We are halfway through the Winter CSA! Does that mean we are halfway through winter? I have no idea, and I can't decide if I am wishing for more snow or dreaming of spring-y days. Mostly I just want to sleep and nordic ski more, so I guess I'm still team winter, but I am NOT into these arctic blasts AT ALL.
Although we've past the darkest days around the solstice, in some ways these deep winter days are the "darkest" on the farm, at least in terms of greens and the high tunnels. The days are still short enough that many of our greens have not started re-growing yet after being picked AND the days are still cold enough that we are often searching the forecast the week of deliveries for the right window to harvest and meticulously trying to plan so that the we have the time we need to harvest and wash before we ship out shares. This week you'll notice that greens are a little lighter than usual - this is for 3 reasons: 1) We are definitely getting into the lighter season as we've harvested a lot and are still waiting for longer days for thigs like spinach and kale to regrow 2) The bitter bitter cold of the last week and this weekend has put a dent in our supply - it's not terrible, but we did have some losses 3) The bitter cold and coming nor'easter this weekend and early next week really have shortened the window we have to harvest. All the greens we eat freeze and thaw nearly every night and day, but if the sun doesn't come out or the temps stay super low, the greens never thaw and we cannot harvest them. And so, we wait. This doesn't happen often, but we're seeing it this coming week.
The good news is days start getting long enough to get plants to regrow (10+ hours of daylight) at the beginning of February (behold here one of my favorite websites: https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/@4959024) AND we'll start having micro greens from Morning Dew Farm in the NEXT delivery, which we are excited about - they are awesome.
Get excited about Awesome ORGANIC Apples! - Organic fruit can be harder to source locally - there are a number of reasons for this, the biggest being that much of the fruit grown in Maine is from perennial plantings, orchards, bramble patches etc, and when produce is a perennial and it comes back in the same spot each year it can be much more susceptible to pests and disease. This is because you can't move the planting to fresh ground or away from an infestation, also in large spaces like orchards, exclusionary methods like row cover are nearly impossible. This makes targeted, responsible sprays more critical for a harvest.
All this to say, while we always try to source organic fruit for our customers, it can be challenging, sometimes nearly impossible. Anyway - we found some! Organic apples - hurrah! These will not stick around, but we have them available in 2 sizes if you want to stock up! Certified organic Jonah Gold Apple from Ricker Hill Orchard: 3# bag for $6.50 10# bag for $20.00 ENJOY
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