The Weekly Harvest: The slower acts of fall and winter are in sight

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Hello Folks, 

Hope this newsletter finds everyone doing well and adjusting to new fall routines of school starting, cooler days, and some delicious fall cooking.

Though this week feels like we are back to summer with daily highs in the 80s, the morning temperatures are dropping as quickly as the leaves, while the days are getting shorter and shorter.  The moon shines bright as the crew arrives to work for harvest, with first light reaching us just after 6:30 which is when our mighty working member teams arrive for the first shift. As I think about pushing back the start time again, I am reminded that soon our working member season will be over.

Through extreme heat, smoke-filled skies, intense wind, and now some frosty (okay, more like freezing) mornings, our working members worked to grow and harvest the food that has fed us all since May and will continue to feed us throughout the winter. They are key to our operation and are a huge part of my job on the farm. So, when Nic asked me to write this newsletter, I wanted to dedicate it to our working members. From the bottom of my heart, thank you all so much for showing up, for working hard, and for the amazing and diverse conversations we have while together. While I may not necessarily know what your whole face looks like, camaraderie and friendship will not be thwarted by masks! I feel blessed to know you all.

We are all working hard this month to harvest the last of the storage crops as well as the delicious fall greens and roots, finding time here and there to clean up and put the farm down for winter. All the landscape fabric, t-posts, tunnels, and trellises that we built this spring must come out and the fields seeded with cover crop. I am reminded of a theater production. We spend months in the spring and early summer building the set and the summer executing our roles. Well, the show is not over but the slower acts of fall and winter are in sight. To our amazing crew, working members, and the brilliant leadership of Nic and Katie, I give a thunderous applause. And to all of our CSA members and community, your support makes it all possible. 

I don’t know about you, but my meals taste better knowing all the love that brought them to my plate.


Sincerely, 

Zoe, Native Hill Farm Co-Manager



This Week's Harvest:

  • Spinach

  • Arugula

  • Spicy Mix

  • Cherry Belle Radish 

  • Fall Hearty Radish Medley (see below) 

    • Green, Purple, and White Daikon 

    • Nero Tondo (Black Spanish)

    • Watermelon Radish

  • Green Curly Kale

  • Tuscan Kale

  • Red Chard

  • Hakurei Salad Turnips (Sweet Turnips)

  • Baby Pac Choi

  • Shallots

  • Leeks

  • Green Cabbage

  • Red Beets

  • Carrots (late week)

  • Walla Walla Sweet Onions

  • Heirloom Soft Neck Garlic

  • Red Potatoes (late week)

  • Mix Fingerling Potatoes (late week)

  • Yukon Gold Potatoes (late week)

  • Delicata Squash (last week)

  • Blue Hubbard Squash

  • Pie Pumpkin Baby Pam

  • Heirloom Pie Pumpkin Winter Luxury

  • Heirloom Pumpkin Patch (see below - all edible and beautiful) (farm stand only) 

    • Rougue Vif D'Etampes (aka Cinderlla pumpkin) 

    • Musque de Provence 

    • Long Island Cheese

    • Blue Hubbard

    • Winter Luxury and Baby Pam

  • Handmade forever wreaths (farm stand only)

  • Dried Everlasting Bouquets (market)

Note: Store winter squash in your house or pantry (ideal temps at 50–60°F/10–15°C, with 50–70% relative humidity and good ventilation). If you are decorating with them outside, pull them inside if their will be a low below 40 degrees F.