Greetings,
We are slowly adjusting to our new lives as a family of four! Karin and I welcomed baby Welby to the world on Wednesday, Sept 1. He is healthy and doing his newborn thing - sleep, nurse, soil a diaper, repeat. Karin is recovering and feeling better each day, though longing to return to her active hobbies of gardening and tending to the goats.
It has been challenging managing some nearly sleepless nights during this very busy month on the farm. We are grateful for our crew which ran the farm for a few days while we were in the hospital, and continues to do great work as we figure out this new balance between farm and family needs. And we cannot thank Karin's mom, Barb, enough for putting her life on hold to come live with us for a couple weeks to help care for Karin, Welby, and Anneli.
I know newborns don't truly smile out of happiness, but it's fun to watch the many "emotions" that can cross the face of a sleeping baby. Here's one to share with you :)
Otherwise on the farm, we are starting to see summer crops wane and fall crops increasingly coming ready to harvest. This week, we are doling out the last of the cantaloupes and another modest distribution of watermelon from our this year's rather underwhelming melon fields. We aren't quite sure why, but they just didn't thrive this year and we are bummed we couldn't include more in shares. While cherry tomatoes are fading out, we will see another couple strong weeks of heirlooms. In fact, we're sharing this abundance with shareholders next week with plans to pack a free tomato in each heirloom bag.
The winter squash vines are starting senesce as they generally do in fall, revealing what looks like a nice crop nearly ready to harvest! Fall root crops are looking superb and sweet potato vines have looked lush all season. But the last few weeks before fall frost are critical for sweet potatoes to size up, so let's hope for some sun and warmth in September.
Our main focus each week, after CSA shares are packed, is hot pepper harvest. And increasingly that means habanero harvest. The last two weeks, we've spent nearly 120 labor hours a week picking and field packing more than 2000 lbs of habaneros. It's been quite an effort on the part of our crew and the temp crew who helps with pepper harvest. I think folks may be dreaming about habaneros after picking them for 9-10 hrs...not sure if they're sweet dreams or nightmares. The hot pepper rush continues for 3-4 more weeks.
Notes on select items in this week's share:
- Basil: This is a great time to stock up for freezing! In addition to bunches, we are offering 3-lb bulk quantities at very discounted pricing! This is the way to go if you like to put up some pesto for the winter. To make the economics work at this lower pricing, we will be field packing straight into the delivery containers and will be less strict about removing cosmetic imperfections like flowering stalks and holey leaves. This is better quality basil than our family typically uses for processing (we usually take the old stuff right before it gets mowed down). We'll have this available for one week, maybe two.
- Broccoli: Excited to have broccoli again after taking the summer off! This planting isn't going to produce as much broccoli as we had hoped, but the second fall succession looks like it'll yield some nice October broccoli. Fingers crossed.
- Fennel: After removing our midseason fennel planting from the crop plan, I'm glad to have this back in the mix. We'll have a small amount available this week, and more the following week. Fennel adds some nice flair to a vegetable sauté or roasting medley. Also superb cooked with chicken!
- Heirloom tomatoes: A featured item this week as we enjoy this late summer abundance. We are planning to include 50% more weight in bags this week to share the bounty with you!
- Assorted sweet peppers: These will be a mix of mostly red sweet peppers ranging from petite fruits to full-sized bells. Most of these came from a variety trial we're conducting of open pollinated sweet peppers, so they range in size and appearance. All delicious, though!
What's coming up? Cabbage, lacinato kale, carrots, delicata squash, and garlic should all make an appearance over the next couple boxes.
With Week 15 coming up, that leaves five more weeks of deliveries during the summer season. The last summer shares will be delivered October 20-21. We then take a week off from deliveries before commencing the winter season. Consider signing up if you haven't already!
Have a great week!
Dana
