This Week in Your Box …..
Jack Be Little Pumpkins!: These adorable hard shell little pumpkins are perfect for fall decorating. They are not edible.
Ornamental Corn: This year’s ornamental corn is simply gorgeous. Adorn your fall table with this colorful, dried corn. The seed can actually be removed and replanted next year in your own garden. Three ears can easily be grouped together with a ribbon for a lovely door hanging. It’s a wonderful plantable and sustainable gift.
Tomatoes: The heirloom Orange Jazz tomatoes finally began to ripen last week. This is a delicious yellow/orange silcer; some are 1 lb each! Also available this week are the chef’s favorite paste tomato – San Marzano. This is a roma shaped tomato. Very meaty with little juice. It’s also quite delicious in salads too.
Parsley: This week brings a bit of flat leaf parsley to the table.
Peppers: Green bell peppers, mild Shishito, hot jalapenos, and cayenne red ember peppers are offered separately this week again.
Cucumbers (Mixed): A mixed 2 lb. quantity of lemon and green Marketmore cucumbers will finish off the cucumber season this year. Some of the cucumbers are smaller in size and imperfect in shape but taste great despite the appearance. The plants are done producing so I have removed them from the field
Summer Squash (Mixed): A small selection of summer squash also ends the summer squash season. A mixture of zucchini, crookneck and scallop squash will be provided in your box at 1 lb volumes. Most squashes will be small in size.
Basil: There is still A LOT of basil in the field. You can order a bunch of 6 stems for $4.00 or three bunches for $10. Puree into pesto and freeze or dry. Either way it’s delicious come winter.
Strawberries: By the pint Cantaloupe: Sweet Granite and Hearts of Gold cantaloupe
Potatoes: Both white Kennebec and Norland Red varieties are available by the pound.
Onions: Yellow Walla Walla large bulb onions.
Shallots: Matador and Conservor shallots are wonderful single meal sized with a sweet and milder flavor than traditional yellow onions.
Beets: The last harvest of the Red Ace beets will be packed without tops in 1 lb bags. Beet tops can be ordered separately.
Flowers: The dahlias are still producing beautiful flowers so I’ll share them for another week.
Extras:
1. Eggs
2. Garlic Basil Pesto: 8 oz container made with garlic scapes, basil and cashews. I have frozen it so give it a stir when you get it home.
3. Soothing Salve for your skin – my own recipe for dry, chapped hands
4. Dried Pepper Flakes made from my own mixture of dried Poblano, red and green bell, hot padrone and paprika peppers
5. Dried Basil
What’s Happening on the Farm?
I love fall and all the things that come with it. As I walk out at dusk to close up the chicken coop I can feel pockets of cool and warm air floating on the farm. The shorter days cause the green chlorophyll to decrease which causes the deciduous tree leaves to turn brown and fall away.
As I continue removing plants that have finished producing, I’m always delighted to find surprises underneath the foliage and layers of mulch. Today I found more shallots hiding underneath some weeds, and red potatoes that had stretched out into an adjacent planter bed. A big, furry caterpillar caught my eye and now my curiosity forces me to find out what it is. I haven’t seen one like this before. The soil looks better than it ever has before assuring me that I have left the earth in better condition than when I started farming. That is always the plan! Pictured above you can see the chickens enjoying a plentiful buffet of broccoli leaves with some summer squash on the side. The grazing on greens causes the yolk of their eggs to turn bright orange.
Beekeeper, Keith, visited yesterday for a hive checkup. He reported that the two colonies living on the farm since spring are the healthiest of all his colonies. With all the remaining flowers and forage still available on the farm, the honey bees continue to work while most bees begin to exhibit “getting ready for winter” behavior. This was the first year Brambleberry Hollow Apiary and Daily Blessings Farm partnered with a unified goal of increasing the bee population. Considering that both colonies swarmed away mid-summer, and that the hives are full again, I would consider this project a great success! Thanks Keith and Sonya!
Enjoy every day of fall!
Blessings,
Carrie
