Summer CSA 2023
Hey CSA Members!
Happy week 14! I cannot believe we’ve been on this journey for 14 whole weeks. That’s a lot of time! It feels so special to me to know that our veggies have filled your fridges and plates for that many weeks. If you didn’t use any vacation days, this is your last CSA from us! If you used one or two, you have one or two more weeks of veggies. Thank you SO MUCH to everyone for supporting us!
Sometimes I feel like the work we do to raise food in an intentional way gets smothered out by everyday life, the hustle and bustle of the world, but this little CSA community keeps elevating our mission and gives us a true sense of purpose as food producers. Every Tuesday, when I get in the big red van to deliver veggies I start to feel really powerful; like the work you and I do as food producer and CSA consumer is making a difference in our world.
Just the tiny act of saying “yes, I will eat locally and seasonally” has this crazy ripple effect on our overall impact on the wellbeing of earth and ourselves. Not only do we get to eat super tasty, nourishing veggies, but we also support our soils, the quality of our fresh water, the strength of our local food system, the local economy, and more. We are keeping everything associated with food production closer to home which lessens our overall impact on the earth. Our relationships deepen with the local soils and biodiversity; we become closer to nature. We have chosen wellness above all else this summer because we know change starts with us. I am so grateful you have chosen to eat with us this summer; your work to eat up and share our veggies with your families and friends is truly making a difference!
All that to say… you are AWESOME and the work you do and the choices you make are POWERFUL! Thank you for being a part of our CSA!
In other news…. this week on the farm was an exciting one. We ALMOST experienced the first frost of the fall, with temperatures dipping into the low 40s. The only thing at risk of frost now are our pepper plants. They will die in a frost and we will lose all the fruit. Everything else sensitive is protected by our greenhouses. The low temperatures really do have an effect on the growth of our plants. The tomatoes have really slowed down, they ripen much slower than in the heat of the summer, and everything else takes longer to grow.
We also finished up our dry bean processing, harvested sweet potatoes, finished our winter squash harvest, and found a pepper the size of Milo’s head! I also got to end the week by catering a farm to table dinner for a retreat a friend of mine hosted. I was able to put together a meal using 100% of the veggies and herbs from our farm! We enjoyed a big veggie platter, ratatouille, roasted butternut squash, blistered shishitos, and a big salad full of arugula and lettuce topped with roasted golden beets. I would love to cater more in the future and share veggies in prepared meal form, this event was truly inspirational for me and I hope to learn more fur future catering possibilities!
In your box….
Here are photos of what you’ll find in your box this week!
Large CSA
Green curly kale, dill, potatoes, bell peppers, lunchbox/jimmy nardello sweet peppers, mixed tomatoes, shishito peppers, arugula/lettuce blend, and french breakfast radishes.
Small CSA
Green curly kale, dill, french breakfast radishes, mixed tomatoes, shishito peppers, potatoes, shishito peppers, and bell peppers.
Some inspiration…..
There are a LOT of shishito peppers in your share this week! Honestly, we picked the plants pretty clean today and this will probably be the last time they will be in the CSA. Definetly a good week to make the creamed shishito pepper recipe if you haven’t yet! Enjoy the fleeting flavor of shishito peppers! More to come next summer 🙂
The radishes are a variety called “French breakfast”. They are slightly less spicy than a normal radish and are traditionally fried in butter and eaten on toast, for breakfast. I have done this before and it is by far the best way to enjoy them. But you can definitely eat them for a snack, add them to a salad, or pickle them too.
Potatoes…. Here are the names of the varieties of potatoes you’ve been receiving, for reference:
I hope you enjoy everything in the share this week!
Lots of love,
Eleanor