Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Kale, Sugar Snap Peas, Basil, Head Lettuce, maybe Tomatoes, Bok Choy and/or Turnips I like week 5 of the shares, we are now in a routine and the garden is starting to yield things that crunch when you bite them. We are on our full schedule now, 2 days of CSA pick ups and 3 markets. Things begin to shift to autopilot at this point in the season. We are in the flow of summer! We are all finding our niches and getting the job done. The plants seem to grow inches overnight and there is a constant curiosity about what will be ready next. The tomato harvests are getting a bit bigger each week! We are also rotating the turnips and radishes through the sites. We applied the first round of Biodynamic Preparation 501 to the garden this morning. 501 is the horn silica prep. We stir it in water to activate it and then put it in backpack sprayers to apply it to the field in a fine mist, it is applied early in the day and the morning light shining thru the crystal mist is a special thing to experience. Some Biodynamic farmer's refer to it as "making rainbows". As you are walking and spraying the colors of the plants and soil really seem enhanced through the mist. It is a peaceful time in the morning as the farm is waking up and it is a nice way to move your body early in the day. The sprayers are a bit heavy as you start, but keep getting lighter as you spray. The 501 enhances light metabolism, stimulates photosynthesis, promotes nitrogen fixing and the formation of chlorophyll. 501 also optimizes fruiting. It is one of the required treatments for our farm to be certified Biodynamic. This prep also influences color, aroma, and the flavor of crops...we think for the better! Farm lunch this week: Sauteed Bok Choy, Kale, Turnips and Sugar Snap peas with coconut milk, soy sauce and ginger over rice noodles Recipe Ideas: Sugar Snap Peas with Basil and Lemon, Kale Dip with Snap Peas, Snap Pea and Turnip Salad, Lemon Butter Basil Turnips, 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 Steak, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, 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 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com
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Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Garlic Curls, Mirlo Head Lettuce, Bok Choy, Dill, Turnips, Maybe Swiss Chard, Collards, Tomatoes and/or Radish Summ-ah-time!!! Oh it feels so good to look at a weather forecast that is only calling for warm dry weather. These are the days I dream of when I am perusing seed catalogs mid-winter. The warm dry weather has us anticipating vegetation mildly browning and drying by the end of the week. The Big Hole Mountains are still holding a little bit of snow visible from Victor. It will most likely be gone by the end of the week. I love watching the lingering snow disappear while thinking about our water. Cosmic Apple's irrigation water comes from Teton Pass. Some of the snow you may have skied on melts into Game Creek, which is where our "irrigation district" gets its water. Fresh pure snow melt. We think it is one of the reasons our veggies taste so good! Clean water is something we cherish. Think about how much water veggies retain. The crunch in that Bok Choy?...that is all snow melt! Many things are getting close to ripe in the garden. Sugar Snap peas just need some time to plump up. The tomatoes are trickling in. We may not have enough red delicacies in the first couple of harvests to spread them CSA wide. Please rest assured we keep accurate records to make sure everyone gets the same amount as the season progresses. We will soon be removing row cover from the zucchinis, yellow squash and cucumbers so the flowers can be pollinated and the plants can start yielding! The weeding continues. We will have some extra hands to help this week and hope to get a big chunk done. We also bought a really cool tractor implement this year to help weed. Two people ride on it and move the arms as these things that remind me of jellyfish spin and remove weeds. I have named it the Green Machine, although it's real name is the Eco-Weeder. Here is a link if you want to see it in action: http://www.hillsidecultivator.com/?page_id=39 (the video shows the single model, but we have a two seater!) Something that amazes me is this video was filmed at a place called Shenk's Berry farm. It is 10 minutes from where I grew up. I used to pick berries there as a kid. My mom still gets berries from them to make jam! We have purchased another implement from them in the past. It amazes me how little interest I had in farming as a kid (top secret info...I started going to college with an interest in fashion design. HA!). Now when I go home I am enamored by the small farms, the ingenuity to come out of the history of farming there, and the old barns. Gosh, I love old barns. I wonder what treasures are hidden in them. How many old barns are harboring half built weeding machines? I am so glad the Green Machine was fully developed, it is fun to have a tie to the homeland. And it is even more fun to have a weeded garden! Farm lunch this week: Roasted Garlic Curl hummus on sandwiches with radish, bok choy, Lifeline cheese and lettuce. Recipe Idea: Chard Patties, Super Simple Chard (this is a great hamburger topping!), Easy glazed Turnips, Beer Baked Turnips 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, New York Steak, Ribeye Steak, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, 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 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1 (Starts 7/11) Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Kale, Garlic Curls, Oregano, Bok Choy and Spinach It seems everyone I run into in town has been asking me how the weather has been affecting the farm with a stern look of concern. The weather has been great, alternating between warm temperatures and soothing rain. The garden is growing wonderfully. The plants seem to get bigger each day. The grass is still soft and green on my bare feet. The cows are happy on pasture. Our last variety of lilacs are still blooming. Every once in a while I get a whiff of sage in the air. Jed gets a break from moving irrigation pipe when we get enough precipitation. All of these delights help us appreciate the rain. As much as we love the rain for the garden, it can be a bit trying on our morale. Hands get really cold harvesting in the rain, and dexterity is important when using knives or shears. It takes a lot of energy just walking in heavy, wet, muddy rain gear. The lush garden soil clings to boots making them feel like 1980's ski boots. (Those were really heavy for those of you who didn't get the chance to rock '80's ski gear beyond Gaper Day) When the soil is really wet we can't weed, but the weeds keep growing! It is nice to have a break from that task, but falling behind is no fun either. The thing about the rough weather, is we just love the pleasant weather that much more when the sun shines upon us. I know last week I spent some time raving about our employees, but I need to do it again. Even with the cold wet weather they were all smiling at lunch on Monday. I love these people. Please send them some gratitude. They work really hard in all kinds of weather to get you your share. So now that you know the garden is growing amazingly and filled with amazing people, you may be wondering what veggies are out there! I can tell you what we planted, but I offer no guarantee as to what comes to fruition. Mother Nature is really the one in charge around here. Some years weather, pests or weeds makes a crop unharvestable. But since I am a lover of hopes and dreams I will share the list of ours for the 2020 year! In the garden this year.... Potatoes, Garlic, Beans, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, Pickling Cucumbers, Cucumbers, Sugar Dumpling Squash, Delicata Squash, Orange Summer Squash, Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Spinach, Arugula, Turnips, Radish, Carrots, Parsnips, Broccoli, Kale, Sunflowers, Sugar Snap Peas, Snow Peas, Fava Beans, Shell Peas, Onions, Shallots, Beets, Kohlrabi, Cauliflower, Cabbage, Napa Cabbage, Bok Choy, Dill, Cilantro, Broccoli Raab, Swiss Chard and Perennial Herbs. The greenhouses are sheltering our Tomatoes and Basil! Wow! That all sounds so good. Reminder....check out our recipe pages if you are not sure how to use something. Hint, hint...garlic curls are awesome!!! Farm lunch this week: Tempeh Stir Fry with Kale, Bok Choy and Garlic Curls. Pesto with Quinoa, Bok Choy and Kale Recipe Idea: Gingered Kale and Bok Choy, Emily's Overnight Kale Salad, Kale and Oregano Pesto, Roasted Garlic Curl Hummus 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, New York Steak, Ribeye Steak, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Liver, Ground Beef, Patties, Stew, Kabobs, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Chorizo 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 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1(Starts 7/11) Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Collards, Australe Head Lettuce, Bok Choy, Maybe Radish and/or Basil We hope the first share was well received and you are ready to be back for more! We made a big change on the farm this year and we are excited to share! Drum roll please.... After 22 years of working with crews of volunteers we have switched to an all employee crew. This has been a big leap and we are grateful we went for it. Over the years we have met so many incredible people because they did a "workshare" at the farm. Workshares spent 5 hours per week farming in exchange for a full share, lunch and hands on farming experience. It was a serious commitment and lasted for 6 months. Many workshares have become lifelong friends and we feel blessed. A quick look though the list of 2020 shareholders and I can find 27 people who volunteered on the farm! I am confident there are more who have changed last names or are splitting a share in someone else's name. This constant "crop" of new folks kept Jed and I learning many names each year and coming to love many of the personalities behind the names. We are sad to see this super social part of the farm slip away. We can not emphasize enough how many wonderful people we met through the volunteer program. So why are we moving on? We decided to make this move last fall when Teton County, ID was in the midst of a boom cycle. It gets challenging to get folks to volunteer when staffing at paid jobs is short handed. Employers need our volunteers to come to work at their paying jobs. The great volunteers tend to be the great employees, so they would get pulled away from the farm. We would have days in the fall when an entire volunteer crew would not show up. It was hard to get the harvest in. It was hard to get the farm closed up for the season. Jed and our manager were exhausted from training whoever showed up on a given day how to do a job already explained 90 times before. We were tired of figuring out the logistics with not enough hands to execute a plan. Hiring full time employees started to look awesome. Full time employees who would know where things were in the fields, know what tools to grab to get a job done, show up when they promised us they would and so many other great things we have yet to experience. We were hoping trained employees in the field would really raise the efficiency of our day to day tasks. Of course the only thing holding us back was the payroll. Ugh. Oh darn you reality. We crunched numbers. We talked. We did more math. Finally we just went for it. Covid hit and we received a lot of applications. Now we have a "Field Crew"! They. Are. Awesome. We have 5 full time employees who are planting, weeding, moving row cover, harvesting, taking care of animals, doing market prep and all the other jobs that come up. As much as we miss the extreme socialization with the volunteers, I like seeing the same folks each day. It feels more like family. We will be able to cultivate deeper relationships instead of just more relationships. Who knew when we made this leap, 2020 would be the year of tightening up our social circles?! As of right now, most of the garden is weeded. This is huge for us. It already speaks volumes to the improved efficiency of a trained crew. We are so grateful to each of these folks who has walked into our lives and wants to share the farm with us. Farm lunch this week: Cheese melts with lovage pesto and spinach. Bratwurst and Creamed Collards Recipe Idea: Sweet and Sour Collards, From the Just Picked Cooking show (link at top of page) the Share #1 Bok Choy recipe, grilled! So good! 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, New York Steak, Ribeye Steak, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Flank Roast, Liver, Ground Beef, Patties, Stew, Stir Fry, Kabobs, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Chorizo 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 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1(Starts 7/11) Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Spicy Mix, Spinach, Pea Shoots, Sorrel, Lovage and Baby Garlic Hello there!!! Welcome to Cosmic Apple's 2020 Community Supported Agriculture program. We are excited to start getting veggies out to the People of the Tetons!! We truly hope you are looking forward to tasting fresh grown produce again. If this is your first year being a member, we are so grateful you have chosen to join us. Welcome back to our many returning members! We cherish your support over the years. The farm is buzzing with energy as we get the first harvest in. I love the energy of the early leafy greens. They are so light and fresh. They grow quickly. We planted the Spicy Mix, Cosmic Mix and spinach on April 30th. These quick crops are the first things to get us going in the spring. After a winter of heavy food, I feel light and quick again when I eat these treats. Sometimes I can taste the sunshine in the leaves and feel my cells realigning to the abundance of summer and all the garden provides. We want to thank you all for adhering to our covid 19 protocols. I sent out an email with pick up information earlier in the week. Please read and follow. You MUST wear a mask. We ask you to bear with us this first week. I planned to get more tongs locally, but was unable to obtain them. We have 40 pairs on the way and will have them at the next pick up. So many things in the world feel different right now. Some feel uncomfortable, some feel like we are shifting towards positive change. I don't want to ignore these big looming issues. I don't have all the words to even address them right now. But I will. I promise. Right now, we are so wrapped up in the logistics of getting 278 people to the correct spot and having the appropriate amount of veggies to meet them with! Here is a new change that feels embraceable! Lovage. It is a perennial and one of the first things up in the spring. I have been using it in brothy soups with white beans and nettles over rice. Also in salad dressings. It adds a very strong celery and parsley flavor to things. You can also get a lot of miles from great puns like..."I lovage you!" every time you prepare a meal. See our recipe pages (follow the link at the bottom) if you need inspiration for any of the veggies we give out. I have organized them based on the main veggie ingredient. Please send me your favorites as the season goes on. I love updating the recipe bank! Gratefully, some things have stayed the same! The spring work of planting seeds, selling shares, tilling the fields, tending plant starts, hiring employees, weeding, weeding and weeding were all beautiful grounding traditions as we felt shaken by a new reality. Our guiding principle at the farm has remained the same: "To grow the best food possible for the People of the Tetons." Knowing you are depending on us always helps us get through the questionable times. Thank you for trusting us to be your farmers this year. We are here if you ever need to give us feedback. Please just reach out. We love growing food for you. We love growing organically and biodynamically! We believe our vegetables will allow you to taste the difference and we hope we live up to our guiding principle. I also want you to know my prayer for all the seeds we plant, all the veggies we harvest, every share that heads off the farm and every morsel we sell at the markets. This prayer has stayed the same for many years, and still feels relevant : "May this food give people the energy they need to make the world a better place." So here we are...2020 CSA! Bon appetit! Farm lunch this week: Pea shoots over rice with peanut sauce (Peanut sauce is on the Bok Choy page...but it works on almost anything!) Recipe Idea: Lovage and Baby garlic pesto, Spinach Artichoke Dip, Lovage salad dressing for all the greens! 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, New York Steak, Ribeye Steak, Sirloin Steak, Eye of the Round Steak, Round Roast, Sirloin Tip Roast, Flank Roast, Liver, Ground Beef, Patties, Stew, Stir Fry, Kabobs, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo 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 The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-1(Starts 7/11) Farm to Fork Festival: October 3rd 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Delicata Squash, Orange Summer Squash, Orange Carrots, Rainbow Carrots, Potatoes, Chiogia Beets, Onions, Daikon Radish, Green Tomatoes, Garlic, Maybe Red Tomatoes, Sunflowers and/or Sugar Dumpling Squash This is the last share! We sure hope you enjoyed eating the veggies as much as we enjoyed growing them. We thank you for all the energy you gave to the farm. Your commitment to meet us weekly to get your veggies was appreciated. Knowing there are folks in the community trusting us to grow for them, is inspiring. We hope the food nourished you and helped you accomplish great things. The garden temperature hit 26 on Monday morning. Last year we made it to September 25th and this year to the 30th! These are late freezes, and we are grateful for all the extra growing time. The timing feels perfect as we wrap up the CSA and markets this week. During October we will be cleaning out the garden and getting next year's garlic crop planted. So how was 2019 from the farmer's eyes? Like every year, somethings were great! ...and somethings were less great. The hard and late frost on June 9th really messed some things up. The potatoes froze. We are lucky to get any spuds this year. We feel like we are letting the state of Idaho down! The cabbage and broccoli froze at that time also. We sadly did not get as many tomatoes as we planned for. We are looking forward to trying again next year! What was stellar in 2019? Cucumbers and Winter squash were the stars this year. It may have been the best cucumber year ever. I know I raved about them earlier this season, but they really deserve some celebration! The carrot crop has been great. See if you can taste the difference now that it froze. After a frost, the carrots really sweeten up! This is why we can grow some of the best carrots anywhere right here in the Tetons. They like a bit of cold right before harvest. The Garlic, Peas, Turnips and Cosmic Mix also made an impressive showing in 2019. So there it is! Was? The 2019 growing season. Once again, we are grateful for you dear shareholder. Thank you for all your support this season, or over many years depending on who you are. We wish you a peaceful winter. With love, Dale, Jed, our family and the Cosmic Crew. We have kicked off our 2020 CSA membership drive! This is the last week to get a free organic hat or shirt when signing up for 2020. Bring a check or cash to your pick up this week. You will guarantee getting the pick up day and time that you want and get in for our early season prices! Your site host will have sign-up sheets or you can get one here: https://www.cosmicapple.com/uploads/1/7/9/9/17994337/2020_sign_up.pdf You can pay online with a credit card if you prefer, but we will not be able to get you a shirt or hat. You will also save the 3% card fee if you pay with a check or cash at the site! Special Announcement! Our friend Captain Todd Broadhead will be at the farm on Thursday, October 3rd, 5-7 pm selling his amazing salmon. This is a surprise this early in the season and we are thrilled to have him join us at the last pick up. He spends his summers fishing off the coast of AK and WA, and he lives in the Tetons in the winter. If you purchase any salmon this year, this is it. It tastes the best and you are supporting an independent environmentally ethical fisherman. Workshare lunch this week: Pad Thai Recipe Idea: Fermented Green Tomato Ketchup, sent in as a recommendation by a member! 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, New York Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Grandpa's Sausage (Back in stock!!!), Shoulder Roast, Loin Roast, 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 Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (Last Market 10/4) Farm to Fork Festival: October 5th 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Carrots, Blackberry Potatoes, Sugar Dumpling Squash, Beets, Basil, Baby Leeks, Shallots, Swiss Chard, Cilantro and Sunflowers Today is the first day of fall. The time of year to embrace change. The leaves are changing colors, snow is back on the peaks and the Cosmic Mix has stopped growing. The cooler temps are affecting the garden. The Cosmic Mix needs some warmer weather to kick it back into action again. We may see some more before the season ends, but no guarantee. We have yet to have a hard freeze this year but the garden has slowed way down. The winter squash was harvested last week so we could inventory everything that came out of the garden and determine how much would be in a share. The squash looks amazing this year. You can store it on your countertop out of direct sunlight until you are ready to eat it. We decided to skip pumpkins this year and grow more squash we think people will eat. My son has decided not growing pumpkins means it is the "worst farm year ever". I am determined to win him back with lots of decadent winter squash feasts! I think we get a better yield out of the sugar dumplings, delicata and orange summer squash then we do the pumpkins. You will get some this week and more next also! I hope enjoy these garden beauties! They are a treasure in the Tetons. We are kicking off our 2020 CSA membership drive! 2020. Crazy. When I was young, I really thought we would be driving around in personal hovercrafts that ran on sunshine by 2020. Hovercrafts aside, we are ready for you to secure your 2020 veggie share!! If you sign up 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 or you can get one here: https://www.cosmicapple.com/uploads/1/7/9/9/17994337/2020_sign_up.pdf You can pay online with a credit card if you prefer, but we will not be able to get you a shirt or hat. You will also save the 3% card fee if you pay with a check or cash at the site! We will definitely make it to share #16 this year! See you next week too! Workshare lunch this week: Peruvian Quinoa Stew (on the tomato page) 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 or tell your site host 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, New York Steak, Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Grandpa's Sausage (Back in stock!!!), Shoulder Roast, Loin Roast, Spare Ribs, Chorizo 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 Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (Last Market 10/4) Farm to Fork Festival: October 5th 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Carrots, Dill, Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Sunflowers, maybe Yellow Beans and/or Snow Peas We got a new toy at the farm. A barrel washer! We use it to wash root vegetables in. Carrots and potatoes mostly. It's cool and fast! We put the veggies in at one end, it slowly spins them while spraying with water. It is on a slight incline so the roots work their way down to the other end. I keep telling my children they are going in next! We put it together in the spring and it has been sitting in the wash station waiting for this time of year. We are happy with the performance so far. In the past we would dump a crate of carrots onto our tables (wooden frames with hardware cloth for a top). We would then spray the veggies and move them around with our hands to get all sides. Then we had to pick each carrot up and put it back in a clean crate. With the root washer, we dump a crate of carrots fresh out of the field into one end, and meet it at the other end with a clean crate. So. Much. Easier. We love these machines that make the farm labor easier. Washing roots can be hard work. Especially when the weather turns and gets colder. Playing with water when it is 50 degrees out gets old, quick. It seems as though rain gear will still be needed when it gets cold, but the washing will happen so much more quickly with the barrel washer and our bodies will stay warmer because we will be moving more. Lifting crates full of roots is better than Crossfit! I was going to put a video on here, but it is beyond me technologically. I added one to our Instagram (cosmic_apple_gardesns) and Facebook page if you want to see it work! Fall is still coming on gradually this year. No frost yet! Lots of veggies to harvest in the upcoming weeks. When I wrote this newsletter on Monday there was not a frost in the forecast. They are now calling for 29 degrees on Tuesday night and again on Saturday. Fall is the time of saying goodbye and feeling grateful for what we have managed to produce! We still don't know how long it will take us to empty the garden. When will the shares end? We will let you know as soon as we know! Workshare Lunch: Merav's Carrot Soup 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 or tell your site host 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, New York Steak, Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Grandpa's Sausage (Back in stock!!!), Shoulder Roast, Loin Roast, Spare Ribs, Chorizo 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 Market 9/18) The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (Last Market 9/21) Jackson Saturday Market: Saturdays 8-12 (Last Market 10/4) Farm to Fork Festival: October 5th 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Butterhead Lettuce, Yellow Beans, Summer Squash, Cucumbers, Rainbow Carrots, Turnips, Tomatoes and Sunflowers Important note: Downtown Jackson Pick up change!!!! Broadway is closed this week. Your share (if you pick up downtown Jackson) will be at Wyoming Title and Escrow. The address is: 211 E Broadway. The building driveway and access is actually off E Deloney. Well hello fall weather! That happened quick. Although, we still have not frosted and there is not one in the forecast yet! The temperatures look like they will remain cooler and more seasonal for September. I must admit after being so used to the 80's for temps, I was a bit sad to see 50-60's in the forecast for the high. But it feels good! It is still pleasant to be outside, the clouds are gorgeous and the leaves are getting fun to watch. It does look like it will be rainy this week. Your veggies may be a bit muddier. We do our best to get them clean, but rain really slows us down. On the upside! We need the rain. The soil in non-irrigated parts of the farm was parched, dusty and the plants turned to dust when stepped on. Everything feels fresh and rejuvenated going into the final fall push. About this time you may be getting curious as to how long the CSA will go. We don't know! It just depends on how fast we can empty the garden out. At this point it seems safe to say we will make it to at least week #16. We will keep you posted if we are going longer or not. Workshare lunch: Pad Bai with summer squash and beans Recipe Ideas: Classic Carrot Salad or 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 or tell your site host 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, New York Steak, Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Shoulder Roast, Loin Roast, Spare Ribs, Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo 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 Market 9/18) The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (Last Market 9/21) Jackson Saturday Market: Saturdays 8-12 (Last Market 10/4) Farm to Fork Festival: October 5th 11-4 Center for the Arts Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Sugar Snap Peas, Turnips, Cucumbers, Tomatoes, Sunflowers, Summer Squash, maybe Thai Basil, Filet Beans, Turnips, Shell Peas and/or Basil We sure hope you have been enjoying the bumper crop of cucumbers and summer squash this year. We have been! What a treat. These plants are fickle in Teton Valley. The smallest frost can set them back early season and wipe them out at any point. We thought they were going to do great with last year's hot summer but the smoke seemed to really affect them in a negative way. It is almost like they know they were missed last year! The cucumbers, summer and winter squash are all in the cucurbit family. They are one of the last things to be planted in the garden. We wait until after June 1st. They are planted in beds in the garden that have been covered in IRT mulch. A plastic ground cover that keeps the ground a bit warmer and inhibits weed growth. They are then covered in row cover with hoops. So each 500' bed is like a mini greenhouse. We leave them covered until they start flowering about the beginning of July. We we pull the row cover off and some of the plants are so big, they have been pressing on the cover. This year we have 7 rows in this garden section. 1 Row of Slicing Cucumbers 1 Row of Pickling Cucumbers 2 Rows of Summer Squash 3 rows of Winter Squash If you pick up at the farm, you can see this section of garden behind the pick-up shed, on the East side of the garden. It's a jungle out there! Please savor these veggies. They will be one of the first things to slow down or stop completely when the weather changes. If you feel like you have had your fill of summer squash, you can grate it and freeze it. In the winter just thaw it in a colander and you can make zucchini cakes or bread! It is one of the easiest veggies to process for long term storage. Grate and freeze. That's it! Workshare lunch: Burritos with "Idaho Salsa" (tomatoes, garlic, cilantro and cucumber) with Squash and Turnips Recipe Ideas: Tomato Basil Zucchini Boats Recipe or Tomato, Garlic and Summer Squash 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 or tell your site host 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, New York Steak, Sirloin Steak, Round Roast, Liver, Ribs, Ground Beef, Patties, Hot Dogs and Bratwurst Pork Available: Shoulder Roast, Loin Roast, Spare Ribs, Breakfast Sausage, Chorizo 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 Market 9/18) The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (Last Market 9/21) Jackson Saturday Market: Saturdays 8-12 (Last Market 10/4) Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? dale@cosmicapple.com |
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