View from the Tractor
Milestones have been popping up all around this week, including reaching the ¾ point in the season, a fall-like weekend of weather, onion processing, ripening of red bell peppers and water fading away.
The weather has been intense for farmers and their crops. A week of 100° temps in the field made us all wilt, but today we have enjoyed a great reprieve and have gained a spring in our step as the cooler temps greeted us. The long summer is allowing for some of my favorite peppers to ripen. This week you will see beautiful red bells and incredible sweet Italian peppers in the share. In our house, it is time to make sweet chili jam and start preserving the amazing flavors of our peppers for the winter ahead. Hopefully we will see the overlap of summer and fall food for weeks to come.
Now that we are harvesting so much each day-- from lettuce to peppers to cabbages and so much more-- I have created the CSA to represent all that we grow. I have also added in larger quantities so there is plenty of capacity for swaps and add-ons. Every farming season has highs and lows in production, and we are surely at a high point. While our numbers of varieties may reduce as the weather changes, it's safe to say things are not going downhill from here: We will have lots of fall food from carrots, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks and potatoes. We are so excited to share the amazing variety of organic veggies to come!
Enjoy the cool weekend.
- Michael and all of the farmers of Kilt Farm
Product Highlights
Butternut Squash
The fall squashes are finally entering the CSA shares! We can't wait to share these beautiful squashes with you. Butternut squash is a classic favorite-- And for good reason. This powerhouse fall and winter staple is rich in vitamins A & C, as well as packed with multiple varieties of vitamin B, potassium, magnesium, and antioxidants.
One of our favorite things about Butternuts: It’s easy to prepare them savory or sweet! Butternuts can be prepared in the oven, on the stove, in a crock pot or dutch oven, or even on the grill. With it’s natural sweet & nutty flavor, it only takes a little maple syrup, brown sugar, or cinnamon to transform it into a mouth-watering dessert– And if you want to make it savory, all you truly need is some olive oil, salt & pepper, and herbs. We love this list of 26 ways to prepare butternut squash from Food & Wine magazine for our personal butternut squash recipe inspiration!
Kilt Farm Raw Honey
Our dear partners at Nimbus Apiary have just produced a new batch of honey-- courtesy of our Kilt Farm bees who cross-pollinate with bees of their own. Honey-lovers out there can attest to the difference between local honey from typical store bought honey, as well as raw honey from your average jar of sweet, sticky goodness. Now combine local & raw and you have the dreamiest, best honey out there (but don't just take our word for it)!
Raw honey is only strained once-- right before it's bottled. This allows the honey retain nearly all of the nutrients and incredible flavors that are lost in your average processed honey on the shelves. Don't get us wrong: any honey is honey, and honey is delicious, but we think our honey takes the cake (not to toot our own horns).
We are thrilled to bring in a new batch of fresh, local honey to offer in our CSA shares. Put it on toast, use it in marinades, throw it in your müesli, or if you're like us: eat it straight from the jar.
Sauce Tomatoes
We are still offering 15 lb flats of sauce tomatoes for those of you looking to can some fresh-from-the-farm tomatoes for the winter. Take a day with the family and make batches of soups + sauces to freeze so you are prepared all winter long with plenty of gravy for your warm pasta dinners.
15 lb flats will go for $30 and will be "dealers choice" of juicy slicing tomatoes, classic Roma paste tomatoes, and slightly-sweeter orange tomatoes. Don't forget to snag some garlic, onions, bell peppers, or even some Pastificio Pasta to make your perfect sauce recipes and dinners from scratch!
Fruit Share
Apples are here, and we couldn't be more excited! It may still feel like summer, but fall is trickling in slowly but surely. This week's fruit share is 7 pounds of delightful, crisp, juicy, and delicately sweet HoneyCrisp Apples alongside 3 pounds of Angelus Peaches. Get ready to make some applesauce, apple pie, apple slices for the kiddos' lunches, and have a sweet snack on-the-go!
For all you peach-lovers: We are offering 20 lb boxes of Angelus Peaches this week as we near the end of peach season. Gear up on peaches and get ready for some delicious stone fruit preserves! These peaches will also be offered as a 3lb bag add-on.
Add-ons and Extras
And as always, we have Pueblo Seed & Food Co grains and goodies, organic Hazel Dell Mushrooms, heirloom Pastifio pasta, and beautiful Fresh Herb Co bouquets available as add-ons to your share. Our partners have been delighted by the feedback you all have shared with us and we couldn't be more grateful to continue to partner with these local growers and artisan food crafters!
We hope you enjoy this week's CSA and the bountiful colors and varieties fall farming has begun to bring to the table.
