Week 16 CSA Newsletter

The windows and screen doors on the Farm remain open throughout the nights, which means it’s still some kind of summer, or at least not into true autumn yet.

preparing a hot bath for a cool night
preparing a hot bath for a cool night

The very first hints of change are showing in the tree canopy that borders our field now and the hens are laying less eggs, as the Sun’s arc overhead grows shorter and more oblique.

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Another clear sign of the season is where Kristin has been spending her hours – less and less in the Field, as she transforms into a mad scientist, surrounded by steaming and bubbling vessels, working the magical alchemy of food preservation.

 

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This happens every year around this time, but this cycle is more intense than others. Normally, we can food primarily for ourselves – this helps sustain us throughout our winter travels, and into the early spring, as we work to get things started in a field where nothing is yet producing. This year, we’re canning a greater variety and a greater amount, as we gear up to try selling some of our canned goods for the first time.

 

a variety of a previous year's canned bounty
a variety of a previous year’s canned bounty

 

We’ll bring the first batch to our farm stand this Saturday, as part of the annual “River Road Ramble,” which loops right through our neighborhood – check out the event details and map here, if you’re interested in checking it out and saying hello!

we had to add defenses to keep Ace out of the tadpole pond
we had to add defenses to keep Ace out of the tadpole pond

 

Week 16 Box:

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  • Salad mix – Red & green lettuce, green and red mizuna, red mustard greens, arugula, pea tips
  • Winter squash – Each box has one of the most-ready of our winter squash arsenal – a Pie Pumpkin, Butternut, Buttercup, Hubbard, or Red Kuri squash. Future boxes will contain more sweet & mature specimens great for eating straight – this week’s squash, while certainly delicious on its own, could also be used well in a squash soup or a pie!
  • Onions
  • Beets – if you don’t love beets, you’re doing it wrong. Try again.
  • Cucumbers – the field cukes are mostly nuked, but in the high tunnel the late season plants are looking pretty pleased with themselves.
  • Sweet Peppers
the glory of watermelon radish
the power and glory of watermelon radish
  • Radishes – Watermelon, Black Spanish Round, and/or Daikon
  • Bok choi – This is the nicest Bok Choi we’ve ever managed to grow! Crunchy stalks and tasty mild leaves, delicious even raw – or perhaps separate the stems from the leaves, stir fry the stems and then at the end, after turning off the heat, quickly toss and wilt the leaves a bit. “The ‘butteryest’ green there is,” says Kristin.
  • Sage – Good with meatloaf, squash soup, or on its own, fried or used as a garnish.
  • Tomato – As warned, the tomatoes have slowed with the season’s shift. Enjoy some of the final salutations from these beautiful creatures as their thoughts turn from production to reincarnation.

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Ace enjoyed sunflower removal
Ace enjoyed sunflower removal
Autumn Asparagus! I thought this was only a Spring Thing ... huh
Autumn Asparagus! I thought this was only a Spring Thing … huh
Chefs came to visit and see where the food they've been using came from
Chefs came to visit and see where the food they’ve been using came from

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the most massive sunflower I've ever seen!
the most massive sunflower I’ve ever seen, with Graaace for scale

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