CSA Week 14 Newsletter (Sept 5-11, 2021)
CSA Newsletter Week 14
Sept 5-11, 2021 | “B” Week | LABOR DAY WEEK
How you cut spaghetti squash matters. If you want the longer strands, cut around the “belly button” of the squash (as pictured on the right).
What’s in the Veggie Box this Week?
SPAGHETTI SQUASH (1) — from Turnow Ventures farm. Our first winter squash of the season is always the Spaghetti squash! These have a pretty long shelf life — several months if you store them properly in a cool, dark place. Their characteristic “noodle-like” flesh gives them their name. These can be cut in half and steamed upside down in a sheet pan filled with water. To use, cut the squash around the middle (belly button) of the squash. This will insure you get the longest “noodles.”
CARROTS (1 bunch)— sourced from Wayward Seed Farm. Remove the tops of the carrots when you get home before storing the roots in a plastic bag in your fridge. You can store the greens separately and use them in soups, pesto, or dry them for seasoning.
GLOBE TOMATOES (2) –– These are the classic round tomato — they have more water in them than the paste tomatoes. Use them for juice, or simple slicing tomatoes, or canned tomatoes. Store on the counter and use within 5 days. If you see them starting to ripen too fast, throw them in the fridge, although this may alter the flavor.
CHERRY TOMATOES (1 PINT) –– Store on the counter and use within 3-5 days. If you see them starting to ripen too fast, throw them in the fridge, although this may alter the flavor.
HEIRLOOM TOMATO (1) –– Highly perishable! Use within 2 days. Technically you should store them on the counter for their best flavor. But if they are starting to crack, put them in the fridge to get another day off of them. These are known for their flavor burst! So enjoy them on a sandwich or wherever you want powerhouse flavor.
EGGPLANT (1) – To store, put them in a plastic bag in your fridge and try to use within 4 days. Peel the skin before using. The flesh inside will begin to discolor as it oxidizes. You can then slice into rounds or chunks for preparation. Many people like to salt their eggplant before roasting to draw out the bitterness and moisture. If you do so, just wipe off the excess moisture before cooking. I love to add these to spaghetti sauce — they almost dissolve right into the sauce!
COLLARD GREENS (1 bunch) — These greens have a flat, circular leaf and can be used a lot like kale! Store these in a Debbie Meyer Green Bag in your fridge and use within 5 days. Wash just before using. Cut out the stem and compost. You can also blanch and freeze this item for later use in the winter.
ASIAN GREENS (3/4 lb) — These large leafy greens taste wonderful as a salad. Wash well. Store in a Debbie Meyer Green bag. You may need to pick out a few weeds LOL. (We’ll do our best!) Slightly spicy. Use within 3 days.
JALAPENO PEPPERS (4) — This is a HOT pepper! Store in a plastic bag in your fridge and use within 7 days. To use, wear gloves and cut off the stem. Carefully remove the seeds and/or ribs from inside the pepper if you want to minimize the heat. Then chop to size. Peppers can also be frozen whole or chopped using the “Ziplock bag and freeze” method. These are great for grilling or stuffing.
POBLANO PEPPERS (5) — This is a mildly hot pepper. Medium size. Store in a plastic bag in your fridge and use within 7 days. Remove the seeds and/or ribs from inside the pepper if you want to minimize the heat. Then chop to size. Peppers can also be frozen whole or chopped using the “Ziplock bag and freeze” method. These are great for grilling or stuffing too.
SWEET FRYING PEPPERS, RED (2) — These are sweet, so use them like a sweet pepper. Store in a plastic bag in your fridge and use within 7 days. To use, wash and then chop off the top stem. Remove the seed bank from inside, as well as the ribs. Then chop to size. Peppers can also be frozen whole or chopped using the “Ziplock bag and freeze” method. These are great for grilling!
SWEET RED BELL PEPPERS (2) — These are sweet! Store in a plastic bag in your fridge and use within 7 days. To use, wash and then chop off the top stem. Remove the seed bank from inside, as well as the ribs. Then chop to size. Peppers can also be frozen whole or chopped using the “Ziplock bag and freeze” method.
TOMATILLOS (MAYBE EXTRA) – Depending on how many of these we can harvest, these may show up as an extra bonus in your box this week. Tomatillos look like little mini green tomatoes with a papery husk around them that has split. They are often firm to the touch. Remove the husk and discard. Then roast the tomatillos to add to a delicious salsa.
Grilled peaches submitted as an entry to the Grilling Challenge last week by Jim Hertzfeld.
THIS WEEK’S ADD-ON SHARES:
It’s “B” week (for all our bi-weekly shares)
Fruit Share: red seedless watermelon (Bench Farms), table grapes (!!!), and apples (from Quarry Hill Orchard)
Maddie & Bella Coffee: Colombia Huila Supremo – vibrant/bright/syrupy
Knueven Ice Cream: Caramel Delight
Here’s how much 25 lbs. looks like… Order your canning tomatoes now.
Pre-Order Your Tomato Canners
If you want to order bulk tomatoes for canning this year, it’s now time to do so.
Because there are so many tomato orders coming at us, we will be doling out the bulk tomatoes in waves over the next few weeks in our online store.
Quick! I recommend going to the store RIGHT NOW to place your order, as these will sell out FAST. Don’t worry, we’ll restock if we can throughout the week, and we’ll definitely restock next weekend with another round. If the store is sold out, don’t panic. Just bide your time.
This year, when you place your order, it’s a guaranteed “pre-order.” Our store will send out the usual “confirmation email” of your order. We’ll also send out another email the day before your pickup to once again confirm that we had enough product to fill it that week.
We’re only stocking the store with 20 of each of our tomato varieties per week for now. If we end up getting more yields this week, we’ll add more in! So keep checking the store!
You can choose from these two tomato canner products:
ROMA TOMATOES — you’ll get 25 lbs of these classic, oval-shaped, paste tomatoes. These are best used for sauce and salsa, since they have a lower water content.
GLOBE TOMATOES – you’ll get 25 lbs. of the classic round tomato. These are best used for canning whole tomatoes. This will be enough to can 7-8 quarts (or 16 pints) in your canner.
Each product will come packed in a black plastic crate this year, for easier transport on our truck. You can take the crate home with you, but we do ask you to return it the following week.
Cousin Glen Lepper operates the new drip tape spooler machine — a huge time saver on our farm!
Meet the New Drip Tape Spooler
This week we tried out a new machine on our farm: the Drip Tape Spooler.
This piece of equipment was Amish-made and solves a very specific problem for us on the farm. It easily collects used drip-tape and plastic mulch from the fields. It’s pretty simple to use. First, one end of the plastic mulch or drip tape is tied securely to the inside of the spool. Then we turn on the motor and watch the drip tape wind. Once the spool is full, it slides off easily and is thrown away.
So now let me show you how this job USED to work…
In the past, at the end of the season, we would have to pull out the drip irrigation lines from under the beds BY HAND. Same with the plastic mulch (our weed mat).
We would try to make it fun for our boys by turning it into a game.
We called it: “Drip tape Olympics.”
The boys would stand in the giant yellow collection bin and start yanking in their line of Drip tape as fast as possible. It would usually take a couple minutes each to pull it all in. Whoever finished first would be declared the winner.
Glen Lepper, one of our crew members who operated the new drip-spooler, commented: “This is the best $1000 we’ve spent.”
We heartily agree.
Look how much my boys have grown up!
FARMER KURT’S FIELD NOTES
Howdy everyone.
Does anyone else feel like this season has gone by faster than usual? Maybe it’s because we usually start so much later… It feels strange to be at Labor Day, and only have 5 more weeks to go. In case you’re losing track, we are on week 14 of an 18 week season. That means our final week of CSA boxes is October 4-9th.
Some of you may be worrying about “What happens after that? Can I still get veggies from you?” Well… the answer is yes. First of all, Corinna will be running an “early-bird” pre-registration period during the last week of the season. This is a very important time for us in the year, because your early “yes” commitments to join us again next year give us financial stability in the winter months (in the form of cash flow January – May), as well as a peace of mind that we have most of our customers lined up. (That means less work for Corinna trying to drum up sales in the winter months). So start thinking about whether you want to stand behind us again next year… We’ll be offering a fun bonus gift to those of you who decide to sign up during the early registration period. (I just got it lined up this week, and I hope you’ll like it!)
These popular white Hakurei turnips will be for sale later in the year too.
In addition, Corinna and I will continue to have some fall veggies for sale this October/November/Decmeber — winter squashes, radishes, turnips, lettuces, winter carrots, onions, garlic, cauliflower, spinach etc… And we’ll host a few “pop-up” markets during the fall months to help us move that produce. This is essentially an online store sale, and you’ll meet us at pre-determined locations to pickup your stuff. So don’t worry! We’ll be able to provide for you at least through mid-December.
However, we DO take some time off from growing vegetables. I’ve often been asked why I don’t do a small winter CSA to earn some extra income in the off-season. And the answer is that I need some time off, and the added income isn’t necessary, compared to the quality of life I gain from being able to rest.
Images taken during Pesto Fest this past weekend.
Last weekend was our Pesto Fest! It was fun seeing everyone show up to make pesto in my pack shed. It smelled pretty amazing all afternoon! But boy, was it hot and muggy. Thanks to everyone who showed up. The basil is officially done for the year. I’ve disked it up.
As I reflect on what I did this week, the first thing that comes to mind is tomato harvesting. The plants continue to shuck out fruit like crazy. I’ll likely have them 2 more weeks at least. Seems like there’s always a crew out there picking tomatoes. I just can’t keep up, so I’m organizing a pop-up U-Pick event for you guys this Labor Day. Feel free to come out and grab as many heirloom and cherry tomatoes as you want from one of my tomato blocks. Look for details on the event below. Just show up — no need to RSVP.
I seeded fall greens late one night after CSA pickup — including dill and cilantro and cut lettuces. These will be “quick turn” crops to help us round out the final CSA bins.
Kale plants just keep growing taller and taller into the winter. Kale tastes sweetest after the frost…
Good news! My winter carrots are up. I will begin to move the high tunnel over them this week to ty and push them a little faster. That’s a longer process because I have to tear down the hoop structure and relocate it. But those will hopefully be a nice crop of sweet-sweet roots for us this November.
We’ve been doing a lot of “clean-up” around the farm. Old garden beds are either being disked up, or plants/weeds pulled. I lay giant tarps of plastic over these beds to “kill” anything growing. So if you ever bike by my property and see large swatches of ground covered in plastic tarps, that’s what’s going on. My Asian eggplant look like they’re done. The other varieties are hanging on strong. Not sure what happened to the skinny ones. But overnight, they just kind of drooped.
Glen and the crew pulled out old plastic tarp and drip tape from unused beds, using my new Spooler machine.
See the saplings being rescued by my weeding crew?!
My crew “rescued” my saplings I planted out in the back field, which were covered in tall weedy grass. I chopped and disked the pathways between the asparagus plants again. In general, we’re watching the fields empty out little by little.
Sprayed my kale-lette plants last night — started seeing some army worms on them. Have you heard about these guys? We’ve been pretty lucky so far, but my neighbor Adam had half his alfalfa field eaten overnight by these things. Of course I’m using an organic-approved spray, which so far, seems to be effective.
My heart goes out to all my fellow farmers in the Northeast, who are watching their soil wash away in the recent floods from Hurricane Ida. That kind of stuff makes me nervous, as it seems to be happening more and more often around the country. We are not immune to natural freak-storms and flooding anymore. I sometimes wonder if it’s only a matter of time before it strikes the Midwest. It puts this year in perspective for me — yes, I lost some carrots and cucumbers. But all in all, it’s been a good year for us, compared to my colleagues. I’m grateful for all of you who make us feel so resilient and strong no matter what happens.
Hazel Baranowski shows off a giant pepper she saw while at Pesto Fest this weekend.
Boys started school this week, which has changed the schedule a bit. Jed loves being back at school again. Corinna was (I think) having a little trouble adjusting her workflow. She usually packs all the store orders on Tuesday and Thursday mornings for 3 hours. But having to homeschool Josiah in the morning has meant some reworking of her time blocks to get it all in. She’s also building an online course for farmers right now, so a lot of her extra time is going into that project. Did you know she’s got a side hustle called MyDigitalFarmer.com? You should go check it out. I’m so proud of how she’s sharing her experience and knowledge of CSA with other CSA farmers around the nation.
Went dove hunting with my friend, Jack, last night. We caught 4 dove. I was proud of myself for taking time off. I had some deliveries to do that night, but I called them up and said, “I want to go dove hunting. Can I deliver on Saturday?” Everyone was cool with it. We likely won’t be able to get away for Labor Day weekend, but I’m keeping my eye on the finish line now. I can go the distance. Now that the temps are cooling off, stress levels are down.
Until next week, Farmer Kurt
WEEK 14 ANNOUNCEMENTS
- FREE TOMATO GLEANING scheduled for this Monday for CSA members only. I’ve got a full block of heirloom tomatoes and cherry tomatoes that I just can’t get to. So I’m opening up that part of the field to all of you! Come out on Labor Day Monday, from 3-5 PM, and pick as much as you want FOR FREE. Only applies to the heirloom tomato block and cherry tomato block that we designate. For CSA members only. Bring boxes to pick into.
- Jewish Holiday Conflict Update for Sylvania. THERE WILL BE NO CHANGE TO OUR PICKUP LOCATION AFTER ALL. Last week, we made it sound like we would have to move our pickup site on Sept. 7th. Turns out, we don’t! So proceed as usual!
- Order your Bulk Tomatoes starting this week. Cost is $1/lb. You can choose either the ROMA or GLOBE variety. They come in a black crate this year, for easier transport and stack-ability in our truck. We will continue to put more into the store each week — about 20-30 at a time for each variety.
Last week’s box was full of variety.
- When do I sign up for next year’s CSA? Don’t worry. Pre-registration for next season begins October 1st at 6 AM and runs for 10 days through October 10. Anyone who is a full season member of a Sampler member will get equal access to our Early Registration Offer. Stay tuned for more info soon.
- You can order additional items from the Shared Legacy Farms online store. This week we have: bulk Roma tomatoes, bulk globe tomatoes, rye flour, red seedless watermelons, Italian red frying peppers, jalapenos, red onions, yellow onions, B-grade soft garlic, cherry tomatoes, golden Roma tomatoes, kale-lette greens, white hakurei turnip bunches, red round radish bunches, flavor burst sweet peppers, habanero red peppers (pint), ground cherries (pint).
- Our store link is super easy to remember: www.sharedlegacyfarms.com/store. We reload and open the store inventory on Saturdays, around 5 PM. 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, because we harvest the product early on Monday and Wednesday mornings.
Clara Eckel showed us how to make lacto-fermented SLF potatoes, roasted with garden baby broccoli, SLF leeks and peppers, carrots, shallots and garlic tossed with SLF celery top pesto and topped with crispy pan-fried mushrooms. Side of broiled SLF grilling pepper with herbs and melted Mozzarella!
WEEK 14 CSA RECIPES
Members: You can download these recipes as a PDF here. 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!
Karen Ayers Famous CSA Freezer Marina Sauce
Peperonata
Broiled Top Blade Steak with Herb-Flecked Tomato Salad
Tomato Coconut Curry with Cod
Heirloom Tomato Confit
Collard Greens Dip
Collard Greens with Bacon (and carrots)
Cheesy Pesto Chicken Lasagna Stuffed Spaghetti Squash
Tomato Basil Spaghetti Squash
Corn Tomatillo Relish
Roasted Carrot Hummus
Pulled BBQ Carrot Sandwiches
Southwest Stuffed Poblano Peppers
Slow Cooker Chipotle Beef Carnitas
Apple Sangria
Watermelon Caprese
Grape and Apple Pie