Full Share: Sungold Tomatoes, Garlic, Potatoes, Onions, Acorn Squash….?

Partial Share: Sungold Tomatoes, Potatoes, Garlic, onions, Spaghetti squash….?

Hello CSA members!

Well, this is it! The final week of the 2022 CSA season! I can’t believe I”m even saying that. It’s been a hell of a season, but we made it, and good food was eaten by all! This time of year, as autumn settles in, I can’t help but feel a bit nostalgic. I also can’t help but channel my inner Wendell Berry, and reflect about the importance of being connected to a place, to engage in good (often hard) work, and to take care in our actions. No matter how hard the season, I often come back to the realization that taking care of the land, and growing healthy food for our community, is in my mind the most important task we can choose to do, or support, in our current times. As a culture, we have become so disconnected from the land, and the recognition of what it provides us materially and spiritually, and in return, how we care for it as an act of love and reciprocity, that Mr. Berry would suggest it’s the root of many of our problems. I tend to agree.

As far as the CSA goes, a lot of love, care and hard work was put in by the team here at Two Bear Farm for the past 5 months, and we owe them all a big thanks. I hope you all enjoyed the journey through the season, and hopefully it broadened your appreciation of local food. Maybe it was the first time you ate a fresh, vine-ripened tomato? Maybe you were challenged to try new things, or to cook more at home? Maybe you were surprised that so much can be grown in Montana, and it causes you to look more closely at all of the amazing food available from this landscape? And to come full circle to my first paragraph, maybe it helps ground you and connect you to the place we call home. To the land, and what it provides us. And maybe it encourages you to become more engaged in your relationship with your home place. A guy can hope, I suppose.

It’s been a joy to have you all join us on the journey of the 2022 growing season. Montana is an immensely beautiful place to live, and it can also be a fickle and harsh place to grow food. But as I hope you’ve witnessed, there is an amazing amount of abundance that can be coaxed from the soil with hard work, care, and passion. and in partnership with nature. And there is nothing like good food to bring community together. While it may not be commercially, or energetically, feasible for us to grow food during the winter months, there are many storage options available to allow you to continue to eat healthy Montana vegetables long into the winter. Your CSA share this week will get you started with a focus on storage-type veggies. And our Stock Up Sale is a great opportunity to celebrate the season while also accessing large quantities of storage crops. It will be held at the farm on Thursday, October 6th from 4pm until dark. We will once again be joined by our friends from Harlequin Farm in Ronan, who will be fire roasting their amazing organic peppers. I highly recommend buying a few bags or ten for the freezer this winter! We will also have Forage Catering here again in their food truck offering some farm to table fare for purchase.

And then of course, there is our beloved little market, The Farmers Stand, which will continue to source and carry as much regional good food as we can find during the winter months. Anything that we grow or have left this fall, after the Stock Up Sale, will be sold through The Farmers Stand, so maybe we’ll see you in there this winter?!

As for next season? Well, there is a lot to sort out on our side of things, but we will certainly keep you posted via Instagram and this newsletter on any changes that might occur.

Thank you again for your support, and we’ll see you at CSA pickup!

Todd