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Late Fall CSA Newsletter
News
Notes From The Field
5th Annual Late Fall CSA Begins
By Derek McGeehan
Technically a new CSA season but really an extension of the continued growing season, the 2016 Late Fall CSA begins this Wednesday 1-8pm for Full Shares and Week A Half Shares. Week B Half Shares start next Tuesday, November 22nd, 1-8pm. Wednesday is the main pick up day, but there is also a Saturday 11am-12noon option for those of you with busy weekdays. You must e-mail us to choose the Saturday option permanently, or to request a temporary switch. If you're a Late Fall Half Share owner, log in here to find out what week of pick up you are. If you were a half share owner during the main season your pick up week is the same unless you requested a different week for this current season.
We're very much looking forward to and excited about the continued harvests. Cold hardy crops thrive this time of year. Greens only get sweeter after a touch of frost and a freeze. This fall so far has been particularly kind to us; we've had numerous widespread heavy frosts but no deep freezes yet. In fact, the temperature has only bottomed out in the upper 20s a few times. Even the least cold-hardy unprotected greens like head lettuces aren't showing damage yet. Either way, we took necessary steps to cover a good portion of the crops for the continued growing season, assuming eventually they'll need the added protection. After it gets truly cold, perhaps not until January, we'll begin harvesting from the larger protective structures. See the bottom picture below for the various cold protective strategies.
After a very rough beginning during an extremely wet (and hot) July followed by an extremely dry (and hot) August, our 2017 strawberry patch plants seem to have pulled through successfully (they're in green in the foreground).
Low hoops made from bent 10-foot 1/2-inch electrical conduit plus even lower hoops made from heavy gauge wire covered with fabric and anchored with sandbags will hopefully protect scallions, lettuces, yukina savory, chard, spinach, kale, and arugula for another month or two. In the background the greenhouse and hoop house protect additional crops for winter harvests.
Expected Harvest
Late Fall Harvest #1 (Week A)
By Derek McGeehan
Late Fall Harvest #1 (Week A) could include kale, lettuce, fennel, cauliflower, potatoes, onions, herbs, baby kale, yukina savoy (asian green like tatsoi), mizuna, radicchio, greens mix, and miscellaneous roots.
Checking on scallion-protecting row cover after a windy night.
How I Enjoyed My Harvest
Super food - Super Moon
By Linda Dansbury
This week we had beautiful fall weather and the moon the past couple of evenings has been so pretty - tonight at sunset begins the arrival of the Super Moon - a full moon that appears larger and brighter than normal because the moon is closer to the Earth. We won't see a moon like this again until 2034, so get outside tonight and enjoy the show!
Here are a few yummy things I made this past week.
Baby arugula and baby kale and a baby hand.
Kale, onions, garlic, cilantro, Ledemete Grass ground pork - made a delicious and healthy soup roughly using a recipe from Eatingwell.com. The recipe called for using a pork tenderloin but I used the ground pork instead. It also incorporated a can of white beans and we also added a can of black beans and used a lot of the beautiful cilantro from the farm. Simple to make and it provided 2 nights of delicious, healthy dinner.
Potatoes, sweet potatoes, celeriac - made a "mixed mash" - my term for a delicious variation - if you haven't already tried it, you should - you and your family won't be sorry.
Spaghetti squash, parsley - we received this delicious parsley so I incorporated a good amount of it in this dish - cut the squash in half and dug out seeds and membranes. Drizzled a little olive oil and salt and pepper and baked cut side down until cooked through. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mixed together some ricotta cheese, chopped toasted hazelnuts(some other nut would work, but this was delicious), toasted breadcrumbs and a healthy amount of chopped parsley. When squash was finished, "forked" the squash strands and put them in the bowl and mixed everything together. Drizzled a bit of good olive oil over the top. It was delicious. Sadly, this was the last of my spaghetti squash from the farm.
If you would like to share something you are making with the rest of the membership, please email me at lindadansbury@comcast.net and please put Anchor Run in the subject line.