CSA Newsletter -- Week 15

Greetings All,

I hope everyone had a great week! It's crazy that this is the last official weekly newsletter of the CSA Season. We've spent a lot of time together on these computers and phones.. I'm taking pictures of the farm and sharing them here with you, stories of the day-to-day life on our farm, what is going great and what is a struggle.

It really does get personal; to be able to share all of the farm happenings it has to be. It's personal for Ben and I, we're poured our lives and goodwill into our farm for over a decade now and with your support we've made it work! Through the best seasons and through the worst seasons, our CSA Members and community always pull through for us. We'd like to think that we always pull through for you, too. We do our best every day to make sure we provide a great healthy product-whether that's produce or pork, or even chicken now.

We realize that farming and committing to CSA Shares aren't an investment that either party takes lightly. It only works because we're so committed to each other! The investment of our time, bodies, minds and souls from both parties. The fulfillment of this commitment to our Members really can't be described very well in words but actions speak louder than words anyways..

Here is a picture of me and Ben this morning at the farm stand!

The guys had a pretty big morning before the Farm Stand even opened today! Ben and William left the house at 5am this morning to head down to Grandpa Brown’s and go duck hunting before Ben had to open up the stand.

It was an exciting morning for them, William got a couple nice wood ducks! His first ever!! So today was already a pretty special day for him 🥰 Now apparently he’ll be plucking and cooking them for us too... so we’ll see how that goes!

I stopped at the Farm Stand to bring Ben his lunch and rescue William because apparently when you leave the house at 5am to go duck hunting, bringing a normal pair of shoes, or your lunch for the day- doesn’t cross your mind. William looked out of place at the farm stand in his full chest waders, haha! It was funny that for the short time I was up there picking up William, more than one duck hunter stopped in and joked about the waders and how they did today, it's duck opener so a lot of folks went out today. Just another completely normal Saturday (chaos) around here!!

A bit of Housekeeping

Please bring a reusable bag with you this week so you can transfer your produce into it and leave your CSA box at the pick-up site. If you have multiple orders or a lot to bring home, we absolutely don’t expect you to stand there and empty every box on the spot.

We know some of you also like to use the boxes at home to store your produce. But if you aren’t using your boxes, we’d really appreciate getting them back so we can put them right back to work here on the farm for harvesting and packing!

Or you could always bring them out to the Fall Sale if you're coming to the Farm on the 10th or 11th (from 9-5 both days).

2027 Membership

As many of you know we sell out of CSAs every season. Our Returning Members always get first dibs and you'll actually have the entire month of January to sign up for your 2026 CSA!! We have a hidden web page so no one else can even sign up in January, but you'll get the special invite via email on January 1st! You have to go through the email I send or you won't be able to sign up. Of course you'll get some emails with more info before we open Membership for 2027 too. We would love to have you join us again next season!

This is also when our Returning Members will be able to reserve their chickens for next spring! I wanted to mention this again because I think I made it a little confusing the last time I talked about chicken. 😅

Starting January 1st, we’ll offer a Returning Members Only Chicken Bundle, where you’ll be able to reserve as many whole or parted chickens as you’d like for the upcoming season.

This is a BIG perk of being a Returning Member because you’ll be able to tell us ahead of time exactly how much chicken you want us to raise for your family. Once we get into the summer season, our chicken tends to sell out really quickly - especially certain cuts - so reserving ahead of time means you won’t have to worry about missing out later!

If you want to get chicken this fall, you have to come out to the farm stand this weekend (today until 6 and tomorrow/Sunday 9-5). Or you can come out to the big Fall Sale here at the farm too!!

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT IN YOUR CSAs THIS WEEK: Jumbo & Family Shares: Pie pumpkin, Sweet Dumpling Squash, Russet Potatoes, Dried Onions, Honey Crisp Apples & either Zucchini or Slicing cucumbers! Single Shares: Pie pumpkin, Sweet Dumpling Squash, Russet Potatoes, Dried Onions, Carrots & Honey Crisp Apples!

One thing I am really sad about is that our brussel sprout crop is a loss because it got some kind of bacterial disease on the plants. It looked like powdery mildew, which causes the plant to drop leaves eventually and then there is nothing left for the plant to photosynthesize for energy. So this is a really, really sad one because these are my absolute favorite fall crop. We have a lot of other awesome varieties this last week of Shares but I am still really disappointed to share about the brussel sprouts, what a bummer!!

Pie Pumpkins! Yes you can use these for decorations in the meantime, but when you're ready to cook them just cut them in half like a squash. Take out the seeds and bake it face down at 350 degrees in an oven until it's fork tender. Make sure not to over-cook it because it will dry out eventually. When I bake them, I put some water in the bottom of my baking sheet and cover it all with tin foil so it doesn't dry out, especially if I'm using it in my baked goods because we want it to be moist! Once it's cooked you can use the puree for baked goods, even soup bases! Pie pumkpins are almost totally interchageable with winter squash. You can use squash when you make pumpkin bars! The real "pumpkin" spice flavor comes from the mixture of nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. Available in one spice shaker at every store, sometimes I'll just sprinkle a little on top of my coffee in the morning- 'tis the season and I'm feeling festive!!

This would be a great project for the kids if you want to make a pie!! I can imagine my little squishing out pumpkin seeds from the mushy guts, haha! And if you don't want to take the time to make homemade pie crust, there is an option to use pre-rolled dough so you just have to spread it on top of your round baking dish. It's right next to the butter in the grocery store.

Sweet Dumpling Squash! My two favorite squashes are the mashed potato squash (you got that 2 weeks ago) and the sweet dumpling squash here. It's because I am a fan of a dryer squash and this one isn't quite as sweet as the other squashes either. I actually prefer salt and pepper on my squash versus brown sugar and butter (which goes better with more moist squash like buttercups). If you want to spice it up you could also use some herbed butter on this squash when it's done cooking, something like a rosemary salt would be really good! I love the savory squash recipes too. Or even on the seeds when you roast your squash seeds, some rosemary salt would be good on those too! Remember all of your squash and pie pumpkin seeds can be cleaned up and roasted for a great protein and nutrient rich snack!!

Russet Potatoes! These are the best potato for storage. If you're ordering potatoes online, consider getting the mixed box because you'll get a little of everything! Just a reminder, these russets will outlast everything else in the pantry because they have the highest starch content. These will be coming in your CSAs this week and while I don't think they'll be around forever I want to share that they will last for months if you keep them in a cool, dark place with air circulation. I.e. don't put them in a plastic bag, but a little wicker basket would be ideal. These are a high-starch potato, best for baking and mashed potatoes because they fall apart and whip up light and fluffy. Unlike the reds, which hold their shape better. (Golds are the inbetween/ multipurpose potato).

Russets are only available at the end of the season because they grow irregularly! Also, because of their holding capacity, and skin that gets thicker and thicker as the season goes on. We want thick skins for storage potatoes!!

I'm going to add one of my favorite recipes for russets- hassleback potatoes this week!!

HONEY CRISP APPLES These are coming this week inside your CSA Shares!! If you got an Apple Share, you should have gotten that last week. I did see that we have a ton of extra apples here so I opened up the Apple Share again on our website and that's available if you guys want to get bulk apples. Just a word to the wise, you can buy these apples from us for cheaper than you can go there and pick them yourself. It's because we buy so many apples at once, we're getting a wholesale rate that we share with our Members who want to get Apple Shares!!

WRAPPING IT UP

Thank you for joining us this season, we appreciate you all!

We hope you enjoyed the ride with us this season!! We learn more and more every season; about the produce and growing, about the handling and care, about the storage and canning for winter. The thing about food is that you can never really know too much. About how it's grown and raised, how it's handled, whose harvesting what varieties at what size; the knowledge is limitless and it's a challenge that we look forward to pursuing for the rest of our lives.

Thank you for being the most special part of our farm!! Without operating a CSA we wouldn't be able to do what we do; offer what we can and connect with so many other local families. Truly; thank you for your support!

I am so grateful that this season was so much more fruitful for our CSA Members. This year was a good one; we had great hot weather and had some really bumper crops. While this time of year is sad because it's all coming to an end, I am really looking forward to soaking up some more quality time with our kids 💕

I took it seriously last night when I attended my first-ever homecoming game as a Mom!! Ben was still at the farm stand and all 3 of our kids were begging to go last night so I took them up to the high school and they all ran around like crazy with their friends. I did manage to get a picture with Kelsi, she's our peanut and she is just such a sweet young lady. They were selling sweatshirts inside the fieldhouse and Kelsi picked out the exact same one I already had on because she wanted to match. Meanwhile the other two (William & Karli) are too-cool to talk to me, but I don't mind at all!

I'm here for every season on the farm and in life, each one has it's own special charm and I appreciate them all for different reasons 🥰 Thank you again for a great season together, we hope you enjoy your last CSA of the season!!!!

XO ~The Farmer's Wife