Farm Happenings for October 12, 2018

Hello Friends, This is the last week of the main 20-week season and it has been a wild and sometimes brutal lesson in the great gamble that farming can be.  I enjoy taking the CSA members on interesting culinary experiences and this year was one that created one opportunity after another for you to experience the farm on another level.  In case you hadn’t figured it out, when I have to resort to something like watercress as an item in your box then things probably aren’t going as planned.  On the flip side of that, the watercress has turned out to be a hit both with members and our customers at the farmer’s market. We sold almost one hundred bags of it 2 weeks ago in Mt. Pleasant.  Now people are asking for it.  I guess it’s better than the alternative, wild bulls nettle and dandelion greens…  : | This week I am listing “Assorted Bunched Greens”, because growth rates are still slow in the field. This could mean that it’s kale, mizuna, rapini or mustards.The radishes will be baby Korean style daikons.  They taste amazing and the large greens are high quality and can be steamed or braised.Remember that the sweet potatoes are freshly dug again this week, so either use them soon (within a couple of weeks) or cure them yourself.  To cure them here we put them in a warm room at about 90 degrees and high humidity with fans to circulate the air so avoid mold. This is a great time of year for me personally at the farm.  Not only can I get back into projects that have been put on hold since spring, like greenhouse update, painting the well house and field prep for next season.  But it also means that I can spend more time with my wife and kids and keep up my cardio routine with either mountain biking or my new-found love of grappling at the Jujitsu gym down the road. Please stay in touch and if you’re local then be sure to make the farm store part of your food shopping routine.  The store is open all year, 7 days a week except for a few holidays, like Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years day.  Each year we add items to the store and I stock the basics like fresh milk, eggs, greens, beets, onions, potatoes, fruit from Peters Orchards, etc..I plan to add coffee from Little Amps, as well as local bread and cheese.  The long-term plan for the store is to move it into the barn and make it our main source of income.  If you are signed up for the fall CSA, then I’ll see you next week. And if you are finished with the CSA this week, then remember that you can still take advantage of fresh local foods right before Thanksgiving.  I will be taking orders for turkeys, chicken, duck and pork cuts. These can be either picked up at the farm on Monday Nov 19 and I will be delivering to the DC metro area on Tuesday Nov 20. Thanks and I hope to hear from you soon. Farmer Mike