THE BEET: VOLUME 17; WEEK 18

 

FULL SHARE & GREEN HALF SHARE PICK UP TONIGHT

Pick up today: 5pm - 7:30pm at PS 56 on the corner of Gates and Downing

This Week's Share

  • Sweet potatoes

  • Leeks

  • Acorn squashes

  • Tomatoes (perhaps our last)

  • Sweet peppers

  • Chiles

  • Garlic

  • Eggplant

  • Lettuce

  • Your choice of arugula or a salad mix and kale or Swiss chard

  • Fruit: Gala apples

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Letter from Windflower Farm

Delivery #18, Week of October 1st, 2018

This week’s share. 

Sweet potatoes, leeks, acorn squashes, tomatoes (perhaps our last), sweet peppers, chiles, garlic, eggplant, lettuce, your choice of arugula or a salad mix and kale or Swiss chard. Your fruit will be Gala apples. Next week, you’ll get more sweet potatoes (so, eat these up!), plus onions, peppers, and assorted greens.

For newcomers to sweet potatoes, try this simple approach: Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Wash the sweet potatoes because their skins are edible and nutritious, poke the roots with a fork in a couple of places, place them on a baking dish to catch their drippings, and bake for about an hour, or until they are oozing with caramelized juices. They should be fork soft when ready.

News from Windflower Farm. 

After this week, there will be just four more CSA deliveries. But don’t despair - winter shares will be available soon! The winter share is comprised of four monthly deliveries (from November through February) of fresh greens and stored root vegetables from Windflower Farm, fruit (apples and pears) from Borden Farm, a sweet treat of some kind (honey, cider, jam, etc.) each month from a local producer and optional eggs and maple products from the Davis family. Stay tuned!

Nearly every year, for as long as we’ve owned our Kubota L3130, I’ve had to replace the bearings on the front end of the tractor. Sometimes the left, sometimes the right. I guess the original engineering was a little off. When the bearings fail, the wheel wobbles, the gears grind audibly, the four wheel drive knuckle drips gear oil, and, if left unattended, the wheel eventually falls off. This unfolds over the course of a few days or, at most, a couple of weeks. I try to deal with the problem sometime between the grinding stage and the wheel falling off. They always have the parts in stock down at the dealership because they know I’ll be coming. As you can imagine, given that we’ve owned the tractor for nearly 15 years, I’ve become relatively proficient at the job. In the early years, it would take about half a day. More recently, it has taken closer to two hours. Martin told me yesterday that the front end has been grinding again, and he has positioned a bucket underneath the knuckle to catch the oil. While he is slightly amused by the whole thing, my only reaction is surprise at how late it has come this year. The week ahead will be a rainy one, so I’ll tackle the project then. I’ll report back if I’ve achieved a new personal record.  

Also this week, in addition to ongoing harvests, the farm team will finish clearing the tomatoes out of the eight or nine small greenhouses that we’ll plant to winter greens. Soon afterward, we’ll add compost, chisel plow and till in preparation for planting. Next week we’ll plant the Swiss chard, spinach, Koji, red choy, arugula and various kales for the winter share.

Have a great week, Ted 

Volunteering Update


Thank you to all our members who have volunteered throughout the season to help ensure Thursday night pick ups run smoothly. We could not have done it without you!

If you haven't already completed your volunteer hours for the season, NOW is the time! Please remember that each household is required to pitch in with a total of 4 hours of volunteer work during the season (half-share members - 2 hours). Volunteering is an integral part of your membership agreement, and is what ensures that we are able to continue providing fresh produce to our community year round.

To sign up for a slot, please use the following link - http://signup.com/go/ovJPPsq. In order to ensure there's enough room on the schedule for those who haven't already signed up for hours, we ask that members kindly sign up through the website to fulfill your hours rather than volunteering without being on the schedule. Thank you all for your continued support!

Note: This week we have an open spot for the early shift (4-6pm). If you are able to help out, please sign up using the above link. 

Note: on October 25 we'll be having a Halloween party! If you'd like to help out, please sign up for the early shift using the above link, and email Sarah Chinn at sarahchinn67 at gmail dot com letting her know of your interest.

Join the CHCSA Core!  

Curious about how the CSA is run or want to become more involved? Join our core group next week for our monthly meeting to find out more!

We'll be meeting at distribution, Thursday, October 11, from 6:15pm to 7:15pm. Hope to see you there.

And the Cookbook Raffle Winner is...  

...Lauren Hill! Congratulations Lauren! Your prize—a gift card for Greenlight Books—will be available at sign-in. 

Thank you so much to everyone who donated a cookbook. The remainders will be used in our outreach efforts, or donated to the Clinton Hill Library for their annual sale on October 13.

Winter Shares


The fall is upon us, the season is coming to an end, and weekly distribution will end soon. But don't despair: if you're sad the CSA is ending, signup for the winter share is coming soon! Watch this space! 

Veronica