Farm News Crop Forecast
U-Pick Recipes Nuts and Bolts
Remember to sign up for the November Storage Share and for 2025
Greetings!
What a unique year!!!
A warm dry winter, followed by a very wet May-June, a July that was moderate and dry but cloudy, and a very cool August (though finally sunny!) — topped off with a warm sunny September and October. We’ve seen all these across different years, but this was definitely an unusual combination for one year, in our experience.
For rain tallies — in May-June we had over 20″, in July about 3.5″ (most of it in one big hard downpour), August 1.5″ and September 1.25″ (hard rain), October zero. We may have missed recording one or two events in August or September, but as everyone can tell, it’s dry outside!!
The end result for the vegetable harvest was “ok.” Some things did well and yielded around our normal amounts, while many things yielded about 75% of our normal, or even 50%. We’re still tallying numbers, and still harvesting some things, but enough is picked and eaten, or picked and in the cooler, that we have a sense of the outcomes. Most of the ones that yielded low — melons, tomatoes, carrots, radishes — had one or more stressors from the heavy and frequent rainfall of May and June. That really defined the year for many of our plants. They were either planted during it and got pummeled; or even if they were planted after it let up, the fields were pretty soggy and compacted from the hard rain and saturation, so it wasn’t ideal growing conditions. And then it took awhile for the sun to be out consistently! Our memory says it was mid-late July before we had strings of sunny days, and things started to finally take off. Better late then never!
But even at 75% this farm produces a whole lotta food, and helps feed a whole lotta people! We were happy that most of the crops for your shares performed really well, and gave a steady variety and quality to keep the share looking good. The only full-on crop failure was leeks. To have only one, we that’s think is a result of our long-term care for the soil (soil testing plus using compost, cover crops, minerals and no pesticides), and extra TLC of plant testing and fertilizing during the summer, to help the most susceptible plants do ok even in months of tough conditions.
And financially, a 75% / “ok” year is just that : ok. The impact of the CSA is big in a year like this, in our case meaning that 40% ish of our gross income is guaranteed, and that the risks of a low harvest are spread among the community — you all. It provides us a very welcome sense of income security! On the wholesale side of 4-5 specific veggies, those particular crops took more of a hit than most of the CSA crops. Since most crops were ok the share size really didn’t shrink with the tough year. The wholesale numbers aren’t totally in yet; so far it looks like we’ll have less cushion than we like but will be A-ok.
So thank you so much for being a CSA member this year! The farm gave us a pretty good harvest in a challenging year, and we hope it was a great and integral part of your lives. We are so grateful for your support and for your excitement about fresh, local veggies!
Crop Forecast
This week is a regular sized share. Full share folks take what the signs say and split share folks take half the amount that the signs say, just like usual throughout the season. Every other week folks have both share partners coming this week, so you also take take half of what the signs say.
It’s sweet frosty season! We had 3 cold nights last week, which concentrates the sugars in many crops. This is the best Spinach, Kale, Collards and Brussels Sprouts of the year, for sure!
Winter squash — 2 per share this week — butternut! and a mix of acorn, starry night acorn and carnival.
We will have lots of great carrots (very sweet and good now), beets, celeriac, parsnips, onions, watermelon radishes, sweet potatoes, purple and pink daikon. And delicata and small acorn squash on the mix-and-match table too.
Greens, lettuce and kale all look great! The spinach has been struggling all fall. We mowed it a couple weeks ago, after the last share, and it’s been slowly regrowing. The regrowth looks very good, just small, so we should have at least a little bit for everyone. Hopefully a 3/4 or full bag. Oddly we watered it late last week so it could take advantage of the warm weekend — we’ve never done that before in mid-October! More often it’s cold and wet by now.
Brussels Sprouts are here! We give it to you on the stalk because it is fun to see how it grows and it is easier for us to fit into the workload. Try them sauteed with bacon or soy sauce, or roasted with parmesan. They are so good!!
We should still also have red and green peppers! No hots though. Sadly only a small amount of leeks left, since most of them melted into the ground after all the spring rains, and the few we had were in the share a few weeks ago.
What’s for U-Pick?
Everything that is affected by frost died (basil, the flowers, cherry tomatoes, beans), but there is some herbs to pick!
Cilantro—there is still some out there by the solar panels.
Also sage, parsley, thyme and oregano.
Nuts and Bolts
November Storage Share 2024 Sign Up HERE. Crops look great. Eat well all fall !!
Sign up for 2025 CSA is in the email.
Bulk Produce for You
Check here each newsletter for what we have available for extra purchase.
This week’s selection is : Beets and Carrots for $1.25/lb, Cabbage for 75 cents /lb. . Lettuce for $6/lb, Kale for $3/lb. Radishes and Celeriac for $2/lb. Red Peppers $2/lb, Butternut squash $1/lb. Garlic for $1.25 / head (4 for $5) ( no need to pre order garlic).
To place a bulk order, simply email us a day ahead of the day you’d like to pick it up. Orders can be picked up at the farm during our regular pickup hours, but it doesn’t have to be your share pickup day. Usually we can make an order on the spot, too.
Honey, Cheese and Eggs can all be picked up this week, if you have a share or placed an order with those farmers.
From LuAnn in the Medicinal Herbs Garden.
It was great to meet so many new people at the medicinal herbs garden this past summer, as well as to reconnect with many other herbal enthusiasts. Just a quick FYI: I am offering a class titled, Herbal Hacks for Holiday Health, through Lakeville Parks and Rec. Check out this link for more information and to sign up if you are interested. Feel free to contact me with questions about herbs through the next months. And I look forward to seeing many of you again in 2025!
Northfield Curbside Compost – worker-owned cooperative (and friends of ours) is ready to take your compost scraps away, if you don’t use their service already. See the flyer attached in the email!
Share Pickup Hours TUESDAY and THURSDAY 1:30-6:30 pm.
Change Pick-Up Day Form — Click here. Please fill out this form instead of emailing us. Thanks!
Where is the farm? 4151 320th Street West, Northfield.
Please Drive Carefully —Children are everywhere.
We love having all of you come to the farm! Thank you for making it such a great season!
Your farmers,
Erin and Ben, with Allia, Alex, Elliott, Lynne, River and Seneca
RECIPES
Parsnip Gratin
1 pound parsnips
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup unsalted chicken stock or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper
4 tablespoons heavy cream
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Peel parsnips; slice into thin rounds or cut into matchsticks.
Heat butter in skillet over medium flame.
Add parsnips and cook, tossing often, until partially tender, about 3 minutes.
Add stock and bring to strong simmer.
Lower heat, cover skillet, and gently simmer parsnips until almost tender, 5-6 minutes.
Uncover, raise heat to high, and cook until liquid reduces to a syrupy glaze.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Heat oven to 400 degrees.
Butter a baking dish.
Place half the parsnips in dish.
Drizzle with half the cream and sprinkle with half the Parmesan cheese
Repeat layers with remaining ingredients.
Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Serves 4.
Sweet Root Mash
4 medium carrots
2 medium squash (Carnival, Acorn or Delicata) or 1 medium Butternut, halved and seeded
2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled
3 medium apples peeled, cored and chopped
Cut carrots into ½” or 1” coins and steam until tender.
Bake squash at 375 degrees until tender.
Chop sweet potatoes into 2” pieces and place in a 2-quart cooking pot.
Layer apples over the sweet potatoes, add 2” water, cover and cook on a gentle boil until tender.
Add the carrots to the apple and sweet potato mixture, and blend/mash until smooth.
For this recipe an immersion blender works best but you can also use a regular blender.
For a more rustic texture use a regular potato masher.
Next scoop the squash from its skin and add to pot, blend/mash once again.
Thickness can be adjusted by adding water, veg/chicken stock, milk, etc.
Once blended bring it back up to a short boil and it’s ready for spicing and serving.
There is a natural sweetness to this recipe but you can go either sweet or savory.
Spice to taste with salt, pepper, garlic, maple syrup.
Can be topped with butter or cheese.
Open Hands Farm 