Share #15 September 9th & 12th

Crop List: Cosmic Mix, Summer Squash, Sugar Snaps, Shallots, Fingerling Potatoes, Beets, Basil, Tomatoes, Fennel  Maybe Slicing Cucumber and/or Pickling Cucumbers

Cosmic Apple By the Numbers, Facts and Measurables!
Are you a numbers person? Here's some of the measurable things we know about Cosmic Apple. These figures will help to make the farm a more tangible place.

 The farm is 50 acres total. The garden is 8 acres. 19 acres are in pasture for the cows. 1/2 acre for the breeding pigs, 2 acres in buildings, sheds and greenhouses, and 12 acres in wildland, non-production for the natural influence. 3 1/2 acres in required buffer to protect from chemical drift from the neighbors.
The 8 acre veggie garden is divided into 2 sections. Each section has beds which are 475 feet long. A football field is 360 feet long! It is no small task to weed one bed! We have about 126 beds this year. Each bed has 1-4 rows of plants in it. Some of the the items in the garden: 18 rows of potatoes. 12 rows of sunflowers.  7 beds of summer, winter squash and cucumbers. 4 rows of onions. 18 rows of carrots.
18 rows were garlic that has been harvested. We will save 3000 garlic bulbs for our seed for next year's crop. The bulbs will be broken up to yield about 14,250 garlic cloves. Each will clove will grow into a bulb for next year.
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, and 10 "teenagers". The teenagers are about 5 months old. They will be butchered at about 8 months. We have 75 new chickens that will start laying in November! We will be getting about 75 eggs a day when the hit their stride. There are about 70 hens in the old flock...who have pretty much given up laying eggs.
For cows we have a total of 19! The most we've ever had. 
1 cat, Dumbledore, to keep the non counted mice and ground squirrels 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. (There is some crossover and a few folks have more then one position.) 1 wash station manager, 1 field crew manager, 6 field crew employees, 1 truck driver, 5 market employees, 1 tomato caretaker, 1 evening chore person who does chores M-F, 1 part time chore person for Saturday and Sunday mornings.  6 volunteer site hosts. And about 5-9 volunteers per week.
We now have 5 greenhouses. 2 are used for starting seeds and baby plants to get the garden going. 3 are for tomatoes, basil and calendula.
We do 2 CSA deliveries a week, supplying about 175 shares each week. If each full share feeds 4 people, then we are feeding 700 individuals each week. Based the 2020 populations of Teton Counties (ID and WY) we feed about 2% 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 175 heads to get enough for one CSA delivery. We need about 350 total to do all the deliveries in one week.
Already in 2025 we have harvested:
1820.57 lbs. of Cosmic Mix
2136.56 lbs. of Peas (Sugar Snaps and Shell Peas)
5108.68 lbs. of Summer Squash
2852 Heads of Bok Choy
We are just starting to get into the heavy things!
We have 5 tractors; the newest one is from 1970! (Jed why do we have so many tractors?) Our favorite tractor implement is the water-wheel transplanter. It allows us to plant up to 1000 plants in 9 minutes with 5 people.
We have one amazing delivery truck, named Babe. We have been driving it for 19 years and it still runs great, feels safe and makes us smile. There are 2 pickups at the farm for hauling and projects.
We know of 4 weddings that are a result of meetings at Cosmic Apple!
Cosmic Apple started in 1996. This is our 29th season of growing the best food for the People of the Tetons!!
Whew. That was fun!

Lunch on the Farm this week: Burritos with beets, summer squash carrots and Idaho Salsa; Pad Bai
Recipe Ideas: Summer Squash Fennel Soup; Fennel and Potato Gratin; Fall Fennel and Potato Roast; Oven Roasted Beets & Potatoes;  ​Honey Roasted Potatoes 

Recipes

We have lots of extra goodies available at your pick up. If you want something specific, please email me and I will make sure it is in the cooler, reserved just for you. Dinner just got easier!
The coolers at your site are stocked with a selection of Lifeline Cheese and Cosmic Apple Pork and Beef (listed below). I don't send every cut every week, they simply won't all fit!
​Pork Available: Grandpa's Sausage, Breakfast Sausage, Pork Chops, Shoulder Roast, Spare Ribs, Boneless Loin Roast, Hock, Leaf Fat, and Back Fat
Beef Available: Stew Meat, Sirloin Tip Roast, Round Roast, Flat Iron Roast and Beef Fat
Hunters and Huntresses: We have pork fat for your wild game sausage making. Let me know if you want to order any and I can send it to your pick up location.
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WASH YOUR VEGGIES!!
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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. 
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Members get 10% off at the Farmer's Markets!
​Farm To Fork Market: Saturday, October 4th, 2-5, Center for the Arts
The Driggs Market: Fridays 9-1 (ends 10/3)
The People's Market: Wednesdays 4-7 (ends 9/24)
Jackson Hole Farmer's Market: Saturdays 8-12 (ends 9/26)


Questions? Comments? Recipes to share? [email protected]