Hi everyone!
2023 Subscription Program Enrollment began this morning! Don't forget to use the code EARLYBIRD at checkout to receive a 5% discount off of your subscription. (Remember that this can't be applied retroactively.)
If you selected "Offline Payment" because you would like to pay in full or a 50% deposit by cash or check, we can accept it in the store this week. Our store crew member will ask for your email address to send you an electronic receipt for record of your payment. Remember that at least 50% of your subscription payment must be paid within 14 days, or your membership will be forfeited. If you'd like us to send you an invoice to pay the 50% deposit by credit card, please send an email to Victoria at laurelglenfarm@gmail.com to ask. Thank you!
We've got two more weeks to go - this week and next. This is the final week for biweekly delivery members, and we thank you so much! Biweekly delivery members, no need to return your bags this week.
Our final week of the Main Season program is a biweekly pickup.
Check out this porcelain doll face that Randy found in the field at Booth Hill. We are always finding little trinkets, like dishware, bottle caps, and toy fragments, that remind us that this land has a history. The land that we farm on Booth Hill Rd. belonged to a family friend. We wonder who the doll might have belonged to and how it got there. What do you think, is it kind of sad to think of, or cool, or is it creepy?
Randy put the face up on a shelf in the barn, which I happened to stumble upon when I was putting away crates on Saturday - alone, might I add. Thanks for the surprise, Randy!
One of the tasks that Felicia and Carly worked on in the late afternoon on Friday was reducing the honeyberry plant rows. Unfortunately Randy found that he couldn't navigate the tractor around the field as well as he needed to and that meant cutting out two plants from each row.
The honeyberry plants are incredibly stunted from this year's drought, since it led to irrigation issues at Booth Hill. Randy watered them enough to keep them alive, but we think this will set them back at least a year.
It's such a beautiful time of year on the farm, and we can't help but stop and admire the views when we're out in the field.
Gosh, those carrots gave us the hardest time last week! On Tuesday, we dug and bunched them with greens on, and they kept snapping off in the soil. It was a tedious task that took far too long. For the remaining pickup days we decided to dig them up and bag them, which was so much better for our productivity (and to avoid breakage!)
Check out the size of this carrot!
This week, large share members are receiving cauliflower! Cauliflower is an incredibly fussy crop to grow because it's not heat-tolerant at all, so we only grow it in the fall. If you don't watch it carefully, it'll either begin to flower, or worse, if there's a rain storm it'll get moldy. We harvested it in the nick of time. There still isn't enough for everyone, but since we're on storm watch, you're all receiving a medley of summer and fall items. Members, just an FYI, you won't find cauliflower in the Library of Resources because we've never had a successful crop! I'll have to add it in this winter.
We're harvesting eggplant for shares one last time as well as harvesting most of our peppers. Instead of waiting for them to turn colors, which they never will in time, we might as well enjoy them now before a frost. We hope that this will give you the opportunity to try them in a way that's sensible for seasonal fall eating, such as the chili with green pepper and eggplant stew that's in the recipes below.
This week, we'll also have a basket of hot peppers out on the swap table if you're interested in grabbing a couple for free. Since we know that they're not loved by everyone, we figured that we'd give you the option to take a couple as a bonus.
Mums are BOGO free this week! Regularly $8 each. For a summer lover, even I have to admit that this photo is stunning. We've got a couple of mum pots left in each color.
On the agenda for this week: seeding cover crops, checking antifreeze in all of the tractors, and continuing some field cleanup by rolling up drip tape.
In Your Share (Listed approximately from shortest shelf life to longest)
Large:
1 head of bok choy
1 head of escarole
1 eggplant
1 bunch of Tokyo bekana
1 head of cauliflower
1/2 lb. of beans
1 lb. of green peppers
1 butternut squash
Small:
1 head of bok choy
1 head of escarole
1 eggplant
1 lb. of green peppers
1 butternut squash
Caring For Your Share (All of this information, plus long-term storage info, can also be found in our Vegetable Library of Resources)
Store beans in a plastic bag in the fridge. Wash and blot dry when ready to use.
Store peppers in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Set the crisper drawer to low humidity to allow some of the ethylene gas that results from decomposition to escape. Ethylene gas will cause the peppers to rot sooner.
Store bok choy in a plastic bag in the crisper drawer of your fridge. Wash and pat dry when ready to use (within the week).
Store butternut squash in a cool, dark place such as a pantry, cabinet, or cellar where it will get air flow.
Store eggplant at room temperature, like out on your counter, but keep it away from other fruits and vegetables that will emit ethylene gas, as this will cause it to rot faster (tomatoes, melons, bananas, etc.)
Store escarole and Tokyo bekana in a plastic bag in the fridge, shaking out any excess water before storing. Swish in cold water when ready to use and spin in a salad spinner to dry.
Store your cauliflower in a plastic bag in the fridge and enjoy within a few days.
The LGF Cooking Club
30 Minutes or Less:
Large Share Additional Ingredients:
40 Cauliflower Recipes (Because I couldn't pick just one - they all looked amazing!)
Biweekly Catch-Up (A copy of last week's updates)
Hi everyone,
I have to thank crew member Carly for being so on top of snapping photos throughout the week. She's been documenting the crew's days faithfully, and this past week sure wasn't the greatest for them. The weather was disgustingly cold, raw, and rainy, and yet, the show needed to go on.
Things that we had been doing multiple times a week only needed to happen once or twice because of the lack of sun. For example, now that it's October, we only need to harvest zucchini, squash, and cucumbers every few days instead of every-other-day because they don't ripen at the same speed anymore. Tomatoes are down to once a week now and are really only trickling in. We got dangerously low temperatures overnight on Saturday.
Here are Carly and Felicia harvesting tomatoes. Can you tell where they are?
They're actually under a big tent of Reemay cloth in the field. We decided to cover the tomatoes to give them a little extra insulation, but really it hasn't led to drastic improvement.
Truth be told, this is probably the first season ever where Randy and I haven't cared much about saving the tomatoes, peppers, and eggplant. We're truly so disgusted with the yields we're getting, even at this time in October, that it's barely worth saving them.
This is a photo of Laina harvesting tomatoes at this time last year - notice how many baskets are in the back of the truck.
If you remember, in August I talked about how badly the drought affected the pepper crop, and it truly was irreparable damage. At this point in the season we should be bringing in multiple baskets per week, but instead we're bringing in about half a basket per week. It's a huge shame.
On Thursday, we got a respite from the nasty weather. What a difference a day makes! Harvesting and washing veggies in weather below 60 degrees can be a really difficult chore.
Look at the size of these beautiful collard greens!
On to the fall crops! The weather patterns have been very noticeable to us this season, but haven't affected the variety in our subscription boxes that much. In a typical growing year, we wouldn't really have enough of the summer crops to cover shares anymore anyway. It just shows us that it's really time to go back to embracing the greens.
This week, large share members are all receiving a head of cabbage. These have formed in a very inconsistent manner, so we'll have more later this season, but unfortunately not enough to cover everyone right now.
For now, we're on frost watch! The beauty of October is that greens are back, but there are also tons of root crops and squashes that we would never see in the spring. This week, small share recipients are taking home 5 items that are all on the higher value side - a mix of greens and root crops!
Don't forget to set your alarm for this Sunday, October 16th at 7 a.m. to sign up for next year's program. Remember that the code EARLYBIRD can be used through October 23rd to take 5% off of your total - but you MUST enter it at checkout - it can't be applied retroactively.
We're also launching our "8 Days of Giveaways" for anyone who signs up within the first 8 days of our enrollment period! Each day we're raffling off a kitchen tool and anyone who's enrolled for 2023 that day will be entered to win! We'll post the prize and the name of the winner in the Facebook group and on social media starting on Sunday. Good luck!