Wow. What a week. What a year. And compared to last Monday, today felt like a real gift of a final Monday harvest. T-shirts and sandals replaced last week’s insulated layers and ice block hands. The electoral victories of the week felt no less sweet, and Farmer Bill will indeed be heading back to the State House in January!

In so many ways this has been a surreal season. For the past fourteen years of the CSA, a big part of what motivated me to farm were the smiles and hugs from so many of you at the weekly pickups. But to my surprise, while never getting to see your faces behind the masks was hard, it wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. What really felt important was that the food still came from our fields and made its way into your hands, onto your plates, into your bellies. And your smiles still somehow shone through, despite the layers of cloth. Thank you!

Next year will likely look a bit different for Hatchet Cove Farm. We will still be growing veggies, we will still have a CSA, but we will also be making some significant changes in order to make the farm more sustainable for our family, our fallible bodies, and our members. Because, well, in a nutshell… you guys deserve more carrots! In order for that (and plenty of other things) to happen, though, we need to change how and where we grow, so that even if we have a drought we can get those itty bitty carrot seeds to germinate. Climate change is really impacting how we farm, and though during the past sixteen years we’ve been able to assume that rain will show up, eventually, to help our veggies grow, we’re finally accepting that we simply can not grow most of our crops in places that we can’t irrigate. So as we plan for the future, we will keep you in the loop. Farming is still what we do, and feeding our community will always be at the core of our farm. But figuring out how to continue to be sustainable? That is an ever-evolving puzzle. We’ve made it sixteen seasons so far, and we look forward to another sixteen. And we’ll always keep you in the loop as to how  you can continue to be a part of it. 

Thank you, thank you, for being a part of another wonderful, strange, delicious, exhausting and exhilarating season. You are the reason we grow food, and we love feeding each and every one of you. Be in touch, enjoy your final fall crops, and we’ll see you soon!

Farmers Reba, Bill, Eli and CJ

CSA Vegetables Week Twenty-two: Lettuce Mix/Spinach, Kale, Bok Choy, Hakurei Turnips, Broccoli/Cauliflower/Cabbage, Cilantro/Parsley, Potatoes, Garlic

Week 22 Add-ons: Cheese, Mushrooms, Oil & Vinegar, Milk, Bread

This week’s recipes: Toasted Coconut Rice with Bok Choy and Fried Eggs, Kale Pesto