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Good Afternoon Trevor,


It felt like fall this morning. 38 degrees at Wholesome Valley and my boots picked up a little ice in the grass. I like mornings like this. The sun quickly heats things up and the farm comes to life.


With the clear nights, it's going to be a close call the next two days on frost, but I feel like we'll squeeze out another 10 days or so depending on cloud cover. Usually it happens near the full moon in October. That would be next Thursday. Let's see how it plays out.


For this week, I'll keep the newsletter short. We have lots of work to do around here with our final broiler harvests of the year this week, some winter prep in the hog barn, and much more. Oh, and our small kitchen is bursting at the seams racing to get kraut put up, canned goods finished, and keep up with the baking before all the produce is out of season.


This week we do have a few exciting specials:

  • A new take on the S'mores Cookies. Michelle B and FFM Lauren....these are for you. Soft ginger cookie with homemade marshmallow chunks and dark chocolate chips.
  • Zucchini Bread. Back again for just $5.
  • PB&J Grape Pie. Chef Adam at OCP was raving about last week's concord grape pie, when he admitted that his "inner fat boy" wanted some salted peanut butter with it. Your wish is our command.
  • Green Onion Brats and Chicken Patties are Back.



Enjoy

Trevor

Thanksgiving


Turkeys - harvested fresh, never frozen, just days before Thanksgiving. Available as true Heritage Turkeys (Standard Bronze) or the more plump Broad Breasted Bronze.


Fixings Produce Package. The best deal in town. Includes a generous box of the season's bounty, including potatoes, carrots, onions, squash, bread cubes, eggs, and more.


Pies. Because our signature pies are worth sharing. Pumpkin & Apple available.


Gravy and Stock. We make it from scratch just like you would at home. A popular add-on.


You can modify or add on to your order later. The most important thing is that you at least reserve a turkey as supplies are limited.


To RSVP a turkey, just click the link below and pay a $20 deposit to hold your order. No further payment due until you pickup.

ORDER THANKSGIVING HERE

Exciting Fall Produce

Grape Sampler - LAST CALL - $3.50


This week we got a nice surprise and have one last shot of the seedless grapes.


This week's 1.5# sampler bag is a blend of two varieties:

Marguis - a white grape, plump and tasty, developed in NY in the 60s.


Jupiter - a purple grape smaller, more tender, and a bold grape flavor (similar to concord) with the seeds.

Apple Sampler Bag - $8


Try two each of 4 different types of apples.


This week's variety: Shizuka, Swiss Gourmet, Autumn Crisp and King David

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From the Farmers

Preparing for a better next year

I always talk about farming as preparing for the next season. Summer is winter prep, and fall is spring prep.


This time of the year, our produce farmers are trying to balance keeping you fed today with feeding you better tomorrow.


In the fall, time that was previously spent planting and cultivating weeds is now spent "pulling plastic" and planting cover crops.


Pulling plastic means to pull up the plastic mulch that is used for most produce production. Think of the plastic mulch as a 4 ft wide trash bag you lay over a "raised bed" of soil. The black plastic warms the soil, helps retain moisture, and prevents weed competition. That is what is pictured here in the spring. By the fall, the rows may have lots of weeds and make this job difficult.


At the end of the season, it must be extracted. If you are lucky, you can turn the coulters on your plastic planter to face out and lift the edge of the plastic out of the ground. At that point, the manual labor begins and you shake off the excess dirt and roll it into a big ball. If you aren't lucky, it tears and you have to start pulling by hand.

Get the Cover Crops in the Ground

Open soil over the winter is a recipe for disaster. It introduces a blank canvas for spring weeds. It allows for erosion. And it even allows excess minerals and fertilizer to be wasted. Nitrogen, for example, that may develop from decomposing organic matter, will escape.


Our farmers rely on cover crops to help with all this. It's also referred to as "green manure" because in the spring it can be plowed down and the decomposing organic matter helps feed the vegetables. It's a beautiful system.


Popular fall cover crops include cereal rye, hairy vetch, and clover. The clover and vetch won't come up that fast in the fall, but in the spring they will be there and help affix nitrogen.


Rye and wheats grow very easy in colder times. Rye can germinate as low as 34 degrees, making it ideal for late seeding. In the spring, it can produce literally tons of dry matter per acre, all which is valuable for building organic matter and soil tilth when plowed down. Above is a photo of us plowing down rye a few springs back.


Rye is also magical in that it releases chemicals into the soil. This is called the allelopathic effect. These compounds prevent weeds from germinating. So in the spring, between the tall and dense rye out competing weeds and the allelopathic effect, it can help a farmer get off to a good start in the field.


The one down side is that if the rye isn't mowed off or plowed under before it goes to seed it can become a weed itself and reseed itself quickly.

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WINTER SEASON

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Notes on this Week's Bag Contents

Golden Delicious Apples

This week's apples are grown organically at Sunny Slope Orchard in Navarre. You may notice some "russeting" on the skin. This is a natural defensive response by the apples to fungi such as powdery mildew or blight caused by humid conditions. This is the most common "blemish" on organically grown apples. Our humidity is also why few farmers even want to attempt organic apples in Ohio.


While they may not be "picture perfect," I prefer this homegrown look to a chemical application. Some old timers even prefer the russeting, saying it adds a depth of flavor, sometimes referred to as nutty. My taste buds aren't there yet, but I know it doesn't hurt anything. Enjoy.


Caramelized Onion, Apple, Bacon Turkey Brat.

Someday I'll come up with an acronym or better name for this mouth full. This sausage is really a team effort between our kitchen and the meat processor to make a slightly sweet but sugar free dinner sausage.


We start with a mix of white and dark turkey meat. We caramelize thousands of pounds of onions for this one. We make a homemade applesauce also. The onions and apple sauce help keep the sausage moist and tender and add a natural sweet note. The nitrate-free bacon adds a salt and we are able to help overcome some of the challenges to a poultry sausage without adding sugar or cereal binders to hold water. We hope you enjoy!

Bag Contents

Small Omnivore

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Green Beans

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples

Caramelized Onion Apple Turkey Brats

Small Vegetarian

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Green Beans

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples

Table Grapes

Honeynut Squash

Mini

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples




Large Omnivore

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Green Beans

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples

Caramelized Onion Apple Turkey Brats

Butternut Squash

Concord Grapes

Garlic

Spinach

Pork Chops

Large Vegetarian

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Green Beans

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples

Table Grapes

Honeynut Squash

Butternut Squash

Concord Grapes

Garlic

Spinach

Black Beans

Italian Fryer Peppers

Corn Chips

Small Vegan

Red Cabbage

Apple Cider

Green Beans

Lettuce

Cauliflower

Golden Delicious Apples

Table Grapes

Honeynut Squash









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