Harvest #25 (Week A) should include sweet potatoes, leeks, potatoes, carrots, salad radishes, hakurei turnips, beets, bok choy, napa/chinese cabbage, head lettuce, green/ripening tomatoes, sweet peppers, celery, fennel, broccoli, and cauliflower. Some items may be a choice. U-pick should include herbs and flowers.

The proverbial light at the end of the tunnel is now visible. With four more weeks of CSA pick up, barring any extreme weather events, we should now be able to map out the harvests fairly accurately through the final week of pick up. Crops will be earmarked for specific weeks, some based on their cold tolerance and when we need to retrieve them from the field, others, like the roots and tubers, based on their storability and when they were initially harvested. Sensitive field greens will be harvested first, then hardier varieties, then crops in the tunnels.

This is the first season in eleven years that we're not hosting a Late Fall or Winter CSA. Our goal is to distribute as much of our crops as possible prior to the conclusion of Main Season. If there are tunnel and hardy field greens worth harvesting after that, and we have an abundance of some storage crops, me may host the occasional 'flash sale' over the winter months.

With the absence of the six-week Late Fall that would take us through the end of the year but with the additional two weeks of Main Season, there may be some some kinks in our system as we attempt to perfect seeding, planting, and harvesting dates for the late season crops (Late Fall CSA had around 100 full-share-equivalent members picking up each week compared to 300 during Main Season). It will be interesting to see how it shakes out and how we'll decide to perfect it next year. I really enjoy the mix of roots, tubers, greens, cabbages, etc this time of year and hope you do too!

(A reminder that if you signed up for a share with a work discount you have less than one month to satisfy that requirement. If you're unable to put in the time that's a-okay, just send us payment to cover the full cost of your share ($15/unworked hour. Half Share = 4 hours. Medium Share = 6 hours. Full Share = 8 hours). Now that we're into the middle of October there is much less work to do overall than late spring and all of summer. Thank you for understanding.)

This week's workshift schedule:

Bring gloves, water, a hat, sturdy shoes, and a pad for kneeling (if necessary for you)!

We meet under the large red maple at the end of the barn by the pick up room.

Workshift Guidelines - Workshift Sign Up Instructions

As much as I love winter squash, I hate peeling it prior to cooking. I recently learned of a trick to make it easier. Place the entire squash in oven for 5-10 minutes at whatever temperature you are roasting it. Remove it from oven, being careful not to get burned. You will find that it is so much easier to cut through and peel. I have also seen that you can microwave on high for 5 minutes, but I haven't tried that method myself yet.

The cool fall weather causes me to turn to roasting, stewing and "souping". I hope you are all enjoying cooking in season as much as I do. Here are a few things I have prepared recently.

Peppers, onions, garlic, tomatoes, herbs - made a large batch of stuffed peppers - they turned out delicious and the good news is that I have some in the freezer for enjoying down the road.

Potatoes, leeks, garlic, peppers, carrots, beets - I roasted a large sheet pan of mixed veggies. I roast them at about 400 degrees, although it can go higher or lower if you are cooking something else in your oven at the same time. Trick is to cut everything the same size so that they are all tender at the same time. I toss with olive oil, salt and pepper and then I add some sprigs of thyme or rosemary. I always make a lot of this because leftovers are delicious as a part of a grain salad, or in frittatas (yum!).

Winter squash, onion, arugula - made a delicious fall salad - I roasted the squash until tender and cut it into cubes. Made a salad dressing of apple cider, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, onion, salt and pepper. Placed arugula on a platter, drizzled with a bit of the dressing, mixed the squash cubes with dressing and placed on top of arugula. Topped with shredded parm cheese - really yummy and leftovers were great too.

Bok Choy, Swiss chard, turnips, carrots, cilantro, onion - made the Asian Style Cole Slaw that is on this site. Note the mix of veggies is somewhat different than the recipe.