CSA Box #10!!! (please click on continue reading to see entire newsletter!)

Hello Members! Please click on Continue Reading to see whole newsletter with updates, recipes and info!

***NO BASIL!!! We have a bad disease that swept through and took it out. Oregano instead. Also EVERYONE is getting tomatoes because there seems to be some confusion about why a lot of people are not getting tomatoes who want them when we have so much inventory. We are working on this with harvie!

Well, summer is in full swing on the farm! Tomatoes, peppers, melons and sweet corn! It is a short and beautiful (and heavy) time of year. We are eating corn and tomatoes in every meal just because we can! At the same time the days are getting noticeably shorter and the mornings are cool. The onion harvest will start on Thursday and we will be curing them down for a couple weeks so they can dry and store through the winter.

Our Highland cows are settling in nicely to their new pastures and eating lots of grass and leaves! It has been a really long time in coming for us so we are very happy to see them all out there doing their thing. The pigs are rooting their paddocks up and growing every day, too! They love to quickly make a mud puddle from their waterer as soon as they are in a new paddock to cool down!

Please mark your calendars for our Annual Harvest Party Saturday, October 5th starting at 3pm

There will be pumpkin picking, bonfire, potluck, pig roast, farm wagon rides and more! I hope you and your family can make it out! More info to come

As always, here are a few things for you to remember about the CSA and the boxes:

If you ordered meat, PLEASE RETURN YOUR FOIL PACKS TO US!

PLEASE RETURN YOUR BOXES ASAP! WE ARE RUNNING OUT, WHICH MEANS FOLKS AREN'T RETURNING THEIR BOXES!

ALWAYS take the box with your name on it that is from BLACKBROOK FARM! If someone is picking your box up for you, please tell them to take the box with your name on it from BLACKBROOK FARM! This is very important.

IF you can't pick your box up on THURSDAY, please communicate with me about this so I can arrange for it to be kept at the dropsite instead of donated or used.

Please return your box either the same week (bring a bag to empty your veggies into) or the following time you pick up your box. Please collapse your box and neatly stack it or put it where the other boxes are.

If you are half share, your box is delivery every other week ( unless you have rearranged your schedule with Harvie). Please remember to check if this is your week or not. Full shares are delivery every week. When your box is delivered on Thursday, a delivery email is sent out. EVERY one at that dropsite gets that email, even if you do not get a box that week. So it is important for you to know which weeks you pick up. Please email me with questions. Here is information on how to access when and where to pick up your box

We also have 100% pastured Pork extras for SALE! If you order pork from us in your share we put it in a foil pack very frozen and deliver it to you in your box. It will either be partially frozen or very very cold when you receive it. We also have Pastured Pork Packages for sale that we home deliver to your door. This is a great way to load up on all the cuts of a hog and get your good healthy fats! You can find our sign up share for that on our website or our Harvie site under shares. Let us know if you have any questions! Raising animals is a large part of what we do at Blackbrook Farm! You can also buy Pork Shares from us and we do free home delivery! This is a one-time share that you can sign up for anytime, and the price a little reduced depending on the size of the share you choose.

This is what may be in your box this week: (we will update when this goes out again on Wednesday)

Tomatoes!!! There was some confusion that i am still not sure about where some people are do NOT have tomatoes on their label that want them. So I decided to just give everyone tomatoes to make sure those who wanted them got them. If you did not want them, just give them away or something. Lots of tomatoes coming out of the fields and hightunnels! Many more to come- so far its a good tomato year. Do NOT refrigerate!

Cherry Tomatoes- everyone also got these this week

Sweet Corn- Another 12 ears for you! So far our yields on these two pickings have beaten records! Maybe it is all that rain! Eat fresh, or slice off the cob and freeze- no need to blanch. We love corn in the winter, too!

Melon (watermelon or cantaloupe!)- 1 or 2. Our cantaloupe this year look amazing! Our watermelon are small and did not yield as well. Every year is very different for melons around here. Has so much to do with the weather and rain fall. you will get either a cantaloupe or a melon or if they are small, both or 2 of one.

Garlic- Fresh garlic! Not fully cured now so the outer skins are a bit thicker to get off than the garlic you will be used to. So tasty, crisp and full of flavor! Store on counter

Cabbage- Overall, not a good year for cabbage at all. We are experiencing black rot like we never have before. However, I THINK most people who have cabbage on their label will get cabbage! Red or Green.

Carrots- Our under cutter bar that we use to dig carrots broke while digging carrots and it broke a lot of the tips off. So, it is a little unsightly, but some of your carrots may be broken. Top them to keep the fresh longer and store in a container or plastic bag.

Oregano (NO basil)- We apoligze to everyone who was going to get basil. Our basil is experiencing something we think is Aster Yellow. It is a disease that pretty much makes the whole plant brown and dead. Its a big bummer as it just set in very quickly and it is the perfect time to year to have a caprese salad! So instead you got oregano, which can be hang dried or used fresh in sauces, pastas and more!

Parmesan, zucchini and Corn

Fennel- I know its not everyone favorite, but we like to saute it up with a marinara sauce or in a cheesy pasta dish. It is also great grilled and then put into dishes.

Creamy corn and Fennel Chowdah

Summer Squash- Still tuggin along nicely. A couple more weeks to go I think! And then on to winter squash...

Cucumbers

Broccoli- A very large harvest this week, and then we will see decline in broccoli until the next succession comes in.

Peppers, Bell- Mostly still green with a few yellow and purples in the mix.

Mexican Stuffed Bell Peppers (add corn!!!)

Cauliflower (some)- We hit a bit of a lull in cauliflower this week and some people might not get it who wanted it. We will try! It is impossible to predict a week ahead of schedule what our harvest of things like cauliflower will be in the field.

Eggplant (some)

We hope you have a great week!