The final share of the wonderful 2015 Summer Season…..This warm weather is tricking us into thinking there are many more weeks to go. A hard frost has not hit and the garden keeps growing. We harvested yesterday in flip flops and tee shirts! A bit of disbelief that the Summer Season has ended.
We are pleased with the season. The weather was great all season long without any extremes to deal with. We were able to handle the heavy work load without any outside help. A first for us. It was a season of “best evers” on so many levels. We were thrilled with the Spring Pea harvest. (Remember that?!) Tons and tons of sugar snaps, the watermelons were definately a “best ever” for us. Sweet and bountiful. All those carrots! We set a goal of lots of carrots this year and hit it. We finally grew some great cauliflower and felt we had an abundance and variety of tasty greens all season long. Our pepper harvest this year never quit and it actually became “too many peppers”-another first and a good problem to have. And!! the tomatoes-delicious heirlooms and tons of sweet cherries. A great tomato year for us after 2 past years of ho-hum harvests. Our potatoes and sweet potatoes are finally all out of the ground and thanks to Uncle Jim it is a BIG “best ever” harvest for us. Beautiful and bountiful. Oh, and all those pears! What a surprising treat. A few disappointments as there always are. We lost a HUGE bean rotation to a persistent woodchuck who also invited a few friends to snack on many broccoli and cabbage plants mid summer. We limped along all summer long with very low yield of summer squash even though we replanted 3 times. We concluded there was some sort of seed based issue that will be resolved before next year’s growing begins. Our cucumbers quit before we were ready for them to quit and we wish we had more to offer. Over-all we are pleased (and relieved) with the bounty we had to offer the 2015 Summer Season.
Thank you to all members that returned the survey with great ideas and comments about our CSA. We appreaciate the time spent on offering your personal opinions. Member feedback definitely shapes our future CSA seasons.
This past week was dedicated to potato digging. A huge focus and it had to get done-we could not put it off any longer. We forgot about the camera until the last day and made us say perhaps it is really time to get a smart phone. Even though it was hard work hand digging it was fun as the yield was so high. Lots of “WOW! look at this!” as the beautiful sweet potatoes were coming out of the ground and the huge potatoes being forked up. We are glad this job is behind us and our duties now shift to garden clean up.
SUMMER SHARE #20 FINAL SHARE OF 2015 SUMMER SEASON
Have a good laugh as you try to haul this share home today….there was just so much we wanted to include. We couldn’t help it.
726 pounds of garden produce going home today. Enjoy it all!
AND here are some fun figures.
Total CSA garden produce weight for the season…..12,946 pounds.
Snack Pack Members took home 145 pounds each this season
Full Share Members took home 252 pounds each this summer.
SNACK PACK
Potatoes-A nice big bag of Superior.
Sweet Potatoes-The variety is beauregard and delicious. Store in a warm location out of direct sunlight-not in the refrigerator.
Scott washing the sweet potatoes.
Delicata Squash-A favorite sweet winter squash.
Brussels Sprouts-Another great harvest this week. Enjoy!
Brusslels Sprouts at harvest.
Leeks-A long season leek. We planted 3 varieties this year. This variety is Bandit. Perfect for soups or with fried potatoes.
Asian Greens-Another delicious slightly spicy blend.
Asian greens mix.
Garlic-A head for every share.
Kale-A bunch of assorted Kale. They sweeten up at this time of year with the cooler temperatures. Great added to bean soups, fresh in salads or sauted.
Storage Onions-2 in each share.
Honey-Another finally!-Maeve and Scott got it spun off just in time for the final share. Enjoy our backyard honey.
Scott checking the backyard hives.
Scott and Maeve spinning honey.
FULL SHARE
Potatoes-2 varieties-A bag of the fun purple Magic Molly and a 2nd big bag of the delicious Superior.
Superior Potatoes after washing.
Sweet potatoes-We dug a bounty and passed them on to you. The variety is beauregard. Enjoy!
Pretty sweet potatoes after washing.
Delicata Squash-A favorite sweet winter squash
Brussels Sprouts-Another great harvest this week. Enjoy!
Scott surprised me!
Long Brussels Sprout rows.
Leeks-A long season leek. We planted 3 varieties this year. This variety is Bandit. Perfect for soups or with fried potatoes.
Asian Greens-Another delicious slightly spicy blend.
Chinese Cabbage-A great harvest of this tasty cool weather crop. Very long storage life in the crisper drawer of your refrigerator.
Chinese Cabbage at harvest.
Spinach-More of this delicious Fall treat!
Spinach at harvest.
Hauling up the spinach harvest to the washing station.
Garlic-Several heads for every Full Share.
Kale-A bunch of assorted Kale. They sweeten up at this time of year with the cooler temperatures. Great added to bean soups, fresh in salads or sauted.
Kale in the morning.
Honey-Another finally!-share a share members-We put 2 4 oz jars instead of 1 bigger 1/2 pint in your share so each party could have one….share a share bags are tagged at pick up/delivery site. Maeve and Scott got it spun off just in time for the final share. Enjoy our backyard honey.
Pouring honey for the shares.
Beautiful!
Radish Blend-A nice big bag of 4 varieties.
Shallots-Long term storage life. Cool dark dry location is best.
Cherry Tomatoes!-We did not get the vines pulled down last week due to the potato digging marathon. So, I noticed there was another picking there due to the warm weather. I had to do it as how often can you have garden just picked tomatoes in October!
Cherry Tomatoes in October.
Thank you for sharing the 2015 Summer CSA season with us!
Holiday evergreen wreath workshop dates this year. 5 workshops available due to the high demand last year. Friday November 27th, Saturday November 28th, Sunday November 29th, Saturday December 5th and Sunday December 6th. Workshop is here at our house in the heated garage. 10-1. All materials provided except snippers. $45. Sign up has begun!
I will also be taking a limited number of orders for fresh floral Thanksgiving centerpieces again this year Pick up or delivery on Wednesday November 25th. Orders are already coming in…..
And finally I will also be creating custom Autumn and Holiday Evergreen wreaths and swags this year for those that do not want to create their own.
1st winter storage share pick up is Monday November 16th 3-6 here at the house.
foxlinecityfarm 