Harvest Newsletter

Greetings from the Garden!  This week's CSA box has greens, potatoes, winter tomatoes, carrots, the last fall dug parsnips, rutabaga, black and daikon radishes, pie pumpkins, leeks, garlic, and herbs - parsley and maybe dill.

Field Notes Ken got his straw and has begun mulching - the garlic is done.  Next he will be doing strawberries.  He mulches after it has gotten cold and wants to avoid the perennials starting too early if we get early warm weather.  The goal is for them to start once we know they won't have frost damage - this occurred a couple years back when the weather in March was in the 80's.  Many plants thought spring had arrived and then suffered later frost!

We covered plants inside the mobile tunnel with fiber for a double layer - we will see how they fare.   We were both really happy to see snow before the cold.  It was amazing how insulating the snow was!  It sealed up all the small cracks along the ground and inside the mobile was warmer and damp - even when the sun was not shining directly on the greenhouse!

This was the week we were featured on Around the Farm Table.  If you missed it you can watch teh Skijoring with Carlos episode and see us http://video.wpt.org/program/around-farm-table

Next warm weather Ken will be wrapping up work on that north coop so we can shift chickens to larger space.  These are next year's layers, and then he will move a hen and chicks from a hoopette to the smaller coop.  He is pretty excited about reintroducing broodiness into the flock.  teh birds we currently have are not successful moms, and we find broody hens that are good moms really give their chicks an advantage by teaching them how to forage and avoid predation. 

From the Kitchen.  The cold weather means we are cooking on the wood cook stove.  It is great for simmering soups and stews.  Both of us have been making soup.  Ken made a tasty vegetable soup and I made a venison stew with rutabaga carrots, leeks and some soup stock. 

Next week we take a break, so this week's box has a pie pumpkin.  I rinse it off, cut it open, scoop out the seeds and either bake in a covered dish or simmer on the stove. Then once it is cool enough to handle, but still warm I scoop the flesh off the skin.  I then use it for pumpkin pie - a great Thanksgiving tradition.  

Happy Thanksgiving to you all.  We have so many reasons to be grateful!

'Til December 3rd,  Judith