Good morning everyone! We are in Week 15 of 20 for our 2021 CSA, and we certainly feel the coming of Fall! The light has changed in the garden, bringing more shadows and new tints to our vegetables! Pollinators are out in force, as well as the last fervent efforts of wasps in the warmth of the day. Last year, we were lamenting the arrival of the wasp activity, trying to make sure we did not get stung while harvesting or otherwise working in the garden. Over the winter, while studying additional regenerative farming efforts in the lines of pest control, I discovered that wasps eat aphids! I was 54 years old when I learned this important contribution of wasps! I constantly amazed at nature I continue to learn regenerative farming principles and techniques.
Our pumpkins have not yet started to turn, in fact we are hoping for continued warm fall weather to finish out all the fall squashes. Look for these in our last 3 or so weeks of the season. Also coming in those weeks will be leeks, potatoes, and hopefully brussel sprouts! This year we are growing rubine brussel sprouts, purple in tint, beautiful in the garden, and one of the last veggies to finish for the season. A great addition to a fall meal.
This week we will begin getting our Gold Ball turnips out, with 1/2 of the shares receiving bunches. These are 3" in size, gold in color, and delicious. We do have some blemishes on the surface of the root that was in the ground from a fly larvae, but when I cut samples open, they only marred the outside surface. Just use a vegetable peeler to remove this outside surface, and the rest of the turnip is delicious and in prime form! The other 1/2 of membership will receive theirs either next week, or the week after, giving the smaller ones time to finish growing.
Cabbage season is upon us! Many have received their first cabbage already, and everyone gets one this week! Cabbage stores for a long time-- months-- in your fridge in a plastic bag. Veggie drawer is best. As we have been harvesting these long awaited beauties, Stephanie, Evan and I have been talking cabbage recipes! Slaws of all sorts, with apple is my favorite, wraps, egg rolls, sauerkraut... so many options.
Speaking of cabbage, we are growing a late season cabbage called fidlerkraut. The seed is from Uprising Seed in Bellingham. It is an heirloom cabbage, from Germany, historically grown for sauerkraut. It is can be VERY large, and some of ours definitely are. Some can be as large as 10 pounds. It is an Ark of Taste Heirloom, and cone shaped. Tradition says it was the preferred cabbage dating back to the 17th century, but with the development of mechanized harvesting in the 20th century, the cone shape fell out of favor. We love this cabbage! Because of its potential size, we will only give you this cabbage if you would like it. Understandably, not everyone is this much of a cabbage lover, nor can store these beauties. They can be cut in 1/2 or more for storage to help you get it in your fridge. :). If you decide this is too much cabbage for you, fear not, we have yet another cabbage variety for you once this week's cabbage has been distributed.
I am going to send out a survey that will collect your responses to the fidlerkraut offer. If you respond that you would like one, we will begin getting them out as they ripen. We have 3 or 4 ready now, so we will start distributing them to those who would like one next week. Many are not ready, so if you respond yes, yours could be coming in any one of the remaining weeks.
I don't think we can say enough how much we appreciate you and your support! My whole family and staff feel the community being built through our vegetable connections, and speaking for myself, this lifts me up and carries me through worldly "interruptions" of the day. We hope you may be feeling this same sense of community. It is definitely part of our mission in providing good food for our community!
Finally, Stephanie is adding some herbs of the season to her extra offerings this week! Lemon balm, thyme and peppermint in addition to the holy basil, calendula and sage. Look for them in your extras offerings.
Take care, have a wonderful week. If you ever have any issues with your veggies, we would like to know. It helps us farm better, knowing something we may have missed in selecting veggies for your shares.
Claudia, Jim, Madeline, Emily, Stephanie and Evan
