Snow Alert: It looks like we may have run out of luck for favorable weather for this final delivery. Currently, a heavy snowstorm is forecast to arrive late Wednesday into Thursday next week. We will be in touch closer to delivery, when the forecast will be more accurate, with any weather-related changes. If the current forecast holds, we may deliver all shares Wednesday, including those that are scheduled for Thursday. Please watch your e-mail for a final delivery time confirmation!
Things to keep in mind with the final distribution:
- If you have any extras credits in your account, please remember they expire after this distribution, so be sure to use them up.
You can access information about your credits by clicking My Profile > Credits. - Don’t use any vacation holds this week, as this is your last chance to get a share.
- Consider padding your cache of farm produce by purchasing extra root vegetables this week. When properly stored, they’ll easily keep for a few weeks. We’re offering 5 pound bulk bags of carrots in addition to smaller quantities of other root vegetables.
- We have a bunch of salsas, kimchi, and hot sauce available for extra purchase. They’re made from Sogn Valley-grown hot peppers and are another great way to eat local through winter. Looking for something new? This week we’re including a few bottles and jars of varieties that were part of our Hot Sauce/Salsa share (and not previously available to all share holders). Check out Double Take’s Machismo Salsa and Lucky’s Hot Sauce 13.
A Note from Sarah:
February arrives next week, and with it comes the final distribution of our winter farm share. When we walk into the cooler, it’s easy to believe: there are only a few lone bulk bins of vegetables remaining, all of which will be going out in your shares this week. At the start of the season, there were so many bins, double-stacked and over head high, that we could barely get the door of the cooler closed (let alone actually walk into said cooler) despite the utilization of expert-level Tetris skills.
And we’ve been slowly harvesting our way through the high tunnels, pacing ourselves so we had greens available the whole season. Thanks to the warmer weather we’ve enjoyed for most of the winter, we have more greens than we expected available for this final box. (Woot woot!). Later this week we will harvest all the greens out of the last high tunnel. Then we’ll prep and seed the tunnels with a mustard cover crop, which we’re hoping will help protect our new season’s crops from pest pressure. And within a few weeks we’ll be off and seeding, starting with superhot peppers, perennial herbs, and onions. We keep busy! Keep an eye on your inbox for info on this year’s plant sale - we’ll be in touch soon!
A big thanks to you for joining us this winter season. We hope you enjoyed your produce! The winter farm share helps support the farm overall and provides year-round work for our employees, which helps us attract and retain skilled workers. 
Meet Haley, our new Field Crew Leader:
Hi Y’all,
My name is Haley and I am so excited to be joining Sogn Valley Farm for the upcoming 2021 season. I grew up as a city kid in Northern California with a love of the outdoors, produce and big dreams of being on a farm one day. After getting my degree in sociology in Washington state I moved back to California and dug into an internship on a 400-acre diversified organic farm. I quickly grew a passion for the hard and productive work, the challenges and solutions and the beauty and bounty I was constantly surrounded by. I stayed at Full Belly farm for four years and ended up running their education program where I got to share my love of agriculture with the thousands of folks who visited each year. I am so looking forward to learning from the different soils and climates that Minnesota offers and am thrilled to be part of the vibrant agricultural community here. When I don’t have my hands in the soil I love to be in the ceramics studio or sewing something creative from thrifted finds. I can’t wait to grow some beautiful produce for y’all this year and hopefully see you on the farm sometime soon!
Notes on items in this week’s share
Spaghetti Squash: was grown organically by our friends at Featherstone Farm. It’s a good alternative to noodles in spaghetti dishes, or try a pesto topping. Check out easy cooking directions and a few recipes here.
Shallots: These are a little sweeter than onions, with a milder, more delicate flavor. They’re great raw in salads and vinaigrettes. Or substitute for onions in cooked or raw recipes.
Celery Leaf: Similar to parsley in appearance, but with bold celery flavor. Great in soups, stews, or to flavor roasts. Growing this herb for winter harvest was experimental, and these remained quite short/petite despite having been seeded last August.
Curly Kale: Greenhouse grown, frost sweetened, and more tender than their summer field-grown counterparts. This is closer to baby kale than the full-sized leaves that are typically bunched.
Spinach: Greenhouse grown and frost-sweetened. Leaf size will be a little smaller this week.
Salad mix: Greenhouse grown, extra sweet and tender.
Arugula: Greenhouse grown and sweeter than usual. Expect baby-size, tender leaves.
Mild Microgreens are a blend of baby kale, cabbage, mizuna, and kohlrabi. They’re crisp and mild-flavored and a great accompaniment to salads, sandwiches, omelets, and meats.
Potatoes: We have two varieties available in modest quantities this week - mostly SVF-grown with just a few bought in from Driftless Organics. You’ll receive either a gold skin, gold flesh variety or a pink skin, gold flesh one.
Carrots: Are a mix of some SVF-grown and some bought-in from our friends at Featherstone Farm (grown organically).
New this week, we’re allowing for a hot sauce to be swapped in as part of your regular share. So long as you swap out a produce item of similar value, hot sauce can be included in your share with no extra charge. Interested in giving it a try? Look for Cry Baby Craig’s Habanero Garlic Hot Sauce.
We again have some seconds sweet potatoes to offer at a discounted price. What does this mean? They have cosmetic issues (tiny holes from insect feeding during the growing season) that make them less desirable than firsts (the high quality we include in your shares), but they still taste great. Expect to pare out a few spots while prepping for cooking. These are available for purchase outside of your normal share.
This week's Hot Sauce/Salsa Add-on is Another Bad Investment by Lost Capital Foods. It’s described on their website like this: “The one that started it all. Rich citrusy chile, complimented with garlic and vinegar like it was always intended to be.”
Subscribers to the Kimchi Add-on Share will receive a quart of their chosen spice level in their share.
THANK YOU ALL FOR JOINING US THIS WINTER! We hope you stay warm and healthy in the coming months.
Dana, Karin, Ani, Sarah, Justin, and Haley
