“Usually we cook our carrots in soup, but the farm carrots are so flavorful, I love to eat them raw.”
“I just returned from a trip out of town, I haven’t been home yet, but I wanted to get fresh veggies first thing.”
“Our son is like a whole new boy! He’s loves eating the stuff from the farm and has tried new things.”
We thank you for sharing these little tidbits with us.
Have you joined us for a potluck yet this season? There’s only two Garden Mornings left in 2022, Saturday, September 24th and Saturday, October 29th. All ages and abilities are welcome. We start at 9am tackling tasks in the garden and enjoy a shared meal at noon. Shareholders and the public are invited for some or all of the morning.
Winter squash harvest has begun! We plant half a dozen varieties, this season is acorn, buttercup, delicata, honeybut, kabocha, and spaghetti squash. Plus two varieties of pie pumpkins, which are looking mighty fine.
Fall carrots include orange, yellow, red and purple varieties. All colors will not be simultaneously available and overall we have the most orange, but we’ll rotate through the beds (there’s less purple than 2021, we realize it was alot of Purple Haze over an extended period!). There will be a limit on the crop since it is so popular, but we aim to have carrots available for the remainder of the season.
A finishing touch was added to the new barn this week, GH and Bob built a sliding door for the porch from local lumber.
During the “shoulder” seasons of spring and fall, we put in some plantings that may mature depending on the weather. They aren’t sure bets, but if the weather remains mild we get a bonus crop. Pictured is us transplanting a cold hardy lettuce variety called Speckled Trout. If you’ve been around the farm for a while you’ve seen it before, it’s juicy and colorful. Fall weather is unpredictable, but if we get moderate temperatures, then we’ll have a late season head lettuce harvest.
With an unexpected knock at the door, we met Liam and Beth. They were down at the Canton Presbyterian Church, making cabbage rolls for their annual fundraiser. They ran short on cabbage and said the stuff at the Price Chopper was only softball sized. They heard littleGrasse had good vegetables and hoped we could help! We donated a few cabbage and Liam returned with a carton full of cabbage rolls later in the day. We live in a small town and are thankful to be woven into the fabric of it, meeting new people all the time.
Tips for Success
- For kale and chard harvest, don’t cut all leaves from a single plant. Instead, find good outer leaves (the larger ones) to harvest and always leave the center untouched, so the small leaves can grow bigger. Also, try looking farther to the end of the bed, rather than right be the wooden crop sign, to find the plants that have been harvested the least.
Spaghetti squash is the first winter squash variety available, and will be distributed this week. Check out the article from the Cleveland Clinic at this link to learn more about it’s nutritional benefits and some cooking tips.
With the final fresh edamame, some creamy potatoes, and animal protein from 8 O’clock Ranch, we baked up a Shepard’s Pie.
Our latest preservation project for the winter pantry was dilly beans. We have a high proportion of pickle lovers on the farm, and dilly beans comes up again and again as a favorite. This version includes fresh beans, dill, garlic and cayenne in a brine of vinegar, water, and salt.
Crops Available
Cell phone numbers, Flip: 315-854-5399 and Bob 315-854-5395.
*Asterisk marks crops added this week
- Arugula
- Bok choy
- Carrots*
- Cutting celery (harvest individual stalks, not entire plant)
- Flowers
- Groundcherries
- Hot peppers: sugar rush peach, jalapeno, cherry bomb, shishito, habanero
- Kale
- Leeks
- Lettuce greens
- Onions
- Potatoes
- Rainbow chard, also called Swiss chard
- Spaghetti squash*
- Spicy mixed greens
- Spinach*
- Sweet peppers
- Tomatillos
- Tomatoes
- Basil
- Bronze leaf fennel
- Cilantro
- Lemon balm
- Lemon verbena
- Mint
- Oregano
- Parsley
- Rosemary
- Sage
- Sorrel
- Thyme
- Winter Savory