Our Last Newsletter // Week 15

Greetings All,

I hope everyone had a great week! It's bizarre 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 out 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 at a great price.

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 can't be described in words, it is SO powerful.

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

Thank you for enjoying 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!

A touch of Housekeeping

Please bring a reusable bag this week to transfer your produce into so that your CSA box doesn't leave the pick-up site, please. If you have a bunch of orders, we don't expect you to empty all your boxes on the spot there, but we would appreciate if you'd drop off the boxes at your hosts house within the week. Or you could always bring them out to the Fall Sale if you're coming to the Farm on the 11th/12th (from 9-5 both days). I will be coming around to gather the last of the boxes the following week, so October 5th is the last day to drop off empty boxes. Starting October 6th, bright and early in the morning, I'll be driving around through the route collecting the returned boxes.

2026 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 where we don't allow any new Members to sign up until you get what you want! I'll send out several newsletters leading up to and announcing the open Membership. We would love to have you join us again next season!

HONEY CRISPS ARE OPEN AGAIN! You probably don't need another reminder but the store will be open through Sunday, the 28th. If you want extra potatoes, onions, carrots, etc! feel free to go onto the store and get your orders placed. We had so many honey crisps left after the Apple Shares went out that we're opening those up again! So if you missed it the first time around and want to get some HC Apples, jump onto the website and you can order as many as you want. They're $60 a box and it's about 23# of apples- those are all number ones so they're good for storage.

I actually had a Member message me last winter when they were enjoying their last apple on April 1st the following year. Just goes to show that if you store them well, they'll keep for a long time! I know we store a ton in our garage fridge for the winter because I don't like the ones at the store, I don't know where they came from, or what they were sprayed with. But the orchard we work with does not spray their apples, so I just feel better storing these ones for our family to eat through the winter.

THIS WEEK IN YOUR CSA SHARE YOU CAN EXPECT:

Jumbo & Family Shares: Carnival Squash, Brussel Sprouts, Sunshine Squash, Russet Potatoes, Kale, Honey Crisp Apples & Carrots!

Single Shares: Carnival Squash, Sunshine Squash, Russet Potatoes, Kale, Honey Crisp Apples & Carrots! Jumbo & Family Shares: These boxes are going to be SO FULL. If we can't fit it all, we'll skip one of the squashes so that everything else fits. I'm just throwing this out here now because I'm a little nervous about packing shares next week, but I hope all of the varieties on the list fits!! Don't come with torches if you only have the one squash, but we'll do our best to pack it like a tetris puzzle so it all fits!

Carnival Squash! Squash plants are dying back and we're cutting the stems and bringing in some carnival squash finally! These are beautiful and none of them look exactly alike. They're a little more of a dry squash like an acorn (it is an acorn variety; look at the shape). Personally I cook these like normal (cut in half and scoop out seeds, put a little oil on it and bake it face down for 20-30 minutes until fork tender). I usually just eat my squash with salt and pepper, I'm not much of a 'sweet gal' when plenty of other folks will add brown sugar and butter. To each their own, and even with a little sugar on there, it's still such a healthy side for supper!!! If you want to spice it up, use some herbed butter with it, salt & pepp.

Sunshine Squash!

This is Ben's favorite squash. He would set all others aside for this one. Though personally I can't tell much of a difference between the sunshines and the sweet mamas (the other buttercup variety), he swears by this one. It's very moist, and great for baking!! Check out the recipe I added to the email this week :)

Russet Potatoes! These are the best for storage. If you're ordering potatoes online, consider getting the mixed box because you'll get a little of everything :) These will be coming in your CSAs this week and 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, a little wicker basket would be ideal. These are a high-starch potato. These thick-skinned potatoes fall apart while cooking and whip up fluffy and light. This makes them the ideal choice for mashing. Because they have a light, mealy texture, high-starch potatoes are the best baked potato. You’ll get russets only 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 my favorite recipe for russets- hassleback potatoes! There are detailed instructions in the recipe on how to get the nice slices on the potato- see the attachment in the email!

CARROTS! We love carrots in our house. No one blinks an eye when we have raw carrots with a meal, but cooked carrots are still 'to be decided' by a couple of our kids. Everyone says they'll enjoy them eventually but we're still waiting for that excitement that Ben & I get- I love cooked carrots! You probably don't need any ideas on how to use these. Everyone will get a pre-portioned bag and we put them in the plastic produce bags because they'll soften quickly if you just put them in the fridge. So it helps us because we can prep them in advance for easy CSA packing, and it also helps you guys because it's easy to pop the whole bag in the fridge.

If you want extra, we do have plenty to sell boxes full. Personally, I shove one bag to the back of the fridge on the bottom shelf (you know, the place where everything gets lost anyways lol) so I just put them in the back of the fridge. I do blanch and freeze some but they came out pretty soft last time. Word to the wise- be careful not to 'overcook' them when you're blanching them because you don't want mushy carrots when you take them out. However, if they were really soft, you could use them as a base to a soup with butternuts. Every veggie, in every form, has a place in the kitchen :)

WRAPPING IT UP:

Well this is difficult. I don't know if I'm really ready for the season to be over. I saw a CSA Member last week, we joked a little bit and then he said "have a great winter" and it was in that moment I realized I might not see him again... I am ready for some R&R. I always joke that if we could just have one day to sleep during the summer, that would make the world a better place. We work every single day without a single day off. I have had employees clocking in at my house at 7am (or 6am on some days), coming in the kitchen for coffee, digging through the fridge for creamer. I really do love the hustle and bustle of the season- don't get me wrong- but it'll be nice to have some quiet time to ourselves after a season of extending ourselves farther than we thought was possible (with this season's circumstances).

Especially Ben- with his hernia and also picking up my job and delivering the Shares, all the stress that comes with that. It's been a big summer, one that we won't be forgetting anytime soon! Not for all the 'bad' reasons, but just as a reminder that we're capable of anything. I'd like to think everyone is capable of anything they set their mind to- and this was definitely mentally challenging this season but I think we learned so much about ourselves and our Customers. God's Will can't be challenged, it must be accepted and embraced, which is what we tried to do this summer. Whether or not you're a believer, I think everyone can do their best to lean into the bad things in life to try to find a lesson in it- there is always something to learn!

I'm sure you could tell I did my best with my newsletters here, but I do feel like I wanted to share more or articulate better; it's important to me to share everything that happens on the farm! Some days I sent the newsletter and had immediate regret- maybe I shouldn't have told them that.... but it's better for you to know and see the challenges with small farms than try to protect myself from humiliation. Honesty is key in every industry we work in.

Almost 9 years have gone by since this picture. If I could go back and tell myself anything I would remind myself to be gentle. We all judge ourselves harder than anyone else ever could or would. I imagine you guys might be guilty of this too.

We can say "wow, we were young and dumb" but really, we were the smartest we could have been with what we knew then.

We ALL need to love every version of ourselves. The "You" of yesterday was just doing their best. The "You" of today is doing their best. And the "You" of tomorrow will have even more insight into how to do better.

Be patient. Love yourself. Feel gratitude for the choices you made. Laugh at the mistakes you made.

Understand that life is like a garden and you get a brand-new fresh chance every morning to weed out uncertainties, water the flowers so they bloom big and bright, and fertilize it with healthy food to make you physically strong.

Thank you for everything!!

XOXO,

~The Farmer's Wife