Hi All - It's here, week #18 and the final week of the CSA season! We will likely continue to do some Farm Stand boxes for another few weeks, but it will be a far cry from the 70+ boxes that we have been packing during the main season. You know what that means, right? It's time to get into your Harvie profile to switch, swap and add to your liking. In addition to all of our regular crops, we have quite a few great add-ons and bulk items available as extras this week. We have the bread and bagels that you've all come to know and love from the Gracious Table, farm fresh eggs from the Miller Farm, delicious honey from McLaury Apiaries, and dahlia bunches from us at Hoot Owl. We've also got bulk quantities of several of our 'keeper' vegetables - 10# bags of our Kennebec and Adirondack Blue potatoes, 10# bags of red and yellow onions, and garlic by the pound (German Red - spicier or Porcelain - milder). A special add-on for this week only are 5# bags of apples. These apples are grown by Bonnie's folks and they're a nice green fresh eating apple (tho could also be used for pie or sauce), they're super sweet and a small size for a nice snack.
We're just now finishing up for the week and the farm is 'zeroed out' and ready for our busy week ahead - includes the final CSA and the Harvest Festival on Saturday. We're ready for some rest and relaxation in preparation for what's sure to be a demanding but rewarding week ahead. It'll be a big week of harvesting as well as fitting in some crop removal (goodbye cherry tomatoes - some of them) to make room for more fall-worthy crops (hello salad mix & spinach).
We had a nice visit today from an aspiring future farmer who helped us out with the final big winter squash harvest. It was nice to talk with someone who's passionate about farming and very excited to start out on her own. It was also good to be asked so many questions that we often don't really think about or reflect on...Why did you get into farming? What's the best and worst part of farming? What advice do you have for a beginning farmer? These types of questions are important because they force us to stop for a minute to be contemplative about what we do, which to be honest happens rather rarely during the actual farming season because we're usually too busy! It's also good to hear that Rudy and I both have lots of good advice to pass on and we're totally encouraging to someone wanting to get into this profession...kind of reassuring that we made a good decision when we went for this career change not that long ago!
We've had a wonderful season of growing and we hope you have enjoyed your season of eating Hoot Owl Farm produce! We'll remain in touch for a bit after the season ends (i.e. letting you know about Farm Stand, end of season surveys, fall updates), but we want to THANK YOU all for being such wonderful CSA members. Small scale farming is making a real resurgence around the entire world and it's because of committed and supportive community members like you guys making it possible!
Your Farmers, Bonnie & Rudy
