Well, last week dealt us the morning of truth. It got down to 26 degrees. The day before, our crew spent hours covering rows of plants with row cover - long pieces of lightweight agricultural "blankets" that keep some of the cold off the plants. However, we can't cover everything and there are too many variables to know each year how the cold will impact the plants. How warm or cold it was recently is a significant variable. Plants change their internal composition in response to gradually lowering temperatures in order to survive freezing temperatures. However, if a freeze happens after a very warm spell, the plants won't have prepared themselves. The recent high temps therefore made it harder for the plants to fare well in 26 degrees. But onward toward Winter we march!
REMINDER: this year's final Farm Shares are Nov 18th. For every-other-week members, you may finish THIS WEEK.
Even though our Farm Share ends Nov 18, we keep growing through most of the winter. Quantity and diversity goes way down, so we don't offer shares, but we bring vegetables to the Farmers' Market @ St. Stephens for most of the winter (though likely not all of January), we sell vegetables through Good Foods Grocery and Ellwood Thompson's whenever we can, and we keep our self-serve FarmStand here at our farm stocked as much as we can. Winter harvests can be unpredictable and sporadic - with feast and famine moments. Follow along on Facebook and/or Instagram to see harvest updates.
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Let's talk Green Tomatoes!
A surprising way to enjoy green tomatoes is in a pie. It admittedly takes a good amount of sugar, but once prepared it tastes shockingly like Apple Pie. Give it a try! Green Tomato Pie by Taste of Home.
Butternut Squash: We have them available, Certified Organic, from Commonwealth Seed Company here in nearby Louisa County. They grow in the fields at the Twin Oaks Community (of the best tofu in the world!) We roast these, make squash chips, make squash fries, and make pie with them instead of actual pumpkins. Enjoy!
Meanwhile our greens are still cranking. Enjoy making salads with our delicious lettuces! And we've got roots for you as well.
Bread Share members: You just get a SEPARATE email to customize your bread share a few moments ago.
To Customize Your Share:
Each time you are scheduled to have a share, you'll receive an email from us 2 days prior. It should have subject line "Time to Customize Your Share." The software will create a default share for you (based on your indicated preferences and what we have available to harvest) and list those default contents in the email. The email also contains a link saying "Want to make changes to your share or add extras?" Click on that link to customize your share! Customization ends between at 6am on the day before your pick up day.
For Pick Up:
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (eggs, fermented vegetables, etc...See below for more info.)
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are in your email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.
EGGS: Ring-a-Bell Farm in Pamplin offers their eggs for sale through us. Their chickens live on pasture and are fed supplemental non-gmo feed from Sunrise Farms. Their eggs are fabulous and we trust their farming practices completely. You can purchase their eggs in our self-serve FarmStand at our farm and you can order them through the Harvie system "Extras" when you customize your share.
We so deeply appreciate the opportunity to farm for you. Thank you for being the most important part of our farm! We love you!
With blessings on your meals ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Siera, Leah, Erica, Alisa, Jen, Austin, Clara, and the farm kids)
