Greetings All!
I hope everyone enjoyed all their veggies this week. I know we enjoy seeing the season's transition and we welcome all the new fall crops around our house. I pin lots of recipes at this time of year to try out in the coming weeks. These next couple weeks are survival mode around the farm- this is THE busiest time of the year! We are very thankful for the crops we have to offer you and hope you enjoy seeing the variety over the next couple weeks! Reminder that not this week, but next week, is our last week of CSA Shares for the season. It's crazy how fast this season has gone, and I'm sad to say goodbye to some of these classic summertime varieties. During parts of the season, we're harvested 250 baskets of tomatoes every week. That's roughly 6,000 pounds of tomatoes, what we go through IN A WEEK. Now just today, we had employees run through the tomatoes for the last time and they brought in less than 15 baskets. Just to put it in perspective, whether we are ready or not, part of the season is wrapping up...
Housekeeping quickly: If you received an apple share or any extra produce and have emptied the box already, we would be happy to have those back to use them.
At the end of the season during your last week of CSAs, we ask that you use a reusable bag or container to empty your CSA box contents into so that the box doesn't leave the site. That way, we're going to get more of the boxes returned to us. We give our CSA Members new boxes every spring and the ones we have left over in the fall we will use for harvest boxes the following year. Please return the boxes if you're able. *If you're storing squash in your bushel box, don't worry about emptying it out for us. I understand that sometimes keeping things in the box makes sense, so if you're using it, don't worry about returning the box right away.
After realizing that mater's are basically done for the season, I get excited thinking about the next part of the season here. We're flirting with fall and now considering how much produce we have time to process and get stored for the winter. What we can store on the counter, in the pantry, the freezer, etc. I feel the crunch mode for the farm season wrapping up and all the work there is to do, but I also feel the crunch for storing produce for my own family! This warm weather has us tricked, and I know I'm behind compared to previous seasons because of that. To be noted- they just took the 60s out of the forecast for next week and we're steady in the 70s & even 80s again!
I did just buy another chest freezer though, so we should have plenty of room moving forward to store produce now!
Believe it or not- I took this at about 11pm on Monday night. So it was the night before the full moon. Coolest thing I've seen here in a long time, got the fog creeping in and it traveled all across the fields in the low spots, while the full moon was shining. It was quite the visual! I made another 60 jars of jam on Monday night because Ben had strawberries from the farm stand on Sunday and I didn't want them to go to waste. Just working on the getting some canned good stockpiled so we'll have some of these fun canned goods at the Fall Sale! (I will tell you all about the fall sale below!)
Delicatas are ripening yet- it's frustrating! These warm temps are actually encouraging the vines to produce more flowers! There isn't time for more flowers to equate to more squash, because we can't be more than a month away from the frost, but it's cute of them to try! Just mentioning that because the vines have to die before the squash ripen; part of the natural process. All of the other varieties we grow have dead vines and they're ripening and curing in the field. Not the delicata, for some strange reason, and it's planted right next to the other squashes! *If you ordered delicatas in your mixed bushels of squash, we'll be going out and picking the ripe ones for you (they're easy to notice, see pic above). We're hoping the rest of the patch is ripened and ready to go home with you during the last week of the season! The green one towards the front isn't ripe but I would harvest the delicata that's farther back in the pic for sure. The color change is an easy indication.
Ben went to our field in Elk River to pick more squash too. That squash cleans off SO nice because it's grown in sandy soil so it just has to be brushed off and it looks so clean. The heavy Oak Park soil almost cements to the squash. We can brush off the dirt that we can, but we can't wash the squash or their holding capacity is quickly deteriorated. They won't hold for long if they get wet. So we choose a little dirt on the squash, as opposed to washing them and making them pretty, only to have them expire soon.
FRIENDLY REMINDER
This week is the last week to order the Extras to be delivered alongside your CSA Shares! We do have some of these crops available at the Fall Sale as well (keep reading to get more info on that). The thing is, we'll always prioritize our CSA Share Members over the Fall Sale, so if you order online in advance like this, you're guaranteed to get what you want. If you wait for the Fall Sale, there is a less likely chance of getting exactly what you want. For example, we're already running out of mashed potato squash and red potatoes are running short right now. So for those folks who have ordered those here, we've got you covered. However, we might not have any reds for the Fall Sale, and I would wager we won't have any mashed potato squash either.
If you order online anytime this week before Sept 27th, we'll deliver everything with your CSAs next week. As of Sept 28th, the online ordering window is closed, and we take the store off of our website.
PORK PACKAGES: Ben & I are considering extending an offer ONLY our CSA Members, where you can order pork packages online to pick up at the Fall Sale. We do have Halves and Whole Hog availability if you want to commit to getting more pork. For some folks, the smaller quantity and big variety of products is more attractive. We're going to offer it to you guys first. I don't have everything lined up for that yet. It might be after the last week of CSAs. It all depends on what we get back from the butcher after sending in the most recent 7 hogs. We're going to pre-package it in out freezer insulated tote bags (they're really cute!) and have them in a separate freezer for our CSA Members. More on that to come.
FALL SALE
We are also our annual sale at the farm on Saturday October 12th and Sunday October 13th! Both days we'll have the sale at the farm open from 9am-5pm. We take cash and checks; we don't take credit cards for non-CSA sales. This is the only weekend of the whole season that we have sales made at the farm (we don't sell anything at the farm all season long besides pre-orders!). We go out and glean the fields after our CSA commitments have been met. Gleaning is just a fancy way of saying "harvesting anything that's left"!
Please keep in mind this isn't a farm tour or event, as Ben & I will be busy at the top garage selling squash and root crops. We don't have a lot of parking which is really what prevents us from hosting events. We've got a spot where our employees park on our grass in our front yard, and then there's just the driveway by the house. So that's why it's all day long for a couple of days; steady and not everyone shows up at one time. This event is open to the public and will be posted to our FB page and social media too. I have a whole event page for this on FB and a web page devoted to it, as well.
Something worth noting, the LARGEST CORN MAZE IN THE WORLD is a few short miles from our farm here. They also have food trucks there so if you want you could do lunch over there at Stony Brook Farm! So maybe you want to come visit the farm sale, go to that corn maze & get some food; you could make a whole day of the trip north! Also- I'd suggest taking highway 10 and getting on County Road 5 in Big Lake (right by kwik trip) because that road if you drive north goes right through the Sherburne National Wildlife refuge and offers a ton of trails and the fall colors at this time of year... my goodness it's beautiful!!
(You could google Kwik trip in Big Lake, and then take county road 5 north. If you go north long enough, our driveway actually is off of that same road!)
Farm Sales, hiking, corn mazes... It doesn't get much better than that! Just a few weeks away!! :) I'll be sending out some more info as it approaches too. It'll be separate from my weekly newsletters, as we have enough to fit in here already ;)
WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN YOUR CSAs THIS WEEK: Jumbo & Family Shares: Cauliflower, Acorn Squash, Carrots, A medley of hot peppers, Honey Crisp Apples & Eggplant! Single Shares: Cauliflower, Acorn Squash, Carrots, A medley of hot peppers, Honey Crisp Apples & Kohlrabi!
HONEYCRISPS! We're excited to send these home with you guys this week. These are easy to add into the CSAs and they're such a fun treat. I have a couple recipes that incorporate apples and squash as desserts that I'll add to the newsletter email. Most of you probably know that Honey Crisps were created by the U of M, which is one of the most successful apple varieties the world has ever seen. That's not an exaggeration either; there are millions of honey crisp apple trees in Europe but they're known there as "Honey Crunch" apples. Their sweetness leads their desirable traits but their shelf life and ability to be a multipurpose apple also contributes. Some apples are only good for eating, or canning. Honey Crisps can offer the best of both worlds; they're awesome raw but also cook down well in baked dishes and apple sauce.
Cauliflower! Make sure that you're soaking your cauliflower in the sink. Some folks add salt or vinegar to quicken the process as it'll draw out the worms faster. At the farm here we do set them in the wash tank and let them sit in fresh water (no additives), hoping all the hitchhikers come out. There are always a couple left here or there; and we'd love for you to get them out before enjoying the cauliflower, raised with no sprays or chemicals :)
Carrots! These are topped carrots, meaning that they're just like the carrots you'd see at the grocery store. They're not perfect but we do have a lot of nice ones for you! We have some folks who ordered whole boxes of carrots to store. When I freeze carrots I will do a bunch of bags with just carrots, and then I also make up some that are mixed bags with onions or other veggies. You can even get fancy if you have time and made a home-made veggie medley that goes perfect with all those warm winter hot dishes! You can do it with onions, broccoli, potato cubes, peppers, even zucchini.
Pictured above: Anaheims
Medley of Hot Peppers! As you know, our peppers didn't do as good as some years. We had to dump a few thousand plants this spring because we didn't have dry ground to plant them. So we're going to give you a mix of all of our hot peppers so we can make an effort to get everyone the same varieties, even if it's a little less than normal. For those of you who like heat- you're going to enjoy this week! For those of you who are more "mid-western" and don't like the heat as much- I have ideas for you to use these peppers and take a little bit of the heat out of the equation!
We're going to give you jalapenos, anaheims and hungarian hot wax peppers. Don't be fooled- the hot wax peppers look identical to the sweet banana peppers. Don't mistake these for their sweet cousin! The plan is to use our plastic produce bags and portion out hot peppers so everyone gets a handful of each variety. If you don't use hot peppers often you could freeze some to store for when you do want to use them. Peppers only need to be diced and put into a plastic bag with the air smooshed out. The less air in the bag, the better they keep in the freezer.
Hot pepper heat is mostly in the membranes and the seeds. Of course the flesh still has some heat, but if you want to cut back on spiciness, cut them in half length wise and remove the white membranes and seeds. I have some recipes for you this week for ideas for your hot peppers!
Acorn Squash! These are one of the dryest squashes we grow. A lot of folks really like this one; I'd say this is probably the second or third most popular squash, behind butternut/buttercups.
My favorite thing about these squashes is that they're smaller, more like a personal serving size. They are great for stuffing too. They hold their shape well when cooked and since they're a smaller squash, it makes for an easy portion. We've stuffed them with rice, beans and burger before, we've done an Italian stuffed squash before... we've even done dessert squashes before, haha! Diced apples in the middle with cinnamon, and after it's cooked top it off with some real vanilla ice cream. We've done toasted nuts in ours before. I tried one with chocolate chips, I do not recommend that though, lol.
WRAPPING IT UP
We installed our new playground here at the farm.
Just kidding. It's just a few round bales but man, that was hours of entertainment.
Our neighbor (we'll call him Harry- he wouldn't want to be in the newsletter lol), came over a couple nights ago and said that the pork he got from Ben was the best he's ever had and he needed more. So he gave Ben some money and grabbed some more of the brat patties and some breakfast sausages, hot dogs, just a couple different things. (Hand on the bible, true story- I'm not just saying it to sound good, but it is flattering!!)
Then Ben said, instead of giving me more money why you don't just drop off some bedding for the pigs this week sometime. So he came back the next day and delivered all the round bales right next to the pig feeder out in the front yard basically. The kids then jumped and rolled on them, busted up the bales and made a bit of a mess. I told them to be careful because they're big and we don't want them rolling/ taking the kids for a ride. So they made a hot lava game on the fly and stayed out past three "This is the last time I'm telling you, get inside!" calls. You know how it is, the weather is nice and warm, kids never want to come inside, and who wants to quit playing to go take showers and brush teeth? haha!
Edited to add: This morning was a doozy! Kind of the normal chaos around here ;P Ben loaded the whole van with all of his produce for the farm stand this morning, I packed the coolers full of pork for him to take, proceeded to pack lunches and make a fresh pot of coffee, then I heard Ben yelling back by the shed. He doesn't yell. I'm the yeller in our house, haha. So, I go out there and the starter on the van went out! Keep in mind it's 6:30AM and this is the delivery van that we use every day of the week (either CSA delivery or farm stand).
So Ben reluctantly gets his truck emptied out because he's got bags of chicken feed in the back seat, bins from running to the corn field in the bed of the truck, parts for the tractor, etc. So we get all the produce transferred into the truck and not even 10 minutes later, while we're gathering the rest of the stuff he needs for the stand in the house, it starts down pouring. We got an inch in about 10 minutes it felt like. Well that's a LOT of produce in the back of his truck getting wet! So we're quickly trying to cover everything while it's down pouring on us. Hello 7am!
Kelsi, our youngest, is ready to go with Dad to the stand. Ben leaves the farm and I was leaving right behind him to help him set up since he was so far behind. So I'm about 2 minutes down the road when I get a text from the owners of the hardware store; one of our tents went down in the storm that blew through. So I called Ben and told him, went back to the farm and luckily we had a backup tent there. I grabbed that and headed to the stand, but there were big trees down on 169 so police were all over helping direct folks through single lane traffic around a giant tree. I got there & got the stand set up with Ben. Called a friend who had time to help us this morning, stopped at Napa and got the starter (which is a lot more $ than I expected lol- I'm out of touch!). Got home, got the starter put in, had someone stop by for an order they placed ahead of time, got the pigs fed, and within a half hour of that, I had to leave to get our son to a bday party.... now it's noon when I'm getting home and I'm like, wth happened to my day already?! I blew a whole morning doing something totally necessary but completely unplanned.
The good news: This didn't happen while I was out delivering your CSA Shares. Also, I spent a few minutes putting together a crock pot with chicken and hand harvested wild rice, carrots and some other veggies. So we have dinner already made ;) I have to feed the pigs again here soon, and Ben is packing up the farm stand now. When he gets home we'll unload, harvest more for tmr and then who knows what else there is on the docket. It's a circus over here, but we're thankful for our circus and all who can see, learn, or laugh, from what we're doing here. It takes a village to support a farm ;) Thank you for joining us this season and tagging along with our newsletters <3
Eat Good & Be Well,
~The Farmer's Wife
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