Full Share: Lower Salmon River squash, Burgess Buttercup squash, Delicata squash, acorn squash, yellow onions, russet potatoes, sunchokes, carrots, garlic, and hakurei turnips
Half Share: Same, minus the acorn and delicata squash.
Hello CSA Members!
It’s hard to believe, but this week concludes the 2014 CSA season. Always a bit bittersweet in many ways. It’s was a very challenging year for us from a purely farming standpoint, given the new location, the poor drainage, and the ravenous insects. But in the end, it was a very productive and satisfying season as well. Hopefully, you all enjoyed being part of the journey and enjoyed your CSA shares, whether you were a seasoned veteran or trying CSA for the first time. More than anything, we hope you’ve enjoyed the journey through a Montana growing season. Over the past 20 weeks, you’ve witnessed first hand what this land can produce and what it means to eat seasonally. We applaud you for making that effort, and we thank you for investing in our farm and the local food movement.
So, this week is a big share, as it combines week 20 and 21 (i.e. you may not want to ride you bike to pick this one up). There is an ample serving of winter squash, all of which will keep for a long time at room temperature (i.e. as decorations until eaten). The most common method for preparing winter squash is to split them in half and roast them. Some folks then like to puree them into soup, other like to add maple syrup as they roast and enjoy them straight out of the skin, some even use them to stuff ravioli or enchiladas. Of all the winter squash, the delicata (yellow and green stripe) is the easiest to prepare because you can eat the skin and it generally takes less time to cook. In addition to the squash, you will find russet potatoes, carrots, hakurei turnips that survived the freeze, garlic, onions, and some of Rebecca’s sunchokes (aka jerusalem artichokes) she is sharing this year. The artichokes can be cooked much like a potato, or eaten raw or lightly stir fried.
One housekeeping note…The time frame for placing special orders for extras for Whitefish is closed as of tonight (Monday), but if you are from Glacier, Eureka, On Farm, or Kalispell, you have until Tuesday night to place your orders. If we have any carrots left after this week, we will let you all know in case you need a resupply sometime this fall.
On that note, all of us here at Two Bear Farm would like to thank you again for all your support. If you are interested in signing up again next year, we typically open up enrollment on the first of the year (and will send out a notice on this blog). And since I’m on the topic of “signing up”, I will conclude with a non-agrarian act of community service to end the season, which is to remind any of you who are interested in a season ski pass to Whitefish Mountain Resort to sign up before tomorrow or miss out on the steep discount. For any of you who I just saved $300 with that tidbit of info, you now have that downpayment for next year’s CSA 🙂
Thanks again, and we’ll see you all at CSA distribution!
