Week 18 CSA Newsletter (October 18-24, 2020) — We say good-bye!
Week 18 | October 18-24, 2020 | “B” Week
This is our Final week of our CSA. We say good-bye!
The winner of the BigAssKohlrabi photo contest… Melinda Fluckinger! We chose this one for its creativity. Congrats!
IN YOUR VEGGIE BOX THIS WEEK:
YELLOW POTATOES ~ From our partners at Mile Creek Farm. Store these in a cool, dark place (away from your onions) for up to 6 weeks.
PIE PUMPKIN SQUASH ~ This is a winter squash. Store it on your counter or in a cool dark place. The longer you store it, the sweeter it gets. Don’t forget to roast the seeds!
HONEYNUT SQUASH ~ We’re not sure if this is going to make it in the box yet… but in case it goes, this winter squash looks like a mini butternut, and I think it’s the sweetest of all the squashes. Store it on your counter or in a cool dark place. The longer you store it, the sweeter it gets. Roast it or bake it. Remove seeds. Eat the pulp. Roast the seeds too!
SHUNKYO SEMI-LONG RADISHES ~ Take the tops off when you get home (or the root will get soft). Store the greens in a green bag. Use them in scrambled eggs or sauces. Store the roots in a bag in the fridge separately.
RED ONIONS (1 QT) ~ store these on your counter or in a cool, dark place – preferably not next to the potatoes.
PURPLE KOHLRABI ~ woah! These are fun! Just like our other kohlrabi, but they have a purple skin. You can eat the leaves on the top too. Remove the tough outer skin of the bulb. Cut the inner juicy pulp and eat it raw with veggie dip. Or boil/roast it in cubes. Shred it and add to coleslaw.
BROCCOLI ~ store in the fridge in a Green bag. Chop off the very bottom half-inch of the stem before eating. Cook the stems a bit longer than the tops.
HEAD LETTUCE ~ store in the fridge in a Green bag. Use in salads within a week.
BOK CHOY ~ Store this green in a Debbie Meyer green bag in your fridge and use within a week. Wilt these down in sauces or soups. Or try grilling them in a cast iron pan. The stems are also great chopped up in a stir fry.
MADDIE & BELLA COFFEE: “Harvest Blend”
FRUIT, EGG, AND COFFEE SHARES — There are no more shares of this kind.
FARMER KURT SAYS GOOD-BYE
This will be the final year for us at the Toledo Farmer’s Market. We want to thank all our customers from that site!
How’s everyone doing?!!! It’s the final week of CSA boxes.
Are you ready for it to be done?
Corinna and I will be sad to see you go, but (not gonna lie) we’re also very ready for a break. In case you missed last week’s newsletter, we will be leaving for Arizona (just the two of us) for 5 days for some relaxing at the pool and hiking in God’s country. When we return, we’ll grab the boys and take them on a 3 week roadtrip BACK to Arizona to see the Grand Canyon and the Utah National Parks.
Be sure you read the announcement section below to find out how the final pickup works. And I know MANY of you are wondering about a fall share. Since we’ll be on vacation during part of that, we’re doing that differently this year — read up on the section below!
Bok choy barely made it in time for the last week’s box! Whew! You’ll get 3 of these medium size heads in your share.
We have some GREAT news for next year! Thanks to all of your “early decisions” to renew for 2021, we currently have 83% of our shares sold. This is more than we have EVER received in our 2 week renewal drive. By the time we add in our paid wait list customers, we will likely only have about 20 shares left come November 1st.
What does this mean for us as farmers?
Well, for one thing it puts us in a confident position financially, starting January 1st. Normally farmers have to take out loans (or budget REALLY well the year before) to make sure they have cash flow until the summer harvest comes in. But with so many of you renewing, we can confidently budget and predict what our financial position is for every month. This financial security gives us major peace of mind. Corinna is also pumped because she doesn’t have to “worry” about doing a lot of sales and marketing during our vacation season.
It also affirms our decision to focus on our CSA and wholesale business, and leave the farmer’s market behind. We expect to sell out before Christmas, so if you haven’t renewed yet, don’t put it off much longer. The deadline for the special offer is this coming Saturday night.
Here’s the new pallet jack, already in use!!
So the FedEx truck showed up on Tuesday with a very special surprise inside! The guy hopped out and said, “I got a pallet jack for you.” And I thought, “Nah! I didn’t order a pallet jack!” Sure enough, a beautiful, fire-engine red pallet jack was inside. I called Corinna. “Did you order a pallet jack?” About 10 minutes before, Corinna had received a mysterious phone call from Jody Chesher (a CSA member) about a “lost Fedex truck” looking for our farm, and how she had sent them directions. We should be looking out for a FedEx truck to arrive momentarily…
At first we thought Jody had gifted us a pallet jack! It took about 10 minutes for the story to unravel. Apparently there was some kind of underground plot to raise money for a Xmas gift for us among some of you in the FB group. Anyway… I’m sure impressed with your stealthy tactics, and it worked. We were both surprised! And it was the PERFECT gift, since (as we’ve talked about here before) our pallet jack was lost during a wholesale delivery.
Josiah pulls T tape (drip irrigation hose) from the ground.
This week, I cut down all the tomatoes. The last of the peppers were gleaned. I’ll be chopping the pepper plants tomorrow. We planted the spinach transplants on Friday afternoon next to the high tunnel. Once the temperatures dip dangerously low, I’ll move the high tunnel over the top of them, and they will be producing several harvests of winter spinach for us! (Don’t worry: if it does well, I’ll have a few pop-up markets this winter to get some to you.) Jed and Josiah pulled out all the drip tape from our old beds too. This is a pretty hard upper body workout, so we turned it into a “T Tape Olympics” game! It’s kind of like pulling rope on a boat, except it never seems to end! And it gets stuck in the ground a lot, so you really have to yank.
We had a good frost this Friday night. We covered the bok choy, lettuce, celery, and spinach this weekend to protect it. Turns out that was a good idea. That covering goes on before the sun goes down so it can trap some heat. I’m really hoping to keep the celery alive for the Thanksgiving Pop-Up market, but it may be one of the things that doesn’t survive.
Maria and Manuel glean the final peppers before Jed cuts them down.
My garlic seed arrived this week too! Manuel, Emanuel, Jose and Maria will plant this garlic as their final task this week. We’ll be throwing them an “Adios Party” next weekend, as our official moment to say good-bye before Corinna and I leave for vacation. Thank you to everyone who has left a tip for them — that is going to be a major surprise for them! I love doing stuff like that — it makes this place a fun place to work.
Well, it’s time to sign off for another year. If you renewed your membership with us for 2021, a special thank you. And if this is good-bye to CSA, I want to say how much I appreciated the chance to grow for you. Seems like every year, Nature throws something at us — this year, with COVID, you still stood by me. I want to say how very grateful I am for that show of support. We say good-bye with a firm handshake, and please know that my farm is always open to serve you again.
We’ll keep in touch — I’m sure Corinna will do a monthly email to our CSA folks to keep you in the loop. And for all of you wanting Thanksgiving veggies, we’ll let you know details of when to order on Nov. 1st after we get back from our trip to Scottsdale.
Until next season,
Farmer Kurt
Kurt seeds spinach directly with his Jang seeder. But behind him you can see the transplanted spinach too.
FALL THANKSGIVING POP-UP MARKET
How to Get MORE Veggies in a Few Weeks
This year, we’ll be offering a chance to “boost” your pantry with our fall vegetables in a one-time fall pop-up market the weekend before Thanksgiving.
This year, due to a lot of factors, we’re going to let you order what you want — like a normal online store order. We will open up our online store on November 1st, and offer you the chance to build your own cart of products. We’ll have sweet potatoes, potatoes, beets, cabbage, kohlrabi, cauliflower, romanesco, watermelon radishes, winter squash, and hopefully more!
The pickup will take place Sunday, November 22nd, at 1-2 PM at our farm AND at Weber Ranch (You’ll be able to choose). We’ll have your order ready to pickup drive-through style.
You’ll get an email from us on November 1st, with instructions to order in the online store! Until then!
Michelle Perkins Cole shared the Co-Champion spot with this entry — a bizarre video of a dragon hatching from her kohlrabi, then launching directly into the camera lens and cracking it. So creepy!
WEEK 18 ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Congratulations to the co-champions of the #BigAssKohrabi contest! Melinda Fluckinger and Michelle Perkins-Cole! Melinda had a fabulous photo of her kohlrabi being carted off by Lilliputian Lego men, like a modern version of Gulliver’s Travels. And Michelle posted a video of a dragon hatching out of her kohlrabi — the dragon even smacked into the camera screen! You both raised the bar and made us smile back here at SLF HQ. You’ll win a fun prize at your final pickup.
- THIS WEEK YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO TAKE THE FINAL CSA BIN HOME WITH YOU. The bags will be lined with a large plastic liner bag, so all we have to do is grab the bag out of the bin and put it in your car. Please bring ALL plastic totes, green hampers, wooden crates, egg boxes, etc. back this coming week. We will charge you $8 for any missing totes.
- Manuel, Emanuel, Leo, Maria, Jose, and Catalina leave for Florida in November. THE “TIP THE STAFF” MONEYPOOL IS STILL ACCEPTING DONATIONS. If you feel led to make a donation to show your appreciation, we’ve set up a PayPal Money Pool here.You have until November 1st to contribute. There is NO obligation.
- END OF YEAR SURVEY – PLEASE FILL IT OUT — We sent this out a few weeks ago in an email, so if you already filled it out, you’re good to go. This is your chance to tell us whatever you want and share feedback that is constructive. We read every one, and we often use this information to make adjustments in our next season.
- Early Registration for next season’s CSA closes on Sunday, October 24, at11:59 PM. We are now 83% full. Once we add in our wait list of 40 people, we will be close to capacity. Do not wait until January to sign up! Be sure to read the section in the week 16 newsletter that spells out all the details. You can register for next year at this link: www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/early
WHEN DO I GET MY ICE CREAM BONUS VOUCHER? If you renewed your vegetable share before Sunday, October 19, I will pass your bonus voucher to you on your final week at pickup. If you are sharing with someone, remember that only ONE person gets a voucher per order.
- We do have other items you can buy in our online store this week! You’ll have to bring your payment via check or cash to the pickup site. We’ll have kale, onions, rye flour, delicata squash, and turnips.
Get THIS Bonus Voucher if you renew your share by Oct. 24th.
WEEK 18 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:
Garlic Bok Choy with Shallots
Boy Choy Salad with Sesame Soy Sauce
Broccoli Caesar Salad
Marinated Onions- Magic Elixirs
Roasted Butternut Squash with Cider Vinaigrette
Sausage & Apple Honeynut Squash
Creamy Radish Soup
Salmon, Avocado & Radish Salad
Grilled Beef with Broccoli
Fresh Pumpkin Pie
How to Roast a Pumpkin
The Original Pumpkin Pie
Best Ever Salty Herbed Smashed Potatoes