Yowza! This weather! As we tumbled inside after the harvest today, we reminisced about last year’s fall, when it was so warm that we were picking “summer” crops into early November. This year, we feel lucky to even have kale, the heartiest of leafy greens, available this week — it has gotten so cold, so fast that most of the field crops have frozen right in place. The adventure of the week was definitely at 9pm on Friday, when I checked the weather and saw that the anticipated low of the night had dropped to 18 degrees. Our awesome employee Christina and I decided to bundle up and make the dash down to Friendship, headlights on, to harvest daikon radish from our field there as the temperatures dropped. The tops of the daikon roots tend to grow out of the ground while the roots grow down into it, and I knew that if it got that cold, the tops of the roots would be frozen solid by the time we wanted to harvest them on Saturday morning. So, under the bright moon and clouds that looked like fish scales, we harvested everything we’d need for the week. By the time we headed home after 10pm, the frost was thick on the ground. The temperatures ended up not dropping nearly as low as predicted, but with the rain and wind that swept in by mid-day Saturday, it still felt like a great trade-off — a little late night harvesting by headlamp in exchange for getting to go inside just as the rain picked up today.

This second to last week of the CSA is a busy one — Bill’s last full week before election day, and he’s out knocking on doors and talking to voters every night. The garlic is mostly planted, but it needs to get mulched; the black plastic that brought all the summer crops along speedily must come out of the fields before it gets frozen in for the winter; the last of the potatoes and carrots must be dug. We’re lucky to have apprentices Aleena and Jed here with us through the end of the CSA, and our hourly workers Christina and Becky are sticking with us through these cold fall days as well. Thanks to all who make this farm hum!

Have a great week, and be sure to let me know ahead of time if you want a 5 lb bag of storage garlic ($40) at your pickup. Thanks so much!

Reba and Bill

Fall Vegetables Week 5 of 6: Carrots, Winter Squash, Daikon Radish, Red Onions, Potatoes, Kale, Garlic

Fall Week Five Add-ons: Cheese, Milk, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar, Bread, Pork (for Sunday members), Yogurt, Ferments, Eggs, Tofu

This week’s recipes: Amanda’s Winter Squash Soup, Easy Peanut Kale