CSA WEEK #21: OCTOBER 11 & 13

Crop Notes

Carrots: A while back we talked about a pesky little soil-dwelling critter called a symphylan. Well, they seem to be distributed throughout our carrot field (which we discovered because there were patches where nothing ever germinated)…but what we didn’t know until we started harvesting is that they are more widespread than we thought. What looked like a bed of healthy foliage and nice looking carrots is in fact interspersed with a bunch of stubby little carrots. 

Potatoes, red: We have been trialing different red potato varieties in search of ones that have better disease resistance and storage capabilities. This season we trialed what were supposed to be some of the most resistant yellow and red varieties available since our crop rotation plan dictated that we were going to need to plant some of our potatoes in a field that is known to have problems. You’ll see the yellow type very soon in the share, it did pretty well- better than the red I think. The conclusion of all these trials over time is that red potatoes just have a lot more problems in general than something like a Yukon does. You’ll find that these red potatoes have rougher skin and some bumps- that would be scab, which is primarily of cosmetic concern and its safe to eat. Despite being somewhat cosmetically challenged, they taste great and of course are fantastic with leeks! 

Winter Squash, Butternut: Most folks are familiar with Butternut Squash, which belongs to a family of squashes (the ‘moschata’ types) that hails from Central or South America and prefers wetter, more tropical climates. I also learned a cool trick a few years back- which is that if you don’t want or need to use the whole squash at once, you can cut off whatever you need, say, part of the neck. After you cut the squash it will start to secrete a sap type substance- rub your finger on the cut face to spread that around and it will serve to heal over the cut and prevent the entire squash from immediately rotting. I wouldn’t rely on this to keep squash fresh for an extended period of time, but if you’re going to use it within a week or so its great. 

Remember Winter CSA sign up is open. Enjoy local, organic veggies all winter long!

Around the Farm

It feels great to get our Fall cleaning done! We are working on projects like trimming the tops and roots off all of the onions and shallots, removing plastic bed covering from the last of the squash fields, harvesting the very last of the butternut (boy, they sure ripened late and had us pretty worried for a while there), mowing, seeding cover crops, taking down the trellising from our cucumber and tomato fields, and bringing in bulk quantities of root crops. All of our bags and Remay are out of the fields, bundled, labeled, and stored for next year. In our spare time, we continue to watch the peppers grow in hopes that they will ripen soon…which has proven to be very similar to watching paint dry or watching a pot of water boil. But we still have hope! 

Family Fun on the Farm