CSA Newsletter- Week 10

Greetings All, I hope everyone had a great week! We're finally wrapped up with all of our school supplies shopping and this coming week on Wednesday is our open house for the kids at school. We are always surprised at this time of year- the summers just seem to move faster and faster every year.

We are transitioning out of summer into fall and even the veggies know it ;) One awesome part of being in a CSA is being able to see the seasons changing. In the spring you saw that we had a lot of leafy greens and frost tolerant crops, specialty early season crops. Then we transitioned into summertime crops where we are now, tomatoes, peppers, onions, potatoes, sweet corn and we'll see melons soon too!

We're now flirting with the beginning of fall. The days are getting shorter. Our maple tree is starting to turn red on the tips of the big branches. The squash vines are starting to die back. Growth has slowed down.

We're going to start harvesting winter squash next week! *More on that below. I just wanted to mention this because we're going to see another really awesome transition and have a bunch of new crop varieties that haven't been available until now. The one thing I'm really bummed about is our brussel sprouts and the fact that we have a handful of living plants but the majority of the patch flooded a few weeks ago (remember that sad newsletter I sent out?).

We still have a lot to look forward to though- tons of winter squash, more root crops like carrots and beets, dried onions, cabbage, and don't forget the apples and pie pumpkins!!! So many fun veggies coming up.

ADD-ON DEADLINES

We have our Add-on Shares deadline approaching soon! To be clear- this is ONLY for the Apple Shares, Fall Shares & Honey Shares. We'll still have the ala carte produce available in the online store like the tomatoes, corn, peppers, onions, beets (later in the season), etc. and that's available all the time; there is no deadline for that.

As many of you know, we offer a few different Add-on Shares that our CSA Members can opt in for. **If you signed up for any Add-on Shares already, you should have received a confirmation email from me last weekend.

For the Add-on Shares, the deadline is next Saturday, August 31st!

Almost 50% of our CSA Members buy Add-ons. The way it works is you sign up for the Add-on Shares & then they're delivered alongside your normally scheduled CSA Share! I will go in depth on the Add-ons we offer.

APPLES SHARE

This is an extra portion of apples. Every CSA Member will get Honey Crisp apples in their normally scheduled CSA. The portion you receive in your CSA box is about a quart of apples. Some people opt to buy the Apple Share because it's a larger quantity for either processing into apple sauce or simply just for snacking!

The Apples are straight from the orchard and you'll never be able to get apples this fresh unless you go pick them yourself. But if you pick them yourself, you'll be paying 2-3 times what you'd pay for an Apple Share! It costs more for you to go pick them yourself at the orchard than to get the box from us. That's because we buy thousands of pounds at a time whole-sale and we get a super good deal that we pass along to you.

The boxes are a 5/9th bushel box (same as Family Share size) and they're $60 for the box. They come with week 14 or 15 of your CSA I would estimate. We get them as soon as they start picking them, and when we know the date we will send everyone an update via email to let them know the Apples are coming that week.

**We plan to sell boxes of # 2s apples for canning again this season as well. More on that when it's closer, and we'll only know how many # 2 apples we have after we sort all of our apple shares. We take the perfect apples for your Apple Shares and the imperfect apples are # 2s, and they're sold at a discounted rate.

FALL SHARE

The Fall Share is meant for the CSA Members who want to go into the fall/winter with some local produce. This is a larger portion of some of the same crops you get in your CSA so that you have enough to use and store some for the coming weeks or months after our harvest season is wrapped up. I had Members tell me they used their last squashes in March this year, and I know I still had potatoes in our basement until we started digging our own again this summer in July.

The produce included in the Fall Shares does not need to be processed. You don't need to can it or freeze it. You can but most people don't because these varieties don't need special doctoring to be able to keep for a long time. These are storage crops- squashes and lots of root crops. If you store them correctly, they'll keep -as is- for weeks and potentially months.

If you don't know how to store these crops- don't worry! I've got a handbook for that ;) Have you noticed the trend with our CSA? We provide these veggies and also share with you how to store them, process them, care for them and even ideas on how to eat them!

The Fall Share is 2 bushel boxes full of produce. One box comes each week for the last 2 weeks of the season.

It's 2-bushel boxes full of different fall crops and root crops and it's $115 total. It's 10# of red potatoes, 10# of russets, 10# of dried onions, 7# of beets, and 10# of carrots along with a big variety of the winter squashes! The bushel boxes end up being about 45-50# each.

As with any Add-on Shares, we will email you a few days in advance of when we plan to deliver your Add-ons. That way no one misses out or worries about forgetting :)

HONEY SHARES

We have 2 different honey packages. The first is the smaller package which comes with traditional liquid honey and then also creamed honey. It's $24 for the Honey Sampler Package.

There is also a larger package called the Honey Enthusiast Package ($50). It comes with

1.5 pound glass jar of honey, 1.5 pound glass jar of honey with the honeycomb inside (it's beautiful!), 1 pound of creamed honey, 1 package of honeycomb- straight from the bee yard.

This honey will be delivered alongside your CSA during the last few weeks of our CSA Season. Right after honey is harvested for the season, we'll get your packages together and deliver them alongside your CSA! We'll make sure to send you an email so you know when to expect your extra treats! We shoot for delivering honey during week 13 or week 14, so it's really coming up!

HOW TO SIGN UP

Just to reiterate- the deadline for these Add-ons is next Saturday so don't delay to order if you're interested because we won't take orders after August 31st.

These are all available for purchase on the Add-on Store page.  

In our online store that's linked above we're also taking orders for Whole and Half Hogs, Tomatoes, Peppers, Onions, Sweet Corn and more. You can buy anything in the store and check out online.

LABOR DAY WEEK

I want to add this here too- because this is something we've never done. Ben and I discussed it and we are going to push everyone's CSAs back one day for Labor Day week deliveries. So if you usually pick up on Mondays, you will pick up on Tuesday. Exact same place & time, just one day behind. If you normally pick up your CSA on Tuesdays, you'll pick up on Wednesday that week. If you normally pick up on Wednesday, you'll be picking up on Thursday.

I highly recommend setting an alarm or calendar event for CSA pick up on the proper day for Labor Day week. I'm concerned that people will miss out/ overlook the change. I'll send out an email that week as well so it's fresh on everyone's minds, but I'd recommend the calendar event as a backup reminder.

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN YOUR CSA SHARES THIS WEEK:

JUMBO & FAMILY SHARES: Sweet Corn, Broccoli/Cauliflower, Bell Peppers (including colored bells!), Eggplant*, Tomatoes & San Marzano tomatoes! SINGLE SHARES: Sweet Corn, Cabbage, Bell Peppers (including colored bells!), Eggplant* & Tomatoes.

I want to add as well- we're going to start seeing muskmelons ripening in the next week or so. Our plan is to add them into CSA Shares as they ripen. They don't hold well, so it's not like we can pick them this week and give them to you next week. If we harvest some, we're putting them into your CSA boxes. I'm not sure if we'll get one or a hundred- all depends on weather. Either way- we're going to start plugging them in where-ever we can! :)

**Eggplant! We are hoping to get everyone eggplant this week. We know we'll be cutting it close because there are a lot out there but we don't want to harvest them down too small. So if we aren't able to get eggplant in the boxes on Wednesday we will sub out the Sweet Mama Squash! I can't believe it, but the winter squash is already ready. We're hoping to have spaghetti squash the next week, so the first week of Sept.

This is straight from the Farm to Table Storage Guide: (Don't forget that there is a copy of this at the bottom of every email newsletter that you receive, for easy reference).

Eggplant is a close relative of tomatoes, peppers and potatoes. They are smooth-skinned, oval to elongated, and range in color from purple to black (and others, but we grow the classic variety). Eggplant requires the right kind of preparation; otherwise it can be unpleasantly bitter, rubbery, or watery.

Fun fact- these are one variety that you CAN’T give to your pigs because there is a special chemical that upsets their stomachs. For the record, we didn’t learn this the hard way. We researched in depth and actually made a flyer that we hang in our pack shed so all of our employees know what they can’t have. 95% of the garden ‘waste’ can go to the pigs, but not these eggplants! Or potatoes or onions and a few others.

To store: Wrap unwashed eggplant in a towel to absorb any moisture and keep it in the veggie drawer of your refrigerator. Or store unrefrigerated at a cool room temperature. Use within a week and it should still be fresh and mild. It’s suggested to be used in the first 3-4 days for the best culinary experience.

Handling: Eggplant is usually peeled. The flesh will brown when exposed to air. To prevent browning, coat in lemon juice or keep submerged in water.

Rinse eggplant in cool water and cut off the stem. The shape of the eggplant can help determine how to prepare it: cut straight narrow eggplant into strips for grilling or broiling, and cut a rounded bulbous eggplant into cubes for stews and stir- fries. To remove bitter flavors and excess moisture, lightly salt slices of eggplant and allow them to sit in a colander for 10-15 minutes. Gently squeeze out any liquid. Eggplant will now soak up less oil and need less salt in preparation. This tip can be the difference between liking eggplant and not liking eggplant, it improves flavor and texture.

To use: Stir-fry or sauté 1-inch cubed eggplant in a very hot sauté pan with peanut oil until the eggplant has released much of its water and is very soft. Or brush 1/2-inch to 1-inch slices of eggplant with olive oil or melted butter and broil or grill until brown. You can also pierce a whole eggplant in a few places with a knife, lightly coat with olive oil, and bake at 375 degrees until the eggplant is very soft and collapsed, 30-60 minutes.

To freeze: Peel and cut into slices 1/3-inch thick. To preserve color, soak 5 minutes in a solution of 4 T salt per gallon water — otherwise don't worry about it. Blanch for 2 minutes in steam. Cool immediately in cold water. Package in layers with each slice separated with two pieces of wrap.

**One thing that is NOT mentioned in the storage guide is to BE CAREFUL because those spines at the top of the eggplant around the green top can be very, very sharp. I was preparing one in my kitchen one day and not paying attention and I poked myself with the eggplant so bad it started bleeding. Now I always pay attention lol! It's those crappy lessons you don't forget.

Tomatoes

We are going STRONG with tomatoes right now. We will be filling a lot of canning orders this coming week and look forward to sending all these goods home with you guys who have already placed orders. I got a head start on my canning this past week and made a whole bunch of salsa, it feels good to get started because I have so much more to go!!

We are going to continue flip-flopping tomatoes this week. The plan is to give everyone either roma or regular tomatoes again, which ever you didn't get last week. We plan on adding tomatoes in your CSAs until we're not harvesting tomatoes anymore. These are precious and the 'tomato window' of the season is so short comparatively!

We are also going to start working in the San Marzanos for our Jumbo & Family Shares this week. So Jumbo & Family Shares will get the normal flip-flop (either romas or regulars) AND San Marzanos.

See the pic of the San Marzanos above- they're a more narrow plum shaped tomato. They're a bit sweeter and the texture is a little thicker than traditional romas. These are a specialty heirloom tomato so hopefully they stand up to their great reputation for everyone!

*This is one way to enjoy your cabbage this week- roasted cabbage wedges. I'll add the recipe to the blog- it's super easy and can be doctored to fit your preferences!

Cabbage is coming this week for the Single Shares! I realize now that I didn't give you guys any ideas on how to utilize your cabbage last week so I went into the Farm to Table Storage Guide again and pulled this out:

Handling: Rinse the cabbage under cold water before use. Cutting cabbage, start by cutting it into quarters, then diagonally across the wedge. Be sure to remove the stem end and triangular core near the base.

To use: Green cabbage is good fixed any way: raw, in salads, cooked, steamed, braised or fried. Red cabbage has a sharper flavor and coarser texture so it needs to be cooked longer. Make raw cabbage into coleslaw or sauerkraut.... Eat raw grated cabbage in your salad...

Cooking celery with cabbage helps cut the strong cooking odor of cabbage. Briefly steam slivered and rinsed cabbage for 5 minutes. Top with butter and a pinch of salt and pepper or grated cheese. For the best cabbage, stir-fry or braise it until slightly browned. Or try and use it as a wrap for grain, rice, or meat fillings in large, boiled cabbage leaves.

Corn

I know some of you guys want to put up corn for the off-season so I thought I'd explain how I do it at home.

To freeze: Blanch on the cob for 3-5 minutes, rinse under cold water, and drain. Cut off the kernels with a knife, and then pack it into airtight freezer containers or plastic bags and squish out the air. Grandma swears by adding butter and roasting it in the oven for an hour, but we have found that we’d prefer to spruce it up when it comes out of the freezer instead. We usually pack ours into bags of 3 cups each because that's enough for a side portion for our dinner here with a family of 5.

WRAPPING IT UP

My parents had our kids for the last week and they did everything- the zoo, fishing at the river, the state fair, they had so much fun! With them being gone all week, I figured we'd have time to get so much stuff done. We didn't get our list accomplished but I did make like 75 jars of salsa to sell at the stand! It's a good start!! I made all Medium heats but will make some mild and hots coming up now too. I've got it down to a science and I'm pretty efficient!

At this time of year my canning supplies live on the table in the dining room because there is no sense to go put them away in the basement. I have a lot of canning to do! We've got a little table in our kitchen that we'll eat at, when we do sit down for meals together.

We don't have much free time in the summer- but Ben & I went out on a date last night at Long Siding Station in the small town of Long Siding, which is about 10 minutes from us. It's a classic sports bar but they had a gentleman singing there and it was a really good time! Here is a picture of my honey- I never get pics of him ;) I'm sure there are some of you guys who don't even know what Farmer Ben looks like!

I've got a b-day party for my nephew in Nisswa today that I'm really excited for! I haven't seen my niece and nephew in months- 'tis the season! So excited to go up to Jenny's and see the whole family! And of course- I've got a grocery list so I can bring all sorts of veggies up north for them too :) Part of the fun of what we do is being able to share it with friends and family!

There is nothing that says "I LOVE YOU" more than food or something homemade. It's the universal language that is well received by everyone.

I've got some picking to do and then need to get through all the standard morning chores and feeding hogs. Right now- we're feeding about 500 pounds a day, so that's a lot of buckets to haul! I better go get started ;)

Eat Good & Be Well,

~The Farmer's Wife