Full Share: Salad mix, Acorn squash, Yukon Gem potatoes, Bi-color sweet corn, Brussel Sprouts, Shishito Peppers, Green Peppers, Sweet Onions, Cucumbers, Sungold and Slicer Tomatoes, Parsley, and Carrots.
Partial Shares: Head lettuce, Acorn Squash, Yukon Gem potatoes, Bi-color sweet corn, Shishito peppers, Brussel Sprouts, Sweet Onions, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, and Carrots
Hello CSA members!
It’s that time of year when there is simply too much work to get done on the farm. The harvest is huge, and more and more storage crops need to come in, and the days are getting shorter. (Oh thank goodness, the days are getting shorter). The onions are laying over, the winter squash is ready, the potatoes are dying back, and the carrots are getting too big. There are not enough hours in the week to get all the normal harvest done, pack all the CSA shares, and attend all the markets. Well, at least it doesn’t feel that way, but we manage to get it done every year.
To be a proper farmer, one must excel at overextending oneself. It sets the stage for the ying and the yang of farming. Come up with too many ideas that make life difficult, then find ways to fix and improve them, then come up with new ways to make life difficult. Take for instance this week. After 9 years of digging potatoes basically by hand, I finally gave up and purchased a PTO driven potato digger that helps separate the potatoes from the dirt. Major improvement (I’ll try to get some video for next week) But then, I come up with the grand idea this spring that I will use some of our border land to grow oats that can be harvested for cover crop seed for next year. Well, guess when they are ready….Now. So, on top of all the rest of the harvest, today I went to the local college, figured out how to load the awkward plot combine on a trailer, and then brought it back to the farm to harvest 5 foot swaths of oats on a 3 acre field. Probably not the most efficient decision. But learning new things every day is fun, and why buy seed when you can borrow some crazy piece of equipment and learn how it works, how to trouble shoot it, and put more of the land to use?
The Hege plot combine…so many belts it makes my head spin. Did I mention it was powered by a VW bus motor?
Harvesting oats….
There are a lot of things I love about farming, and one of them is that it is always interesting. There are always new things to learn and experiment with, and the freedom to do so.
Did I mention we had our first mild frost of the season last week? Yep, 32 degrees and ice on the windshield. So, that means the last frost of the spring was June 17th, and the first frost of the fall was August 25th….which pencils out to about 69 frost free days of summer. Just thought I’d mention it…everything that needed to be protected was, so no real damage was done. More importantly, it’s Week #17 of CSA, which means there are only 4 weeks left (including this week) and there is so much food!
This week you are getting brussel sprouts! And how can you not love a brussel sprout recipe that uses a cast iron pan and garlic. And Acorn Squash! So many options for this squash. The standard is split in half and roasted with brown sugar or maple syrup, but check out some of these other options! Personally, I think #2, #4, #9, #12, #15, #17 (who doesn’t love pizza?!), and #20 all look delicious. And more Sweet Corn. And Shishito peppers are back. Like last week, there is lots of variety…and no summer squash!
It’s a fabulous time of year as summer and fall do their dance, and the vegetables are diverse and plentiful! See you at CSA distribution!
Todd and Two Bear Farm Crew
