In your box

• Arugula
• Brussels sprouts
• Cabbage
• Head lettuce
• Leek
• Onion
• Salad Mix
• Sweet Pepper
• Winter Squash: Butternut

Farm News

This is indeed our final delivery of the season. The warm autumn we’ve had makes it feel like the season shouldn’t be over yet, but the long, hot, dry summer we’ve endured makes me eager to start hibernating.

Thanks so much to my parents, Steve and Arlene Kirkman of Chaska, and Nina’s mom, Julie Healy of Bloomington, for all of their help with washing and packing boxes this year! Thanks also to the mosquitoes for taking the year off so we could scrub veggies in peace!

And thanks so much to you, our incredible members, for your support this season! You’ve probably tried a few new veggies and fruits this year, eaten a few more salads and stir-fries than you’re accustomed to, and above all put up with my bad jokes and complaints about the weather. Thanks so much! Your support for local agriculture helps to make our rural communities strong and enables me to live out my passion for environmentally-focused, sustainable farming.

Our harvest season might be over after today, but my work on the farm will continue right up until Thanksgiving, weather permitting. I’ll spend the next few weeks draining hoses and irrigation equipment, mowing down any debris still in the field, cleaning up around the farm, and finishing any little projects that got ignored during the busy season. I’ll be carting hundreds of loads of compost out to the gardens to start preparing for next year. I’ll be planting garlic this weekend, wrapping up this farm season by sowing the first seeds for our next growing year. Last year I built a shed for storing our tractors and tools, and I’ll finish putting the doors on it before the snow begins blowing in. That should keep me pretty busy for the next few weeks, but after that it’s nothing but seed catalogs, pickleball, and catching up on sleep.

I’ll be returning to all of our delivery sites in a couple of weeks to pick up any returned boxes, so please take one last look around the house for any CSA boxes and get them back to your delivery site. I’ll also be emailing a survey to get your feedback on this farm season as we start planning for next year.

Thanks again for your support! We hope you’ve enjoyed the season.

This week’s box

Most of this week’s box should be familiar, but I did want to offer just a couple of storage notes. Butternut squash prefer to be kept at room temperature and average humidity, so a pantry or countertop work well until you’re ready to eat these. An undamaged squash will often keep just fine until March or April. 

These cabbage are a variety that aren’t supposed to grow this big, but they really seemed to enjoy the extended growing season. Cabbage is happiest in the fridge, and it will keep well for a month or longer. If you cut it in half to use, the remainder will only stay fresh for a few days. You might consider a refrigerator sauerkraut recipe to store the rest. Just search for “quick sauerkraut” to extend the life of your cabbage.

Red Lentil and Squash Soup

From The Zen Monastery Cookbook

• 4 c. cooked and pureed winter squash
• 1 c. red lentils
• 6 c. water
• Fresh ginger, as desired, chopped fine (or 2 tsp dried ginger)
• 1 tsp. turmeric
• 1 tsp. cumin
•  1 tsp. salt

Directions

1. Bake the squash, scoop the good stuff out of the shell, and puree (a blender works fine for this, but you might need to add some extra water).

2. While the squash is baking, wash the lentils and put them in a big pot with the water. Bring to a boil and skim off the foam.

3. Add the ginger, turmeric, and cumin. Cook until the lentils are tender (45 minutes or so).

4. Add the salt and the pureed squash and more water if needed.

5. Heat thoroughly and serve.

Serves 6-8

Coming up

Lots of naps. I’m afraid you’ll have to go back to frozen pizzas and limp produce from California.