CSA Week 14

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS:

We will be sending your tomatoes to sites again this week in flats, so they don’t get damaged by the large amount of produce in the boxes….we count very carefully so every member will have enough for their share. Please, please only take the amount that is listed on the signage, so your fellow members will have their share! Last week, at some sites, members who arrived later were disappointed to find there weren’t enough tomatoes for them….if this occurs again, we’ll just have to put the tomatoes back into the boxes for the next delivery. Help us, help you have beautiful tomatoes!

IN YOUR SHARE THIS WEEK:

Corn
Collards
Broccoli
Red Onion
Yellow Onion
Tomatoes
Peppers
Carrots
Cherry Tomatoes
Lettuce ~ Red Leaf
Zucchini

SOME SITES ONLY

Eggplant
Cauliflower

RECIPES:

Corn & Tomato Pasta Salad

Old Fashioned Scalloped Corn

Corn & Zucchini Pan Soufflé

Creamed Collard Greens w/Peanut Butter & Chile

Shredded Collard Green Salad w/Roasted Sweet Potatoes & Cashews

Cartelized Red Peppers & Onions

Welcome to September! Hopefully you all enjoyed a last hurrah before life gets back to its fall routine….school is starting for many this week, and from the polls I’ve been taking of the kids I know, it’s with mixed reviews. Of course, the excitement of new school clothes, new classes and old friends prevails, but with a “grain of salt” as most of the kids I spoke with lamented the passing of summer’s freedom and fun. Let’s hope this sunny weather continues for a good long while to keep spirits up, and to keep those veggies growing strong and healthy!

Last week was a busy week for sure…..with the impending rain we made it a point to harvest all of the onions early in the week. We have them in the greenhouse now, safe and sound, drying and curing nicely.., we did feel blessed with a nice drenching shower on Thursday night/Friday morning, as the earth really needed some natural hydration!

Shannon did our very last seeding of the season today, planting trays of fall onions. Last week we seeded out Arugula for the Farmers’ Markets, as well as Stir fry mix and Radishes for CSA. We transplanted Kale, Lettuce, Pac Choi and Napa Cabbage for Late Season Shares. If any of you are only signed on for the Standard 19 week season, and would like to continue on, we do still have a few of the Late Season shares available, and that will extend your deliveries right up to the week before Thanksgiving. You’ll receive lots of goodies such as Brussel Sprouts, Romansch, Parsnips, Turnips, Celeriac root and more Winter Squash, along with greens, storage onions, potatoes, and more fall fruit. Just get in touch to reserve your spot…

GOT CARROTS?? We do! We grew lots and lots of carrots for Wholesale Markets this year and harvested 15 totes last week….probably about 6,000 lbs. Last year we were surprised by early rains and freezing temps and weren’t able to get some of the carrot crop harvested….this year we took advantage of the good weather!

We harvest them using a Scott Viner Harvester, and 2 tractors….one tractor is towing the

harvester, making sure that we keep the correct distances in the row…this tractor is being driven by Jimi Good. The tractor behind the harvester carries the tote into which the carrots are distributed from the harvester….that tractor is being driven by Wali Via.

The harvester lifts the carrots with a plow at the front, and holds them between 2 belts…they are then carried through a series of knives, where the green tops are cut off, and pushed through a side shoot.The carrots themselves are dropped onto a conveyer, which carries them up and through another shoot into the waiting tote.

I took a couple of videos and posted them on YouTube if you would like to see the Viner in action….one is of the harvester and one is of Alden Overbaugh explaining how it works…check it out!