This week's newsletter comes to you from Justin. He's our new tractor operator and field crew member this season.
Happy New Year, Sogn Valley Farm members! With a new year comes new opportunity and new faces for the 2021 season, including my own. My name is Justin and I will be a new member of the SVF crew this year. Chances are, if you’ve received a share in the past month, I helped pack it. So, in a way I’ve already met most of you through your vegetables. Originally, I hail from Colorado and have spent a few seasons farming both on animal and vegetable operations on opposite coasts of the country. I have also spent some time farming in South America a while back, but decided to trade the tropical weather for the brisk air and dark, rich soils of Minnesota. I greatly enjoy the diversity of tasks which are found on a farm any given day as well as using both my mind and body to accomplish a multitude of chores. Outside of farming, I can be found in the kitchen experimenting with our vegetables to prepare something tasty. This time of year means a ton of squash roasting which has been a highlight. During the warmer months of the year, you’ll find me hitting the trails on my mountain bike or trying to improve my tree identification skills with my new “Trees of Minnesota” book.
My main interest in farming pertains to soil health. Top soil, especially in the Midwest, is an invaluable resource that is steadily being depleted as time goes by. Through sustainable practices like cover cropping and conservative tillage, we as farmers can begin to build back up what has been taken away. Along that vein, I am excited to be here learning and working with Dana and Sarah (who are both a treasure trove of farming knowledge) and cannot wait to provide you all with, sustainably grown high quality, nutritious food from SVF.
Sustainable agriculture is of huge interest to me because I believe it is one of the most important practices to ensure the health of our planet and local communities for generations to come. Locally produced food is more important now more than ever given a global pandemic disrupting large scale supply chains. I feel both humbled and enthusiastic to have the opportunity to grow food for our members and hopefully spread the word about the benefits of the CSA model. Thank you all for being a part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons! I look forward to seeing how we can make this year’s shares an anticipatory part of your week. Keep an eye on your e-mail for our 2021 share registration: it should be opening next week!
Notes on items in this week’s share
Beets: You will receive either red beets or a mix of gold and red beets. Color is specified on your order. This is the final distribution of gold beets this year.
Carrots are a blend of colors. Expect to receive at least two colors- orange and then either yellow or purple. Some boxes may receive all three. This is our final distribution of yellow and purple carrots this season.
Butternut squash was grown organically by our friends at Featherstone Farm. You’ll receive either one large (4 pounds or more) or one small (3 pounds) fruit. Size is specified on your order.
Onions are our standard yellows. We are sending smaller boxes this week, and valuing them lower to match box size. Expect about ⅔ the volume of our normal boxes.
Rutabaga: Grab ‘em while you can! This is the final distribution this year. Expect either one large or two smaller bulbs.
Spinach: Greenhouse grown and frost-sweetened. It’s delicious. Leaf size will be larger this week.
Pea Shoots: Tender greens that taste like sweet peas. Great raw or very, very lightly sautéed. See the featured image for this week's newsletter for a shot of the pea shoots growing about a week prior to harvest.
Potatoes are a gold skin, gold flesh variety.
Turnips: Expect either one large or 2 smaller. This is likely the final turnip distribution of the season. Try them mashed with the gold potatoes and cream and butter.
Kabocha squash is a grey variety called Winter Sweet. It is dry and sweet. Great roasted or added into soups.
Seconds sweet potatoes and butternut squash: As an extra this week, we’re offering some seconds butternut and sweet potatoes for additional purchase. What does this mean? They have cosmetic issues (nicks from harvesting or handling, or small disease spots) that make them less desirable than firsts (the high quality we include in your shares), but they still taste great. Expect to slice off some of a bad spot or two during prep. And plan to use them quickly. Butternut can be roasted and frozen either as cubes or as a mash, or use as per your usual.
This week's Hot Sauce/Salsa Add-on is Machismo Salsa from Double Take. It’s described this way on their website, “The layers of flavor make this chipotle style salsa stand on its own. With a hint of sweet, followed by a rich smokiness, you will definitely do a double take as you start to feel the heat of the exotic peppers kick in.”
Subscribers to the Kimchi Add-on Share will receive a quart of their chosen spice level in their share.
Final logistics notes:
- We have two more deliveries scheduled after this week: Jan 20-21 and Feb 3-4.
- Home delivery members: just a reminder to please leave out your bag and ice packs on the morning of delivery for us to pick up for re-use. Right now the forecast for next week looks fairly mild, but if it turns colder, do plan to bring your share inside ASAP so they do not get cold damaged.
