–
“One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” – Virginia Woolf
–
Hi Friends & Farm-ily,
–
Reminder: First Winter CSA payments are due by September 15th (in one week!) Check out the email ‘First Winter CSA Payment Due by September 15th’ for more details!
–
We hope the first week of September has treated you well and that you had a nice holiday weekend! It sure has been some up and down weather with cooler nights and even some cloudy days/showers/rainbows mixed in. The 10-day looks like we’re back in the 80’s but we know autumnal equinox is just a few short weeks away. Time to soak in all the goodness that the end of summer has to offer. To enjoy the bounty and flavors of the season!–
–
Speaking of seasonal bounty… we were so inspired by one of our members who shared this with our member group over the weekend… “If you have Netflix streaming (this is not an ad for them, but sharing my experience of this evening), you might look for a series called Chef’s Table: France. It’s new just now. Episode 1 is about a French chef who, over time, learned to use primarily vegetables for his cuisine and to be inspired by what is absolutely fresh and available today. The way he described his process of waiting for inspiration from the vegetables themselves and cooking instinctively, rather than imposing a recipe, reminds me so much not just of how I cook during farm season but also of much of what I read here. It was fascinating and resonated with me strongly. Let the vegetables TALK to you, tell you what they need, how to prepare them, what they will pair with. Yes, I still use recipes (mostly as guidelines any more, since I’m sort of older than dirt and have practiced long enough to not need them much). But each week when I get my share, I sit down that evening with the list of what is still in the fridge, the list of what I brought home, and a sense of delight that I can turn these things into delicious meals. This is what I wish for you, all my fellow CSA members. May your vegetables talk to you, and may you create deliciousness in your lives.”
–
If that doesn’t capture the spirit and essence of the WHF CSA then I don’t know what does. We’ve been so inspired by all our members through the meals, the recipes, the encouragement, thoughtful emails and gestures throughout the season. You all are the cream of the crop and we are so proud and honored to feed our community the best possible food that we can. It’s a win–win for everyone.
–
–
–
And.. the good news is..we’re still alive! The ol’ newsletter and social media got lost in the shuffle last week as it’s been a crazy farmer marathon that we’ve been running. The past week especially has been extra filled to the brim. It feels like every moment of daylight is precious. The ‘do all the things’ song sure has made the rounds lately. Our evenings (after CSA harvests) have been dedicated to planting and we’ve made some huge progress. Fall and winter crops are getting weeded slowly but surely. Beds have been composted, fertilized, tilled under and dibbled for transplants and direct sown crops. Old crops are being mowed in anticipation of cover cropping later this month. We’ve prepped our garlic block in anticipation of planting next years garlic in October. We hope to pre emergence flame weed the beds multiple times before we get the garlic in. I’ve been busy seeding the last crops of the season in the propagation house. Not to mention the weekly 4,000lb harvests!
–
It’s also operation put up TWO 96×30 high tunnels asap! Brian has been busy squaring off the two structures this weekend and has been digging holes (80 of them!) for the footings to go into. He even managed to secure them in concrete so they’ll have a few days to dry during the harvest week. Our amazing friends at Even Pull Farm are gonna come up here on Saturday to help us raise the bows and put the tunnels/greenhouses together. And boy their help couldn’t come at a better time! We’ve put up greenhouses together in the past so hopefully all of our expertise will get the job done or at least get us a fair bit of the way there! Once the high tunnels are up we’ll be prepping to plant and seed.. This will extend the season of our more tender crops as well as the first round of Spring crops come February… always thinking ahead…. Especially with our winter CSA!
–
In the next few weeks it’ll be time to harvest and cure the winter squash and sweet potatoes and we are looking forward to beginning that process. It’s been a great season for winter squash and most of our pumpkins have already turned orange (it’s going to be an early Halloween this year!) And next thing ya know we’ll be planting garlic for next season! It’s crazy how time flies…
–
–
September-October we will be slowly transitioning into our cooler weather crops. The summer crops are still performing but as the days get shorter and the nights get cooler the Fall veggies will start to shine. The summer harvests have been so plentiful… we’re looking forward to the shorter days, to give these farmer bodies a little bit of re-coop time. This is the time of the season where our backs feel it the most – 50 lb harvest crates x 3 days (and 150+ shares) can add up to a lot of pounds of produce being harvested and carried around the farm… Not to mention the walking. We haven’t put a pedometer on in a while but we’d bet we’ve been easily walking 20+ miles each day. Morning and evening chores will surely seem a bit easier when all the critters are moved up closer to the barn over the winter. And we only have 4 more loads of hay to go before the barn is stocked with goodies for the critters that will nourish them through the late fall and winter months.
–
In the midst of the farm marathon frenzy we also got news last week – after waiting 6 months – that john deere won’t be manufacturing a creeper gear for our new tractor until sometime next summer at the earliest. We had bought this tractor in the early spring with the creeper gear being a part of it (it enables us to plant vegetables at a slow enough speed where it won’t burn up the tractor) and unfortunately they sold us something that hadn’t yet been manufactured. So it’s back to the drawing board with the tractor. It took us about 5 months to figure out and find a tractor that suited our needs (its hard being an in-between size in the farming world in terms of scale) and we’re really hoping we can find a replacement for it in a much more timely manner! Our coolbot cooler AC unit has been on the fritz as well so we’re hoping that’s it for a while in regards to machines on the farm…. <knock on wood!>
–
–
CSA Member Farm Day & Pumpkin Pick! Our CSA Member Farm Day will be happening during the first part of next month set for October 8th from 11am-2pm! This is a great opportunity for our CSA members to come out, see the farm, chat with their farmers and fellow CSA members! Members will also have the opportunity to pick out one pumpkin per share. Rain or shine! We’ll be sending out a proper invitation in the next week or so so please RSVP!
–
Summer Pork Sale! Our Fall Pork will be coming back from the processor very soon so over the next few weeks in order to make room in our freezers we are having a summer pork sale on our Online Farmstore! We have an amazing selection of USDA recipes and cuts that make our pastured heritage pork shine! Products available by the share and by individual cuts. Including Uncured & Nitrite-Free** Items & Over 10 different kinds of Fresh & Smoked Sausages!
–
Here’s the link to our Online Farmstore: http://workinghandsfarmstore.com/collections/all
–
Enjoy the week and we will see you all soon!
–
All the best,
–
Your farmers
–
Jess & Brian
–
dirty hands, clean hearts
working hands farm 
