This is the last week for the 2011 CSA season!!! Thank you all for being such dedicated CSAers. From the beginning rains in May which wiped out many crops: sweet peppers, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, green cabbage and more, to the heat of July (remember how stinking hot it was for so many days in a row?) to the bounty of the harvest and into this beautiful fall we have finally arrived at the final week of distribution. (Do I sound excited?) For every failure and heartbreak of the season there was amazing successes. In May, after almost 7 inches of rain, I never thought that we would be able to rebound and finish the season the way we have. Thanks for all your words of encouragement, excitement and anticipation of the boxes, listening to my never ending complaints, being patient while I slacked on the blog and supporting our little family farm. CSA is a vital part of our financial bottom line. With so many new Farmers markets around the area competing with our existing markets we depend each year on CSA to keep the farm successful. If you enjoyed your CSA experience we hope that you come back next year and tell some family/friends. I will be blogging through out the winter to keep everyone updated on our 2012 plans. Also the surveys are super helpful in planning our next season. So thank you, thank you thank you!
In the boxes this week: Growers choice salad mix, a yummy blend of lettuce, spicy greens, baby Swiss chard and spinach. Garlic, onions, potatoes,baby eggplant, winter squash, some combo of Butternut, acorn and spaghetti squash. Tomatoes, still delicious from the greenhouse. A delicious braising mix that Richard put together, 4 different kinds of kale, Swiss chard and spinach. This would be lovely added to soup or a casserole in the last minutes of cooking or mixed in with a stir fry at the end or sauteed it up all by itself. With the spinach it will cook quite fast so be careful not to overcook. Hot peppers. Organic popcorn and our own secret popcorn topping. The ingredients are nutritional yeast, Spike (a spice blend) and chile powder. Super good on popcorn (add oil or butter the make it stick to the popcorn) chicken, fish, potatoes, eggs…we added a little recently to grilled cheese sandwiches.
We have been planting the garlic this week and last week trying to take advantage of the beautiful weather. We will be at the Meridian Farmers Market and the East Lansing Farmers Market until the end of October. We will have tomatoes and some greens until the end! Come see us and get your pumpkins. I’m playing music at Foods for Living on Sunday November6 from 2-4 with my good buddy and guitar player extraordinaire Jim Spring.
Where once were thousands of lizzies now the fall greens in your Growers Choice salad mix.
With the drying fields in the back ground we take advantage of the beautiful fall weather.
These guys worked non-stop to get the garlic in. Thanks you guys!
That was a long day for everyone!!
I sneak one last white lisianthus of the season.
I loved this color all season but got only a couple plants. Plan on planting more next year.
This one is especially for my mother in law.