BPF CSA Week 18 News- Wow! Already week 18?!

In Your Share This Week:

Buttercup/Kabocha Winter Squash-One of my favorite squashes, this orange, flaky texture is perfect for baking OR pie!
Onions - little cuties. More big onions next week!
Eggplant - mix of varieties: big purple (Nadia), big pink (Beatrice), pink-and-white (Rosa Bianca), little striped (Fairy Tale), little white (Japanese White Egg), or big white, etc.
Baby Salad Mix with Edible Flowers
Fennel OR Kohlrabi (next week: Kohlrabi OR Fennel) ;)- You know what to do with kohlrabi, but fennel may be new to some people. You can use the WHOLE thing- bulb, stem, and leaf. use the bulb and stem as you would celery (saute to flavor any stirfry or soup, etc). OR slice/shave very thinly to make a classic fennel-orange salad (this recipe calls for arugula- a good way to use the rest of last week's bag if you still have it, or use the baby mix from this week; any greens will do- even massaged kale or collards! I'd also add thinly sliced onion, if you like).
Basil- enough for one last little batch of pesto
Cherry Tomatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes- If this nutty warm weather keeps up (anything over 32, I mean), we'll have tomatoes through the end of CSA! Whoa. That's a first. ;) At least one more week, for sure.
Rutabaga! Time for pasties? Or rutabaga fries- cut into steak-fry sized pieces, brush with olive oil and salt, bake on a cookie sheet at 375 for 30-40 min (or til browned and crispy on edges, and not soggy), turning once during baking. Serve with ketchup, malt vinegar, or my fave fry-dipping sauce: hot sauce and mayo, mixed! (no joke)
Hakurei Turnips OR White Carrots - Hakurei turnips are the sweetest, most tender turnip I've ever tasted
Kale, Chard, OR Collard Greens- I am just so impressed with all these greens, esp. the brassicas (things in mustard family- kale, collards, in this case), since we've still not had a frost, I'd expect them to be tasty but not super sweet (frost sweetens the flavor). But these are some of the best fall greens I've had in years! (who needs a frost? not us.)


Announcements

1. Garlic Planting/Fall Harvest Potluck! A quick poll: is Tuesday afternoon/evening or Saturday afternoon/evening (3-7 p.m.-ish) better for most people? I'm looking at Oct. 29 or Nov. 1, both of which work for garlic. Just let me know which works best for you! We'll plant and mulch garlic, press apple cider (bring apples and jugs to take home cider), and end with a potluck. Everyone is welcome!

2. Winter Shares- drumroll, please- are now available! For winter, we will offer three ways to get fresh BPF veggies:
A. Building 50 Indoor Farmers' Market, November through at least early January, and picking up again for March and April. Saturdays 10-2.
B. Email Blasts- same as last year. I'll send an email with everything available each week, and you can order as much or as little as you like, to be picked up at market or delivered to your home (limited delivery range). This is a good option for folks who know they can't get to market early but don't want to miss their greens! Just ask me to put you on the email list for winter veggies.
C. For winter "shares," we're going to try a new format: a declining-balance account that you fill with as much or as little up-front cash as you like. We'll add 10% to your "investment" so that $100 becomes $110, $300 becomes $330, etc. Throughout the winter & spring, every time you visit our farmers' market table or "order" from the email list, we'll deduct that week's total from your account. This is a great way to support the farm through the winter with cash up front, but still allows you flexibility if you go out of town for a week, or want all arugula one week, or garlic only every third week, for example. This option also makes a great gift! I can help you set up a winter account for your family or friends, with as little as $50 or as much as $500- just ask, and I'll send the recipient a gift certificate with an explanation of your gift. Any balance remaining when regular-season CSA and outdoor markets start up can be transferred to a summer account.

3. Thanksgiving shares: A one-shot (one box) deal for you to share with your family for T-day or hoard for yourself this winter. ;) We include storage crops like potatoes, cabbage, onions, carrots, rutabaga and other root veggies, and leafy fresh things from either the field or hoophouse (depends on the weather, but will almost certainly include spinach, salad mix or big lettuce, kale and/or chard, parsley and/or other fresh herbs). In the past we've included winter squash and/or pie pumpkins. We've had a terrible winter squash crop this year, so regular-season shares will probably get all the squash and pumpkins. Thanksgiving shares are $35. We'll offer up to 20, first-come, first-served. Please email me if you'd like to reserve a Thanksgiving share, and spread the word- CSA members and non-members alike are welcome to order.

4. Honey from our beekeeper Greg Griswold (and the bees!) is still available. Just bring a quart jar with your name on it to CSA pick-up, and Tuesday people can go home with a full jar; Saturday people will get their jar back the next week, full of BPF honey. $12 per quart (or $6 per pint, or $24 per growler- which make great honey vessels, by the way). A few people asked about large quantities- if you want a gallon or more, please email me, and we'll hook you up. For 3/4 gallon (3 qts) or less, just bring that many jars!

Field Notes:
Salad mix is back. The baby mustards and Asian greens are beautiful, and mild, hardly spicy at all, surprising given the past week's sun and heat. The nasturtiums (edible flowers) took a hiatus half way through the summer and are now back in full force! Their beautiful orange and yellow flowers pop out of the green foliage on a cloudy day with neon brightness. (Today's the first cloudy day in a while, and I'm looking at them through the window as I type this) They'll be with us til the frost (if it ever comes). I tried transplanting some into pots to bring into the hoophouse, to extend the edible flower season. They're not loving their new, cramped quarters, but I think they'll bounce back and give us a few weeks of extended nasturtium production!
Saturday people may have noticed that we've had things on our market table that aren't in shares- we're not holding out on you; we've just teamed up for market with our neighbors Nic and Sarah, two farmers from Fort Collins, CO, who recently moved onto Birch Point Road, two doors down. They aren't going to market yet (maybe next year!), but they've got a gorgeous garden, and they send some of their overflow with us to market. So much potential for collaboration here- some thoughts include a multi-farm CSA, sharing equipment, doing a two-farm crop rotation, and more. Just ideas so far, but I'll keep you posted. Watch for more from these two; I am SO happy they're in the neighborhood!
In personal news, your farmer is getting married next year! Many of you met Jess Piskor, my farmer-boyfriend, at CSA pick-up last fall, or at the winter market last year. He farms in Northport, at Bare Knuckle Farm. We met two years ago, started dating last summer, and just recently decided to have a wedding! So far, that doesn't change anything for the farm, but we're still thinking through options- how to keep his farm and my farm both productive and successful, and spend more time together. I will keep you updated, but for now I just wanted to share the big news. ;)