Week 16, Sept 18-23, 2012

Available for you:

• Potatoes - 1 quart 
• Broccoli - 1 bunch 
• Cucumbers - 2 
• Carrots - 1lb 
• Salad Turnips or radishes w/ greens - 1 bunch 
• Lettuce - 1 head 
• Chard - 1 bunch 
• Kale - 1 bunch 
• Tomatoes - 2 
• Cilantro - 1 bunch 

deliveries are subject to change

Recipes of the week:

Roasted Turnips with Parmesan

Turnip Greens by Gena (Radish Greens too)

Greetings Members!

The Great Harvest has begun. We are trying to quickly get all the winter squash and pumpkins out of the fields. The goal is to wait for the best sun ripening and still beat the upcoming frost. This is quite a time consuming chore and takes many hands to accomplish. Thanks to a small crew of workers and a few volunteer members, we have been able to attack the job with whole hearted tenacity and endurance. 

We have waited as long as we can for the squash to ripen and now the leaves have died down to show us where all the squashes were hiding. We then go out with our pruners and begin to cut the stems, as short as possible to reduce damage to other squash. The picker then puts the cut squash up out of the ruts and onto the black plastic to dry a little more. Next we travel down the field, with a Watermelon type cardboard bin called a "Gaylord" which sits on a wooden palette on the front of Jay's Bobcat forklift. We begin to stretch over the deep sides to gently place the squashes into the bottom of the bin and work quickly until it is full. All this bending cutting and picking up squash can cause a little achiness in your legs. More Advil. 

Jay supervises from the nearby field as not to get stuck in a rut between rows. He smiles every time we fill a bin and have to begin another. The harvest is looking plentiful. We do have a little more damage than normal from our hungry deer friends who always want to take just one little bite out of the biggest most beautiful squash (must be they ripen first and smell great).  This just means we have a few extra seconds for the food shelf where they can take the time to cut off the bite and salvage the good remaining squash to feed those in need. We then hurry to bring each bin back to the barn before they get wet from an oncoming rain forecast. 

In the barn squash is put into our large heated storage room where it will stay at 50 degrees to cure. When cured the squashes will all be wiped down and packed for shipping and putting into your CSA shares. The squash will usually last until the New Year. Some varieties will last a little longer. Can't wait for squash soup coming soon! 

For now enjoy the new salad turnips -- taste a bit like a mild radish. Don't forget to cook the green tops too! Remember it is the last week to sign-up for fall shares!

Enjoy your vegetables!

Anne