Another balmy fall week has come and gone. Next week is the final week that we have our wonderful apprentices Cara and Michael here at the farm. On Sunday they pack up their bags and head off to work at Four Seasons Farm in Harborside, Maine for the winter. After that they head down to Massachusetts to start their own farming operation. We can’t wait to see the amazing farm they’re going to create next season!

We’re sad to report that Daffodil and Paintstick are yet to re-appear. That they never returned to their noisy relatives in the barn makes us suspect that they’re not going to show up again, which is pretty heartbreaking. To fill that two-creature-sized hole in our hearts we adopted two cat ‘Barn Buddies” from the shelter. Hopefully they’ll settle in to life among the hay bales before it gets too cold. Since the majority of the celeriac we pulled up on Saturday was hollowed out in the center, we know that there are plenty of mice and voles to keep them busy.

If you are a fall pork share member, this week is the first of two deliveries. Please contact me if you know that you won’t be at pickup and we’ll hold your pork share in the freezer at the farm.  It is also an apple CSA week. As always, you can pick up your apple share at PBMC between 3:30-5:15 on Tuesday, or from the farm walk-in at any point from Tuesday night through the rest of the week.

The annual CSA “garlic-popping,” cider-pressing potluck party will be on Saturday, October 21st, starting at 1pm. (And yes, Saturday the 21st is the correct date — sorry about any confusion from the last email!). Bring a dish to share, a chair or blanket to sit on, apples to press, and get ready to break apart garlic bulbs and enjoy a fall afternoon! There will be round bales for the kids to climb on and cows to visit. Bill will give a farm tour at 2:30 and there will be bulk onions and shallots to purchase. We hope to see you all there! Many hands make light work when there are thousands of garlic bulbs to pop apart to prepare for planting.

We celebrated two birthdays on the farm on Saturday — apprentice Cara and farm kid Eli! It’s hard to believe that Eli turned one the first year we had CSA members, and that today he turned twelve. I still remember having him on my back as we distributed our first CSA shares that summer. His current dream is to run a yak farm, and his final sleepy question as he fell asleep tonight was to ask if I thought he should farm someplace really warm — like Peru — or really cold — like Sweden.  I said that I would prefer him to farm somewhere close — like Maine — to which he gave a sleepy 12-year-old roll of his eyes. We’ll see what happens next in this potential future farmer’s dreams.

Have a great week, and enjoy your fall meals!

Reba and the HCF crew

Click here to see a picture of Maple and her cauliflower leaf hat

Fall CSA Week 2 of 6: Salad Mix, Broccoli and/or Cauliflower, Big and/or Cherry Tomatoes, Shallot, Garlic, Pac Choi, Carrots, Hot Pepper, Purple or Savoy Cabbage, Yellow Onion, [Celeriac]  

Fall Week Two Add-ons: Pork, Apples, Milk, Bread, Tofu, Cheese, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar

This week’s recipes: Sesame Soy Braised Bok Choy,  Roasted Cabbage Rounds