In your box:
–Arugula
–Bok Choy
–Carrots
–Head Lettuce or salad mix
–Sage
–Summer squash or cucumber
–Sweet pepper
–Tomatoes
We’ve been keeping an eye on the weather as we endure a really soggy transition from summer to fall this week. After a couple more days in the 90’s over the weekend it felt like we were back in the middle of fall. But after we pick up 3 inches or more of rain this week, it looks like colder weather will be moving in for good. The rain isn’t really helpful at this point in the season, especially since the days are shorter and cooler and it won’t soak in very well. The crops have essentially grown as large as they will for the year, so getting more moisture doesn’t help them too much. It just leaves a lot of mud to follow me around!
This week we welcome back a couple of crops we haven’t seen since fall: arugula and bok choy. The arugula hasn’t been plagued by the flea beetles that left it in sorry shape this spring, and looks really good. Arugula keeps its spicy bite until frost, so enjoy the sharp flavor of it for the next couple weeks. If the flavor isn’t to your liking, you can always process it into pesto or wilt it before consuming.
Bok choy has done really well with the heat and moisture of late, and this is about as big a crop as we’ve had with it. I do have another variety ready within the next week or two, so I recommend using this as quickly as can so you have room in your fridge. I’ve included the casserole recipe that I mentioned back in the spring, especially since this has become a favorite of our family. The greens in the recipe can be varied, and since the bok choy is so large you can basically chop up the whole thing and not worry about adding the spinach or kale (arugula would also work in this recipe). There are also some good soup recipes with bok choy available online that would work well on these cooler days.
The garden is still quite full of great-looking crops for fall, so at this point it looks like we can still plan on finishing up a 19-week season. This leaves four more weeks of veggie boxes after today, and the season will wrap up the week of October 15th. We hope you enjoy the rest of the season! After that final box I’ll be sending out a survey to get your feedback on the year and look for ways to improve going forward.
A note for Thursday pick-up sites: Our final delivery would fall over the schools’ long MEA weekend, which is one of the few times all year when my schedule lines up with our kids and my wife to get away. We will be up on the North Shore as early as we can on Thursday, so my plan is to deliver your final box on Wednesday the 17th. All of your other deliveries will still be on Thursdays—it’s just week 19 that will be moved up to Wednesday. Please let me know if that doesn’t work for you. I’ll send out a couple of reminders as we get closer.
Don’t forget—we have two opportunities to visit the farm coming up in the next couple weeks. On this Saturday, the 22nd, we’ll be having a farm work day and tour starting at 3pm followed by a potluck at 5pm. Please e-mail me to confirm you can make it so that we can plan out some jobs to do. Bring footwear that can handle some mud—it looks like we’ll be pretty wet all week and there will be no shortage of puddles to jump in.
We’re also looking forward to our year-end Harvest Party the following weekend, on Sunday the 30th. We’ll get started at 3:30 with farm tours, yard games, and socializing with our community members. Around 5:30 we’ll have a potluck, so bring a table setting and a dish to pass. You’ll also want a chair and comfortable clothing. Friends of the farm who aren’t with our CSA are always welcome. Hope to see you on the farm!
Expected next week: Tomatoes, salad mix, cucumber or zucchini, arugula, celery, beets, garlic, radishes, and kale.
Fox & Fawn Farm 