Sorry to not have a newsletter last week. Too busy digging up buried documents potatoes and just didn’t have enough time. We also found this salamander in the secret secure server dirt. I think he was trying to get some much needed sleep for the winter. Anyway, here are a couple of announcements:
We are taking orders for the 2020 season. Now is the time to reserve your share to lock in this year’s price for next season’s produce. At this time we only take orders for those items we grow (veggies, flowers and winter shares); resale items like fruit or cheese will be offered once we get pricing for the 2020 season (usually in January). To reserve your share for 2020 you can do one of the following things: 1 – Send a deposit check for $100, no need to pay the full amount up front but feel free to if you’d like, 2 – Go to our online store and order your 2020 share and pay through the online store. With option two you have to pay the full amount since our online store doesn’t allow partial payments. You can also send the $100 deposit through PayPal if you have a PayPal account. Please order as soon as you can so we can make plans for next season. We’d love to have everyone back for 2020!
The Garlic Planting Gala is scheduled for Saturday, October 12 at 1:00 until done followed by bonfire and potluck dinner! This is a great opportunity to get some fresh air, meet fellow farm members, see where you food is grown and eat a really delicious meal. There are tasks for all ages and abilities so you have no excuse not to come out. Please let me know if you can make it!
Our goal is to give out produce until the last full week of October, which would be the week of October 21st. Counting this week we have four weeks left. Realize this is the goal and there is a chance we could run out of produce prior to that week.
Farm News
The farm is really changing the last few weeks. Not only are the temps getting cooler but the days are getting shorter. With less daylight plants grow slower. With cooler temperatures the warm season plants give up. As you probably noticed the tomatoes are smaller, and the cucumbers are far fewer (and are now over), and the eggplants are few and far between. And even though the tomato plants are still growing new leaves and flowers they are producing far fewer fruits. Yesterday we only harvested five pounds of tomatoes. This compares to over 600 pounds during a peak week this summer. However, even though peppers are warm season crops they are still producing. The fruits you are getting now have been growing for the last few months and are now ripening. There are few new fruits on the plants so once these are all ripe and picked we’ll be out of peppers.
As you’ve also probably noticed we are starting to see the fall crops, most specifically winter squash. Winter squash is actually a warm season crop — a crop that is frost sensitive and grows during the warmest time of the year — but we don’t harvest it until September to give it the longest growing time. So far we’ve given out acorn, spaghetti, carnival and pie pumpkins. This is roughly the order in which these can be stored. In other words, acorns have a shorter shelf life than carnival. Soon we will be giving out butternuts which have the longest shelf life. These can sometimes last for many months. Of course winter squash are perishable so they won’t last forever. Plus if they get dinged or have a soft spot they will quickly degenerate so keep checking on them and use any that have soft spots (just cut out the bad spots and cook as you normally would).
What will we have this week?
We are still working through all the onions so there will be more onions. We’ll also have leeks, winter squash, pie pumpkins, some carrots, some potatoes, some beans, a few tomatoes, some tomatillos, some peppers, some salad mix and probably some other things I haven’t thought of.
FruitShare this week.
FlowerShare this week will be either flowers if there are still flowers out there or fall decorations. Or maybe both!
Produce Usage Ideas
Vegetables aren’t just for dinner. Today I made a frittata. What’s a frittata? It is kind of a cross between a quiche and an omelette. You need an oven safe pan — we use a cast iron pan — to make a frittata. Here is how I did it:
Ingredients
1 onion – chopped
1 bell pepper – chopped
1 handful of mushrooms — sliced
any other vegetable or breakfast meat — chopped
12 eggs
1/4 c milk
1/2 c Cheese — shredded
2 T butter or oil for cooking
Preheat over to 425. On stove heat butter or oil in oven-proof skillet. Add onions. Cook a few minutes. Add pepper. Cook for a few more minutes. Add mushrooms and other veggies/meat. Cook until meat and vegetables are cooked through.
Whisk together eggs, milk and half of the cheese. Add to veggie mixture. Stir gently to incorporate. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top. Cook until edges of eggs are lightly done. Place in over and cook for 8 to 14 minutes. Watch until eggs are cooked. Do not overcook. Eggs will continue to cook after it is removed from the oven. Cool slightly. Cut and serve.
Soup in a Pumpkin.
One of my favorite recipes this time of year is soup in a pumpkin. Not only do you have delicious soup but also an attractive tureen to serve it from! Give it a try!
That is all for now. As always, do not hesitate to send in questions, comments, memorandum of telephone conversations, jokes, brain teasers or other interesting tidbits.