The big push to harvest Winter Squash has begun! As you can see we've got quite the hall already! Each of the bins pictured is holding approximately 100 lbs and their are 14 bins. That's 1400 lbs already and we haven't even really begun harvesting the heavy Butternut and Spaghetti yet! We noticed last week that it appeared many folks removed Winter Squash from their shares. Do remember that these Winter Squash have already been cured so there is no need to feel rushed in eating them. Many varieties will store for 2 months or more!!!
It was an honor for us to be featured last Sunday at the Root-Down dinner that Proof Restaurant held. It was a 10 course meal where over 85% of the veggies were from us and were the exact same things that are in your shares. Needless to say by the 5th or 6th course we were really feeling it but couldn't stop eating because it was just that good! Proof is a great supporter of the Farm and besides purchasing produce and and featuring us at the dinner, but also is a CSA member receiving 4 shares each week! We're excited to already be talking with them about next year's dinner at the Restaurant and also possibly having 1 or 2 On Farm dinners!
It's really starting to feel like Fall. The days seem to be getting shorter, the Cicadas are getting quieter, the Kildeer (type of bird) have left the Farm, the Pelicans are back at Saylorville Lake and your Farmers are feeling more tired! The last one is why it's really great that we are with a group of 4 other farms (Blue Gate Farm, Grinnell Heritage Farm, Genuine Faux Farm and Scattergood Friends School Farm) that get together once a month at each other's farms. We get a chance to talk with each other about successes and failures and realize that it isn't just one of us that feels a certain way, but all of us feel the same way! This week we met at Blue Gate Farm and helped pick pears in the morning, ate a tasty potluck meal and really talked about how all of us are feeling wiped out right now. The weather has not really cooperated with any of us this season and we are ready to put this season to bed. But we also talked about how important it is too keep going to finish the season as strong as possible but remember to take time for ourselves (even if it's just a little bit each week) to keep in good spirits and health!!!
With all the rains the Farm ground is still pretty soaked! Farmer Ben tried to get out and disc some ground to get some of the last Fall direct seedings done, but it was still too wet. One thing we've learned over the years is too not try and get into the fields if it's too wet! It really destroys the structure of our soils and while it may (but not likely) give us some immediate gratification in the form of some crops to harvest, it really hurts us long term as it destroys the health of the soil! This is why there has been so many different types of micro-greens in the shares. We still would like you all to receive greens with your shares but because these plantings have been delayed, you are getting them in the form of micro-greens that we can grow in the greenhouse. There are a lot more inputs (i.e expense) in growing these but we really want everyone to get greens in some form or another!
With that being said, it seems like this will be a good week for the ground to dry out! Once that happens it will be "all hands on deck" for marathon field work to try and get caught up. We are still thinking that the Regular Season shares will finish strong, just not the way we planned them out last December!
