is extremely spicy, while the pink interior is totally mild – it would make a nice salad topping, or sliced up and dipped in hummus or dressing, with or without the skin as your tastebuds prefer.
Leeks
Tomatoes