“As the years pass, I am coming more and more to understand that it is the common, everyday blessings of our common everyday lives for which we should be particularly grateful. They are the things that fill our lives with comfort and our hearts with gladness — just the pure air to breathe and the strength to breath it; just warmth and shelter and home folks; just plain food that gives us strength; the bright sunshine on a cold day; and a cool breeze when the day is warm.” – Laura Ingalls Wilder
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Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
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Here we grow Week 26! Wow, it’s amazing that we’re just a few weeks away from the Thanksgiving holiday. After the long (mostly hot) summer it’s amazing how quickly the Fall season has passed by. We can recall so many detailed memories from the 2015 season. From opening the 2015 CSA registration last January to all the planning and hard work and bountiful harvests… we somehow have made it to November. Thank goodness for the seasons.. otherwise we would never know which way was up! But one thing is for sure – we’re deeply appreciative and impressed by all of our CSA members.
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We’re a community and a team and our success (both in the field and in the kitchen) depends on each other. To grow the food, develop the tools, run with it and live happy and productive lives. Each week we see, hear and witness the impact of eating seasonally, fresh and beyond organic.. which means more meals at home, stocking up the freezer, cooking meals with friends and family, feeling energized and maybe coming in a few notches on the ol’ belt . Eating good food is a way of life… something that we believe in. We wanted to thank you for believing in us and the food that we grow here on our farm. Thank you for your dedication and commitment – you’ve been coming to pick up you share for the last 25 weeks (or 13 week for our bi-weekly members) on your pick up day and every week you are inspired, challenged and ready to bring it all home and make glorious things happen. Thank you for sharing bits and pieces of your food journeys along the way. You guys rock and we feel so thankful to have you as part of the farm-ily!
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Some of the awesome posts from the CSA Members Group..
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High fives all around! Like we mentioned in last week’s newsletter, you guys are seriously kickin’ some butt. Thank you for all the contributions in the CSA members group. It is an absolute highlight of our day when we see the array of photos, ideas, links and cookbooks that are being shared in the members group. Seriously, so many high fives. We tried out a few of the recipes that folks recommended and they were all delicious. If you haven’t been there recently you should check it out! Here’s a link one of our members shared called Peels, Stems, and, Leaves: 22 Reasons No Scrap Should Go to Waste as well as this cookbook all about Roots by local Portland author, Diane Morgan. Keep it up y’all, we’re inspired!
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It truly has been a great harvest year for us throughout all the seasons – spring, summer, fall. Our fall season shares have been averaging around 28-30 lbs with 14-16 different items in the share which means we’ve had quite the bounty! And at 110 shares per week that means over the Fall months we’ve been distributing 3,300+ lbs of produce per week. We’re really looking forward to adding up our 2015 numbers for next week‘s newsletter… here we grow! And a date to remember: Sign ups for the 2016 CSA season will open on January 1st!
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NEXT WEEK IS THE LAST CSA PICK UP WEEK! As a reminder to all our wonderful CSA-ers: the last CSA pick ups for the Spring & Summer CSA will be November 17th, 18th, 19th.
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Weekly CSA Members will receive a double share (shares 27 & 28) to better prepare you for the Thanksgiving holiday (think storage crops!) Be sure to bring a big enough vessel or enough bags to carry all your goodies home in.
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Bi-Weekly Share Members All Bi-Weekly Share members will pick up on that week. Depending on your assigned weeks, you will pick up either Share 27 or 28!
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The pick up area will be set up into 2 areas (Shares 27 & 28) – so be sure to read the signs and pick up produce from your assigned pick up week. Your farmers will be available during the last pick up should anyone have any questions.
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Most of the veggies in the final shares are storage crops and can be kept for weeks and weeks (some even months). Storage onions, sweet potatoes, winter squash will all keep in a cool place devoid of light (around 50-55 degrees). Root veggies such as carrots, parsnips, turnips, beets, rutabaga etc will all keep in the fridge (when preparing to store carrots, beets and other root vegetables in plastic bags in the refrigerator, sprinkle in a few drops of water as you pack each bag. Ideally, a few drops of condensation should form inside the bags after they have been well-chilled in the fridge.) Blanching and freezing is also great for any extra hardy greens, carrots etc.
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There is so much to look forward to as we move through November. We’re continuing on our quest of bringing in storage crops for our winter CSA – the days are growing shorter and we’ve been chasing the sun – oh so much mud! If you see us out there this week be sure to give us a wave!
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Enjoy this week’s goodies and we’ll see you soon!–
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With fond regards,
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Your Farmers
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Jess & Brian
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dirty hands, clean hearts
working hands farm 
