Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Radish, Bok Choy, Lovage, Green Onion, Collards, Broccoli Raab and Red Oak Head Lettuce

Something kind of big is happening for us this summer. The farm is turning 25!! 25 feels like a milestone that deserves pause and recognition. We have been at this for a while. Enough to know the reality of having a career. Long enough to know that when it is hard, there is still nothing we would rather be doing.  I play that game sometimes...if I could have any job what would it be? It always comes back to being a farmer, and it always comes back to being a farmer at Cosmic Apple Gardens.
When we look back over 25 years there are some things that stand out. (Disclaimer, I have been at the farm for 19 years, Jed started the farm 25 years ago...but that is another story!)
The hard times...losing 800#'s of washed carrots when a freak wind storm blew over our cooler full of carrots and they landed on the broken glass. The pigs getting out and digging up the basil in the greenhouse. Finding our beloved cow, Clover, we had been caring for died during the night. Managing poor employees. Summers with low water. Nursing my 2 month old baby in a snow storm on June 21st during a year when it just would not warm up. Broken equipment...it only breaks when you need to use it! Finally getting our 5th greenhouse built and planted, only to have it freeze solid on June 12th after the propane company forgot to fill the tank. The neighbor's dog killing 53 chickens.
And so many good times...tasting the first strawberry each year. Moving to the new 30 acre farm in 2002. (The "new farm" was purchased by an amazing community member with the intention of providing a place for Cosmic Apple to grow organic veggies for the community.) Witnessing many births. Sunsets. The summer Jed and I fell in love. Bringing home a truck load of meat from the butcher for the first time. Taking our first human baby to the farm to meet the critters on a beautiful winter day. Securing a loan thru the USDA to purchase 20 more acres. Milking a cow that was born and raised on the farm. So many amazing employees we now call friends. Getting a delivery truck with seatbelts! The countless moments frozen in my mind of our children at the farm. 

When I close my eyes to reflect, so many faces flash on my internal slide show. So many smiles with yellow crates and scales in the foreground. One of my favorite things has been watching your children grow up at the veggie pick ups. 
 Jed started the farm in 1996 with money from his dishwashing job at the Teton Teepee. After a year or two he got a loan from his dad for $3000 to purchase a greenhouse. Luckily, he was stubborn enough to ignore the many naysayers telling him it would be impossible to grow vegetables in the Tetons. He ignored the countless restaurants and stores telling him Organic was not worth it and didn't make a difference. After 25 years, I think we get to say "I told you so". HA! That felt good.
We leaned on the people who believed in us and the the very old timers who remembered gardening in the Tetons without chemicals, and eating without big grocery stores. It is hard to express our unending gratitude to those who believed in us. We love you. There are so many people who showed up when we needed an extra hand, these folks are forever in my heart and are part of the reason the farm succeeded.
Cheers to all the helpers and the believers! Cheers to all the CSA members and market customers! Cheers to the kids who have grown up knowing real veggies! Cheers to every person we've ever grown for! 
​
Cheers to 25 years of feeding The People of the Tetons the best food we can grow!

Crop List: Green Tomatoes, Carrots, Rose Finn Fingerling Potatoes, Blackberry Potatoes, Julika Potatoes, Tomatoes, Basil, Red Onion, Spaghetti Squash, Cabbage, Beets, Maybe Daikon Radish, and/or Broccoli

The last share!! We are so grateful to have been able to grow for you this season. None of knew what this year was going to look like and the trepidation could really be felt at some moments. We are so relieved to make it through with healthy employees and a healthy farm family. We thank you for helping us keep the distributions safe. This season felt like it required more community support then ever, and WOW!!! You all came through and we sincerely appreciate it!
Looking back at the 2020 CSA we are really happy with the Tomatoes! Yay! We are so glad that 3rd tomato greenhouse was up and running, it made a huge difference. The cucumbers and summer squash did good and so did the peas. The Sunflowers were consistently larger in size this year thanks to the weeding skills of our employees! The carrot and potato crops have been coming in exceptionally well this year too.
The crops that we hope to do better with in 2021 are beets, arugula, spinach, radish and turnips. Even though we dream of a year when every crop yields perfectly we know that is an unattainable goal. It is part of the beauty of farming. Crops take turns being the star based on weather, timing, labor and other forces the garden is susceptible too. 
We are eager to hear your feedback about the veggies, the CSA program and the whole experience in general. I will send out a survey next week and we would really appreciate you letting us know your perspective!

Free T-shirt or Hat for a 2021 CSA sign up!
We are kicking off our 2021 CSA membership drive! If you sign up for next year's CSA at a pick up location before the season ends, you will receive a free organic cotton t-shirt or hat! Your site host will have sign-up sheets, one is attached to your email or you can get one here: ​http://www.cosmicapple.com/uploads/1/7/9/9/17994337/2021_sign_up.pdf
We sold out last year. Sign up early to get the best prices and to choose the pick up location/day you really want...and did I mention the free shirt or hat?!

If you read Share #6's newsletter, you may remember I told you we agreed, as a farm to find 6 concrete things we could do to help end systemic racism in food. I was waiting to present more finalized plans and I always want these thing to happen quicker then they do so I never finished the list of commitments. Even though I don't have all the details,  I wanted to be accountable for my promises, so for those of you looking for the last 3, here they are!
#4. We understand that we are farming on Shoshone Bannock ancestral land. We have a letter out to the tribe asking what we can do to honor them in this place while we farm here. We don't take lightly the history of this valley and we want to do our best to move forward with the utmost respect for the Shoshone Bannock people. (My contact person has been really busy and I am waiting to hear back from her)
#5. We are exploring getting our website translated into Spanish. We know diet related illnesses affect Black, Indigenous and People of Color (BIPOC) more then white people. We also know Cosmic Apple's food is one of the answers to diet related illnesses. The CSA model is different then going to the store and it needs to be explained so consumers understand it. We need to make our food accessible to Latinx people and we think the website is a great way to introduce it. (We are unclear if we need to translate our webpage or if there are useful apps that will do this for folks, definitely a winter project!)
#6. Digging deeper into the need to get nutritious food to BIPOC, we are coming up with a plan and hoping to work with One22 in Jackson. We want to raise money to get shares into the homes of Latinx families in our community. (This plan will also take some time because Covid is hindering many things, but I had one phone call of idea sharing and I hope to get further this winter with a proposal.)

Fare thee well!
So I guess this is goodbye for the season. We cannot emphasize how grateful we are to be your farmers. We truly love growing food in the Tetons and suppling it people who live here. We feel supported by our community and we hope you feel nourished by the food we grow.
As always..."May this food give you the energy to make the world a better place."
With gratitude,
​Dale and Jed

Lunch this week: Vegan Pot Pie by the amazing Chef Aspen
Recipe Ideas: Fermented Green Tomato Ketchup; Quinoa, Carrot, & Leek Patties; Carrots, Potatoes Roasted with Onions & Garlic; Dale’s Oven Fries​

Crop List: Orange and Purple Carrots, Julika Potatoes, Huckleberry Potatoes, Basil, Kale, Spaghetti Squash, Garlic, Tomatoes and Cauliflower

​I am typing on the last day of summer. Tuesday welcomes fall. Fall helps me relocate my equilibrium! Day and night are equal, this always reminds me of the balance required in natural relationships. A constant giving and receiving. The plants give us oxygen, we give them CO2. The garden gives us veggies, we give it compost. Grass gives cows energy, cows give grass manure to replenish the soil they grow in. Bees receive pollen from plants and plants receive pollination from bees. 
We are still incredibly busy, but the garden's pace has changed. The summer squash is not bearing down threatening to get bigger overnight. Tomatoes are not cracking from overripening. We are not concerned about frost, been there, done that! Things are winding down on the farm and we are in countdown mode. 5 more markets, 4 more CSA deliveries, 3 more beds of carrots, 6 more rows of potatoes, 3 greenhouses to empty, 1 crop of garlic to plant.
Fall always brings the season of letting go and being grateful for what we have. (Planning for more is on hold until after the Winter Solstice!) The harvest is almost in and any crisis that came up we weathered and survived, success! I am always humbled by what the garden provides each year. Fall is the time to give thanks and celebrate! It is the time of year I savor the sun on my skin and drink in all the gorgeous colors before the snow starts to fall.
The Earth is pulling itself inward and beginning to rest. After we harvest everything and the garlic is planted, Jed will begin to spread compost for next year's garden. Our compost is generated on farm by our cows. We spread in the fall and it always feels like an offering to the garden. An offering of gratitude for feeding us all year. The compost is a way to help the garden replenish itself as it sleeps. I picture the Earth energies pulling inward and bringing all the nutrients needed from the compost with it. All winter as the garden rests these nutrients are being absorbed and amalgamated before the reawakening of spring.
I can feel myself shifting inward. The coming darkness, pulling me inside in the evenings. The change of diet to heavier root crops that take longer to cook and digest, require me to slow down. I look for my slippers in the morning and await the sun's warmth instead of being greeted by brightness when I open my eyes. The shift is subtle, especially because I still feel the warmth of summer mid-day! September weather has been dreamy! I am grateful we still have the sun on our backs as we finish the harvest.
As the garden rests we continue to delight in the treasures provided. Roots and squash will last a long time! Please see individual recipe pages for storing techniques.

Free T-shirt or Hat for a 2021 CSA sign up!
We are kicking off our 2021 CSA membership drive! If you sign up for next year's CSA at a pick up location before the season ends, you will receive a free organic cotton t-shirt or hat! Your site host will have sign-up sheets, one is attached to your email or you can get one here: ​http://www.cosmicapple.com/uploads/1/7/9/9/17994337/2021_sign_up.pdf
We will definitely make it to share #16 this year! See you next week too!

Lunch this week: Merav's Carrot Soup, Sausage Kale Soup
Recipe Ideas: Carrots, Potatoes Roasted with Onions & Garlic, Scallop Potatoes and Carrots, Colcannon, Oven Roasted Carrots & Kale

Crop List: Fingerling Potatoes, Rainbow Carrots, Onions, Garlic, Tomatoes Sugar Dumpling Squash, Murdoc Cabbage or Red Cabbage

Last week's frost did more damage then we thought. The broccoli and the cauliflower are not very happy, but we are hoping they can dig deep and bounce back. The Cosmic Mix is taking a break and we are hoping for some more. I know I want at least one more salad! Until then, we will begin digging lots of potatoes and carrots!
Carrots of the rainbow! We hope you enjoy the different varieties we grow. It is fun to step outside the world of orange carrots. Most carrots grown when the carrot was first cultivated were purple, yellow and white. Around the 17th century the Dutch were known to be carrot farmers and the reason we now have orange carrots? Political. The Dutch Revolt against the Spanish was led by William the Orange. To celebrate the conqueror who brought them freedom from Spanish rule the Dutch began to grow orange carrots instead of yellow, purple and white carrots. Quite a tribute! I want to assure you we grow our multi colored carrots with no political figures in mind...past or present!
Mixing up the color of foods can make meals more interesting. Cook up an all purple carrot soup or a rainbow carrot salad. Do a taste test and see which color tastes the best to you. Kids love to be blindfolded for a really "serious" comparison and it is really fun to hear their reactions! Slip a store bought carrot into the mix also!
​
Lunch this week: Pad Bai
Recipe Ideas: Roasted Carrot & Sweet Dumpling Squash Bisque (How to bake any squash is on the Winter Squash page), Fermented Ginger Carrots; Carrots, Potatoes Roasted with Onions & Garlic

Crop List: Carrots, New Red Norland Potatoes, Tomatoes, Maybe: Cosmic Mix, Swiss Chard, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Sunflowers and/or Beans

My mind can change so quickly sometimes I surprise even myself. One week ago I typed this newsletter feeling sad that the garden may freeze. Even though I made peace with it, we escaped it for one more week! Tonight (9/7) it sounds inevitable. The predicted temperature is 27 degrees with some snow. I am fine with it, I don't need to take deep breaths to accept it. I am ready to get the garden emptied out and begin the process of turning inward, embracing the darkness, settling in for the winter. The garden also needs rest and to rejuvenate. I don't know if the first cold snap prepared me for frost by touching some cellular knowing that it is time to shift.  Maybe it was the last variety of sunflowers blooming that convinced me my garden dreams had been achieved for the year. It could have been my head winning out with the knowledge we are further into September then many years without freezing. Whatever it was that convinced me a frost was okay, I'm grateful.
We realize the crop list is all over the place. The plants freezing in the beginning of the week will cause the end of the week share to look completely different. There are many "maybes" because of the transition.
On Monday we picked all the summer squash, cucumbers and beans for the last time. If you receive any of these in your share, savor them and give thanks to the garden. We had a great year most of these items.
We also pulled in all the winter squash to protect it from any frost damage. We will store these treats and start sharing them soon.
Our energies will now turn to emptying out the garden! The race is on to get all the carrots, onions, leeks and potatoes harvested and ready for you. We will still have lots of other veggies coming your way until the shares end. 
"When will the shares end?" starts to be a big question right now. We don't know. It is all weather dependent. If the weather stays sunny and glorious we are able to harvest faster. If we start getting a lot of moisture things get muddy, heavy and cold it just slows us down. I am fairly confident we will make it to at least Share #16, maybe more! We will keep you posted with information as soon as we have it.
May your transition to fall weather feel smooth and welcoming. May the crisp air invigorate you. May the fall produce provide you with the stamina to turn inward.

Lunch this week: Shish Kabobs with Lemon soy marinade over rice and greens. Peruvian Quinoa Stew (tomato page)
Recipe Ideas: Grilled Steak with Chard, Tomato and Balsamic Vinegar Reduction, Roasted Tomato Crostini​

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Kale, Carrots, Cucumber, Tomatoes, Summer Squash, Basil, Maybe Sunflowers and/or Beans

It is Monday afternoon and it is raining. A steady downpour. The farm needs it. Our forests need it. I am grateful. 
For us, the question is what comes after the rain? The moisture is expected to move out tonight, taking the clouds with it. This means an opportunity for cold temps to settle in. Jed and I had a gently heated debate of "who read what temps where" this weekend. I was confident we would be fine, the forecast I read called for a low of 39. His sources said 33. We finally compared what weather apps we were looking at. It turns out we both have NOAA, but are getting different predictions for Victor! Neither of us can figure out why. Today on Monday, after checking several sites the temps predicted have narrowed in on 33-35 in Victor. If it hits 32 things will change quickly in the garden. Some plants may be damaged at 33-35, because there always seem to be little pockets that get colder. 
We will not recover the many of the sensitive plants with frost protection at this point in the season. It would take us half a day to get it done, and it does not guarantee anything. We will take a deep breath (several!) and release tensions surrounding things we can not control. Don't get me wrong, I'd love to see the garden stay frost free until mid September! Every time I think of the garden today I am envisioning a warm still blanket of air settling over the farm.
The above was written Monday afternoon....the Tuesday morning update is: We hit a low of 33. Frost was pretty widespread. We will see what bounces back. In the meantime. Savor the cucumbers, sunflowers, beans and squash we harvested on Monday. It may be the end of them. A cold snap means carrots will begin to get really sweet and are ready to start harvesting!!!

Important farm info, please read!:
--Our pick ups run from 5-7 pm. If you arrive before 5, please be prepared for your site host to not be ready for you. Be prepared to wait until 5. The shares are getting big and it takes more time to set up. Also, our pick ups end at 7:00. Our site hosts are all volunteers. Please respect their time. Arrive before 7:01.
--I will take egg cartons. ONLY one dozen size (no cartons for 6 or 18 eggs), ONLY paperboard (no plastic or Styrofoam).
--If you are splitting a full share, please remember you may not use our scales to split the share in half. It congests the line. You received a price break to split a full share and part of the deal was sending only one person to the pick ups and splitting the share away from our tables.
Thanks to all our awesome members for helping to keep the pick ups running smooth!!

Lunch this week: The curry I said I'd make last week (oops) and Burritos
Recipe Ideas: Sweet Carrot Raita, Holly Pratt's salad (carrot page), Carrots au Gratin

The coolers at your site are stocked with Lifeline cheese and a selection of the beef and pork listed below. If you know you want something, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved for you. I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit!
Beef Available: Tenderloin, Ribeye, New York, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Tri-Tip, Flat Iron Roast, Brisket, Flank Steak, Skirt, Hanging Tender, Baby Back Ribs, Short Ribs, Liver, Ground Beef, Patties, Stew, Kabobs, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst
​Pork Available: Neck Bones and Fat

WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
​
Bring Bags to pick-ups!

If you can't make it to pick up your veggies, send a friend!
Missed shares are forfeited for the week. 
Members get 20% off at the Farmer's Markets!
The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 (last one on the 23rd)
The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (last one on 10/2)
Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 (last one on the 26th)
Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4  Center for the Arts
Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com

Crop List: Romaine Lettuce, New Red Sails Lettuce, Tomatoes, Sage, Broccoli, Cabbage, ​Cucumbers, Fennel, Maybe Summer Squash, Beans and/or Sunflowers

It is Monday afternoon as I write this. I am peaking at the radar when I get mini-breaks today. There are some thunderstorms building and I am calling them in our direction. We could really use some rain. It has not rained in Victor in over 4 weeks. We got a bit of drizzle but not enough to actually wet anything. I have seen Jackson and Driggs get some rain but it has been missing us every time. The garden is in good shape thanks to our great irrigation system, but it would be nice to see the trees and the surrounding forests rejuvenated a bit! Knowing how dry it is makes wishing for thunderstorms tricky. I pray for rain, but could hold off on lightning. The heat has been great in the garden, but we do think the smoke slows the plants down. It is just more difficult to photosynthesize when there are so many particulates blocking the sun's rays!
Cosmic Mix is taking a break this week. Our head lettuce all ripened at once! We will have more Cosmic Mix in the future.
We have our annual organic/Biodynamic inspection on Wednesday afternoon this week. We will begin with giving the inspector a farm tour as he makes notes and asks us many questions about our operations. We will then shift to going over the paperwork. The inspector will not be coming to our office this year and it will be Jed's first ever Zoom meeting! Even with Coronavirus, our work is not possible to do virtually, except for the inspection! So this will be a new experience. We figured it would happen to us at some point! Good thing our oldest is a teenager so we have in house tech support.
The inspection usually takes several hours as we review all of our inputs (seeds, feed, bedding, soap, soil starting mix, animal medications, animal minerals...) to make sure everything we add is up to organic standards. We will then go over all of our outputs (butcher receipts, harvest records, share records...) to make sure we can trace everything we claim to grow back to the beginning. The Romaine lettuce you get today?...we can show the inspector where the seed came from, the day it was planted, what was in the soil we planted it in, the day it was transplanted, where it was in the garden, the day it was harvested, how much was harvested and how it was distributed (CSA or Market). These are not the romantic details folks think of when they envision living on an organic farm!
We have been at this long enough that keeping track of everything is just part of how the farm works. We also want to do it. We want to be certified organic and Biodynamic. We truly trust how the Organic program works for small growers. Yes, we believe big-ag can get away with some stuff, but on the small scale, we really trust the Organic label when applied to small farms that have been inspected. We trust less when small growers tell us they "grow organically but choose to not get certified." We have heard this over and over again, and when we start talking to them in depth about their growing practices....they are not up to Organic standards. It is exhausting, defeating and confusing for the consumers. So thank you for supporting farms who take the time to get certified. We work hard to make it happen because we believe in it, and it holds us accountable for our actions.
I better go get my paperwork organized!

Lunch this week: Summer Saute' over pasta and Farm Curry (both on the Summer Squash page)
Recipe Ideas: Broccoli with Asian Style Dressing, Shaved Fennel Salad, Fennel and Potato Gratin

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Tomatoes, Basil, Iceberg Lettuce, Garlic, Arugula, Maybe Cucumbers, Summer Squash and/or Sunflowers

​Cosmic Apple By the Numbers 
What are some of the measurable things we know about Cosmic Apple? Here are some figures to make the farm a more tangible place! Facts, measurables and numbers!
 The farm is at an elevation of 6300' and is comprised of 50 acres total. 5 acres are fallow. We planted them for many years and now they are resting before becoming pasture again. The garden is 12 acres. 14 acres are also in pasture for the 6 cows. 1/2 acre for the breeding pigs, 2 1/2 acres in buildings, sheds and greenhouses, and 16 acres in non-production for the natural influence and as a buffer to protect from chemical drift from the neighbors. This buffer is required by Organic Ag regulations.
The 13 acre veggie garden is divided into 5 sections. Each section has beds which are 500 feet long. A football field is 360 feet long! It is no small task to weed one bed. We have about 90 beds this year. Each bed has 1-4 rows of plants in it. 8 rows of potatoes. 10 rows of garlic, which were harvested. 12 rows of sunflowers.  9 beds of summer and winter squash. 8 rows of onions. 18 rows of carrots. And many more rows of other things!
We irrigate the garden and pastures with a hand line of irrigation pipe. We move it two times a day. It takes about 45 minutes for each move. There are 30 lengths of pipe and they put down about 2” of water every 12 hours.
We have 2 breeding pigs...who are not breeding right now. Come on you two!
We have 75 new hens who will begin laying in early October. There are about 70 hens in the old flock, who are still giving us a small number of eggs...about a day.
For cows we have a total of 6. 1 Brown Swiss (Bertha), 2 Jerseys (Annie and Butternut), 1 Angus/Jersey (Ms. Moo Moo Face) 1 Angus (Solstice) and 1 Highlander (Red Rosie). Butternut is a bull and we are hoping all 5 female cows are pregnant. Annie will be the first to calve in mid-October.
2 cats, Dumbledore and Zedd, keep the non counted mice and chislers in check.
The farm is run by Jed and Dale. We have 3 children (Dagan, Axel and Roxanne) and 1 dog (Cosmo).The farm employs 13 people: 4 full time Field Crew, 3 part time Field Crew, 1 wash station manager, 1 truck driver, 1 market manager, 1 tomato greenhouse manager,  2 very part time folks who do chores (so Jed can have a few shifts off!). And 6 site hosts who are volunteers!
We do 2 CSA deliveries a week, supplying about 230 shares each week. If each full share feeds 4 people, then we are feeding 920 individuals each week. Based on current populations of Teton Counties (ID and WY) we feed about 2.73% of the people of the Tetons, just through the CSA! We also do 3 markets a week.
When we harvest something like bok choy or head lettuce, we need 248 heads to get enough for one CSA delivery. We need about 500 total to do all the deliveries in one week. 
We have 5 tractors; the newest one is from 1965! (Jed, why do we have so many tractors?) Our favorite tractor implement is the water-wheel trans-planter. It allows us to plant up to 1000 plants in 9 minutes with 5 people.
Our goal is to put out 16 weeks of shares every year. Most years average around 17-18. One year the fall was really tough and we only managed 15 weeks.
Last year we harvested 35,448.83 pounds of produce from the garden and greenhouses.
Some items we count instead of weigh. In 2019 we also harvested:
9425 heads of lettuce, cabbage and bok choy.
11,823 bulbs of garlic and 10,108 garlic curls
 1668 winter squash.
5029 ​sunflowers.
We know of 4 weddings that are a result of meeting at Cosmic Apple!
Cosmic Apple is started in 1996. This is our 24th season of growing for our community!
Whew. That was fun!

Lunch this week: Curried Zucchini Soup
Recipe Ideas: Summer Squash Boats, Greek Stewed Zucchini, Roasted Tomato Basil Pesto