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Week #23 — Farmer’s Note

Dear CSA Member,

Boy is it cold. There was even snow this afternoon although it was short lived. There is one more delivery after this week in the 2013 CSA season. As our delivery season comes to an end we are already working on the 2014 season. Seeds will be ordered, fertilizer, potting soil, the list goes on and on. We are very busy right into the heart of winter. There is a list of winter chores that grows each day.

I hope to have the registration open during the next couple of weeks. The programmers have been upgrading the system to make improvements and all of the testing should be completed soon. I will send an e-mail message once registration is opened for the 2014 season.

New this week is Celeriac. A root crop that has a rough exterior but a delicious interior. Peel the skin and use as you would celery in soups and stews. The Celeriac will impart a wonderful celery like flavor. There are also salad recipes using Celeriac on the farm website Recipe section.

If you would like to stock up for the winter there are potatoes, beets and carrots available in bulk through the online Marketplace. There is still a good supply of coffee through the Marketplace as well.

Make a big pot of soup and keep warm!
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #22 — What’s in the Bag

**UPDATED 11-4 9AM**

Full Vegetable Share
Potatoes-2 pounds
Beets-2 pounds
Carrots-1 pound
Red Russian Kale-1 bunch What beautiful color the cold weather has brought out in the kale.
Purple Globe Turnips-2
Flat Leaf Parsley-1 bunch
Garlic-2 heads
Acorn Winter Squash-1
Romanesco Cauliflower-1
Popcorn-4 cobs
Hot Peppers-take if you like

Fruit Share
1 bag with Bosc Pears, Stayman Winesap Apples (dark burgundy colored, good for cooking) Fuji Apples (excellent eating apples) Mutsu Apples (all purpose apple, green)

Mushroom Share
Shiitake

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Farmer’s Note– Week 22

Dear CSA Member,

Wind, rain, falling leaves and it is cold. The fall is coming to a close and the landscape is now moving from bright color to grays. The garden is still producing even as the seasons start another change.

It is the season for root crops. The root crops have been growing underground all throughout the season and now fill the shares. Heavy and hearty: Bolero Carrots, Potatoes, Beets, Purple Globe Turnips. The leafy greens of fall, Flat Leaf Parsley and Red Russian Kale which seem to grow more vibrant in the cold.

Popcorn will be in the share this week. It was picked about 3 weeks ago and has been drying in the greenhouse. It will need to dry another 3 weeks in your home. I did try a cob to see if the kernels would pop and had great success but I think it may be worth letting the corn dry a bit more before trying to pop. The kernels need to be fully dry or they will not pop properly. It will be hard to wait but worth it. When the pop corn is ready to pop take the the kernels from the cob. Once you get a row started it is easy to pick the other rows off the cob. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the bottom of a pan with a lid. Add 1/2 cup of kernels to the pan, put on the lid-very important! Turn to medium high heat and listen for the pop. When the popping slows and then stops take from the heat right away. The yellow of the corn was so bright that the kernels looked like they had butter on them even without. Add salt, butter or let your imagination go. Enjoy.

On the Marketplace are bulk options for Potatoes, Carrots and Beets. Honey is getting low as is the Maple Syrup. This is Week #22 so there are only two more deliveries after this week. The Coffee is perfect for these cold wintry days and you might want to stock up on some of the other products before the season ends.

Enjoy the vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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What’s in the Bag — Week 21

Full Vegetable Share
Potatoes-2 pounds
Carrots-1 pound
Chiogga Beets-1 pound Red with white stripes.
Garlic-2 heads
Lacinato Kale-1 bunch
Mustard Greens-1 bunch
Radishes-1 bunch
Thyme-1 bunch
Boc Choi-1 head
Hot peppers-take if you would like.

Fruit Share
1 bag containing Bosc Pears, Empire Apples (all purpose) and Rome Apples (better for cooking)

Mushroom Share
White Button Mushrooms

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Farmer’s Note — Week 21

Dear CSA Member

Fall staples: potatoes, carrots, beets and garlic this week. We are in the final weeks of our 2013 CSA season and as the weather gets colder, the vegetables get heartier. The colors of the vegetables are so vibrant as the cold weather hits. The root crops even seem to get sweeter with a bit of frost.

Members have been sharing delicious recipes that I have been adding to the farm website Recipe section. If you have a favorite, please pass it on so it can be added. If you have a favorite website or blog that you think other CSA members would enjoy, please send that along as well.

Marketplace items are still available if you would like to place an order and stock up for the winter. Honey, maple, coffee will all keep well. Please don’t wait until the last minute because some items will sell out. New this week are 15 pound bags of Potatoes, Carrots and Beets.

Tuesday the 29th of October we will be planting garlic and members are invited to come to the farm and help if they would like. We are trying to work around the weather and we were not able to make the planting day a weekend. We needed to pick the best day weather wise to plant the garlic. If you are planning on coming to help please bring your own lunch and drinks, dress warmly it has been cold and windy. We will meet at 9 AM at the barn at 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 and we work until 4. If you can’t make it, the garlic will be safely planted, covered and will spend the winter in the field. We will see it early next spring once again as it is one of the first plants to push their green leaves from the ground.

Keep warm and enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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What’s in the Bag? Week 20

Veggies

Butternut winter squash-1
Cauliflower-1 head
Turnips-2
Lettuce-2 heads
Broccoli-1
Radish-1 bunch
Potatoes-2 pounds
Garlic-2 heads
Kohlrabi -1 bunch (fall planting — it’s sweet and delicious!)
Sage-1 bunch
Carrots-1 pound
Jalapenos (hot peppers) – help yourself!

Half shares — odd and even

Odd gets broccoli
Even gets butternut squash.

Fruit Share

One bag with Empire apples, Jonagold apples, Bosc pears

Mushroom Share

Shiitake

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Farmer’s Note — Week 20

Dear CSA Member,

We are now into the last weeks of the CSA season. It has been unseasonably warm during the last week, and it felt more like early summer than fall. We will take the warm weather though. Picking and washing the root crops can be a really cold task when the weather is frosty.

This week you can expect carrots, potatoes, turnips, kohlrabi, broccoli, radishes, winter squash and the first garlic. We have been holding onto the garlic until the end of the season because it needed a chance to cure and we knew it would store into the last weeks of delivery. Over 1/3 of the garlic harvest has been divided into individual cloves for seed stock. We will be planting the garlic soon and members are invited to come and help. I will send out an e-mail when we get a bit closer to planting. We have had to wait a bit this year to plant the garlic because the weather has been so warm. We do not want to plant the garlic and have the cloves start to grow in the warmth. They need to settle in over the winter without sprouting.

Did you know that turnips can be eaten raw? Peel, cut into sticks and drizzle with olive oil. Give it a try! It was amazing to notice, as we were washing the heavy turnips, that they float. Did you know that turnips were originally the vegetable carved for Halloween? Some are so big that you might want to revive the custom this year.

This is also the last of the lettuce. We are expecting a frost this week and lettuce will not withstand the cold. It has been a treat to have such delicious late season salads. If you wash the lettuce well and spin dry in a salad spinner, the leaves will stay fresh.

I have posted a Stoneledge Farm crew photo on the farm Facebook page — you can see the wonderful, hardworking and committed group we had the privilege to work with this past season.

Enjoy the wonderful fall harvest.

Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Veggies

Butternut winter squash-1
Turnips-2
Lettuce-2 heads
Broccoli-1
Radish-1 bunch
Potatoes-2 pounds
Garlic-2 heads
Kohlrabi -1 bunch (This is the fall planting of kohlrabi. They are sweet and delicious.)
Sage-1 bunch
Carrots-1 pound
Hot Peppers:Jalapenos-take if you like

Fruit Share

One bag with Empire apples, Jonagold apples, Bosc pears

Mushroom Share

Shiitake