Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  The CSA box has many greens - salad and braising greens, some spinach, tomatoes and peppers, cabbage, beets, onions or leeks, sweet potatoes, raspberries,  and the first of the winter squash crop.

Field Notes The garden has some wide open spaces that Ken has readied for fall plantings and spots for early spring. Now he is awaiting frost to pull many more crops out that won't survive frost - the pickling cukes, for example.

Ken has started harvesting winter squash, and will continue doing so.  The acorn and sweet dumpling are the first to ripen, and the others seem better after a light frost. He is also doing the necessary preparations for moving the mobile high tunnel - He has planted greens where the tunnel will go and also some that will be outside the tunnel so we can compare how the two spaces work.

And in his spare time he is doing some repairs and maintenance on the outbuildings - chicken coop, shed where we store boxes, etc.  When the weather has been nice he takes advantage of it.

I am sorting garlic for planting and will be sorting onions for winter storage so they can move and make space for the winter squash.  I also am sorting through things to go back into the shed so it can be more organized and less crowded.

From the Kitchen.  Fall brings so many delicious choices!  As many gardeners and farmers are winding down, we are gearing up.  We eat from the garden and field year around and are committed to local food.  We are in a local food challenge centered in the Prairie Farm area, and I will let you know how we do.  Most of our meals center around what we have.  Right now we are watching the summer crops slow down and the cool weather crops perk up. 


As the days shorten and mornings cool down, Ken  cooks in the morning.  The canning tomatoes become lasagne, the vole nipped sweet potatoes become scalloped potatoes, and beets become borscht.  

The Asian fruit flies seem to have headed south, so there are raspberries in your box.  If you have any problems with the berries, please let me know

I return to my New England roots and make a big batch of baked beans with a pork or venison shank.  This year we have a fine crop of dried beans.  I like to soak overnight, saute meat and onion, add beans and soup stock, herbs like savory or marjoram and thyme, and simmer all morning.  Add any salt or acid like tomatoes after the beans soften.

'Til Next Week, 
Judith