A little inspiration in otherwise depressing times- pictured above: Dahlias blooming in our storage container. No water since last Fall, barely any light, no soil... Life is surprisingly resilient :)
7 Weeks to go till the end of the 2020 CSA Season! Our season is noticeably winding down. It's just about too dark to work when we arrive in the morning and all the crops have started growing much more slowly with the shortened days. Many of the summer crops like cukes and tomatoes are either completely done or starting to wane. Rain has been predicted for next Weekend so we'll be pushing the daylight hours to get all the dry beans under cover this week.
From here on out we'll be offering Winter Squash in each box. Remember- they'll get sweeter as they sit and the starches continue to break down into sugars. Enjoy them as Fall decorations (they keep best in warm dry places, sunlight is ok) and eat them later ;) If you really want to store your squash for later, wipe them down with a bleach solution to kill any floating mold spores or bacteria that may be on the surface.
CURRENT APPLE AVAILABILITY:
Elstar Apples: This apple can be slightly russeted (has skin that can be rough in spots like a pear or russet potato). It's creamy white flesh has a balanced sweet/tart flavor with honey undertones and a mild acidity. Good for cooking. Makes a great applesauce. Flavor gets better after a few weeks in the fridge, so don't worry if you don't want to eat them right away.
Alkemene-Floral, lively, honeyed, mutation of Cox's Orange Pippin from Germany. Sooo sweet, but nice tartness as well. One of Mike's (my husband) favorite apples.
Arlet- Golden delicious & Idared cross. Intense complex flavor, sweet, spicy undertone. Aromatic, good for cooking
Grimes Golden- One of Mike's favorites. Very old variety that is most likely the parent of Golden Delicious. Very sweet, with nice tartness. Fabulous flavor, delicious baked, but gets quite soft.
Hudson's Gold Gem- One of the few remaining 100% Russeted apples. It has a rough skin reminiscent of a bosc pear. It also has a uniquely pear like texture. In fact if you were blindfolded you might think it was an asian pear. One of my top 5 favorite apples. Super sweet, crisp and juicy, floral... I'd have a 3rd of the orchard in this variety if it were just up to me ;)
Golden Delicious- Such a classic... but try it fresh off the tree and you likely won't even recognize this old standby. As our Apple Guru, Orin Martin of UCSC, says "Golden Delicious is neither golden nor delicious after 5 months in storage".
