CSA Week 18
~ Week B Half Share members + Full Share members ~
CSA concludes this week….
~ CSA season comes to a close this week ……share number 18! As we relish in the gratitude of the growing months & look towards our winter planning season, we would love to hear your feedback! Please fill out our end of season CSA survey here.
~ In addition to the survey, please consider sharing a review on our CSA hosting platform, GrownBy! A quick way to have a lasting impact on our farm :)
~ We will continue to harvest for market every Saturday until at least the end of November! We would love to continue sharing produce with you as the seasons shift.
Fulton St Farmers Market Hours:
Until end of October ~ 8 am - 2 pm
Second season ~ 10 am - 1 pm
This week we have been preparing the fields for the first frost by harvesting the remaining tender crops, pulling out row covers to act as blankets, continuing to enclose the hoophouse endwalls. The noted tender crops for us right now include sweet peppers, hot peppers, winter squash, summer squash, holy & thai basil. By the end of today their care will be circulating out of our routines until next year. A reflection point.
The winter rye has sprouted in a field that, throughout the season, has held a collection of heirloom tomatoes, carrots, cabbage, & salad mix. A cover crop feels like an offering of gratitude, the roots of the rye will give back to the soil’s structure. But simultaneously, the practice of incorporating cover crop into the field’s rotation feels like a form of responsibility to the water, to the soil, & to a broader devotion. To be more specific, rye is a nutrient catch crop. Meaning the roots of the blanketed plant will scavenge for, absorb, & hold unused nitrogen, bring up potassium that may not otherwise be exchangable from lower levels of the soil, & efficiently utilize phosphorous. All of which are nutrients that are instrumental to the growth of vegetable crops. So to me, this relationship between plant & soil beams as beautiful, efficient, careful.
Throughout the coming months the soil in this field will host an additional layer of erosion protection & come spring the rye will find its way out of dormancy, continuing to grow into maturity. As the days lengthen, the grain heads will begin to form & once yellow pollen begins to shed we will break the rye at the stem to prevent continued growth. This will allow for a planting into fresh layers of organic matter. Maybe winter squash….. or cucumbers…. or peppers…. or…..
Farming is an art, an endless flowing movement that allows me to look to the future with hope. To offer gratitude in small action amidst grief.
A series on Bell Hooks’ All About Love that I have recently referred back to & would recommend Love the Child: Care is the Throughline
Organic Growers School has compiled a thorough document for farmers seeking support & for those of us who are able to donate / share. I have linked it here:
CSA Harvest Week 18….
This is our best guess of what will be in your share! Harvest list subject to changes :)
~ Sweet Peppers
~ Winter Squash
~ Onions
~ Garlic
~ Hot Peppers
~ Herb
~ Fennel or Celery
~ Spicy or Mild Mix
~ Radishes or Turnips
Recipes To Pair….
Fire Cider ~ in preparation for winter immunity, use your hot peppers, onions, & garlic in this spicy beauty. For a bio-regional twist, consider adding ingredients like local elderberry (Earthkeeper Farm is my go-to), calendula, juniper berries, rosehips, & fresh ginger (Greenwagon Farm grows it fresh)
Roasted Red Pepper Pasta - Yesterday we had something similar for our crew lunch. I topped the pasta with roasted fennel, onions, & walnuts (drizzled in honey before heading to the oven)
I forgot to take a photo, but last night I made a recipe that could be enjoyed with this share!
~ Roasted red pepper garlic sauce (roast peppers & garlic until soft at 300 degrees. blend with salt & olive oil)
~ Add at least a cup of sauce to a pan of choice. Add Moroccan lamb sausage (from S&S at Fulton St), two onions, 1 fennel, 1 small cabbage cut into chunks, za’atar, glug of ACV, berbere. Cook at simmering heat on the stovetop for at least an hour with a lid on.
Serve atop polenta. To the polenta, I added a head of garlic, cinnamon, olive oil, & salt.
Top with yogurt or sour cream & cilantro.
<3
As always, feel free to reach out with questions & thoughts!
xoxo,
Mik