foxlinecityfarm

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And just like that we reached the end. Our best season ever! Even though a good friend said to me I say that every year….it is nice to say that every season gets stronger and stronger. Thank you for all the returned surveys. The feedback is very helpful in planning the coming year. We had no idea that so many love and this year miss the ginger. We grew it for 3 seasons with hohum results and given the cost of the organic seed stock elected to not grow it this season. We may reconsider now that so many of you mentioned it. Also…seedless watermelon….hmmmm. The flavor is not as sweet but so many of you asked-and said it would be preferred. We will keep making note of all the feedback and plan for the upcoming 2021 season. Our reflections on this year. The garden was strong all season long. The cucumbers were abundant-almost too abundant. We finally got our rotations down…. Best onion and garlic harvests we have ever had. The sugar snap peas were great but the heat sure shortened the season. Our tomato harvest was another “best ever” and hoop 2 provided fantastic spinach and carrots. We need to grow even more carrots….2 additional rotations this year over past seasons but it would be good for even more. We had tons of baby cabbage! And it seems most of you love fresh lettuce every week and we will continue this in the future. We have never missed a week yet of fresh leafy greens….The disappointment was broccoli. We had it but not as much as we wanted. Not sure if it was where we planted in the garden or maybe just bad timing. The eggplant too did not do as well as past seasons-even though it is considered an “extra” we wanted more. We all did great with the open air pick up routine and only had that 1 HUGE! rainstorm to deal with….but we survived. We miss our extra/take it or leave it table and the inside routine too but we all made the best of the situation in the world these days. We decided early on to only have a positive attitude about whatever this crazy year was going to throw at us….Good Food and a smiling face makes everything better! Future bonus shares to come! Happy Autumn to all of you.

#18

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WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-head lettuce, spinach, pac choi, carrots, baby cabbage, brussels sprouts, ornamental pumpkin of your choosing, squash, red norland potatoes, fingerling potatoes (full only), radishes, beans (full only), and purple carrots (full only), honey!

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Head Lettuce-We harvested romaine and a cute many bicolor this week from hoop 1. Both are in all shares…

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After the lettuce harvest we quickly replanted hoop 1 for future Fall lettuce harvest.

Spinach-Another great harvest. Thick, juicy leaves….

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And another peek at our baby spinach experiment.

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Pac choi-delicious in broth! Or we love the crunchy texture in salads.

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Carrots-A great harvest from hoop 2 and 1 more row is still out there!

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Baby cabbage-little sweet heads. Great in a stir fry or slaw. Or add to tacos!

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Brussels sprouts-the plants are sooooo tall. We snuck some more off the bottoms. Enjoy this autumn treat!

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Ornamental Pumpkin-Choose your own they are ready in the driveway! We had a blast filling the bed of the truck every night this week! Thank you John Raupp and the Raupp family for the amazing pumpkin patch on the family farm. We are grateful!

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Squash-Acorns in all the snack packs…a new variety called starry night in all the full shares (a speckled acorn) and sweet delicata in the full shares too.

Potatoes-Scott got them all out! Red norlands in all shares and fingerlings in the full shares too.

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Radishes-1st pick from a long row in hoop 2.

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Beans-Now here is a surprise! Enough for full share.

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Purple carrots (full only)-An experiment….Not sure of the oddball shape but rich earthy taste. I am going to make purple carrot soup.

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Honey-Backyard honey from our 2 hives. Enjoy!

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It seems Autumn has arrived….

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We focus on clean up these days. A little bit every day. The cucumber trellises are down and a few rows of cabbage stumps pulled. An odd feeling to see the space open up. We had our 1st big visit to the squash and pumpkin patch. Just beautiful. With more to come. We keep seeding in the leafy greens in Hoop 1 as lettuce grows thick and juicy this time of year and we will roll along as long as weather permits.

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VERY hard to believe that next week is the final share of the regular CSA season. Honestly the best season we have ever had and honestly it zipped by in a blur. We will offer many “bonus shares” in the weeks to come! So much Autumn bounty. My favorite time of year. Details next week and also our personal reflections on the 2020 season.

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#17 WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-head lettuce, spinach!, potatoes, carnival squash, heirloom “aunt thelma” squash (full only), italian fry pepper, onions, garlic, beans (snack only), sunflower bouquet, fennel (full only), golden beets (full only)

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Head lettuce-fantastic heads of super sweet head lettuce.

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Spinach-over a 1/2 pound in Snack and just over 1 pound Full Share. 1st Autumn harvest out of Hoop 2.

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And a peek at our baby spinach experiment…looking good.

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Potatoes-Well, they are all almost out of the field. This week- either red norlands, a delicious russet that is fantastic fried or grilled, or our favorite mini upstates that we steam or boil.

Carnival Squash-Squash season has begun! Long storage life and super sweet flavor.

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Aunt Thelma (Full only)- an heirloom. Sweet and tastes like a sweet potato.

Italian fry pepper-our favorite pepper. Sweet and delicious raw.

Onions-storage onions…several in every share.

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Garlic-Best garlic year ever! 3 heads in every share. Enjoy!

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Beans (snack only)-a mix of green and yellow The final pick of the season.

Sunflower Bouquet-And again! Enjoy the beauty.

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Fennel-(full only) great grilled, shaved in a slaw or perfect with beets!

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Golden Heirloom Beets (full only)-so pretty when roasted and we love them with roasted fennel.

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BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-FINAL SHARE….HONEY, LETTUCE, PAC CHOI, SPINACH, CABBAGE, POTATOES, SQUASH, BRUSSELS SPROUTS, CARROTS, ORNAMENTAL PUMPKIN(S), AND MORE…..

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A chilly wet week for us….slower pace, long johns and layers to stay warm and dry. The work days much shorter and it feels like Autumn. We just about have all the potatoes out of the ground and we will start hauling delicious squash from the field next week. The ornamental oddball pumpkins look amazing!!! We are thrilled and a HUGE! thanks to John Raupp (my super hero) who makes all this possible for us. Tomatoes are done and I think I picked my last zucchini this morning. Slowly garden clean up will begin when it drys up a bit out there. A sure sign of Autumn….shade clothes off the hoop houses.

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1st spinach pick will be next week…another sure sign of Autumn. Great germination of our experimental baby spinach crop.

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2 weeks to go of our best season ever! What a bounty all season long. Survey in the shares this week….please take some time to let us know your thoughts of this summer and return by end of season. We will share our thoughts of this season in final post.

#16 WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE-head lettuce, leeks, potatoes, heirloom pointy cabbage, sweet pepper medley, green/yellow bean mix, brussels sprouts, sunflower bouquets and survey

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Head lettuce-a delicious sweet summer crunch-crisp and juicy in this chilly weather.

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Leeks-We harvested all the leeks this week (2 varieties). Perfect for a hash or potato leek soup.

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Potatoes-We harvested 2 dry varieties this week that are perfect for frying or potato leek soup. Rose gold in snack pack and german butterball in full share.

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Heirloom pointy cabbage-A mini variety that is sweet and delicious. Great for a slaw, fresh eating, grilled or steamed.

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Sweet pepper medley-A mix of ONLY sweet peppers in all the shares-lunchbox, baby bells, shishito.

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Green and yellow bean mix-An end of season treat! This was our “hail mary” planting….sometimes they do not mature this late in the season due to day length and temperatures. We were lucky! Enjoy.

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Brussels Sprouts! -We snuck a few off the bottom of all the plants for a first taste of this end of season treat.

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Zucchini (Full Only)-3 in every full share and this is the end! We picked the last one this morning.

Sunflower bouquets-Another treat! Pretty sunflowers and perfect timing to brighten our week!

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2020 end of season Survey-Let us know what you thought of the season…

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-HEAD LETTUCE, POTATOES, SQUASH!, PEPPERS, ONIONS, GARLIC, SPINACH?, CARROTS, HONEY! AND MORE….

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And just like that we transitioned to Autumn. Dark chilly mornings, dewy cobwebs in our path and caps on our heads. School starts in a not so normal way but we move forward with hope and optimism….Days are shorter and the workload eases a bit and we have the fun of inspecting the pumpkin and squash patch. My favorite time of year.

We may be nearing the end of tomatoes and the cucumbers are done…but our last rotations of beans kicked in this week and we continue to transplant lettuce into hoop 1 and pull carrots from hoop 2.

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WHAT IS IN YOUR SHARE….HEAD LETTUCE, ZUCCHINI, GREEN AND YELLOW BEAN MIX, CHERRY TOMATOES, SLICE TOMATOES, CARROTS, CHINESE CABBAGE, STORAGE ONIONS, CORN!, SWEET ITALIAN PEPPERS, AND BROCCOLI SIDE SHOOTS (FULL ONLY)

Head lettuce-we picked 3 different varieties this week and mixed it up a bit. 1 or more in every share..

Zucchini-With the shorter days and cooler temperatures the zucchini patch is slowing down…2 in every share.

Beans!-yellow and green mixed. We are thrilled.

Cherry Tomatoes-We are near the end of this taste of summer. The texture changes with the cool nights and not as sweet. Savor.

Slice tomato-We may have picked the last of these beauties this morning too….

Carrots! Sweet and crunchy. A great harvest from hoop 2.

Chinese Cabbage-A fun mini variety…makes a great slaw. And delicious in a fresh salad.

Storage onions-These are the 1st of the storage onions….picked some time ago and curing in the shed. Long shelf life.

Corn!-HUGE! Surprise from Cousin John. 4+ inches of much needed rain and some warm temperatures and….magic! Delicious sweet corn to end the season.

Italian fry peppers-the start of these beauties-my favorite.

Broccoli Side Shoots-(Full only)-We had a nice harvest of the side shoots this week in the broccoli rows…

BEST GUESS FOR NEXT WEEK-BRUSSELS SPROUTS!!!! TONS!!!!, HEAD LETTUCE, ASSORTED PEPPERS, LEEKS, FENNEL, POTATOES, TOMATOES? AND MORE….

 

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