This week is summer's swan song - it's the last week to gobble up most of the goodies that we've been enjoying for the last few weeks of summer. It'll be the last week to add-on peaches, the last week for cantaloupe, last week for watermelon, last week for eggplant, last week for sweet peppers. The door is closing on summer. But we're easing into fall and have lots of fall goodness coming your way.
ADD-ONS this week
- Peaches - last week! We have a few whole flats and lots of quarts available.
- BULK BEANS for canning- I've always said we would NEVER have these and yet, we finally have a planting that had good germination despite drought, has not had the deer eat it, and that the bean beetles haven't found and we. are. flush. There will be beans available by the half bushel. $25.00
- Heirloom Apples - Give these Maine Grown, Heirlooms a try with our first apples of the season! St. Lawrence apples are a northern New England original, and not grown a lot commercially. They are great for fresh eating and sauce, and are tart with hints of citrus.
- Bulk tomato seconds - last week! Tomatoes are winding down, and there won't be extras for long. If you still want to can/freeze now is the time. $27.00 for 1/2 bushel
Farm News This Week
Autumn and and Deep Winter Shares are still available! SIGN UP HERE
We've been fielding lots of questions about what is available in the winter shares, so we thought we would share some more information about what the shares are like and what they might include.
The Autumn Share, will have lots of the cross-over veggies - vegetables that are ready for harvest in the fall, but don't store super long. Leeks, broccoli, hardy fall greens, brussels sprouts, winter squash, and more, as well as healthy doses of storage crops like potatoes, parsnips and carrots. The Deep Winter Shares, will have the shorter storage items as long as they are available, then will have ol' reliables like carrots, beets, turnips, potatoes, parnsips, storage radishes and more. We'll be trying our hand at winter and very early spring greens this year, so there may be spinach and microgreens and peashoots to complement the winter storage veggies. In the winter, our biggest unknown is storage; weather extremes at harvest and during the winter are the risks we face while distributing winter veggies as they greatly affect how items store through the winter months. So just like the summer, we occasionally face crop failures and limitations in the winter too. Overall, it tends to be a more reliable time of year with less choice but more consistency. Lots of great veggies for soups, roasts, and winter salads reliably every 2 weeks. The winter share also includes locally produced preserved goods from our partner farms and producers such as jams, sauerkraut, pickles, grains, and more to spice up the shares.
And don't forget: all shares are customizable, so you can still adjust what you get to suit you family's needs.
Here's a little chart to give you a better idea of storage and availability.
Shares for both Autumn and Winter will be available until sold out!
We're about 1/2 way there on Autumn and have plenty left for Deep Winter!
What's up with all the beet greens? Well, let me tell you! When you eat the beet greens that have been in shares, you're helping us grow great beets for the winter and not waste the greens. Beets especially the bigger beets we need for good storage beets, often need to be thinned, to size up to the right size. When crops get too crowded they can mature too small or not at all. So sometimes, we have to thin, or intentionally pull out plants so that the remaining ones size up. Beets are especially tricky at more than one plant can germinate from one seed, so even when you are very precise with the seeder (and Eric is!) you can get more plants than you need. So we've been thinning the beets that are too dense and you've been eating the thinned plants rather than letting them go to waste! It's a very tasty and efficient way to eat your late summer greens!
