The seasons, they are a change'n! One morning last week it dipped down to 24.4 degrees at the farm, which did less damage than might think. It ended the outdoor warm season crops, but at this point our outdoor fields are mostly filled with frost-tolerant crops that actually get better with frost conditions, so fear not, we've got you covered with amazing veggies this week and for many weeks to come.
Just a reminder about the dates for this year's winter CSA: We'll be taking Thanksgiving week off, so we just have this week's CSA pickup (Nov 11th) and one more (Nov 18th) before Thanksgiving. Then we'll have three more pickups (Dec 2, 9, 16) before we take off for our deep winter break.
Have you Ever Tasted Pastured Turkey? I'm not talking something labeled "pastured" by the USDA in the supermarket, but a REAL turkey raised on grass by local farmers, like something your great grandparents would have enjoyed for Thanksgiving? Our amazing farmer friends, the Farrar's, have a limited supply of their pastured turkeys available and they're doing a community pickup at OUR FARM this Thursday Nov 11th. You can preorder a turkey for pickup at our farm from them if you go to https://farrarfamilyfarmkc.com/ . If you want to pick up at the farm enter our zip code (64056) when you first go to the shop page, but they do offer delivery to some other areas, so you might put your own zip code in to find a closer pickup point. I think they'll bring some stuff to the farm on the 11th for you to purchase on the spot, but if you want a turkey or a larger selection of beef, chicken, pork or lamb, you'll need to order online in advance. If you don't normally pick up at our farm but you want to come this Thursday to get some meat from the Farrar's and also pick up your veggies at the same time, you can change your CSA pickup location to our farm for this week only within Harvie. If you can't figure out how to do that, just ask us and we can do that for you.
We've already ordered our turkey from the Farrar's after enjoying an amazing 26 lb bird last year from them (you can get smaller ones if you want:). We really like the Farrar's and the way they raise animals. That's why we invited them to use our farm as a community drop off site once per month. They even do a meat CSA (which we are a part of), so check them out.
This Week's Bounty
Peppers again! I hope you aren't sick of them yet. Chop and freeze to save for later. Or smoke them. We love to smoke bell peppers, Italian peppers, spicy peppers. We smoke them and freeze to use later. They are amazing! You can also roast and freeze or simply chop raw and freeze. We're clearing out greenhouse peppers so they'll be gone soon. Get them while you can.
Ginger: I mean, this was the year for ginger! We've never had such a great harvest. There is so much still available. We'll have BULK GINGER available this week. You can freeze it and use it later, make ginger syrups (with the resulting ginger candies), pickle it, etc. Stock up and help us clear out more space in the greenhouse to plant more SPINACH!!!!
Thanksgiving Veggies
Since we'll be taking Thanksgiving week off, your last chance to stock up on veggies for Thanksgiving will be Nov 18th. We plan to do some huge harvests of especially root crops for you to enjoy. We've sorta been holding off on harvesting some of those roots so we can have a cornucopia of amazing food for your Thanksgiving table. We're getting the sweet potatoes cured and sweet, we'll have potatoes, carrots, beets, radishes, turnips, beautiful purple, white and red diakons, watermelon radishes, as well as so many more beautiful greens. We'll plan on stocking Harvie with tons of extras next week, so you can stock up and add lots of extras to tide you over for the missing week and to enjoy with your holiday feast. So be ready for that next week.
Bread and Cheese
Bread: Farm to Market Sourdough Sliced Large Loaf
Cheese Share: Hemme Brothers Chive curds
Mystery 3-packs of Hemme Brothers cheeses available for purchase as an extra
Farmer Reflections
You know, I was thinking about how much life has changed over the years. Our food system has become so industrialized that very few people actually know where their food comes from. People used to grow their own food or barter with their neighbor. Their Thanksgiving turkey had a name and their veggies were grown naturally by themselves or a neighbor. Now turkeys come from who knows where pumped with who knows what? Most vegetables are grown thousands of miles away, and mostly not even grown in the soil or even under the sun. Instead they are grown hydroponically under grow lights in giant warehouse facilities. How did we get so disconnected from our own sustenance? As engineers, Sheri and I love efficiency, but it's getting crazy out there. Thanks for making the conscious decision to be different. For some of you, this is your first foray into local food and some of you have been organic locavores longer than we've been farming. Either way, thanks for eating with the seasons, stocking up when there is a bounty, tasting the difference of super sweet frosted spinach. We appreciate you helping us and other local farmers bring wholesome food to our community.
Have a great week!
Dave and Sheri
