This Week’s Harvest
- Brussels Sprouts
- Arugula
- Radishes
- Salad Mix
- Butternut Squash
- Sweet Potatoes
- Carrots
- Celery
- Fennel
- Hakurei Turnips
- Parsley
- Potatoes
- Broccoli Raab
- Sweet Onions
Farm News
This has been a busy week for Ben off the farm. First on Friday he traveled to Wooster, OH to present our carrot production at a day long growers intensive put on by FairShare. The workshop covered organic carrot and onion production, food safety considerations in the packhouse, and wholesale opportunities. Ben was asked to present how we grow carrots from seed to sale – over our 15 plus years we have learned a lot of carrot dos and don’ts. We actually got our ideal sowing date for fall carrots- July 25th- from a farm tour back in our early days in Ohio. We had a much too early sowing date in mind from our time at a farm in a different growing zone and weren’t having much success. Early on, we went on an OEFFA hosted fall tour of Turner Farm, an organic farm in Cincinnati, and saw their big gorgeous fall carrots and learned about their target sowing date from that tour! After learning from workshops and tours as newbie farmers, we enjoy giving back now that we are the “experts”!
Ben had a day at home before hopping on a plane to Minnesota for an Organic Inspection training. He completed the Crop Inspector training a few years back- training to inspect farms and producers like us. This 2 day training, though, is about inspecting handlers. So the processing side of the industry- think Annie’s mac and cheese and Garden of Eatin’ tortilla chips. It’s a great time to be trained in this field as a sweeping new rule- The Strengthening Organic Enforcement rule- is being implemented. As the organic industry has grown, exploitation in the industry and weaknesses in the original organic rule from 1990 have made the industry vulnerable to fraud. Based on the 2018 Farm Bill mandates and National Organic Standards Board recommendations, the rule essentially “strengthens oversight and enforcement of the production, handling, and sale of organic products” (USDA.gov). Perhaps Ben will tell me how when he returns!
Recipes
Leftover Turkey Noodle Soup (I like this recipe because it is heavy on the aromatics- onion, celery, fennel and parsley! also check out the add-on section for more veggies that are in your box this week and I would add turnips to the list as well!)
Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
Roasted Roots with Turmeric Tahini Sauce (any root/tuber vegetable in this weeks box will work!)
Coming up in 2 weeks (our best guess…) Napa Cabbage, Beets, Braising Mix, Mustard Greens, Head Lettuce, Cilantro, Spinach, Japanese Sweet Potatoes, Red Potatoes, Onions, Carrots, Watermelon Radish