All good things come to an end. For most of you this will be the last box of fresh vegetables for a while. We’d like to thank everyone for joining us this year and trusting us with providing you with fresh produce. We’ll do one more market at the Co-op next week and will continue going to the North Asheville Tailgate Market at UNCA on Saturdays until Mid-November. Then we’ll take take a break over Thanksgiving and be back at North Asheville again for the Holiday Bazaars the first three Saturdays of December.
Every season is different. Each season has its successes and failures. Overall, we feel like this season was a great one! We appreciate all those who filled out the SurveyMonkey questions and we are pleased to say that everyone who responded had a positive experience and most will be back for another season in 2011. (If you haven’t responded yet, you still can. Here is the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LVBX8BB)Vanessa and I tallied each weeks’ box and roughly figured that each share received $550 worth of produce, a 10% discount over buying from us at the stand. There will always be areas for us to improve. We’ve tried different ways to extend the tomato season in the past and had limited success. We’ll try some more strategies next year. We also have some new things to try with our strawberries, although there is nothing to protect them from 7 inches of rain in May or a super hard late frost. That’s one of the great things about this job, you can always learn more and improve. Then again there is so much beyond our control, each year in some crop or another, we have to take what we can get and that means you, as part of the farm, do too.
We now have 5 crops in the ground for your boxes next year. The garlic and multiplier onions were planted on Monday, strawberries, leeks, and onions in the weeks past. The spring flowers are planted also. The frosts of the past few days have killed the flowers. All that remains to do is some more cleaning up, and harvesting for the last few markets. There is still a lot of produce out in the fields so we’ll have plenty to offer those of you have signed up for the extension as well as a full table of offerings at market. .
Sorghum is in your box! It’s lighter this year and some of us feel that it’s the best we’ve ever tasted. It is a good substitute in recipes for regular molasses. It is great over biscuits, cornbread, oatmeal, in your tea, gingerbread or muffins (see recipe below). We have more if you run out or want to give some as Holiday presents.
Thanks again and have a peaceful winter.
Nick’s CornerIt is strange sometimes when things come to an end. There are times when an ending can be greeted with a resounding “Thank god that’s over.” Other times is quite the opposite where there is a feeling that time has passed too quickly or there is still much to be done. Although we rejoiced yesterday when Alex took the mower to the zinnias, there are still feelings lingering that it’s not time for all of the things at the farm to come to an end. For some of you, the CSA journey will continue for another 3 weeks and for others this is a goodbye until next year.The tale-tell signs of the end of the season include: empty greenhouses, numb fingers during harvest, changing leaves, multiple layers of clothing to start the day, and last but not least ,shorter days.On the intern front, we all will be moving out of our wonderful house and to various places. Megan is moving out to Austin Texas to work for Papa Noel selling Christmas trees with a fellow farmer from the area. I’m moving back down to the Greenville, SC to work in a greenhouse near Travelers Rest. Maggie is moving back to Atlanta GA to work at her previous job, with a desire to make more art to sell. Maggie will be coming back next year to work on the farm, so get excited to see her smiling face again!All in all, it’s been a really successful year and I know that all of us have really had a great time. I know that we’ve all learned a lot and are excited for the things to come. Who knows what good things are in store for the future. Thanks to all of you whom we’ve grown to know through your help out here on the farm and interactions with at market. See you all soon!
