CSA Week 20: October 12th
Well, the end is here. Our final week of the CSA has arrived. We are so grateful to every single member for taking the risk on us, particularly in a year that has constantly felt uncertain. We found so much joy in getting to know you all and finding out what you were interested in, how you like to cook the veggies, and what growing for a community felt like. We will definitely be back next spring with shares and we hope to see you all there as well! Here are the final veggies for this season:
Half Shares:
Spinach
Delicata Squash
Cilantro
Parsley
Baby Bok Choi
Thai Chilis
Collard Greens
Full Shares:
Lettuce Mix
Kale
Red Shishitos
Green Again
The season finale is looking a lot more green like at the start of the season. The spinach is amazingly sweet and beautiful with these ideal cool yet sunny days.It feels a little strange to end the season without spicy mix, but we thought by now you’re probably okay with that! For the first time for all shares we have bok choi! This tender green is great wilted over high heat or chopped up for a salad. I’ve found that they never seem to last great in the fridge unless they are in ziploc bags, so use em or seal them up! The collards are MASSIVE right now, just in time for braising and slow cooking season. We hope you enjoy the last of the fresh herbs. I love a green goddess dressing as a way to use up wilty herbs. Then you have a salad dressing, sandwich condiment, dip, or pasta sauce waiting in the fridge. We hope you all get the most out of the last week!
Recipe Time!
This week’s recipe is for Delicata Squash Chips from a really cute new website called Harvest Queen. They have tons of great resources for both veggie lovers and farmers. I loved the winter squash guide and learned a few things myself, plus the recipes are making my mouth water as we speak. Harvest Queen was started by a group of women farmers and local food advocates in the Bay Area. A lot of farming literature comes from the male perspective so for me it’s very refreshing to see a more fun and feminine angle!
Field Notes
Since our last pick up in on Indigenous People’s Day (formerly Columbus Day) I just wanted to give a little shout out to an incredible book I ready this summer: Sacred Instructions by Sherri Mitchell. This book relates ancient indigenous wisdoms to the problems of the environment, social, and internal conflicts we face. Though she underlines the issues we face, it also gave me great hope that another way exists to lead us back to a balanced life. Highly recommend!
This week has felt like I’ve been mostly devoting my time to watering. Now that we have our late fall plantings all in the ground, we are really trying to get the best germination possible. That means lots of watering, which we think is best accomplished by hand. So instead of just turning on some sprinklers we’ve been carefully watering with a hose every day, which takes about three hours to complete all the new plantings. So far the germination has been really good though! Spinach can be really tricky to germinate but we have a beautiful flush of spinach cotyledons in our hoop house on 15th Street. What’s a cotyledon you may ask? These are the first leaves that emerge on a plant when it sprouts from the seed, which look much different than the true leaves once the plant grows. Spinach, for example, looks like little blades of grass before it gets the oval leaves we eat.
It is going to be so strange to not have the CSA next week! The rhythm of harvesting and distributing each Monday and Tuesday helped calm some chaos for ourselves this season. The reassurance of the changing of seasons and diverse produce gave us a sense of security that Mother Earth will continue to provide even when those in power will not. We cannot thank you all enough for helping contribute to a more sustainable food system, a more local economy, and fulfilling our own dreams. We wish you all a healthy and happy future!
With much gratitude,
Amy and Andy