The end of another season is here. We look forward to seeing you all at the farm one last time. The crew have been a buzz of activity getting ready for CSA pick-up this week. Harvesting the last of storage crops like parsnips and beets and sorting through winter squash and sweet potatoes. As this big storm is about to roll in, it is really feeling like the close to a season that I will remember most for its dryness. Our area of the coast has had a “D1” designation for a few weeks now (drought level 1), which means the official measure has caught up to what we have been feeling since July! If this weather system delivers the 2-3 inches expected it will equal all the rainfall we have had since the first week of June. Let it rain.
Thanks to all of you for taking another trip through the summer months with us. The art of farming is taking some seed and turning it into something beautiful and nourishing. We love this job and have only gratitude to all of you for supporting us in doing it. Have great winter!
Not Ready to Stop?…Late Fall Shares Still Available
Our late fall share runs during November and December with pick-ups every other Tuesday (Nov. 7, 21 and Dec. 5, 19). This is the storage crop (carrots, squash, potatoes, etc.) and fresh greens (spinach, lettuce, kale, bok choi, and chard) lifeline for the last two months of the year. Great holiday meal foundations! Follow this link to sign up.
Sign up for 2018!
We have a new sign-up site! In addition to automated credit card and echeck payments you can also access your balance at anytime, include your add-on products in the payment plan and store your payment info for later. Thanks again for letting us grow food for you…here’s the link for 2018 Sign-up.
What’s in the Share
Spinach
Kale
Chard
Kohlrabi
Carrots
Winter Squash
Lettuce
Potatoes
Sweet potatoes
Onions
Parsnips
Beets
Leeks
What’s in Upic
Flowers
Herbs
As we start our second to last week of harvest for the summer share there is so much to do. The temperature flip flop of fall is at an extreme this year. Days in the 80’s and nights dipping to 30 have sent many of the crops on a stressful roller coaster. These swings push even the most fall hardy crops like kale and chard, both of which saw damage from the frosty night last week. The crew spent several hours laying out row covers over the past few days which gives us about 5 degrees of protection. If we stay above the 20’s we will be in good shape. 
Summer continues as we move solidly into October. That one night of frost a week ago may be all we get for a while here. Thinks are really growing, including the greens we have set in our tunnel for the Late Fall Share. Spinach, lettuce, kale, bok choi, and chard are all on track to keep fresh greens in your share if you signed up for the late fall. 
The first frost came Friday evening and it was just a light touch but is the beginning of good things. Everyone assumes I am happy about frosts as they mean the end of the farm season and a slowdown in my workload. While there is some truth to this, my happiness when I awaken to white mornings in early October is really about vegetable quality. That touch of frost is like the princess kissing the frog (a beautiful and very tasty frog to keep the analogy on task). Little doses of cold flip the switch in our fall crops and they go from tasting good to great. All these cold-tolerant vegetables like cabbage, carrots, leeks and broccoli respond to temperatures just below freezing by sweetening up; converting starches to sugars. It’s not instant but over the next week or two we will see a big change in flavors. Trying to get someone at your table to try kale or eat more cabbage? This is the strategic time of year for success.