As always, a busy week on the farm.  We poured concrete in the barn on Friday, for an improved surface to milk the cows on.  No more sliding on plywood or stepping over sills for these bovine ladies!

Our crew worked hard to get the concrete shoveled and pushed into place. Now we’ll have a solid, safe floor for the cows.

The one big fall mystery that we can’t wait to answer is… what is happening beneath the ground in the sweet potato hoophouse?!  Last week we dug up one extremely cute and plump sweet potato, and if we dig up a  thousand of those, we’ll be so excited (and we’ll all eat well!).  If there are only a couple hundred like that one, we’ll all have just a taste.  So keep your fingers crossed, and hopefully in the next week or two we’ll discover a treasure-trove  of orange jewels under the soil.

We’re hoping to be swimming in broccoli for the next week or two (if it doesn’t go by in the rain), and so will continue to sell 10 lb. bags of broccoli to freeze (or to eat in massive quantities!) for $25.  Also, bulk garlic is still available for storage or planting:  ten bulbs for $15.

The fall CSA is still only about halfway full.  We’ll soon begin to promote it outside of summer membership if need be, so grab your spot now if you want one! (tinyurl.com/HCFfall2012).  The cost is $60 for four weeks, and we happily accept SNAP benefits.

News from our add-on producers:  Cheryl at Terra Optima is continuing to take turkey orders (cheryldenz5@gmail.com, so contact her before the holiday orders start rolling in.  And Appleton Creamery will be hosting an Open Creamery Day on Sunday, October 7th, from 11am-4pm.  Meet the goats, tour the farm, and enjoy some cheese!

We have two new Save The Dates to let you know about.  Thursday, November 1st at In Good Company in Rockland.  Melody Wolfertz will be hosting a fundraiser for, among other causes, the HCF CSA Financial Aid fund.  The meal will feature HCF and our add-on producers, and we hope to see you there!  Details will come soon.

Also, the annual CSA potluck and garlic day will probably be on the afternoon of October 28th.  This date is weather dependent, and we’ll let you know more details as the day draws near.  It’s always a fun day, though, so get it on the calendar!

As for what is in your share this week… we’ve never given green tomatoes before,  but every year we get a couple requests for them.  This year, when we pulled all the tomato plants out of the greenhouse to plant fall salad greens, the fruit looked so appealing.  So enjoy them, whether you fry them up, make chutney, or take your chances and see if they turn red before spoiling!

Hakurei turnips are fresh-eating (raw) turnips.  The big one I nibbled on during harvest on Saturday was almost melon-like, it was so juicy.  They are one of my favorite things to put into a salad or just snack on plain.

Have a wonderful week!

Reba and the HCF crew

Veggies Week 16 of 18:  Broccoli, Peppers (Green and/or Red), Garlic, Red Onion, Beets w/Greens, Hakurei (raw eating) Turnips, Lettuce Mix, Potatoes, Green Tomatoes, Zephyr Summer Squash or Zucchini

This week’s recipes:  Fried Green Tomatoes, Pasta with Broccoli, How to Freeze Broccoli