Wow! Our final week has arrived! We don't know about you, but we feel like the end of our season has come up quickly.
We've actually been busier than we've ever been before at this time of year. We are usually just harvesting to make ends meet for our CSA, but our store has had more foot traffic than ever, we've been cranking out more handmade wreaths, and we've had a steady stream of wholesale orders that have kept us incredibly busy.
So busy, in fact, that we had to call Henry in to cover the store on Wednesday morning. My intention was to be able to do my own order fulfillment and CSA packing in between customers, but Tuesday we had so many shoppers I knew it wouldn't be possible to do it again on Wednesday. (A problem we are grateful to have had!)
We also had to have Emily rejoin the crew for the past couple of weeks because the harvesting has been so labor intensive. For one thing, we sent 100 bunches of Asian greens out on a wholesale order. It's slim pickings out there at this time of year, so the crew has to be super selective about which ones they snip and bunch.
Additionally, we've been trying to harvest and store as many carrots as possible so that we can continue to fill orders, stock the store, and prevent food waste.
The crew spent numerous hours across the week just on this task, and we estimate that we got about 500 lbs. into the cooler to finish out the season. Needless to say, you're getting carrots this week! These carrots will stay fresh in your refrigerator for weeks, as will pretty much everything you're receiving this week, so since it's the final week of the program, feel free to stretch out your produce and not to feel obligated to eat it right away.
The (sort of) bad news is that the microgreens didn't end up panning out in time for us to promise them in shares this week.
They sprouted, as you can see here, but the growth was sporadic and inconsistent. Since we turned off the greenhouse furnace this week, we needed to bring in the trays of microgreens every night and put them back into the greenhouse every day. On the days it was cloudy, they didn't get enough sunlight. Microgreens grow incredibly quickly and if this were the spring, they'd be ready by now. But since it's so cold at night (and during the day) and daylight hours are less than in the spring, this didn't pan out the way we had hoped. We're thinking that we may have some trays ready here and there, which we hope to include in the free choice offering this week.
We hope you've been enjoying the free choice options this season. Food brings us together, and we love having a traditional CSA because it means we're all eating the same things and sharing recipes and experiences together. But, since we all have different tastes and certain crops can be so divisive (hello kohlrabi!), we felt that having a free choice option was a nice angle to the program this year. It took some weight off of our shoulders in terms of hoping to make our members as happy as possible with the offerings. We plan to do this again a lot next year!
Who says December is gloomy and gray with these colors?!
Hi everyone - it's Randy here for the last newsletter of the season to tell you more about the pruning project that Laina and I have been working on in any "down time."
The summer-bearing red and black raspberries and blackberries need to be pruned in late November. All season long, the plants use their leaves to photosynthesize and store carbohydrates into their roots so that they can go dormant for the winter. So now is the time that we need to prune back any unnecessary plant parts before they begin growing again in the spring.
Here is what the plants looked like before we began pruning. Notice how these blackberry plants have long laterals coming off of them. We need to prune them back to 6-8".
Here's Laina in the process of pruning. We use clippers to snip off any plant parts, making decisions about each one as we go. These are red raspberries.
This is one cane where the laterals have been pruned back. The object is to identify the main cane coming up vertically from the ground. Each plant has about 5 of them. This cane - along with others - was tipped in the summer when it reached 5 feet tall. The cane then started to produce offshoots called laterals, which you can see in the photo.
Now in the spring, the buds on these laterals will grow even more laterals and the plant will begin to grow leaves and produce fruit. In the meantime, the plant will also shoot up more new canes. After the initial main canes fruit, we'll cut them completely down and the plant will keep the new main canes that had grown over the course of the summer for the following year. The process then repeats with the tipping of canes and pruning of laterals next November. It's up to us to look at and determine which 5-8 canes are the strongest and should be kept.
We will leave the 3 fall-bearing varieties alone until February or March, cut them completely down to the ground, and they'll grow and fruit on canes that same year. Isn't it interesting how each variety needs its own maintenance? Grapes, apples, and peaches all need pruning each year, too.
We'd like to end the newsletter and this season with a HUGE thank you to all of you. Our Extended Season program is our favorite thing that we do here on the farm. Our members in this program tend to be enthusiastic about every crop in the shares, like the various greens, and we LOVE being able to share unique offerings with you all. Our members are the backbone of the farm - we couldn't do this without your support. Building relationships with you around food and agriculture is an honor. Thank you SO much. We wish you all a happy, healthy holiday season and we look forward to seeing you again in May.
Join us on Saturday, December 9th from 9:30 to 11 a.m. for another session of our wreath making workshop. It's $75 and you learn the art of wreath making forever, and get to go home with your own 18" wreath made with fresh foraged greens, holly, pine cones, and an optional hand tied bow. The wreath alone is valued at $55, so for an extra $20 you learn to make your own wreath, too! We are SO excited to welcome more people to this event, especially because we know it'll end our closing weekend in the best, happiest possible way.
We're also selling the last of our own handmade wreaths - $35 and $55 while supplies last. We will not be making new wreaths to restock at this point.
OUR LIQUIDATION SALE CONTINUES THROUGH OUR CLOSING DATE WHILE SUPPLIES LAST (NEW SALES)
Cheese
All cheese bars & spreads 25% off
Cross Culture Kombucha
2 cans for $8 (mix & match!)
Dash ‘n Drizzle
2 large oils or vinegars for $38 (mix & match!)
2 small oils or vinegars for $10 (mix & match!)
2 sea salts for $18 (mix & match!)
Dragon's Blood Elixir
2 hot sauces for $15 (mix & match!)
Durante's Pasta
2 jars of sauce for $12 (mix & match!)
2 frozen bagged pastas for $10 (mix & match!)
Hawthorne Valley Ferments
2 jars for $14 (mix & match!)
Hudson Harvest
Salsa - $4 each (regularly $7)
Oui Charcuterie
All salamis $18.75/lb. (regularly $25/lb.)
Redding Roasters
2 coffees for $22 (mix & match!)
Rick’s Picks
Relish - $4.50 each (regularly $6.59)
Rose Sisters Chips
$4.50 each (regularly $5.99)
Savor
2 packages of cookies for $20 (mix & match!)
2 packages of candy for $14
Seasonal Catering
2 teas for $18 (mix & match!)
Shaggy Coos Farm
All frozen meat - 20% off
Sugar Maple Farms
Maple BBQ Sauce - $5 (regularly $7.50)
Maple Candy – 2 for $6
All honey and maple syrup - 20% off
Twin Pines Farm
Hot Pepper Relish and Sour Dill Pickle Chips - $5 (regularly $7.50)
Ray’s Hot Sauce - $5.50 (regularly $8)
WHAT VEGGIES ARE IN THE STORE?
Here is what's expected to be in the store through Saturday, December 9th. This list is now posted on the homepage of our website so you can reference it every day.
Apples from Hindinger Farm in Hamden (the only produce we EVER supplement in our store!) - Mutsu, Cortland, Jonagold, Empire
And our own veggies...
Asian greens (tatsoi, Tokyo bekana, choy sum)
Beets
Blue hubbard squash (50% off - $4 each)
Cabbage (red, green)
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery root (celeriac)
Cutting celery
Collard greens
Escarole
Garlic
Herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley)
Kabocha squash
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Potatoes
Potatoes "seconds" (40% off regular price)
Rutabaga
Sugar pumpkins (50% off - $4 each)
Swiss chard
Turnips
UPCOMING HOURS (NO CHANGES)
Monday (12/4): 10:30 to 5
Tuesday (12/5): 10:30 to 6
Wednesday (12/6): 10:30 to 6
Thursday (12/7): 10:30 to 5
Friday (12/8): 10:30 to 4
Saturday (12/9) FINAL DAY FOR 2023: 9 to 4
In Your Share (Listed approximately from shortest shelf life to longest)
Large:
1 bunch of kale
2 celery root
1 pint of radishes or salad turnips (farmer's choice)
1 bunch of beets
2 lbs. of carrots
1 free choice item! Will include butternut squash, more carrots, lettuce, leeks, and other greens, and potentially microgreens and cauliflower (if available).
Small:
1 celery root
1 pint of radishes or salad turnips (farmer's choice)
1 bunch of beets
1 lb. of carrots
1 free choice item! Will include butternut squash, more carrots, lettuce, leeks, and other greens, and potentially microgreens and cauliflower (if available).
Caring For Your Share (All of this information, plus long-term storage info, can also be found in our Vegetable Library of Resources).
Store the celery root, carrots, beets, radishes, and salad turnips in plastic bags in the vegetable crisper, which should last for weeks when stored this way.
Store kale in a plastic bag in the fridge. Or, snip the ends and store in a glass of water, like a bouquet. Wash and spin out when ready to use, within a few days.
The LGF Cooking Club (Recipes to try in addition to those in the Library of Resources!)
Slow-Cooker Banh Mi Rice Bowls (uses radishes and carrots)
Large Share Additional Items
Please note that Victoria does not work on Thursdays this season. Emails received on Wednesday night through Thursday will be answered on Fridays.
How to Change Your Pickup Day
If you need to skip your share for the week, or change your pickup day, you must provide us with 48 hours notice since we pack shares the day before pickup. Once your share has been harvested and packed, we can not cancel your pickup.
For Tuesday pickups being changed, we need to know by Sunday. Wednesday pickups, we need to know by Monday. Saturday pickups, we need to know by Thursday. You have the option to choose another of those pickup days: Tuesday, Wednesday, or Saturday. Or, you can skip a pickup and double the following week.
If you miss your pickup, we will hold your share for 24 hours after your pickup day (Monday for Saturday members), and then it will be donated to a local food pantry. With more members than ever before, we don't have the cooler space to hold onto shares longer than this. This is a great option if you accidentally miss your pickup - just come the next day.
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