Newsletter & Bag Contents: Winter Week 1

Hi there!

Welcome to the Winter Share!

We're so excited that you decided to come on board for our Winter Program. Our farmers don't stop working during the winter, and we don't stop eating! By committing to supporting our farming community year-round, we're making sure they stay afloat in the colder months. We all will be enjoying crispy roast potatoes, delicious creamy soups and hearty stews, pot roasts that steam up your whole kitchen and so much more. And they'll know they'll still be able to pay their bills when the snow is falling and start on good footing for the next Summer.

If you haven't signed up yet, you can still get a bag this week:

Click here and fill out this super quick & easy form

Or reply to this email with "I'm in- sign me up!"

Or give us a call: 800-861-8582

Turkeys are skittish creatures. For example, when there is a storm or just in the dark of night, turkeys will all huddle into a corner for protection. Unfortunately, the first ones to the huddle get suffocated underneath all the other birds. Leroy, one of the Amish farmers we work with, figured out a win-win to help protect his pastured birds from running over one another and to give them a feeling of safety from the elements: let them hide under the corn. He planted rye and oats in between and underneath his field corn so the turkeys would have plenty of grasses for forage and protection from those big, bad skies above.

Pasture raised turkeys are better for everyone-- the farmer, the soil, the turkeys and the customers. For the farmer, the more healthy pasture that a turkey grazes in, the less feed is needed to purchase. For the soil, as the turkeys pick and aerate the ground, they redeposit their "organic material", in turn fertilizing the soil. For us the consumers, a turkey raised outdoors in the fresh air and sunshine and allowed to reach its full maturity at a natural age (rather than a force-fed younger term) is a more delicious bird for our holiday meals .

This week, all the bags will all be getting a bag of German Butterball potatoes (yellow and creamy, perfect for mashes and soups), a bunch of carrots, a head of lettuce, a bunch of beets, a red onion, apple cider, turnips, a leek, a few handfuls of apples, and broccoli. You'll all also be getting an apple pie. Yep, you read that right-- a sweet, buttery, flakey little apple pie (6") from the bakery at Wholesome Valley Farm.

If you're getting an Omnivore share, you'll also have a whole, pasture-raised chicken to tend to. If you've never dealt with a whole chicken before, you're in luck-- we have a guide set up online with all the instructions you need to prepare it simply and deliciously: Guide to Cooking a Whole Chicken. Our vegetarians will be getting a quart of our canned honeyed peaches, a whole head of cauliflower and a dozen eggs instead.

REMINDERS

If you have questions, check your "Welcome to Winter" email:

Last week we sent out emails to everyone who had signed up by middle of the week with lots of details about your stop and about the program in general. If you missed it or signed up in the last few days, here are the links:

Akron . Beachwood . Brecksville . Cleveland Heights

Copley . Hudson . Lakewood . Mentor . Middleburg Heights

Rocky River . Solon . Strongsville . Tremont . Westlake

If you haven't paid yet, you can bring it to the stop.

Everyone owes either the whole price of their subscription upfront or half of it at the top of the season (second half due in January).

If you haven't paid yet, you can just bring a check to your first stop this week. Rather pay by CC? Give us a call - 800-861-8582 or sign into your account .

Not all weeks are created equal, but they will even out over the course of the share.

At first, the bags are heavy and full of cold-hardy vegetables like squashes, root veggies and dark leafy greens. Towards the middle of season, you'll begin to see some more frozen fruits and vegetables that were processed at their height of flavor during the summer. At the end of the season, the bags will be smaller than they are now, but you'll also start to see some signs of spring like baby greens, ramps and radishes.

Stop times are different in the Winter.

If this is your first Winter with us, welcome! The stops are all a little shorter in the Winter because we're a smaller (but mighty!) group.

Every stop on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday is from 3:00-6:30pm, with a few exceptions- Akron, you only go till 6pm, and Hudson, you guys start at 4.

On Saturday, everyone is from 10-12 and Tremont is from 10-2.

Tell your friends-- we've packed some extra bags on each truck.

We've ordered about 50 extra shares for this week that we're going to bring out on the routes. If you're already a member, don't worry your bag is guaranteed, but if you haven't signed up yet bring a check to the stop and it's first come, first served!

EVENTS

Thanksgiving is coming up, and we're hosting an awesome class next week to get you set up to cook the best meal ever: join us to learn all about brining, roasting, carving, baking and more.

The best part? Included in the cost of your ticket is a full Thanksgiving dinner prepared by our chefs, paired with a sampler flight of beer from Market Garden Brewery.

CLICK HERE TO RSVP!

----

PSA: There are just over 3 weeks till Thanksgiving!

If you still need to buy your food for the holidays, click here to start your order. Pies, pasture-raised turkeys, & seasonal produce from all your favorite farmers. $25 is all we need today to reserve your order.

Also, Congratulations to Linda H., who won a Thanksgiving Package from the Customer Appreciation BBQ Recipe Drawing!