Community Supported Agriculture
 
Sweet potatoes curing in the greenhosue

Farm Notes: Welcome to Late Fall

Thank you for being part of our late fall share. We love to farm and your support allows us to keep growing for a couple more months of the year. This week we will finish harvesting our wonderful crop of sweet potatoes. We began harvesting them about two weeks ago but then stopped so that we could harvest the frost sensitive crops before they were damaged by the cold. The sweet potatoes are protected by the frost since they are under ground. However, they do not like to be in cold soil so we must get them harvested soon. As soon as they are harvested we place them in a nice warm space at about 75 degrees so that they can cure. The curing process is critical to sweeten their flavor and to allow them to store longer. Once they are cured we can store them at about 55 degrees. As soon as all the sweet potatoes are harvested we will move on to the Irish potatoes. The Irish potatoes also do not like to be in very cold soil, but are more tolerant than the sweet potatoes. The Irish potatoes need to be stored at about 40 degrees. It can be a challenge to find the right locations on the farm to store so many different crops at so many different temperatures and humidity. Just as they did in mid-summer, the deer found the lettuce patch again. We have been moving the lettuce plantings around from one farm to another this summer to stay away and ahead off the deer. Inevitably they seem to find it. Even though I would prefer to let them get a little bigger, this week we are picking a lot of small heads of lettuce and fennel just to harvest them before the deer do. This week and next week we will have baby greenhouse greens as well. We have spinach growing in the field and in the greenhouse both of which should be ready for harvest later this month. The greenhouse spinach is also meant for March/April harvest while the field spinach is meant for April/May harvest. There is still a lot to come and every season proves to be a little different.

Thank you for dining with us, 
Farmer Dave 
Pick up Announcement: Dracut!
Just a reminder that the Late Fall pick up will continue to be in the barn at the farm on Parker Road and not at the Brox Farm Stand as in years past.
What's In My Share

Late Fall is here and so are many of our favorite fall vegetables as well as the final weeks of many of our summer favorites. These transition weeks are some of our favorites.

Don't forget to use the swap box! It's not just for trading for your favorite vegetables. If you won't use something in the share, have a busy week and won't be able to cook everything, or just feel overwhelmed leave your extras in the swap box and they'll be donated to one of our many hunger relief partners.
  • Red Kale
  • Lettuce
  • Carrots
  • Peppers
  • Green Tomatoes
  • Baby Fennel
  • Onions
  • Celeriac Tops (see below for tips on how to use)
  • Sweet Potatoes
  • Potatoes
  • Sugar Pumpkins or Winter Squash
  • Herbs
  • and possibly more!

This is what we are planning and hoping to harvest this week.  Ultimately Mother Nature has the last word so the actual contents of your share will vary.



How to use Celeriac tops
 
The celeriac tops are a great seasoning to use in stocks. Just chop and freeze until your ready to use.

The leaves can be dried out to use in soups or to make celery salt. Check out the photo tutorial.


Swiss Chard
Try These Recipes From Our Blog
Check out all our Vegisodes and subscribe to be notified when timely new videos are added.
These videos are designed to help you make the most of your CSA share with tips on storing, preparing and preserving your veggies.  

Farmer Dave's Special Bulk Purchase for CSA Members

Love Farmer Dave's jarred and pickled produce?  Stock up for the off season and for making those "Eat Local" holiday gift baskets. 

Buy 5 jars and get a 6th jar FREE.  

Included in this sale:  Our applesauce (no added sugar), bread and butter pickles, crushed tomatoes and pickled beets. 

Quantities are limited, do not miss out!

Add-on Order Deadlines

All orders must be placed online before your order deadline listed below. If you are even a minute late CSAware (our ordering system) will attach the order to the next week's share. Please double-check the time before completing your order.

Pick-up Day
Add-on Order Cut-off
Monday
 Sunday - Noon
Tuesday
 Sunday - Noon
Wednesday
 Monday - Noon
Thursday
 Tuesday - Noon
Friday
 Wednesday - Noon

If you are having trouble placing an order online, make sure you are logged into your account. If you don't know your log-in information, send us an email, and we will send you an invitation to reset your password or create your account. Creating an account on the spot won't help; it needs to be the same account that is connected to your CSA shares.

CSAware will ask that you attach your order to a share. If you don't have a current share, you cannot purchase add-ons. If you attach your order to a share that is not activate it will not be sent to you.

If you do not pick up your add-on order, it will be donated or distributed, we do not offer
refunds for missed add-ons.


Groundwork Share-a-Share
Thanks to generous donations by you (our CSA Members) to the Groundwork Share-a-Share fund, we were able to subsidize the cost of shares in 2017 for over 30 individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.  
Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by donating to Groundwork Share-a-Share.
Helpful Links

Farmer Dave's LLC. | |   [email protected] | http://www.farmerdaves.net  (978)-349-1952