How are you adjusting to the newly arrived winter weather? This unseasonably cold weather comes as a bit of a shock. We're so grateful for accurate long-range forecasts that warned us early. In preparation for the cold snap we've been getting everything ready, winterizing irrigation systems, harvesting storage crops, harvesting and donating large quantities of susceptible greens, covering what we think can survive, prepping beds for final late fall plantings and building another greenhouse. Now that the cold is here, we'll take a few days to catch our breath. The board games are out and the fireplace is aflame. It feels nice to cozy up for the weekend before venturing back out into the cold Monday.
Food for the Hungry
You are probably aware that through our partnership with After the Harvest and dedicated volunteers, we donate veggies weekly to local food pantries and soup kitchens. This week, we called on extra help from After the Harvest and we had two crews come out to help us harvest huge amounts of veggies that we wouldn't have time to get to ahead of the cold snap. Together we harvested and donated more than two tons of veggies this week alone! We're really glad for the opportunity to send healthy food to families in need in our community. Thanks for being part of our CSA and helping make these gifts possible. We're well over 13,000 lbs donated this year from the farm (our goal was to hit 10,000 pounds for the first time this year). That's a lot of healthy meals to a lot of hungry people!
What's available this week
This week we'll be switching to mostly indoor crops from our many high tunnels. Most outdoor crops have been put to bed besides several large plantings of spinach that we'll have to strategically uncover and harvest whenever we get temps back up above freezing. We feel prepared for the early cold snap with lots of great stuff we can harvest from the tunnels. Winter doesn't take us off guard. We will be burning more propane than expected though if this weather holds for long. We've got lots of great root crops freshly pulled from the ground and ready for your boxes this week. The beet harvest was tremendous. The carrots are small but super sweet. Daikons are huge and crunchy.
This is the last CSA pickup before Thanksgiving, so stock up now on all your holiday goodies. Just remember there will be no CSA pickup the 24th or 25th, so you'll need to stretch your veggies for two weeks instead of one. Feel free to stock up on whatever you need. Now is the time to order extra stuff like the delicious winter spinach!
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market Italian Artisan Loaf
Hemme Brothers Rubbed and Smoked Cheddar Block
Stay warm!
Dave and Sheri
