Welcome to the final CSA distribution of the 2020 main season! What a season it has been; the confounding complexities of Covid, a good but very dry growing season, record setting CSA signups across the country, and one of the most abundant harvests we have experienced. We're excited to be starting the fall extended season CSA next week, please remember that all pickups on farm and at Rountree will be on Friday, while deliveries will happen on Saturday mornings. We still have a few spaces available for the fall shares, so please sign up soon if you haven't received an order confirmation, and were hoping to keep getting vegetables until Christmas. Either way, thank you for joining us for the main season in 2020. Your choice to purchase food from our farm supports clean water, clean air, healthy and diverse ecosystems, and sustainable incomes for farmers and farmhands, all while supplying you with fresh, clean, healthy food.
In other news, frost arrived right on time last Thursday night; the average first frost date is the 15th of October, and it was 25 degrees when we woke up Friday morning. This effectively ended the outdoor season for a host of crops, including basil, tomatoes, most of the cut flowers. On the other hand, it signals the beginning of the sweetening of many other crops; carrots, beets, turnips, kale, spinach, lettuce, and many other fall/winter crops build up sugars in their tissues this time of year, as a natural antifreeze to prevent frost damage. The side effect of this additional plant sugar is delicious vegetables, which taste better than carrots or lettuce from any other season. Of course, as the weather continues to get colder and darker, much of production will take place inside our many protective structures, which provide protection for the crops and the harvesters. We love this season, and are looking forward to supplying you all with a delicious variety of cool weather crops.
Thanks,
Farmer Curtis
