Dear Members and Friends,
Only 2 weeks left of our CSA.
As a farmer I am subject to the laws of Mother Nature. It is part of the beauty of what I do. When I am around other farmers I hear them constantly complain about the weather. I know in other circles it is a conversation piece. I do try to limit my complaining about the weather. I had a fellow farmer ask me “ So what do you think God is teaching us with this weather?” My response was “patience and gratitude.”
I often think we are so blessed compared to other parts of the world. How could we complain? And most of the time I can honestly say I have seen worse.
However, now that I have a bit of time to reflect on how the season went, I can see a constant struggle.
We went from an unusually wet spring to sudden hot and dry conditions to sudden wet and cool conditions. Yes, we plant a variety of crops to make up for the variances in weather. But, this year tested all the boundaries. And not to mention we had a major employee quit mid season.
In the end I am proud of what we have produced so far.
Something that most people fail to realize is that in farming you see the results of bad weather 2-3 weeks after the weather has passed. The problem with this is that the customer has forgotten that the weather extreme ever occurred. So for the past month and a half of straight rain we will see the effects in the last 2 weeks of our CSA harvest and the end of our market season.
And now we see why a CSA is really important. While you still had produce in your boxes, you did not have the abundance I would have hoped for. You still would have had the same 4 or 8 item boxes but I would have liked to offer more in the extras selections. The truth is we were mostly just squeezing out what we gave you.
But, because of the CSA we will not fail as a farm. Because of our CSA members we will be able to dust off our boots call it an end of season and prepare for next year. We will pray for better weather in 2012 but we will thank God for what we get.
So once again I thank you members for standing by us and supporting us in a tough journey.
Do you have any CSA boxes? I would love to have them back. So in the next two weeks check your trunks, garages and basements. The boxed cost $1.80 a piece. Every little bit counts.
I will be taking Saturday October 22nd off. So, no member work hours that day. However, I will be available 9 am till 4 pm on Saturday the 29th if anyone would like to work off his or her hours on that day.
For this week I will give you some meal suggestions with our veggies currently in season:
· Butternut Squash and leek sauce with sautéed mushrooms over oven roasted chicken. Served with steamed broccoli.
· Crust less quiche with shitake mushrooms and beet greens. Served with roasted beets.
· Butternut Squash casserole- brown rice, squash, apples, onions, garlic, kale.
· Tempeh burgers or grilled steaks with grilled sweet potato and cabbage salad.
Enjoy!
This week's harvest;
Full share: (you may receive any of these items)
- White potatoes 2 lb
- Lettuce- 2-3 heads
- salad mix 1/2 lb
- Beets 1.5 lb
- Carrots 1.5 lb
- Mixed colors and shapes of sweet peppers 1.5 lb
- Eggplant (small purple, green, large purple or orange) 1.5 lb - limited quantities
- You may receive 2 orders of greens - 3/4 lb of kale or collard greens or mustard greens mix or baby pac choi
- Winter Squash- Butternut. 1 fruit.
- Cabbage 1 head - this could be green or savoy
- leek 1#
- Daikon Radishes
- Broccoli - 1 lb - probably can't fulfill double orders
- Celeriac (celery root) - 1 root
- Sweet Potatoes - 2 lb - we are buying in these potatoes from a local organic farm. Only one order per share.
- Radicchio- tall or round. 2 heads per order.
Half Share:
- Any 4 of the above full share items.
Extra Items: (these do not count as an item) - Please let me know the quantity you would like. Most of these are limited quantities. Will be given on a first come first serve basis.
- Hot peppers - 6 peppers – we have tons so order more.
- Flowers- freshly cut- limited quantities.
- Beets 1.5 lb
- Aji Dulce Peppers- ½ lb. These are also known as Caribbean Seasoning Peppers. They look; taste and smell like a hot pepper but have no heat. They are excellent for seasoning.
- Italian Parsley- 1/8 lb
- Garlic Chives - 1/8 lb
Thank you and have a great week,
Erica
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