Happy first Winter share! After getting the first snowflakes of the season over the weekend, today feels like the perfect day to begin winter shares.

Our Summer Shares ended in early October, and our crew has been moving and working non-stop ever since. When we finished the summer CSA, we were only about 70% done with harvesting. That meant over the last month the tractors and harvesters were running all day long. Pallet box after pallet box was filled with dirty vegetables that were then sorted, washed, and moved to a new box where they will stay for the next few months. Our hard working crew was bundled up, sore, and by the end of it, mostly surviving on coffee.

 I am happy to report that as of last Friday, we are 100% done with harvesting! We got all of our vegetables out of the field, most of them are washed and stored for the winter, and we got 2026 garlic planted. It was a long and busy month, but it’s always so much fun. Starting in May, we plant all of the seeds, watch them sprout, weed them for days on end, and watch them very carefully week after week to make sure they’re growing and healthy. Finally after six months, we get to take a sigh of relief as the last rutabaga hits the pallet box, and enjoy all of the hard work that went into another amazing growing season. 

This week we will mulch the garlic for its long winter nap, wash a few remaining boxes of veggies, get everything moved to its final storage spot for winter, close down the greenhouses, and tidy up a few final things. At the end of the week, we will have our farm party to celebrate our amazing crew and all their hard work. This party signifies the official end to our Summer season. We will say see you later to most of our Summer staff and starting next week, it will be three of our crew members keeping the farm moving and functioning through the winter. 

We can’t wait to share all the fun we’ll have this winter!

In your share this month:

Celery – Brussels Sprouts – Arugula – Delicata and Kabocha Squash – Carrots – Onions – Red and Russet potatoes 

Brussels sprouts are great roasted, shaved, or tossed in a salad. Sometimes, you just want to change things up and try something different. If that’s you, this recipe for Skillet nachos is for you. I know it sounds a little out there, but it’s such a fun dish to make. It’s salty, cheesy, a little tart from the cranberries, and all the delicious fall flavors everyone is searching for this time of year. The recipe calls for butternut squash, but either of the squashes in your box would be perfect for this.

Arugula is a delicate green with so much flavor. It’s perfect in soups, sauces, pasta, turned into pesto, or added to sandwiches. Thanks to some warm days in October, this batch has a little more of a peppery bite than you might be used to. That additional bite makes it perfect to use in this White Bean and Arugula dip. It cuts through the richness of the oil and white beans, and pairs so well with the bright lemon. This dip would be perfect to serve with toasted bread, or try it as a spread on sandwiches or pizza.

We’ve been hearing how excited people are to make soups and stocks with the celery in their box, and it’s also perfect for turkey stuffing. Soup season has definitely arrived, but sometimes you have a little left over and don’t know what to do with it. This Celery Sour Mocktail is a fun and creative way to use up some of that celery. You turn the celery into a simple syrup which allows you to add as much or as little of the celery flavor as you want. This will be perfect for the next time you host friends and family since it’s already a mocktail, but allows room to play around with adding spirits of your choice if you want to cater to both groups of people.