The farm is slowly declining as we linger without our usual September freeze. Even without the frost, many crops have decided to give up for the year, including the chard, kale, summer squash.

We had a fantastic lightning storm the other day, accompanied by lots of rain. I learned something new when talking to a friend: lightning storms fix atmospheric nitrogen, giving free food to the soil and crops. i found an article online on the nitrogen cycle that mentions it, and they say:

Amazingly, salad greens that looked to small to ever harvest this year look noticeably larger after a long storm full of heavy rain and lots of nearby lightning. Its as if the entire field got fertilized.

Alert: We are having a little ‘end of the season’ gathering for farm workers and CSA customers. If you can make it (sorry about the last minute notice) THIS SUNDAY, September 23rd @ 3pm at the farm. Please bring a potluck dish and visit us at the farm on Powell Mesa (approx, 34833 Powell Mesa Rd).

Four weeks of the CSA remain; depending on harvest conditions, the last week may be a double box, (boxes 16 & 17) will come as one big box, with two weeks of items – since everything stores so well at this time of year anyway. On to the crops:

Cauliflower – Orange (cheddar – delicious!) – some White, Purple too.
Carrots (last week)
Tomatoes – more & more until the freeze – if you get overloaded, throw these in a bag and freeze them in a freezer bag. Defrost and stew in winter (add some fresh herbs) for a great sauce.
Lots more Winter squash – so far we have picked acorns (and white and orange acorns) , dalacata, festival and sweet dumpling. Delacata (striped long ovals), Butternut (brown, pear shape), Buttercup and Blue Hubbard all look great this year. Leave these on the shelf for a few weeks for a sweeter flavor. A freeze (soon) will help sweeten up the rest of the crop.
Pumpkins – we will have enough for everyone to get at least a small pumpkin, which you can put on your table or bake in a pie.
Onions – Reds coming on strong (dry these out, they store very well), yellow storage onions ready at the very end.
Peppers – Until it freezes
Chard in extras

Fall is here! This is certainly my favorite season of the year. all that remains on the farm is a lot of picking! (and a little clean up and garlic planting for next year).

This week we are enjoying the last of the Summer crops as we head into Fall.

Since only five weeks of the CSA remain, I thought I’d summarize what you can expect as the season ends:

Lots of Fall crops:

Potatoes are now being harvested, we should have enough to give you all 2 lb./week for the remainder of the season;

Onions are still coming in with shallots, and Red.s ready and storage yellow onions still ripening. Special order a 25lb. box for $20 – the red or yellow storage onions will last all winter inf kept in a cool, dark spot.

Winter squash look fantastic this year – Lots still ripening, but the delacata and acorn are now being picked (plus cream acorn and orange acorn), as well as ‘festival’. The larger squash: butternut, buttercup, blue hubbard, red kuri and others are all a few weeks off (after it freezes the 1st time, we pick them all). We will give everyone 1-2 squash a week for the rest of the season: place these in a cool spot and enjoy any time this winter. Call to special order before we sell it all.

Tomatoes will continue and increase until our first freeze, usually in mid september. Same for peppers and eggplant.

We have a nice crop of fall cauliflower and some more red cabbage you will get over the next few weeks.

The cucumbers, squash and basil are all giving up for the season, freeze or no freeze; the kale and chard are tired, i’ll put a few in extras for real greens lovers, or ask about picking from the field, as the quality deteriorates, we stop picking!

The carrots are gone, but I imagine everyone has a nice supply in their fridge by now. trim the tops, and keep these in a bag; a damp paper towel is sometimes helpful, but watch for rot – clean the tops carefully.

We have some pumpkins, hopefully enough for everyone. Let us know if you must need a pumpkin for a pie.

Purple Cauliflower (giant)
Carrots (last week)
Cucumbers, including lemon cukes (last week?)
Tomatoes – more & more until the freeze
Eggplant or Winter Squash (farm pickup will get eggplant next week).
Onions – Red
Leeks
Peppers – Hot, Anaheim (semi hot) and hot (the small ones)

• I have to be quick this week – we are off to a wedding with a truck full of produce. The corn is the big exciting thing this week; lots and lots of corn. The delacata did great, and is really putting out nice large ears, with only minimal earworm damage. We hope you enjoy this sweetness, we thinks its the best!
• Fall is approaching – everything is slowing down, even the chard and kale. The leeks weren’t quite ready this week, but

Broccoli
Carrots, full size
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Kale
Onions – Red
Peppers – Hot

• Fall is in the air on the farm. The mornings are cold, and the Turkeys are staying close to home, feasting on the grasshoppers that thrive in the irrigated fields. The Corn patch, in the far far field beyond the hoophouse, has really come in well. This week, we have a taste of more early yellow corn, but watch out for our main sweet corn crop next week. Its our favorite bi-color (yellow/white kernels) called ‘Delectable’ and this year’s crop looks great, with long 7-9″ ears, and very little sign of the corn worms that you will find in this week’s corn. Looks like the corn will last a few more weeks – a real bang for the end of summer.
• The potatoes have decided its time to be finished. Ever since I hilled up the plants a month ago, the plants have been in decline. since they have just stopped growing, i’ve decided to pick the crop a little early – watch for potatoes in your box starting next week.
• The flowers are in full production and the hummingbirds are having a great time in the field. Flower share subscribers get mixed bouquets with Zinnias and more that just shout SUMMER.

What’s coming out of the field?

• Tomatoes – The tomatoes are finally ripening. A little bit in this weeks box, then more and more for the next few weeks!
• Peppers – More bell peppers ripening, anaheims, jalapenos and other mild to hot peppers. A few in your box, or pick from the mixed pepper box.
• Beans – just kidding, the beans are finally done, thank goodness.
• Salad – Alert – we will have a one week break in salad next week, then we will have it again.
• Squash – You can be a squash gourmet! Valerie pointed out this great article in the NY times magazine that offers great information on using squash, and offers some exciting recipes including one for Chilled Spiced Yellow-Squash Soup. Here is the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/19/magazine/19food-t.html
• Cucumbers – Yum! Cucumber salad time.
• Basil is in full swing, We are still taking orders for bulk basil ($12/lb.) or whole basil plants ($2/bunch) – you pick the leaves off the plant yourself.

Carrots, full size
Cucumbers
Tomatoes
Kale
Cabbage, Red
Onions – Red & Yellow
Peppers – Bell & Hot
Eggplant

• Tomatoes – We know everyone is waiting for tomatoes, and they are beginning to ripen. We should have a trickle in the next week or two, then hit the big time for a month or so.
• Peppers – You’ll find some bell peppers and hot peppers with this week’s box. This is just the very beginning – we are thinning off the extra peppers. We have green and yellow bells so far, but soon these will begin to turn red – if we are lucky.
• Flowers – flowers are going bonkers and flower shareholders are now getting beautiful sunflowers, gladioli and bouquets. Please call if you want to add the flower option or special order a bouquet.
• Basil is in full swing, but will end the day we have our 1st light freeze – sometimes in early September. We are now taking orders for bulk basil ($12/lb.) or whole basil plants ($2/bunch) – you pick the leaves off the plant yourself.
• Fall – I know its still August, but fall is in the air! The heat has lessened, and the crops are starting to lay down their winter skin; winter squash and potatoes are looking great, and the storage onions are coming along well.

• Beans – Wow, it seems like by the time we get to one end of the row its time to start picking again at the other end! Seriously, we’ve been picking beans three times a week, and still can’t keep up. Everyone gets another 3/4 lb. bag this week. If you just can’t make another bean dish, just blanch (steam lightly) and throw them in a bag and into the freezer – they’ll make you happy one day this winter, I promise!
• Salad – Still fresh and tender! How do we do it? A fresh batch of salad gets planted every week or two, and then watered daily for hours. at the ripe age of around 3-4 weeks, we cut the new batch, keeping it fresh & tender. Salad will continue for at least another month, then taper off as the season ends.
• Squash – If we could just all eat a little more squash it might put a dent in the harvest! Look for the assorted squash boxes and help yourself! Large sized summer squash are great for stuffing (look for the separate large box) – scoop out the insides, turn into a savory stuffing, and bake. Look, at the squash listing on the recipe page for details.
• Cucumbers – Ok, they are really coming in now. Assorted varieties – long asian cukes, picking cukes, ‘gerkin’ fuzzy cukes, thin skinned crispy cukes and old fashioned slicers. Try a cucumber salad or soup (check the recipe page).
• Sweet Corn – The corn so far has been organic/naturally grown corn from Olathe and Delta. This week we started picking our own yellow corn – please note we did no spraying, and you WILL find some worms in our corn. you can chop off the tops (1″ or so) before shucking to get most of the worms. Our bi-color main crop (‘Delectable’) is still a week or two off.

Important Pickup Notes, Questions answered:

Beans – green beans.
Broccoli – more coming this fall.
Carrots, full size
Cucumbers
Kale and Chard – leave in extras if you don’t want these!
Onions – more sweet yellow & white onions. Red onions, shallots and leeks coming this fall.
Peppers – Bell & Hot

Flowers – More gladioli in amazing colors. More bouquets next week.

• Basil – in buckets! In the next week or two, we hope to give everyone enough for a small batch of pesto. Try making a large batch and freezing some – Basil can be special ordered at wholesale prices: $12/lb. Call by Thursday for a batch this week.
• Squash – I probably said this last week, but the summer squash is now officially going bonkers, more varieties and a large quantity for everyone.
• Cucumbers are finally coming in in the field, and in the next two weeks I’ll be able to start giving everyone more than just one cucumber.
• Salad Mix – the new batch of salad mix has been very tasty, and all this rain helps keep things cooler and sweet. Salad supply looks good for at least the next month.
• Eggplant/Peppers – a variety of hot peppers are beginning to mature, watch for a mixed box with a ‘take 1-3’ label. Bell peppers are still a few weeks off. Eggplants in the hoop house are looking good; the field eggplants are just beginning to ripen. The eggplant trickle in at first, so it may take a few weeks before you get some.

Important Pickup Notes, Questions answered:

• With so many crops coming in at this time of year, we can get a little overwhelmed at this point. we had several mix-ups last week I wanted to mention:
• Friday farm pickup customers – ‘Cantaloupe’ wasn’t on the list, so some people didn’t take their melon. If you are one of these people, please take a melon this week!
• Crested Butte – Sunday pickup – the box of bean bags never made it into the truck, so you all missed the beans. We will try to make it up this week with extra beans this week.
• What else is coming? We are now into the summer crops, so we are harvesting nearly everything now – still to come: tomatoes, bell & hot peppers, eggplant, our sweet corn, more potatoes, more onions, leeks, shallots, winter squash: delacata, acorn, buttercup etc, pumpkins; fruit – pears, apples, nectarines, plums. Also fall broccoli, cauliflower and lots more salad, carrots, greens, beans, squash and all the rest of the summer crops.

Basil – sweet for pesto! – call to special order pesto quantities ($12/lb) – 970-872-4413.
Beans – Yellow and green beans.
Broccoli – loves all this rain.

Flowers – More gladioli in amazing colors. More bouquets next week.

What’s coming out of the field?
New crops this week include Potatoes – red, purple, yellow and White – these are new potatoes, we dug up a bit of the beds to check the plants, but we will leave most of the crop for the end of the season. Also new: Cauliflower, a limited crop, watch for white, then purple and orange cauliflower later in the season. Beans are starting to come in – look for a bag of purple beans in your box this week, then yellow and green beans next week. Sweet corn this week is from a neighboring natural farm – our corn will be ready in 2-3 weeks. The Cantaloupe coming out of the hoop house this week are a special treat – the field melons are just beginning to set fruit! I managed to pick enough ripe melons so everyone gets one – we hope to have more from the field later in the season (unless an early freeze cuts the season short).

A word on tomatoes – the field tomatoes look fantastic and are loaded with (green) fruit, but not much is ripening yet. It could be a few more weeks before we really have tomatoes. I’ll keep my feelers open for other local growers with warmer climates and organic tomatoes. Garlic is in short supply this year, so i won’t be able to get any more and our own crop was a failure. i recommend stocking up a local farmers market or health food store.

Important Pickup Notes, Questions answered:

• Whats in this week’s box? The list you see below you is often created several days before we harvest the produce for your box and is my best guess as to what will be available this week.
• Substitutions – sometimes, especially if a crop is just beginning to come in, we just don’t have enough to give everyone a reasonable amount of a crop. In this case, half the members may get the item (say cucumbers) one week, and the other half get carrots. The following week, the pattern is reversed.
• Not enough – sometimes a crop is in limited supply, but we thing you might enjoy even a bit – a little squash, potatoes or broccoli in your stir fry might be better than none at all. As the crop begins to come in watch out for…
• Too much – we know you don’t all love chard and kale as much as we do (and we are taking a two week break from these crops – but watch the extra bin if you really love them). And 5 lb. a week of summer squash can be too much for anyone – so consider freezing your extra for winter use, or leave the chard you don’t want in the extra’s box for another member to grab.

Potatoes – Yellow, White, Purple & Red (new)
Cantaloupe – from the hoop house (new)
Basil – lime basil – try on fish! – call to special order pesto quantities ($12/lb) – 970-872-4413.
Beans – Purple “Green” Beans – cook up green, or try fresh or lightly steamed to maintain the color. Yellow and green beans coming next week.
Broccoli – lots coming in now, more to come later in the season. Summer broccoli is a bit stronger than the fall crop.
Cabbage – Napa or Green

Flowers – More gladioli in amazing colors. Snapdragons and statice and a few other flowers are starting and we’ll soon have bouquets – choose a bouquet or a bundle of gladioli.