I was at the CSA delivery last Sunday morning when I got a call from an unfamiliar number. I picked up to hear a worried voice saying ‘I think your cow is in the road!’ Since a cow had already escaped once that weekend, I immediately knew that the unaccompanied livestock roaming the asphalt of Finntown Road was ours. No one was at the farm and Bill was at Eli’s soccer game, but for once Bill miraculously had a cell phone on him and picked up. Bill and CJ raced home to figure out what was going on. Nowruz the heifer had indeed escaped the fence and was hanging out on the road, right over a hill, in the most terrifying spot possible. Bill wanted to bring the heifers back to the barn with the rest of the herd, but with no one else at the farm, he worried that CJ was too small to provide much of an deterrent to a cow determined to get past her. But then CJ thought of putting Maple on a leash and standing their ground together. So Bill, CJ and Maple ushered Nowruz and Porcello down the road and back to the home barn. That’s where all the cows will stay now, through the winter. No more escapees, please.

I’m actually writing this newsletter from the waiting room of the veterinary ER, where Maple has had quite the come-down from her triumphant cow-herding heights. A porcupine got the better of her a couple of hours ago and she’s feeling very glum, waiting to be seen. Apparently porcupine quills are low on the triage scale for vet emergencies. At least she didn’t go after the skunk that we caught in the Hav-a-heart trap amidst the broccoli earlier in the week! Oh, how the animals keep us busy on this farm.

The cucumbers and summer squash are finally slowing down for the season, but this week you’ll get the first taste of the winter squash — a choice between Spaghetti and Acorn squash. We harvested the winter squash from the fields a few weeks ago, but they’ve been curing in the greenhouse since winter squash improve with a little extra time to become tender and sweeten. Spaghetti and Acorn are the first to be ready, though, and we’re excited to share them this week. We’re also so very happy to have the first beautiful kale of the year. I don’t think I can express how weird it is to be harvesting the first lovely kale in September instead of throughout the season, but that’s just the kind of year it was and I’m so happy to be eating it now. I hope you enjoy it, too.

This is a chicken CSA week, so please let me know ahead of time if you won’t be at your pickup so that I can keep your bird frozen at the farm. Enjoy your fall crops, and take care!

Reba and Bill

Vegetables Week 15: Spaghetti or Acorn Squash, Onion, Garlic, Slicing Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Husk Cherries, Hakurei Turnips, Kale, [Salad Greens, Potatoes, Carrots, Beets, Cucumbers]

Week 15 Add-on Shares: Cheese, Ferment, Tofu, Milk, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar, Bread, Eggs

This week’s recipe: Sheet-Pan Spaghetti Squash Puttanesca