Happy first winter share!

Boy do I have a lot to catch all of you up on. Harvest is in full swing around here. That means from the moment we arrive to the moment we leave, the crew is hard at work harvesting and washing veggies. In mid October, we spent a week getting all of our potatoes harvested, sorted, washed, and stacked. Once those were done, we spent 2 days harvesting and washing all of our beets. This year was a sunny and 65 degree day for beet harvest. Usually we’re harvesting beets in the rain, sleet, snow, or at the very least, the bitter cold. This was the nicest weather, and the nicest looking beets we’ve had in the 4 years I’ve been on the farm.

Once the beets were out, the weather started to cool off. This meant we needed to take some time to close down all of our greenhouses, and move onions, garlic, shallots, and winter squash to their storage places. This required lots of counting, cleaning, organizing, and re-organizing. Now all of those things are tucked away in their cozy dry spaces until they’re ready to go out the door in your share boxes.

This brought us to the end of October. We saw the forecast for lots of rain, and now it was time to start harvesting carrots. Between harvesting, washing, stacking, bagging, and sorting, our crew was starting to see carrots in their dreams. We were down to only one field left to harvest, but mother nature decided we needed a break. Last week we got 3.5 inches of rain in 3 days. That makes for some muddy fields. On Monday things were dry enough that we were able to quickly get all the parsnips harvested. However, after a few bins of carrots, the bins were starting to be a 50/50 mix of carrots and mud. This makes things really difficult and messy for our washing team, so we put a pause on harvesting.

This weekend helped to dry things out. We’re planning to get the rest of the carrots out and harvest rutabagas this week. Next week will be garlic planting and tidying things up before we say goodbye to our seasonal staff.

In your box this month:

Spinach – Celery – Brussels Sprouts – Red Potatoes – Yellow Potatoes – Carrots – Marmalade Squash – Delicata Squash – Beets – Onions

This recipe for a Brussels Sprout and Winter Squash Hash is one of my favorite ways to use brussels sprouts. It’s flavorful, fun, and versitile. Try adding other ingredients such as beets, carrots, bell peppers, or beans. You can leave out the eggs and sausage, and make this as a side dish for your protein of choice. The possibilities are endless. **This recipe will be a great way to use up the delicata or the marmalade in your box. For a fun twist, try doing a 50/50 mix of both.

Most of us have heard of ant on a log, but did you know there’s a winter version? Apparently some people call these “snow logs”. Whatever you want to call them, these stuffed celery sticks are delicious. They’ll make a great appetizer for holiday gatherings, or make them as a fun weekend snack.