Week 16 CSA Newsletter (October 3-7, 2022)
CSA Newsletter Week 16
October 3-7, 2022 | “B” Week
Our CSA is an 18 week season.
This week, the Sylvania pickup site moves to Five Lakes Community church at 4765 N. McCord Road, Sylvania, from 5:30-6:30 PM, due to a Jewish Holiday.
What’s in the Box this Week?
CELERY ROOT (4 SMALL HEADS) ~ Celeriac, also known as celery root, has a flavor like celery, and both its root and stalks/leaves are edible. Don’t be put off by celeriac’s ugly appearance. To store: Store unwashed celeriac in a plastic bag in the refrigerator where it will keep for 6 months! Celeriac leaves can be dried into an excellent seasoning. To prep: Slice off stalks at the root crown. Soak the root in warm water to loosen dirt, then scrub with a brush. Peel skin with a sharp knife. You may need to remove the core if it appears pithy or hollow. Peeled celeriac will darken when exposed to air. To slow the darkening, toss with lemon juice or soak in water. To use: Use in place of celery as a base for soups or casseroles. Add raw celeriac in grated beet, carrot, or apple salads. Combine celeriac with other winter roots in stews and gratins. Add cooked celeriac to mashed potatoes: peel and quarter celeriac, then boil until soft, 20-30 minutes, before mashing it into potatoes.
Celery Root has a hairy root ball which contains the actual vegetable. To use, cut off the outer brown hairy skin and inside is a celery-powerhouse flavor bulb! You can chop it into small cubes or grate it. Use wherever you want strong celery flavor.
PURPLE BROCCOLI ~ To store: Wrap broccoli loosely in a plastic bag and keep it in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator. Store for a week. To prep: For organic broccoli, soak head upside down in cold salted water (1 teaspoon salt to 8 cups of water) for 30 minutes to remove any hidden field worms. Any critters will float to the top. You can eat the stalks, leaves, and head of broccoli. Break the head into florets of desired size. Then use a peeler or paring knife to cut the tough skin off the broccoli stalk, and cut into equal size pieces. The stalks will require a few extra minutes of cooking time. To freeze: Cut into florets. Blanch in boiling water for three minutes or steam for five minutes. Remove and dunk in ice water for 5 minutes. Drain. Individually quick freeze broccoli on a parchment-lined tray and then package into air-tight freezer bags.
DELICATA SQUASH (1) and ACORN SQUASH (1) ~ To store: Store in a cool, dry, dark place at around 50 degrees, but make sure they do not freeze. Under the best conditions, they should keep for 3-4 months. They get sweeter in storage as the starch converts to sugar. Once cut, you can wrap them in plastic and store them in the refrigerator for 5 to 7 days. To use: To bake, slice in half lengthwise, scoop out seeds, and place facedown on cookie sheet. Add 1/2 inch of water to pan. Bake at 400 degrees for 45 minutes to an hour until shells are soft and starting to collapse. Remove from shells, and fill with butter, brown sugar, maple syrup, seasoning or fillings. To freeze: Simply cook squash and mash or puree it. Then pour it into ice cube trays and freeze. Pop the frozen cubes into freezer Ziplock bags.
Itzel Krauss roasted her Delicata squash as half-moons with a little salt and pepper in olive oil. Easy and delish.
BOK CHOY (1 HEAD) ~ Bok choy, which may be written as bok choi, bok choy, or pac choi, is a traditional stir-fry vegetable from China. Choy grows in elongated, upright heads of dark green leaves with large, white stems.The leaves can be cooked and eaten like spinach, while the crisp stems can be used like celery or asparagus. To store: Cut off any yellow leaves. Store wrapped loosely in plastic bag (or a Green bag) in the refrigerator. To prep: Wash and removed any damaged yellowing leaves. Cut off the root tip — about an inch worth. If the stems are thick, cut the leaves from the stems and cook them separately a few minutes before you add the leaves. To freeze: Cut the stems from the leaves and chop to desired size. Store those separately. Cut the leaves into ribbons or squares or keep whole. Store separately from stems. Bring salted pot of water to a boil. Boil the leaves in boiling pot of water for 90 seconds.Douse in ice water to stop the cooking process. Drain the leaves and squeeze out moisture. Place in ZiplocK freezer bags, removing as much air as possible. Put in freezer. Blanch the stems separately for 2 minutes. Douse in ice water and drain before packing into separate Ziplocks.
ROMAINE LETTUCE ~ Store unwashed lettuce in a plastic bag in the refrigerator. To store lettuce that you have already washed and dried with a spinner, place back in a plastic bag with a dry paper towel in the bag, and place the package in the vegetable crisper bin. Use within 4 days.
RED ITALIAN PEPPERS (2) ~ To store: Refrigerate peppers unwashed in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer for 1-2 weeks. To prep: Cut in half and remove the seeds from the inside. Slice, chop or mince. To freeze: Wash and dry peppers. Freeze whole or cut into bite-size pieces and place in Ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air as possible.
ORANGE SNACKING PEPPERS (pint) ~ To store: Refrigerate peppers unwashed in a sealed plastic bag in the crisper drawer for 1-2 weeks. To prep: Cut in half and remove the seeds from the inside. Slice, chop or mince. To freeze: Wash and dry peppers. Freeze whole or cut into bite-size pieces and place in Ziplock freezer bag, removing as much air as possible.
WEEK #16 ADD-ON SHARES: Week “B”
Odd-numbered weeks of our CSA season (week 1,3,5) are called “A” weeks. And even-numbered weeks (week 2,4,6) are called “B” weeks. If you have any kind of non-veggie, bi-weekly share, you have been assigned to either “A” or “B” week for the season. If you get a cheese share, it always comes on Week “A.”
Every year, Tanya (right) makes our family a pie with spaghetti squash. Josiah eagerly looks forward to it!
WEEK 16 FRUIT SHARE:
Remember, the fruit share is a 16-week product. This is the FINAL week for the fruit share.
APPLE CIDER, half-gallon (via Eshleman Orchard) ~ Store your apple cider in the fridge (obviously), and drink within 10 days.
PIXIE CRUNCH APPLES (Quarry Hill) ~ SCORE!!! These are easily the best-tasting apples of the season! To store: Store apples in your refrigerator in a plastic bag. They are odor-absorbent, so keep them away from onions, potatoes, and other strong-flavored items. Apples can also be dehydrated (with cinnamon sprinkled on top), and stored in a Ziplock bag.
AMBROSIA APPLES (Quarry Hill) ~ Delicious apple for eating out of hand! Store in a plastic bag in your fridge, where they’ll keep for 4-5 weeks!
Ice Cream Flavor of the Week:
Chocolate from Knueven Creamery. Note: be sure to stop and pick up your ice cream from the Knueven milk truck at your pickup site! They will be located either right before or after your veggie pickup. Your farmers will not be passing this out in their delivery line.
Coffee Flavor of the Week:
Sumatra Orang Utan: Maddie & Bella Coffee Company caramel, apple, dark chocolate
CSA GIVEAWAY WEEK – DAILY CHALLENGE
Contest Dates: October 3-7, 2022
It’s our next Challenge! As a way to review and celebrate our progress and growth over the last 16 weeks together this season, I’m creating a fun interactive daily challenge inside our private Facebook group. Each day (starting October 3rd), I’ll post a daily challenge question inside the group. Be sure to go look for it each morning! All you have to do is write a brief answer to the question in the comments by 6 PM that day to enter to win that day’s prize.
Around 8 PM each day, I’ll announce a winner, chosen from a hat of names, based on whoever responded with a comment that day! There will be a different winner each day (Monday-Friday), and 5 different questions. So keep checking back and entering to win! The winner gets to choose from a Prize Box — I’ll post a picture of the prizes for you to choose from. You must be a CSA member or Sampler member to enter. Winners can only win one time, but feel free to keep answering in future questions!
Stock Up on Goat Cheese for Winter
Deadline is October 3rd. Pay upon receipt.
Meet the CSA White Board
How we keep the harvest organized and 415 boxes from getting lost in the shuffle.
So how does produce get from our field into your box, you might ask?
With 415 boxes to fill each week, there is (of course) an organized system we have developed to get it all packed in just under 5 hours. And it all revolves around 2 giant white boards.
This is “The Harvest Board” and it’s kind of like Grand Central Station at our farm.
1. THE HARVEST BOARD
Our harvest crew staff (Polo, Noah, Pedro, Jesus, Jose, and John) harvest on Monday and Wednesdays from 8 AM to 4 PM. They get their marching orders from our giant to-do list that we affectionately call “the harvest board.” (See picture above). This is a huge dry-erase board with all the vegetables that go into the CSA box (along with anything we need to harvest for the store orders and chefs).
Each veggie is listed, along with how many portions to harvest (aka bunches, pounds, pieces), where to find it in the field, what harvest utensil to use, which harvest container to use, where to store it when it’s finished, how many to pack for CSA, chefs, or store orders, what setting to use for the pressure washer, and how to bundle them.
As items are harvested, weighed, inventoried and stored in the cooler, we move a green magnet along that crop’s row on the harvest white board. That way we can see where it is in the process. Once the magnet makes it all the way past the washing and packing stage, it sits on the very right edge of the board — a signal that it’s ready for the assembly line.
Sometimes certain high-intensity crops need to be harvested first, so we can have enough time to wash, bundle, and dry the item before packing them in the bins. So we pay attention to the types of crops that we process first. Onions, cherry tomatoes, potatoes, and carrots usually get first dibs.
Some crops like lettuces and chard or cilantro are very sensitive to heat. The crew must usually harvest those in the early evening the night before so they won’t wilt in the heat or be covered in dew.
2. THE PACKING BOARD
We also have a second white board in the packing shed, which lists the order in which we pack the items into the box, along with any special bagging or packing instructions (e.g. arugula, 183 lettuce bags, 0.4 lbs)
Each week before the crew arrives, Corinna checks the “master checklist” on a clipboard in the packing shed to build the whiteboard. This checklist summarizes exactly how many half and full shares, fruit shares, cheese shares, flower shares, and egg shares go to each site. This checklist changes slightly from week to week based on emails from customers who request a change in pick-up. The checklist also tells us interesting things like how we need to pick “183 portions” for Monday nights and “196 portions” for Wednesday in order to give each full share 2 of something and each half share just one. It will say how many eggs fall on “A” week or “B.”
The packing crew is a separate crew that is in charge of bagging the produce and packing everything into the CSA boxes. It includes: Karen Hess, Tara Baranowski, Janae Makowski, Steph McBride, Patty Rodgers, Adelle Rodriguez, Holly Maczka, Dani Kusner, Cindy Butler, Connie Taylor, Val Washeck, and Beth Deakins. This crew barters their time in return for a veggie and fruit share each week. We have two different packing crews — and they come in on Mondays or Wednesdays from 4-8 PM. If we need 215 lettuce bags for arugula, they are responsible for counting those out so they are ready when the arugula comes in. Then they weigh the portion sizes on a scale and pack the bags. Our packing crew also takes care of packing coolers with egg, coffee, and cheese shares
By 6:30 pm each Monday and Wednesday, we are usually ready to “set up the line.” We pull all the veggie items out and put them in a certain order on tables — assembly-line style. The crew lines up and takes a place on the line. Each veggie is placed in a certain place in the box based on the second white board, then fitted with a lid, and packed about 8 boxes high in the cooler.
The white board also function as our documentation system. Anything we need to document for food safety audits and organic certification can be found on these boards: cleaning checklists, water sanitation levels, who was present that night, weights and yields by crop and bed row, etc. This way, we simply snap a picture of the white board at the end of the night and file it away on our Google Drive.
Store orders are packed on a separate day by a separate packing crew. This product line has grown over the years, and now requires its very own morning block! They show up on Tuesday and Thursday mornings to organize and pack these orders. They work off of a “pick list” and weigh/pre-bag all the different items going into customer orders. Then they lay out the inventory in a giant assembly line and custom-build each order into a black crate. This order is double-checked by a second person and then bagged into bags. Each week, we average about 45 orders. It usually takes about 4 hours to complete.
Creating a system like this has been necessary in order to make our packing night as efficient and fast as possible. Who knew packing your box was such an operation?
Kurt is always on his phone, brokering vegetable deals.
FARMER KURT’S FIELD NOTES
This week it turned from hot to cold overnight! It’s time to pull out our window A/C unit in the house. The crew is wearing sweatshirts, and we’re watching our daylight quickly disappear. Crops grow a lot slower now that the daylight is lessening. I could use some more rain — it’s pretty dry out. If it weren’t so windy, I’d be irrigating right now.
John seeded spinach for me a few days ago outside the packing shed in the garden beds. I’ve actually cleared out all the beds that were there. We disked in the sudangrass cover crop. I’ll apply compost to those areas this week and leaf mulch — then later this fall, I’ll seed them with “tillage radishes” which is another cover crop to build up soil health.
John uses the seeder to plant spinach.
Fall crops look great! I can’t wait to share the bounty over the last 2 weeks with you. Remember, after this week, we have TWO more to go before we wrap up. How has it gone so fast?! I know some of you are asking questions about “how does signup for next year work?…” Corinna has been working like crazy trying to get everything ready for the “early bird CSA signup” promotion period which will be happening the FINAL week of our CSA. This is the week when we allow our CURRENT CSA members and Sampler members sign up for a full-season share next year. She’s been contacting all our Add-on share vendors to see if they want to continue next year, figuring out pricing updates, and finding a fun new bonus gift! All will be revealed soon.
The doors will open for next summer CSA signup on Saturday, October 15, at 7 AM. I suggest you put it in your phone, because some of the shares sell out really fast. NEXT week, we’ll have all the details for how signup will work, and we’ll spend an entire week before we open the doors, getting you ready, so you know exactly how it all works. As I mentioned before, we’ll be raising our vegetable share price by a little over $3/week, to better account for our increased labor expense with the Worker Visa program. (But it has been worth EVERY PENNY in my opinion! My quality of life and stress load is so much better now!)
Last week’s box was huge.
We harvested a big pepper wholesale order this week. There’s still quite a few peppers out there — all except the bells. Those didn’t get enough water to them on their second fruit setting. Tomatoes are done except for a few Romas, which I’m picking for my mom’s roadside stand. Those will be getting de-trellised next week.
A researcher from BGSU came out yesterday to take a soil sample from my onion fields. Apparently the same bacteria in humans that causes some disease (I forget which one) is also present in some onions, but they’ve discovered a “phage” in some onions that can destroy it. He’s trying to collect live samples of this phage so he can do trials on it. So he’s hitting up onion farms, hoping to find it in the soil where we planted them. Good luck to him! Maybe we’ll help cure a disease!
My farm truck tailgate is broken. It won’t stay latched. So I’m using a ratchet strap to keep it together. Poor Corinna couldn’t figure out how to get it all hooked back up last Thursday at her Port Clinton pickup site. (Corinna chewed me out later). Thanks to the Zak (Port Clinton customer) for showing up and helping her out! I told her we’re just gonna have to wait on that fix — there are other priorities right now! I think I’ll probably have to replace the whole tailgate! LOL. It’s always something.
Adelle (one of our Monday packers) shows off the huge Tokyo Bekana. Some of them were so big they wouldn’t fit in the CSA boxes.
We did a big cleaning of the Pack Shed this week – moved everything out and washed it down. I also pulled out the air conditioner unit from the cooler and sprayed it. I usually have to do this once a season as it gets clogged and starts to spit water into the cooler. We use a micro-processor called a “Cool-Bot” which tricks the A/C into going down to 40 degrees without letting it freeze up.
Finally, my farm mentor Mark Langan from Mulberry Creek Farm came out for a long beer (or two) on Friday. I was able to show him around. He hadn’t seen the place in over 7 years, and he had a lot to say about how far we’ve come. He’s right! I got a little emotional with him. I’m so grateful for the many people who stand behind this farm and help it prosper. I love feeding my community and building something that impacts so many people. This year, Corinna and I took a risk with hiring a big crew through the H2A program, and I feel like it has changed our game and our results. I finally feel like I can manage the farm the way I’ve always wanted to, and I have so much hope for the future. Thank you for caring about my life and my family and my success. I feel incredibly lucky.
~Your farmer, Kurt
RSVP FOR THE PUMPKIN HUNT
Sat.,October 8th, 2023, 7:30-9:00 PM | FREE FOR MEMBERS
Bring your kids to the farm for our annual “Flashlight Pumpkin Hunt.” How does it work? This is a kid-friendly event and it’s FREE for all CSA members. We hide 10 pumpkins around our house in the darkness. Each pumpkin is marked with reflective tape. You have to find all 10 pumpkins using your flashlight! It’s like Hide-and-Seek in the dark with pumpkins!
The hunt starts around 8 PM when it’s dark enough, and takes about 10 minutes! After the hunt, we have 2 campfires burning, and you’re welcome to set up your chairs and enjoy the fire. Bring some skewers and smores fixings to roast marshmallows. We’ll provide the donuts, cider and hot chocolate for free!
Please RSVP at this link if you plan to attend so we can get enough food. You will be asked to tell me how many people are attending, as well as your email address so I can send you a reminder. In case of rain, high winds or other bad weather, this event will be rescheduled for Oct. 15.
Beef Enchilada Casserole from Brianne Markley. A+! Brianne added 2 layers of spaghetti squash, leeks into the enchilada sauce and SLF corn. Fresh parsley also thrown in.
WEEK 16 ANNOUNCEMENTS
- Sylvania customers must pickup their share again at a new location this next week due to a religious conflict/holiday at the temple. Meet us from 5:30-6:30 PM at Five Lakes Community Church at 4765 N. McCord Road, Sylvania. This is the last time we’ll be at this location.
- Pre-order your bulk MacKenzie Creamery Goat Cheese Custom order by October 3rd using the Google Form link. $10/log. You’ll receive it on the final Tuesday or Thursday of the season.
- When can I sign up for next year?!… We will be opening the doors to pre-registration for next summer season on October 15th at 7 AM. That’s a Saturday. All the details for next year will be share NEXT WEEK. (There are a few changes). We give all our current members and Sampler members first dibs on the full-season spots for next year. You will have until October 22 to renew at the early bird price and bonus offer. After that, we offer leftover spots to members of our wait list. We encourage you to renew your spot during the Renewal Week, as last year we sold out VERY early. The first deposit isn’t due until January 2, 2023.
- Sign up for the free Pumpkin Hunt ~ October 9th, 7:30-9:15 PM. CSA members only. The hunt starts around 8 PM when it’s dark enough, and takes about 10 minutes! After the hunt, we have 2 campfires burning, and you’re welcome to set up your chairs and enjoy the fire. Bring some skewers and smores fixing to roast marshmallows. And enjoy some donuts and cider on us! Kids can play on the swingset or sandbox or just run around our lawn! Please RSVP here so I can get enough snacks.
- You can order additional items from the Shared Legacy Farms online store. We’ll try to have it loaded up by 2 PM. 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 36 hours before your site. We harvest the product on Monday and Wednesday mornings — early. This week, the store will have: acorn squash, Delicata winter squash, honey-nut squash, Spaghetti squash,Heart of Gold winter squash, cauliflower, Mizpuna greens, Mild & Wild greens, cutting celery herb, small green Oak Leaf head lettuce, pints of mini garlic, golden beets, candy stripe beets, celeriac, dino kale, All Star kale, kohlrabi, poblano peppers, sweet banana peppers, orange snack peppers, ground cherries, tomatillos, red Italian peppers, red mini bell snack peppers, Dandelion greens, small red cabbage, Tokyo Bekana greens, Bosc pears, Jonathan apples, Jed’s eggs, personal size watermelon, honey, local maple syrup.
Joy Andrews adds winter squash to her chili. What a great idea!
WEEK 16 CSA RECIPES
Members: You can download these recipes as a PDF. These recipes are designed to inspire you to use your box this week! Please check inside our private Facebook group to find your fellow members sharing ideas for what to make with their box! Share a photo and you might be featured in next week’s newsletter!
Potato and Celery Root Mash
Braised Chicken with Celery Root and Garlic
Celery Root and Sweet Potato Hash
Garlic Bok Choy with shallots
Bok Choy Salad with Sesame Soy Sauce
Ginger Garlic Soup with Bok Choy
Seared Steak Lettuce Cups
Asian Beef, Broccoli and Cabbage Stir Fry
Roasted Squash with Sesame Seeds and Cumin
Acorn Squash Lasagna
Crock Pot Apple Pear Cider
Crockpot Apple Butter