Fall CSA Week 8 and Farm Notes

Today was week 8 of my Fall CSA.

Regretfully I didn't get a post up last week because my beautiful beagle boy Darwin had surgery and it threw my whole week off. He's doing well now, but I was a wreck for a few days until I knew everything was alright.

This week, I'm back on track. And of course this week, especially this morning, it was cold. It barely crept above freezing today if it did at all. So yesterday I was busy because I knew I wouldn't be able to harvest the unthawed leaves outside today.

The carrots, beets and kale are still outside, as are the radishes and herbs. The mustard greens, of which there is a good variety, are from the hoophouses and will add a good peppery kick to whatever you are preparing to eat. 

I was surprised yesterday to still find a few tomatoes, eggplants and peppers surviving in the hoophouses. I had them covered with Agribon, but was pretty sure still that they had met their demise. Sweet lingering summer, but gone today.

There are certain kind of lettuces that can be planted in the hoophouses that do fairly well in the winter, but they are never great. In my experience they just don't handle the freeze thaw cycle as well as some of the sturdier greens like kales, chards, mustards and arugula. Personally I don't really miss lettuce at all if I have these. I like to chop them all up together, add a nice salad dressing and I have a super tasty salad. Much more zing and zip than lettuce.

On another completely different note, a homeless chicken was found in Port Colborne and I agreed I would take her in. Saturday morning though I heard "her" crow in competition with Pedro and I knew I had trouble on my hands. I hadn't introduced him to the rest of the flock yet, and now I am not sure at all that I can. Pedro, my sweet little bantam rooster will get beat up. I just know it.

Know anyone that wants to give a beautiful rooster a new home? 

Here are some pictures of this week's produce:

Want to know a bit more about the mustards in your baskets? Check out my "Marvellous Mustards" post HERE
My Seed Saver's Exchange seeds are in early and for sale now, in time for gift giving, be they for yourself or someone else. Not all my seeds are ready to go yet (are you kidding??), but I'm working on it all. I'll update my website soon, with new information about the seeds now available.
Yes, it's true. It's time to start thinking about next year already!