Farm News Crop Forecast
Remember to sign up for the November Storage Share and for CSA 2026
Oct 21+23 — Normal Pickup = Final Pickup of ’25; Cheese, Eggs &Mushrooms too
Nov 20+21 — November Storage Share (separate signup and payment)
Info on November Storage Share Signup and 2026 CSA Signup is in a separate email sent Sept. 24 2025.
Greetings!
We love those veggie-loving sheep! The pink lips especially.
They’re cute and make great lamb and wool for our friends at Get Bentz Farm. And more than most breeds, these like having waste veggies as part of their diet, to turn into that lamb and wool. Of course they get grass and hay too, but the veggies reduce the amount of hay needed, and they take a messy challenge off our hands. We’ve had compost piles but we don’t have a very good site for it, and the rodents that inevitably move in are a pain to then keep out of other places they shouldn’t be on a veggie farm.
In 2014 Jake and Theresa started raising animals at the farm a couple miles away on Hwy 47. They found sheep the most suitable primary animal, and also raise some chickens and turkeys (and dogs and kids). In an inconspicuous shed they’ve built a conspicuously uncommon addition to their lamb and wool business — a wool / fiber processing mill! You wouldn’t know driving by but Theresa is often in there running the machines to clean, card, spin and felt wool, and a sock-maker too. They’re beautiful, stocky, well-built machines meant to last, which is always a treat to see. Wool mills of any scale used to be much more common, before clothes made of various plastics and synthetic fibers were developed, and we’re fortunate to have one so close by.
They have a large following of yarn-and-wool-lovers, and sell those products under the name “Badgerface Fiber”, a nod to Badgerface the ewe who still mothers many generations of lambs in their flock. You can find them at farmers markets, fiber festivals, and on the farm many days a year for visits and tours. Here’s the link to their upcoming events. Who else do you know that has a “Yamper”??? Camper turned yarn store, that they tow all those places.
What makes their farm even cooler is that they host / collaborate on a garden of plants for dyeing fiber. As in turning fiber into different colors, using plants grown right there! There are endless jokes to be had about a “dyeing garden”, but Salt of the North Dye Garden really adds to the abundance of life and creativity at the place. As Maddy puts it on the website — “seeing our textile systems as intrinsically linked to sustainable agriculture is paramount to the creation of a thriving decentralized textile economy in the Midwest.”
Like many livestock farmers, Jake and Theresa stay in shape by handling feed, including shoveling our compost / scrap veggies. Such as carrots that split too much in downpours of rain (see below), squash that rot before they taste any good, cabbage leaves we peel off to make the heads look pretty, and any greens or anything else that falls on the floor while we’re cranking through the washing process in the barn. Some of it is too rotten for the sheep — they pass it over and the chickens come in behind them and have lower standards / a higher tolerance for mush and schmuck and bacteria and stuff.
It’s not always a pretty job but we’re so grateful to have a nearby farm that can make such beautiful products with our cast-offs! Oh my gosh, I wrote a knitting joke without spinning it around in my head first!!
This year has been a pretty good year for the veggies. We had some plant disease issues but then enough sunny and dry days to still make lots of great food. At the moment we have just one weather complaint — in late September we got 2.75″ of rain over a couple days, in 3-4 heavy downpours. When we picked the carrots a few weeks later — it was then dry enough that the carrot harvester worked like a dream and picked every single one without a fuss — we found that a bunch of them split wide open and started to rot from drinking so much at once. Same thing happened in the radishes. Oh well. Still lots and lots of lovely ones in there!
And the heat that came after that rain was historically unusual but really bumped up yields on some other things. The tomatoes kept ripening – and tasting good! (though they’re done now from the frosts.) The peppers were able to make good fruits out of the flowers that came in late August. Both of those are hit-or-miss September opportunities every year. That one week of 60s/40s in September reminded us that September can do mean things, but it became nice again and we appreciate it!!
We didn’t have a first frost until early October. We’ve had two frosts around 30 degrees, which have done a little sweetening of the spinach, kale, parsnips, brussels, carrots and other cold-lovers… they aren’t quite as sweet as if it had been 25, but instead we got the yields from the heat plus a little sweet. This week’s cold nights will do more sweetening, but by the time it happens most of this week’s share produce will already be harvested. So the storage share will have more of that cold fall flavor, but this week’s crops are all tasting very good!
Having you all come to the farm each week is a highlight that makes this farm shine. Your smiles and enjoyment make a big difference to all of us who work here; and so do the checks you write us!!
So thank you so much for being a CSA member this year! The farm gave us a pretty good harvest in a mixed weather 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 — the difference from a regular week is that both share partners are coming this week; so you each take take half of what the signs say.
Brussels Sprouts – now in! On the stalk.
Winter squash — What a great squash year. This week you’ll have a couple choices inside — buttercup, butternut, ambercup (orange and looks like buttercup), and some straggler Angel hair spaghetti (orange-ish and round). “On the table” it’ll be — delicata (eat soon), acorn and starry night (improved acorn with stars and stripes).
The best temp for squash storage is 50 degrees but countertop (out of the sun) or a garage or basement (beware of rodents!) works well for most people.
Peppers – we’ll have some!
Plus carrots, beets, radishes, cabbage, leeks, celery, celeriac, parsnips, storage onions, and Sweet Potatoes!
Leaf lettuce and greens, and kale and collards, are still having a great year. We’l have spinach too!
Garlic is no longer a part of the share but will continue to be for sale in the barn. We do 6 weeks with it as part of the share, then have the rest for sale. Many people buy 10-20 to stock up for the fall, then replenish at the storage share.
What’s for U-Pick?
Nope -Cherry Tomatoes, Tomatillos and Beans — done by frost a couple weeks ago. A few people came to glean in the days after that, that was fun to see.
Cilantro — there is some in the Upick field that’s small but can be dipped into if you want. Our Wholesale plantings did well, so we will have some Cilantro available in the barn for folks to take a handful if wanted.
Basil is dead on top but if you want to pick through the green or spotty leaves down low , go for it. We’ll wait to mow it til next week.
Other Herbs — Nasturtiums, Parsley, Oregano, Thyme, Sage.
Flowers — You can still find a few hiding in there, but they are mostly dead.
This spot in the newsletter will keep you informed, and always check the U-pick board when you’re here to see what’s available and picking amounts.
Nuts and Bolts
November Storage Share 2025 Sign Up HERE. Crops look great. Eat well all fall !!
Sign up for 2026 CSA is in the email.
Bulk Produce for You
Check here each newsletter for what we have available for extra purchase.
To place a bulk order, simply email us at least 2 days 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. No need to pre-order garlic.
This week’s selection is : Lettuce mix and Spinach for $6 / lb. Green Cabbage for $1/lb. Kale for $3 / lb. Carrots, Beets for $1.25 / lb. Garlic for $1.25 / head. Leeks for $3 / lb (probably about $2-3 each, they’re big this year). Storage Onions $1.25/ lb. Winter squash for $1/lb.
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! Sorry that we have had problems with the links to this form. They should be fixed now and going forward. Please do not use old links as they may be wrong.
Where is the farm? 4151 320th Street West, Northfield.
Please Drive Carefully —Children are everywhere.
If You Send Someone Else to Pick Up Your Share — Please forward them the basic pickup video in this link , which was also sent in an email earlier in June. Then just tell them to introduce themselves to us in the barn, just so we know and we can show them around.
We love having all of you come to the farm! Thank you for making it such a great place to be!
Your farmers,
Erin and Ben, with Allia, Alex, Camille, Elliott, Maura, River, Soli, Sai Dang and Crew
RECIPES
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Maple-Mustard Vinaigrette
1 pound Brussels sprouts (about 4 cups)
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 tablespoons maple syrup
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/4 cup water
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Soak the Brussels sprouts in a large bowl of water for 10 minutes; drain.
Spread the Brussels sprouts in a large baking dish and drizzle them with olive oil.
In a large bowl combine the balsamic vinegar, garlic, and mustard; mix well.
Pour the vinaigrette over the sprouts.
Add the water to the bottom of the baking dish.
Bake until the Brussels Sprouts are tender-firm, 30 to 45 minutes.
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.
Open Hands Farm 