ROUNDING OUT SEPTEMBER WITH RAINBOW CARROTS, RED RADISHES & FLAVOR KING PLUOTS →

September 17, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#17/18

With the Autumn Equinox at hand, and only two pickups left for the Summer CSA, we couldn’t ask for a more natural transition into Fall. Cherish weeks like this one—when we have one last chance to bake Zucchini Bread, or treat ourselves to a little tomato salad for lunch, but still have every good reason to make a pot of warm soup…YEAH! I know that it won’t last, so I feel pretty smug when I get to choose between sweet and juicy Flavor King Pluots and new crop Apples at snacktime. Many of you students and teachers are settling back into the classroom (double YEAH!). Even our crew members, many of whom are college students, part-time teachers and parents are shifting back into the fall routines. I almost forgot to pack Hazel’s lunch this morning, which proved to be a good thing—that lucky ducky left home with the brightest box of rainbow carrots and crisp little red radishes from our morning field walk. And guess what, you too can too!

MODES OF PRESERVATION: HOW WE HOLD ONTO THE LAST BIT OF SUMMER →

September 10, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#16/18

I just scrambled in from the pepper beds, soaked from a squall of rain that swept through just a moment ago. The farm, both our fields and our people, have nearly forgotten what it is like to feel rain like this. It marks a significant transition in our Harvest year. The lettuces and fall brassicas will love it, but in the open field, our field tomatoes will likely succumb to splitting and decay. It has been a beautiful run, but now it is time to be sure and tuck some away to savor over the next few months. In fact, that is what Mark and the crew did with a break in the action last week. Mark and I used to do a whole lot more things like this, back before we were parents to a child and owners of a business. Some of you out there reading this are marvelous preservers, and trust me, Mark is one of the best know. (Someday, I hope we can extract him from his tractor long enough to host one of our infamous “Putting up with Mark” workshops). But at some point for us, boiling up a water bath canner and chasing a child around the house just didn’t go hand in hand. So, when a member of the CSA asked me to send out some advice on how to preserve food in lieu of recipes this week, I found myself initially digging into the archives of my brain, longing for simpler times (ha!). But the more I thought about it, the more inclined I was to share with you what preservation actually looks like for us, busy farmers and tired parents who are surrounded by infinite potential and an endless collection of (empty) mason jars.

HAPPY LABOR DAY: FOUR WEEKS UNTIL FALL SHARE →

September 3, 2018 Katie Green

WILD HARE WEEKLY SUMMER#15/18

The onset of September sure feels abrupt this year, and with four weeks remaining in our Summer Season, we’re trying to hang on to whatever tender bits we can before the fading summer indeed passes us by. We’re cherishing every last crisp cucumber, packing the freezer with Basil Pesto and putting odds and ends of fruit onto the food dehydrator (which I’ll admit, I’ve dusted off for the first time in way too long). I never thought I’d see the day, but Mark is talking about freezing some zucchini [KG1] for us to use in quick batches of Curry or Mock Crab Cakes.

The pie pumpkin you see pictured here hasn’t turned full on orange just yet, but it will very soon. It is a great time to think about (and register for) the 2018 Fall CSA, which will begin on October 2nd. If you love Apples, Winter Squash, and curling up with warm bowls of soup, the Fall CSA has your name written all over it and we’d love to feed you. Fall Share does bring about a few changes from Summer, so please be aware of the following: