Week 15 CSA Newsletter (Sept 27 – Oct 3, 2020)
CSA Newsletter Week 15
September 27 – October 3, 2020 | “A” Week
RED ONIONS ~ Store these on your counter top, away from your potatoes. They are cured, so they should last for many weeks. You can chop and freeze your onions into a Ziplock bag.
ARUGULA (from Wayward Seed Farm) ~ This peppery, spicy green is highly perishable! Store it in a Fridgesmart container or Green Bag and eat within the first 2-3 days. Use it in a salad or topping on your meat. Or try adding it to your pasta for a peppery kick.
KOHLRABI ~ Store in the fridge in a green bag. The bulb will last for many weeks. To eat, peel off the outer skin. Then grate, chop or roast the inside. The greens are also edible — use them like kale.
CELERY OR CUTTING CELERY ~ Store in the fridge in a green bag. To freshen up limp celery, add to a bowl of cold water. You will either receive fresh cut celery, OR the herb cutting celery (which looks more like parsley). Both have incredible celery taste!
HEIRLOOM TOMATOES ~ These old-school tomatoes look “ugly” with cracks in them. They are bred for their incredible flavor, not their staying power! They are highly perishable and should be eaten on the first or second day. Store in the fridge to keep them lasting an extra day.
CHERRY TOMATOES ~ The last of the tomatoes this year. Store them in the fridge or on your countertop. Eat within 5 days for best results.
POTATOES (2 lb.) from MILE CREEK FARM ~ Store your potatoes away from onions and out of the light. Use within 4 weeks.
KALE ~ Store in a Green Bag in your fridge and use them within 4 days. If your leaves are limp, you can refresh them by soaking them in some ice water. You can blanch them, saute them, add them to stews or stir fry meals. You can add them to spaghetti sauce, make chips, or use them in wraps.
This week’s coffee share comes in a slick, black package. It’s their uptown blend!
FRUIT SHARE – PS: It’s “A” Week!
NOTE: The final Fruit share week will be Week 17 of our season. That’s because the fruit share only runs 16 weeks, and we started it on week 2 of our regular veggie season. Since week B folks got their fruit share first, that means that “A week” members will get their final share on week 17. B week members get their final fruit share on week 16.
APPLES – store these in a bag in the fridge. We’ll post the variety when we know more.
PEARS — from Quarry Hill Orchard – if they are still hard, you’ll need to leave them on the countertop for a few days to soften up. THEN put them in the fridge to slow the ripening.
CHEESE SHARE:
Goat: onion and dill cheese curds Hard Cheese: mmBossie Cheddar, Flat Rock Gouda
MADDIE & BELLA COFFEE SHARE: Uptown Blend
I’m the owner of a new forklift. And yes, it’s pink.
Howdy everyone! Are you starting to get overwhelmed with my veggies yet? Right about now, it’s normal to feel like you’re running behind, and things start to pile up. I took another week off corn for that reason. We’ll have our final week of corn NEXT week. I’ve been watching the Facebook group, and this cast iron thing is going crazy! Corinna and I were talking this week about how much our CSA has grown over the years — you guys are eating things you NEVER would have tried 5 years ago. It makes us feel like we’re doing more than just growing food for you — but we’re actually making you a better cook!
I am the proud owner of a new-to-me Nissan forklift. We got this through a grant, thanks to my partnership with Great River Organics. Yes, it’s borderline pink. But I’m pink and proud. Tell me what you think!
We are on week 15 out of our 18 week season. That means we have 3 more boxes before the end of the year. Corinna and I have been discussing how we want to do the “Thanksgiving share” this year. Normally we give you a chance to pre-order a “fall booster share” to be picked up in November. We still aren’t sure if we’ll market it as a “surprise box” or if it will be basically a pop-up online store product, where you can build your own booster type share a-la-carte. We’ll let you know when we have a better idea of what we have left in the field near the end of the season. Heads up that our Brussels sprout crop failed this year. I know you all love that one, but I just couldn’t keep them alive during that hot stretch this summer. But we’ve got some Romanesco and cauliflower out back, dandelion greens, bok choy, more lettuce, turnips, carrots, onions, red and green cabbage, more kohlrabi, leeks, and winter squash coming down the pike!
This week, I helped my parents take down the shade cloth from their greenhouses — always a sign that we are coming to the final chapter. I’m regretting that I took down the irrigation lines last week. Temperatures are supposed to climb back into the 80’s again. And although our fall crops will be “fine,” I feel like their growth may slow because of the lack of water. I’ve got a BUNCH of red and green cabbage growing in the back acres. This fall, a whole new section of ground becomes “certified organic” –which means I’m not as constrained for space for the future. This will open up some possibilities for next growing season big time.
My fall cover crop seed arrived this week. It’s sitting on a giant pallet. The boys and I have been working ground to prepare for its planting. Jed spent many hours para-tilling. This is where we pull a couple of blades through the packed soil to break it up and aerate it. This will make it easier to disk the ground later too. Meanwhile Josiah cultivated (weeded) the beets cabbage, radishes, and carrots.
Jed and Kim stand watch at the Port Clinton pick up site.
We had a bit of a scare with Josiah this week. While Josiah was hooking up a trailer to the tractor and still had his finger inside the hole to grab the pin. I lifted up the 3-point hitch too fast, and it crushed Josiah’s fingers. Luckily, nothing was broken. But it made me realize that I need to slow down. Farming is dangerous, and I know Corinna sometimes worries that I ask too much of the boys too soon.
Tomatoes and eggplant are on their last leg. The vines have really died back. We are now shifting to the fall crops — kale, root crops, cole crops like cabbage, and winter squashes. We spent the week, cutting the tomato twine. In a couple week, we’ll remove the stakes. This will likely be your final week of tomatoes. It’s been a phenomenal run of them. I know many of you have said that your transplants you bought from us this spring did really well for you too. We plan to grow more transplants for you next year — don’t worry!
My buddy Nick came up to visit again this weekend. He’s doing some R & R time after the passing of his mom. So we’ll be spending some quality time this weekend. I forget how healing and peaceful this place can be for people. Corinna and the boys will be freezing corn this Saturday at Mom’s house. Our freezer is packed to the gills.
Amy Lynn shared this picture of parmesan artichoke dip with our leeks and red snacking peppers.
We’ve been getting a large number of you asking us about how to sign up for the CSA again next year! We are going to give all our CSA members a chance to pre-register for next season, starting October 11th. You’ll have a 2 week period to renew your membership at this year’s price. Plus, my wife has negotiated a pretty awesome “early signing bonus” if you renew by October 27th. We’ll share all the details in next week’s email newsletter. I can’t give anything away yet, but we’ve got some pretty awesome new products we’ll be adding to the CSA next season!
In the meantime, we’ve also been amassing a wait list of other folks who want to join next year as new members. They will get any unclaimed spots in the CSA on November 1st. (If you know anyone who wants in, send them here to get on the paid wait list). What this all means is that we really encourage you to start thinking about whether you want to join us again next summer, so you’re ready to give us that early commitment this fall. That helps me immensely as I plan out my production goals this winter. Of course, you can always wait until the spring to decide, but it’s looking more and more like we may sell out earlier than ever before.
As always, super grateful to you. And to everyone who gave me birthday wishes, cards, balloons, food, and beer — your farmer thanks you.
~Your Farmer, Kurt
It’s time for another contest!! Do you use your cast iron pan? Show me how!
WEEK 15 ANNOUNCEMENTS
- FRUIT SHARE MEMBERS: PLEASE READ! The final Fruit share week will be Week 17 of our season. That’s because the fruit share only runs 16 weeks, and we started it on week 2 (“B” week) of our regular veggie season. Since “B Week” folks got their fruit share first, that means that “A week” members will get their final share on week 17. B week members get their final fruit share on week 16.
- CAST IRON COOKING CONTEST RUNS ONE MORE WEEK! – contest runs through October 3. We want to see how you use your cast iron skillet in every day life! Share your tips and delicious meals! At the end of the contest, I’ll be picking out my favorite entries and awarding them with a fun prize! The Grand Prize will receive $100 off next year’s CSA membership! Winner will be announced on October 4th. To enter you must:
- Share at least 3 different pictures over the course of 14 days of you using your cast iron skillet.
- Explain in the post what vegetables you used from your CSA share
- Hashtag it #castiron2020 and post it in our private FACEBOOK GROUP. If you aren’t on Facebook, you can email me your 3 photo entries to sharedlegacyfarms@gmail.com.
Brian Hammer made a crisp pork belly with seared bok choy and yellow peppers over rice.
- When can I sign up for next season? If you’ve seen posts on Facebook or Instagram about “getting on a wait list for next year,” then you know that we are starting to gear up the “outside world” for early CSA signups. With COVID-19 we’ve had a surge of interest in next year’s membership. But don’t worry though! We hold your spot for you until October 25th. We give YOU guys FIRST DIBS on all the spots for next year. We will run a special “early bird” renewal registration the last 2 weeks of our CSA season. During those 2 weeks, you have the chance to renew your spot/share at a special rate and offer. You can also sign up for NEW share types. Then… on November 1st, after early bird period ends, we then open up our spots to the public (and our pre-paid wait list). In the meantime, do NOT sign up for the wait list if you see it advertised on Facebook. Just sit tight a few more weeks. I’ll make sure you know all about how to renew for next year. It’s our ONE time each year that we do a big marketing/sales push.
- You can order additional items from the Shared Legacy Farms online store. Our store link is super easy to remember: www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/store. Just be sure to select the right pickup site that coincides with your pickup location. If the pickup option is greyed out or not available, it means you missed the window to order. You need to place your order 2 days before your site. I reload the store and set new pickup dates on Sunday afternoon.
Lots of beautiful cast iron skillet dishes! This is your final week to show off your cast iron skills and win $100 off next year’s membership!
WEEK 15 CSA RECIPES
Members: To save time each week, I’m now publishing the recipes only as a PDF. You can download these recipes here. This week’s recipes are:
Tomato Mozzarella Arugula Naan Pizza
Lemon & Parmesan Arugula Salad
Grilled Shrimp, Orzo and Arugula Salad
Kale and Kohlrabi Salad
Pickled Red Onions
Pickled Cherry Tomatoes
Marinated Kohlrabi Tomato Salad
Chicken Sweet Potato and Kale Soup
Vegetable Soup
Celery and Potato Soup
Crockpot Apple Butter
Autumn Apple Chicken