September 27th, 2023
What’s on your share?
Carrots
Napa Cabbage
Shallots
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes (only half of y’all got cherries this week but whoever didn’t will get them next week)
Salad Mix
Sweet Peppers
Dark Red Norland Potatoes
It’s feeling more like fall everyday, and as we transition, we’re looking forward to the diminishing work load, fall meals, and the upcoming holiday and vacation season. But we’re not checked out yet, as much as we’d like to some days. This is the best time of year for reflecting on things we did great and things we could improve upon while the season is still fresh in our mind and the seasonal amnesia hasn’t sunk in yet.
As we check tasks off for the last time, we’re making notes (not mental, actual notes) of things we didn’t have time for but thought we would; digging 14 beds of potatoes by hand before the fall rain, getting as many beds of cover crop planted as we were hoping to, and making our compost piles neat and tidy and ready to decompose. We’re also making notes of things that we did excellently and will certainly do again; we grew delicious cucumbers using a new method, we got our garlic and storage onions trimmed and ready for winter in the most efficient way yet, and we have the most killer salad mix we’ve ever had and have shaved hours off its harvest, washing, and packing time, making it our most profitable (sorry, but it matters) crop to date.
I always say that planning is one of our strongest qualities, and being able to remember the days we hated and why they sucked is equally as important as remembering the days that went smoothly and why they felt great. Problem solving is a lifelong skill that we’re still developing. Being able to point to a problem and know that something is wrong is one thing, but being able to calmly assess the situation and hypothesize realistic solutions is another. Sometimes it seems easier to keep doing the same thing even though it’s not great, or it takes longer, or the results are “good enough”, because problem solving is hard! It takes time, and sometimes taking a break to sit down and think, which is also hard when you have a bunch of stuff piling up, but it usually proves to be the right move.
That said, we’re taking this week and the next week to really take a good look at our farm; to lick our wounds and to pat ourselves on the back, while the season is still in full swing.
REcipes to try
Smashed Potatoes (great for those of you who got lots of small potatoes)