A Farmer’s Winter Calendar: Summer CSA ’11 – Week 20 (FINAL WEEK)
The last week of the summer CSA is upon us. It’s been a great season and we appreciate all of your support! After some rocky spring weather, all in all we’ve had wonderful crops. Melon mania comes to mind most.
Many members ask us what we do for the cold months. So here’s a look at your farmers’ upcoming calendar. All in all it’s a slower time for Mike and I, but we still keep busy with the farm.
October:Plant garlic; Finish the summer CSA; Align details for the next CSA season; Scale down labor force; Identify and prioritize tasks we’d like to accomplish over the winter; Prep for the winter CSA; Harvest, harvest, harvest root crops for storage. Before the snow comes we are trying to get all of our kohlrabi, radish, rutabaga, celeriac, beets, sweet potatoes, and carrots out of the ground.
Winter Pioneer Fields
November & December: Mulch strawberries; Continue to scale down labor force to 7 worker shares and 1 full time employee; Finish outdoor farmer’s market and begin indoor at Lussier Center; Prep and distribute winter CSA shares; Continue wholesaling; Clean farm before snow; Repair tractors and equipment; Spend more time with Zea.
January: This is the one month of the year where we can really take it easy. We peruse seed catalogs. We vacation during this time and slowly chip away at our winter to-dos. This is also a time where we visit classrooms and lend heavier hands in the community organizations of which we are a part.
February: Order seeds. Plan field maps and rotations. Tighten up greenhouse and equipment and get ready. Taxes.
March – May: Go time for Mike and I begins March 1st. We start by planting onions in the greenhouse. From here we begin our seasonal work ascent. The first CSA box goes out in June.
Thanks for your support this season! We hope you enjoy your last box. We added four recipes online for you this week. Additional ideas include plain old roasted carrots, beets, and sweet potato and/or a butternut/kuri squash curry. For any of you Lao Laan Xang fans, this is a must. Peel the squash, cube it and boil along with some potatoes. Then cook it up with some coconut milk, red curry, and onions and garlic. Serve over rice. For extra yumminess, add canned pineapple.
Have a great winter and please join us again!
Sincerely, Mike, Cassie, & Zea
In the Box:
- Beauty Heart Radish (whitish, green on outside)
- Beets
- Bok Choi
- Butternut Squash -EOs
- Cabbage, green
- Carrots
- Garlic
- Kuri Squash – REGs
- Leeks
- Lettuce, Red Summercrisp
- Onion, Red
- Spinach
- Sweet Potato
REGs = Regular members only EOs = Everyother members only
This Week’s Recipes:
Summer Week 20 – Wednesday, October 19th: Everyother Group B
