Our love for September is well known. It is the month in which fall starts, and fall is glorious here. September is only second to October in our list of favorite months. Ahhhh…..
Greens and roots are starting to make a comeback, but the colorful fruits of the summer are still here. It’s just wonderful. Though…it is still hot and sticky and buggy and with plenty of worries and challenges. Here’s the one big down side: It’s also Hurricane season, so please join with us in willing all hurricanes out to unoccupied seas where they can blow with no harm to people or farms. Thanks in advance. 
It’s a beautiful time on the farm! Here’s a reminder that in less than two weeks we will host the September meet-up for RVA Makers. Wednesday, September 19th from 6-8 pm we will gather, talk about how we farm, explain some of the techniques we use to farm without tractors on a small piece of land, and enjoy some snacks. This is open to everyone and family friendly, though please be sure to leave your pets at home. RSVP on the Facebook event page.
Some fall crops are looking great. Others are battling the worst Harlequin Bug pressure that we have ever seen. The cause isn’t clear, nor is the impact on what food we will have (or not have!) for you this fall. We’ve lost a lot of Broccoli plants and are replacing dead broccoli plants with new ones as much as we can. We’ll see whether we can keep up with the bugs! Our beans have been delicious, but they aren’t as numerous as last year due to Mexican Bean Beetle damage. Geez. We’ll just offer a gentle reminder to our readers that we are a Certified Naturally Grown farm, which means we follow standards based on the National Organic Program. In brief, we only use inputs from plant, animal, or mineral sources. You can check out the complete list of allowed and prohibited substances here. There’s not any organic input that we have found that really effectively kills these bugs. We mostly have to work to prevent them, but that didn’t work as well as usual this year.
While on the subject of Certified Naturally Grown, we’ll mention that there are no organic substances that kill weeds. We block weeds with mulch or we physically remove weeds with hoes and hands. We drove past a chemical/conventional farm the other day and were reminded that most farms kill weeds with a chemical called Glyphosate (brand name Round Up by Monsanto). The clear lines between the dead brown weeds and the green grass is the telling detail. We are concerned about the potential for human illness from this substance and thus are committed to organic weed control, as well as organic bug control. Thank you for joining with us in this commitment! If we didn’t have anyone to grow food for, it would be a lonely and short-lived time for our enterprise.
On the subject of organic inputs and reminders, we’ll point out that our bakery uses only Certified Organic ingredients. We’re also members of a newly formed group that is working to “revive the regional grain-shed.” The Common Grain Alliance is not solely about organically grown grains, but some growers involved are Certified Organic. We are pursuing our ability to purchase some grain for our bakery from Virginia farms. Whoot whoot!
Saturday’s Farm Share will likely include:
Salad Mix, Arugula, Sweet Peppers, Tomatoes (a mix of two types, two pounds total), Garlic, Green Beans, Snack Peppers
Vegetable Notes & Recipe Suggestions…also cataloged on our Recipe Page and see our Pinterest Page
Sweet Peppers (large and Snack Size) – These peppers have more Vitamin C than oranges! What a fun and healthy fact. We eat many pounds per week as salad toppings, but they are also great in mixed grain and protein salads. Try this Quinoa Salad recipe, or Wheat Berry Salad with Roasted Fennel and Bell Pepper. (No Fennel is ready here yet, but it is planted and growing for fall harvest.) Check out this Zesty Mini Pepper Salad. And this versatile Summer Pepper Salad.
Green Beans – We really, really love Ginger Garlic Green Beans with Sesame Seeds and rarely prepare them any other way. We don’t get sick of these, but you can saute them with any oil (or broth) plus garlic and any additional seasoning.
Arugula – Arugula has a peppery taste. Some people enjoy it alone, others combine it with mild lettuces for a salad with less of a kick. Try Arugula Salad with Olive Oil & Parmesan or Apple, Pecan, Arugula Salad (and you can add goat cheese to that if you wish). It’s also really delicious on top of Pizza, and adds some nutrients that many pizzas are lacking.
Our harvest for Saturday’s farmers’ markets will include:
Arugula, Green Beans, Rainbow Chard, Italian Eggplant (Beatrice), Flower Bouquets, Garlic, Hearty Greens Mix, Jalapeno Peppers that are NOT spicy, Okra, Sweet Peppers (bullhorn shape and bell shape and snack size), Shishito Peppers, Summer Squash, Tomatoes…and our Organic Hearth Baked Bread (Roasted Pepper & Onion, Whole Rye, Raisin, & Seed loaves for this weekend).
{Our farmstand is open Thurs & Friday with most of the above items…see here for updated inventory}
Anything remaining after CSA shares are distributed and our farm stand is shopped (plus the bread we bake Saturday morning)… we’ll bring on Saturday to the Brandermill Green Market or the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in the West End of Richmond. Keep an eye on what we have available via the online farmers’ markets: FallLineFarms.com and Local Roots Food Coop.
~Market Share CSA member? You’re likely looking for this link here.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
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