September has arrived, bringing with it all the feelings of fall. Even though autumn doesn't technically start for another two weeks, for us it always feels like the beginning of September. The weather seems to agree, as we've had lots of cooler temperatures and rain. And the turkeys are back, so it must be fall.
Not a lot of options for swapping this week, as we wait for our fall crops to mature. In the next week or two we should have more mixed greens, lettuce, leeks, fennel, kohlrabi, and more radish. If you feel like you're getting lots of garlic, remember that it will last you through the winter. Just store it somewhere cool and dry and think of it as stocking up. Same goes with onions!
We've started to harvest our winter squash! It will start trickling into shares this week with more available in future weeks. We've grew spaghetti squash, red kuri, acorn, delicata, butternut, some pumpkins and the giant candy roaster. Growing squash for the farm share is tricky because it takes up so much room in the field, with fairly low yields per bed foot. Many market gardens of our size, who grow intensively on a small plot of land, don't bother to grow it because of how much space it takes up. But, for me, it's hard to imagine growing veggies without having squash in the fall. Maybe I'm just a romantic. Next year, our plan is to expand into the field across from the driveway (which is currently cover cropped) to grow more space-intensive crops like winter squash, potatoes, and corn.
Scallions - did you know you can freeze these? I know we've had a lot of them available this season, so if you're feeling like you've kind of had enough, try freezing them to use over the winter. Then you can add them to pastas, soups, slow cooker meals, etc. Here's a link to get you started. https://thrivinghomeblog.com/how-to-freeze-green-onionsscallions/
Your farmers,
Kim and Alex
