We adjusted our farm to-do list as the forecast for this evening’s storm worsened. With the potential for extreme amounts of rainfall tonight, we moved some of our harvest plans for Friday onto Thursday’s list.
We now have good amounts of our tender greens harvested out of the field and tucked safely into our walk-in cooler for you to pick up on Saturday. This way we know at least these greens won’t be destroyed by hours of deluging rain! The amount of rain headed our way will likely be damaging, but at least the forecast is for beautiful weather Friday through Sunday!
We have planted a lot more recently than we normally do this time of year, hoping for larger-than-usual harvests in November and December to help make up for what we’ve lost in Sept/Oct due to the excess rain. We are hoping tonight’s rain doesn’t take out much of these recent plantings. Well wishes welcome!
New Year, New CSA details!
2019 is on the horizon and we have been busily planning for it. We are very excited to tell you the scoop:
– The owners of our current CSA software have developed a new software for us to use that allows you a tremendous element of choice in your share.
– When you sign up, you will rank all of the vegetables we grow on a scale of 1 to 5… from “Don’t ever want it” to “Yes, please, as often as possible”
– Each week, the software will match up the vegetables we have available to harvest with your indicated preferences to “build” you a customized box
– You’ll get an email on a couple of days before pick-up letting you know what’s in your customized box, PLUS give you the option to swap out items for other items we have available, AND let you add on items (other vegetables of ours, and/or our bread, and/or our honey) as you wish, charging your credit card on file.
– You’ll be able to choose a bi-weekly Farm Share…so if our regular weekly share is too many vegetables for you, you can pick up every other week instead of every week.
– Our emails will feature better formatting, and recipe suggestions and storage tips will be improved and tailored to what’s in your share. (THAT is thanks to the beauty of a well-developed software.)
– Sign up will be open around the end of October. The earlier you all sign up, the better we will be able to make our crop plan match our CSA members’ vegetable preferences! We will email you notice when sign up is open, of course.
– Spread the word!
Meanwhile, we will of course continue selling our vegetables, flowers, and bread through the farmers’ markets where we vend. Both our CSA and the farmers’ markets are important parts of our farm’s survival. We hope this change in CSA details will allow our current CSA members to make the best use of their share while also allowing new members of our community to join our farm’s CSA.
Saturday’s Farm Share will likely include:
Salad
Baby Ginger
Broccoli (hopefully)
Acorn Squash
Radishes
Kale
large Sweet Peppers
Snack Peppers
Other Vegetable Notes & Recipe Suggestions…also cataloged on our Recipe Page and see our Pinterest Page
Baby Ginger – This tropical plant has been growing in our greenhouse all season and is now being harvested at the baby stage. (If growing in a warmer climate, it would mature and form the brown skin that you see on ginger sold in the grocery store.) At the baby stage, it has no brown skin and therefore does not need to be peeled. It also has more flavor and more tropical notes. It will store about 10 days or so in your fridge, so if you don’t use it within that timeframe, freeze it in a bag or container and it will last for up to a year. If using frozen, simply grate it – while frozen – into the dish you are making. Baby Ginger can be used in place of fresh ginger called for in any recipe. Use it to liven up a stir fry recipe, or focus on a Ginger Veggie Stir Fry, or make Ginger Tea, or make real Gingerbread.
Radishes – Delicious raw on top of green salads, or sliced and served on top of buttered toast with sea salt, or make Radish Cream Cheese Dip (we add some Sunny Paris herb blend from Penzey’s, and don’t usually add that much garlic).
Acorn Squash – You can roast this and drizzle with butter and maple syrup, or make Acorn Squash Stuffed with Wild Rice and Mushrooms or Caprese Stuffed Acorn Squash. We made this Caprese stuffed squash dish for our family last week and our kids were falling all over themselves saying how great it was. It was very delicious. We have no fresh basil right now, so we used dried basil in the “Frozen Pizza Seasoning” by Penzey’s. We’re sharing that detail just in case it was the magic ingredient that made it so fabulously tasty.
Our harvest for Saturday’s farmers’ markets will include:
Arugula, Eggplant (Italian & Fairy Tale), Fennel, Flower Bouquets, Garlic, Ginger (baby), Hearty Greens Mix, Jalapeno Peppers that are NOT spicy, Kale, Microgreens, Okra, Salad Mix, Sweet Peppers (bullhorn shape and bell shape and snack size), Shishito Peppers, Radishes, Red Tomatoes, Sweet Salad Turnips…and our Organic Hearth Baked Bread (Baguettes, Herb, 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 and the Farmer’s Market @ St. Stephen’s . Keep an eye on what we have available via the online farmers’ markets: FallLineFarms.com and Local Roots Food Coop.
~Market Share member? You’re likely looking for this link here.
Enjoy ~
Janet, Dan, & the whole Broadfork crew
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