2024 CSA Newsletter #15

Happy Fall, folks! Did you catch the lunar eclipse last week? What a great way to welcome in a new season. I had my first visit to Hollenbeck's Cider Mill, the kids had soccer, and some pumpkins were picked. It doesn't get much better than that for the start of fall.

Last week's farm tasks included continuing to transform the farm for the end of the main season and transition to winter. We were able to plant more greens in our hoophouse that has our peppers and some cucumbers in it. We also potted-on some chard to plant in a greenhouse bed and seeded some lettuce for winter production. With Coltivare opening with expanded hours, we plan on increasing our winter growing. Additionally, we began to transition the tomatoes to end-of-the-season production. Since we grow our tomatoes under cover, our season with them is already extended, but we want to maximize their ability to ripen on the vine. To accomplish this, we "top" the plants. This means, in addition to pruning any "suckers", we also remove the apical meristem, aka, the growing point. This signals to the plant the end is coming and to put its remaining energy to ripen fruit on the vine. We started with the beefsteak and sauce tomatoes, then will move on to the heirloom tomatoes next. Even though they have the most remaining fruit, the cherry tomatoes will be last because they ripen the fastest. 

This week's CSA share is once again tomato heavy. The cherry tomatoes exploded last week and there was an uptick in beefsteak production. There will still be heirlooms, but their production has dropped significantly. The sauce tomatoes will once again enjoy a solo spotlight in the choice. There will be cucumbers, both slicing and pickling still. The specialty pepper choice of poblano, shishito, and snackers is back again. There is still an array of hot peppers, garlic, jalapeno salt, bell peppers, and frying peppers in the choice, as well. Additionally, the greens this week include both kale and lettuce mix. I'm hoping that chard will return in the next couple of weeks. Finally, there will be a new item in this week's choice. Fennel will be making its first appearance of the season.

Have a great week!

-Farmer Todd