Two weeks left in the 2018 season!
So time to sign-up for the 2019 season. Sign-up by the end of October and lock in this year’s price for next season’s produce. To sign-up either purchase a share through our online store or send in a deposit of $100.
We are going to do Winter FruitShare again this winter. Winter FruitShare is like summer FruitShare but with winter fruit, and only three locations for pick-up: on-farm, a drop site near 94 and Dale and St. Paul’s Monastery on Century Ave in Maplewood. Order online here.
Garlic planting is this Friday from 1:00 until 3:00 or done. Many hands make light work. The weather forecast calls for temps in the high 50’s. And with this being MEA weekend maybe by Friday some of you younger kidsa are looking for something to do. Let me know if you can make it.
Farm News
Up until this week the onions we’ve been giving out have been sweet onions. Starting this week we are giving out storage onions. What’s the difference you ask? Well sweet onions tend to be sweeter and storage onions tend to store longer. Sweet onions typically have more water and less sulfurous compounds — the molecules that cause your eyes to water when you cut into them. This leads to a shorter shelf life, but a far less pungent taste when raw. Storage onions are drier and have more of the sulfurous compounds that give them a more pungent flavor when eaten raw. However when you cook onions the sulfurous compounds are destroyed so cooked storage onions don’t have that strong flavor and become sweeter than sweet onions. So if you have onions left from earlier this season use them up before you use the onions we give out this week and next.
One new item this week is popcorn! If you are new to the farm and haven’t had popcorn on the cob here are a couple of important items. First, let the cob dry for a few more weeks. For popcorn to pop it has to have the right moisture content. Since we just harvested it it is likely to be too moist at this stage. In a few weeks try removing a few kernels from the cob and popping them with your usual popping method. If they pop the cobsare ready. If not, try again in a few weeks. Removing the husk will speed the drying process. Over the next few weeks I’ll experiment with a few cobs here and let people know when the kernels are ready to pop. I’ve heard of people putting the cob in a bag in the microwave and popping them right off the cob. I’ve also heard of people starting a fire this way. Use this information wisely.
What else will we have this week? More winter squash, more pumpkins, the last of the leeks, garlic, onions, shallots, carrots, potatoes, the last of the tomatoes, the last of the peppers, some cabbage, and a few odds and ends I am forgetting.
Fruit, Cheese, Eggs, Ice Cream and Coffee are all this week!