Keeping Up with the Machine

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Flowers

Frost has been tickling us with more regularity this week and pretty soon a night without it will be rare. The positive of this time of year in between kind of cold and really cold is that the quality of the greens rival what we see during our first harvests in June. The leaves are tender and delicate and the flavor tends towards sweet as the cold brings the sugars out. We hope to have some sort of greens for the share all the way through the end of the month along with some of the heavier stuff like turnips, squash, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, etc.

In contrast to the difficulty of the beginning of the summer, the late season has been relatively mild. We have had good amounts of time to get tender crops in and fields put down without the usual dodging of hurricanes and two-day gales often seen this time of year.

In addition to good vegetable growing, the sheep have been enjoying a good fall for grass and we have been able to move them around well during the breeding season, which has just come to an end. We had two separate breeding groups paired with different rams that have come back together into one big group of ewes. This flock numbers a little over eighty, which is not small, especially when you are trying to keep them on fresh patches of grass. This time of year the ewes are particularly hungry (like us) they can feel the coming cold and are trying to bulk up a bit. I like to refer to them as the grazing machine because they can move through a 300 by 50 foot area of calf high grass in a day, making it look like a mower has been through during the night. In trying to keep this group fed we moved them from one end of the farm to the other this last Sunday, running them down the middle of Pleasant Hill Road before the traffic got going. This was a blast as the ewes pranced down the yellow line waiting to see where we would guide them, and trying to make their own roads into the wrong fields a few times as well. There are a couple photos of he run in the online version of the newsletter.

Fall cooking CSA cooking class. Come join Katiya Gettys and Bob Lezer for a fall cooking class geared toward making the most of your fall share. They have been members of the farm since this CSA program began. Bob has also been volunteering with us for years –from helping raise the greenhouse in 2004 to managing the Upic field this past year. As vegetarians for over 30 years make their meals between June and November completely from farm produce; they use it all. The class will focus on creating fun and interesting dishes that are easy to prepare. This will be an interactive class where everyone gets hands on experience preparing and then eating the recipes. Produce, all supplies and copies of the recipes will be provided as well as a demo on knife use and sharpening. The class will be held in Saturday October 24 at 10:30 am in Freeport just 4 miles from the farm. Cost is $39 to $55 on a sliding scale. Look for more info at CSA pick-up and make reservation by calling 865.0655.

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments not due until February, April and June of next year.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available in ½ lb and 1lb. and 2 lb. sizes. Allergies? Repertory issues? Local honey can help ease problems with local pollens, molds and other airborne troublemakers. If fall is your time to suffer, try some local honey.

Organic Pastured Turkeys Available Now! Call Kena at Little Ridge Farm 353.7126.

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