Oct 3, 2011

Week 18, Oct 3-7, 2011

In your CSA bag
  • Red Potatoes – 1 quart
  • Acorn Squash – 1
  • Purple Haze Carrots – 1 bunch
  • Organic Apples – 3 each
  • Broccoli – 1 bunch
  • Kale or Chard - 1 bunch
  • Lettuce - 1 head
  • Onions – 4 regulars
  • Peppers - 1
  • Tomatoes – 1 (until they are gone)
  • Herb – 1 bunch Cilantro
  • Flowers – u-pick your own
Storing your Crops

Potatoes, Onions and Squash want to be cool, dry and dark. Greening on potatoes is not good and they will ROT if stored green.

Carrots and beets like it cold, dark and moist sealed in a plastic bag in the refrigerator drawer or in a cold frame full of very cool moist sand.

Greens also like to be sealed in a plastic bag, in the coldest part of your refrig that is not freezing (Usually the bottom drawer, as cold air settles)

Recipes of the Week


News from the Field

Thanks to all our members that attended and supported our first annual “Vermont Organic Festival”. We had a great time at the Festival despite the 40 degree chilly weather and the down pours of rain. We actually had a pretty good turnout for this first time event.

We would like to send a special thanks to all our sponsors; Nicole Gilbert at Cambridge Event and Design, The American Farmland Trust, H.A. Manosh, Smugglers Notch Resort, and Brown and Jenkins Coffee. It was wonderful to have their raffle donations and support. The music, the foods, and all the vendors were amazing. We look forward to 2012 and hopefully, a little more sunshine. Be sure to check out our web site www.vermontorganicfestival.com and see all the pictures -- including an awesome video!

The first annual burlap fashion show was pretty incredible too. Our neighbor Anna, surprised everyone, when she appeared in a festive burlap skirt and vest, adorned with dyed burlap appliqués, a cornucopia of vegetables and sunflowers. She even made a pocket book, hat and jewelry from burlap to complete her country ensemble.

Some ideas about how and what to harvest:

Process any tomatoes before the newly forecasted frost on Thursday and Friday evenings. Cover any remaining crops and fruits not harvested with a tarp or sheet or a five gallon pail over the plants. You never know they just might survive to get one more harvest.

Pick the rest of your Cucumbers and Peppers, ours have already stopped and make pickles. For over ripe cukes make sunshine pickles.

Harvest lettuces, they can keep for 10 days if chilled and sealed in a bag for moisture detention. Remaining lettuces should be covered as many cold tolerant varieties can sometimes freeze and thaw without ruining. WARNING do not cut when frozen, wait for thaw, and watch to see if crop survives. Many times spinaches, lettuces and some greens will come back if not frozen too cold or too long. This is how we can grow inside the greenhouse without heat during the winter if the greens have 2 layers of cloth protecting them.

Broccoli, Kohlrabi, Cabbage, Kale, and Brussels sprouts are all are in the brassica family. They will taste even sweeter after a light frost. Unfortunately, the colder weather will also slow down the growing cycle, to a crawl.

Your onions should be harvested and drying with lots of air around them.

Potatoes, carrots, beets and turnips will all be fine in the ground, but begin to harvest as much as possible on dry days, before the ground freezes for the winter.

Enjoy your vegetables!

Thanks!
Anne

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