The unseasonably warm weather makes it not feel like fall, but October is just about upon us and fall is officially here whether it feels like it or not.
If you want to join us in our fun fall activity of sweet potato harvesting, we're doing another harvest this Friday October 6th from 4:00 to 7:00PM. The whole family can join in and get dirty with us as we unearth the the amazing tubers together. We had a fun time with quite a nice sized crew this past Tuesday for the initial harvest. We're planning on harvesting a larger section this time and the sweet potatoes should be larger with those extra 10 days to grow. We'll start plowing up the taters at 4:00, but you can come anytime you are free during the window. Bring some gloves and a water bottle and be ready to get a little dirty.
Depending upon weather conditions, we'll have one more sweet potato harvest after this one. We are watching the forecast pretty closely because this coming weekend could potentially frost at our farm which will require an emergency harvest of the remaining sweet potatoes since they need to be harvested within a couple days of the vines being killed by the frost. So join us in praying for no frost at the farm this weekend (I know the forecast only shows 42 degrees, but on a windless, cloudless night, our low lying farm can be 10 degrees colder than the nearby suburbs). The average date of first frost in KCMO is October 16th. Last year, our first frost on the farm was October 7th, so it will not be out of the question to have a frost at the farm next weekend.
But even if we do get a frost next weekend (and we hope we don't), we'll still have plenty for the next several weeks of the CSA (official last date for the main season CSA is October 19th and 21st (date depends on your pickup day). Most of the crops now in the fields can tolerate light frosts, and we'll be covering what we can as the nights get cooler to protect them because we need them to last far beyond the end of the summer season into the winter CSA season as well. But a light frost will kill sweet potatoes, squash, green beans, peppers and any tomatoes that might be hanging on. (we're really hoping the frost holds off because the green beans are close to a huge flush of beans if they can only survive long enough to size up).
What's in Abundance
Greens are coming in strong: Arugula, stir fry mix, tatsoi, baby kale, baby napa, and bok choy are fantastic and abundant. We have another peak week of broccolini this week. Peppers of all types are also in abundance and may be killed coning weekend, so don't miss what possibly will be your last chance. Salad mix is gorgeous and plentiful as well as lettuce heads. Red radishes are absolutely gorgeous and mild flavored! NAPA HEADS are HUGE! If you want to make a lot of slaw, kimchi, roasted cabbage or corned beef and cabbage, these are a great value and will fill your fridge. Daikon radishes are really nice right now with the white ones pretty large and the purple ones generally smaller than the white ones.
Bread and Cheese
Farm to Market 100% Whole Wheat Sliced Loaf
Hemme Brothers "Brother's Keeper" block
Your farmers,
Dave and Sheri
