Welcome to our 19th week of the 2014 Season

This will be your last week of deliveries, if you have a half share and pick up on the odd-numbered weeks, and you do not have an extended season share. Thank you for being with us this season. We’re quite pleased with the season and we hope you are, also.

In Farm News this week, Farmer John Writes Why Be a Shareholder?

Why Be a Shareholder?

It’s illuminating to read what shareholders write us about their CSA experience. For some, the experience is completely about the box and its contents, about its value compared to what could be purchased at a store. Is the box full enough? Fresh enough? Impeccable enough? Of course, we strive to provide great value through the box. Our vegetables and herbs are surely less expensive than their organic equivalents at Whole Foods…and fresher…and more local.

At the other end of the spectrum, shareholders write poetically about their relationship to the food and to the farm. These acknowledgments bring us joy. We don’t want the shareholder experience to be just about the food; we want it to be about the relationship the food builds to the being or the organism of the farm–to the farm team, the soil, the weather, the seasons. Having a relationship to the farm that grows ones food brings the shareholder consciously closer to the source of physical sustenance, to the earth.

 

A store or an organic delivery service cannot provide this deep, conscious relationship to the land. Eating from a particular farm week after week provides a direct unfolding experience of sun, wind, rain, drought, soil, and work that converge to bring the food to your table. Without having to buy your own farm, you and your family still have the experience of having a farm. You have this experience through our newsletters, our open houses, and eating from our fields. You become more conscious and more embedded citizens of our planet.

 

From Shareholders

Thank you Angelic Organics for your positive influence on my kids!

~Mindy

 

My son just loves all the veggies, especially the carrots with the tops still on!

~Jody

 

It was a beautiful day to pick beans and flowers at the U-Pick at Angelic Organics!

~Tomara

 

Nothing makes me happier than my kids begging me to cut open the honeydew for their snack! It was absolutely delicious. Thanks so much for all your hard work to bring us fabulous, organic fruits and vegetables!!

~Laurel

 

The Crops

We completed the potato harvest on Friday, and the popcorn and beet harvests on Saturday.

 

We still have a lot of-frost hardy lettuce in the fields…also, baby greens, daikon radishes, rutabaga, sage, cabbage, broccoli shoots, and Brussels sprouts. And we have lots of potatoes and squash and some lovely onions in storage to be distributed in your boxes in the upcoming weeks.

Weather

We experienced lovely mild weather this past week, with a couple of very light frosts. The dew stays longer on the crops now; whereas in the summer, we harvested greens first thing, now we wait until late morning or even early afternoon for the heavy due to mostly lift. (We like to harvest the greens with some moisture on them, but not a heavy dew.)

The Work

The days are getting shorter. Some of our crew has been starting at 6 a.m., but now it’s dark at 6, so they start at 6:30. Soon they’ll be starting at 7, as night envelopes more of our day. The work has been especially orderly the past couple of weeks, because the weather has been so mild—no storms or heavy winds working against us.

The Future

On Saturday morning, the Casiques began separating garlic bulbs into cloves for our upcoming planting of next year’s garlic crop, while Primo was working up the field where the garlic will be planted this fall.  We’re increasing the garlic acreage for next year, since so many of our shareholders love garlic, and seem to especially love our German White Porcelain Garlic.

Even though we are very busy harvesting and packing boxes, we are turning our attention to 2015 while 2014 is fresh in our minds. We’re meeting on variety selection, crop composition, timing of plantings…there are dozens of things to consider to make our next season the best possible.

Box Contents

Please Note: this summary is written before you receive your box—please be aware that some guesswork is involved. As always, be sure to thoroughly wash all of your vegetables.

Arugula
Brussels Sprouts
Confection Squash
Dill
Lettuce
An Onion
Popcorn
Potatoes
Turnips

Note on the Arugula

Arugula will perish quickly if stored wet in a plastic bag, if it appears moist, please do the following before storing it in the refrigerator: Fill a large bowl or dishpan with cold water.  Add greens and swirl around vigorously. All the dirt and sand will sink to the bottom.  Lift greens out of basin and into a salad spinner or colander.  Spin greens to dry or drain as best you can and dry on towels. If you don’t have a spinner or colander, soak up the moisture with paper towels. Store washed and spun greens in a Ziploc bag or plastic container lined with a dry paper towel in the refrigerator. Cut greens perish more quickly if stored wet in a plastic bag. Consume the arugula within a few days of receiving it.

Note on your Popcorn

When Is It Dry Enough to Pop?
After a couple of weeks of drying in the husk, the corn is ready to test. Remove the husk from an ear or two and pluck a few kernels off each cob. Take a small handful of kernels and pop them by whatever method you prefer.
If the popped corn is unpleasantly tough or chewy, or the exploded puffs are oddly edged or jagged, the corn is still too wet. Keep up this testing every few days until the popcorn is the way you like it, then husk and de-kernel the corn and store it. http://hubpages.com/hub/Popcorn–Planting-to-Popping

To Oven-Dry your Shelled Popcorn.

Preheat the stove to 300 degrees Fahrenheit and put a large pan (a turkey roaster will do) of kernels on the rack. Then, turn the oven down to its lowest setting immediately, and dry the corn — stirring it occasionally — for five hours. After that time you can turn the heat off and leave the kernels in the oven to cool overnight. They’ll be “poppin’ perfect” by morning.
(It is possible to dry corn too thoroughly, though. I forgot to turn my preheated oven down, once, and returned a little later to a house that smelled suspiciously like cooked corn. The kernels were so dry that they wouldn’t pop at all! But, I just sprinkled the popcorn with a little water, put it in a tight-lidded bucket, and left the closed container in the fridge for a week. The remoistened corn popped just fine.) http://www.motherearthnews.com/organic-gardening/grow-your-own-popcorn-zmaz79zsch.aspx#ixzz2jsrFGScB

Upcoming Program at the Angelic Organics Learning Center

Live Culture in the Kitchen 

Sunday, October 26, 2pm-4:30pm

Get your gut going with healthy bacteria! You’ll learn all about fermentation at this hands-on workshop on the farm. You’ll even take home a jar of sauerkraut and yogurt! We’re excited to welcome Chef Michael Staver from Kendall College as a guest instructor for the course. Please pre-register at www.learngrowconnect.org/events.

Plus, we have a special offer going on now: 10% off any and all fall classes! Use the discount code “FALL201410AOSHAREHOLDER.” Expires on December 1, 2014.

Warmly,

Farmer John and the Angelic Organics Farm Team