EverGreen Farm

CSA Newsletter #24, October 27

This is your last delivery of produce.  It includes:

• Carrots
• Beets  (pickled beets anyone?)
• Sweet Red Onions

The clear weather held on just long enough (well, for a day or two anyways) to harvest another share of produce for you. Today it's snowing again. 

This picture shows more about the farm than I'd like to admit.  Just look at all those weeds!  This is one area of the farm we never got to weeding very well.  It shows!  Looking at all those dried weed seeds makes me cringe in anticipation for next year.  Off to the right you can see several nicer mounded rows of dark soil with drip tape running along the top.  This is where we planted the Polish Jenn and Spanish Roja garlic.  It is nearly weed free.  And in case you can't tell, those are two rows of carrots we are digging among all those weeds.  It takes about 2 full cart loads of carrots to give each CSA share a big bag of carrots.

Last Friday we took advantage of the dry weather and dug up as much food as possible.  This is our last big load of red onions.  They are still holding on despite the freezing temperatures.  (The yellow onions did not fare as well unfortunately.)  

Last week I asked some end of the year questions.  Here is one more:

• Would you prefer to receive a wider variety of produce in your weekly shares?  Or would you rather have consistent weekly deliveries of the more common/favorite vegetables?

I have received very little feed back from CSA members as of yet.  Please take a few moments to let us know how you feel about the season and the service we provide.

Although we haven't really had time to think about next year just yet, we are currently planning on keeping our 2010 CSA season very similar to this past 2009 season.  (Except that we have plans to make the season even better by fine tuning the way we grow several crops.)  I will be in touch with our current 2009 CSA members by email when we start selling 2010 CSA shares.  Announcements will also be made on this website.  CSA shares are sold on a first come-first serve basis, with current members being notified approximately 2 weeks before the general public.  I will be putting together the details of the 2010 season just after the holiday season slows down.  I'm thinking sign-ups will start mid January.  (I know this later sign-up date will be of concern to some Jackson residents because of the sign-up procedure/deadline/price increase/etc. with the other Jackson CSA.  If you feel you can't wait this long to sign-up for an EverGreen Farm CSA membership, please contact me.)

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

The End.

Tara

CSA Newsletter #23, October 20

In your bag of produce this week:

• Carrots
• Red Beets
• Yukon Potatoes, last potatoes of the season
• Sweet Red Onions

As a reminder, NEXT WEEK is our LAST CSA delivery, Tuesday, October 27th. 

Thank you to the many CSA members who responded and took action in regards to Shain's post earlier this week about upcoming food legislation.  Spread the word. 

Last week's CSA delivery was approximately 15 pounds for each share.  That's 645 pounds of food we sent out to you.  I think this week's bag of food weighs even a little more!  Those root crops sure weigh more than a bag of fresh greens and my back is feeling it when I load/unload those coolers. 

Clean up time has started here on the farm.  Even though the bulk of harvesting has been done, we still have plenty of work.  We need to try to bring in all the row covers, pull up drip lines, add dead plants to the compost pile, and deal with the weeds.  Oh, those weeds! 

Shain's priority has been clearing greenhouses and spreading compost in preparation for next year.  He wants to get a head start on getting the greenhouses ready to plant just as soon as possible in the spring.  It's quite common for us to have crops growing out in the greenhouses with several feet of snow just outside the doors. 

As the end of this CSA season gets closer, we welcome your comments, suggestions, and constructive criticism.  We do like to hear back from our CSA members.  I have a few questions in particular, and I'll have a few more next week too.  You can answer by email, or even anonomously by mail if you'd prefer (P. O. Box 153, Smoot, WY  83126).

• Did you experience any problems or confusion with picking up your food? 
• Do you feel the cost of our CSA membership ($550) was fair for the amount of food you received?
• Is there anything about our CSA you feel could be improved?
• What are some of the things you like most about our CSA?

Sorry to keep this so short.  I'm in charge of delivering the shares to Jackson today and I better get going.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #22, October 13

In your share this week:

• Sweet Red Onions
• French Fillet Beans, last of the season
• Red Norland Potatoes
• Carrots
• Beets

Our list of crops still available to harvest for the CSA is dwindling down each week.  Root crops are holding on strong under ground, and often under snow.  Everything else is basically frozen.

My goal is for our CSA season to last through Tuesday, October 27th, if the weather holds out a little longer.  We've had some really cold harvest days these past few weeks.  Several days have been spent working in the snow or rain.  Freezing temperatures are a challenge.  Mud is to be expected, but if it's muddy that means the sun is shining!  Our farm Workshares have been great!  They keep working hard and doing their best even on days we can't feel our fingers or we are tracking an extra 10 pounds of mud around on our boots.  Shain and I couldn't run this farm without their help.  The good times we have together are an added bonus.

Please excuse the extra dirt you'll be seeing on some of your veggies.  If the weather is too cold, or we get short on time, we won't be washing every thing clean.  This is SO out of my comfort zone, but I'm dealing with it.  I hope you will too.

You'll be getting quite a few onions from now through the end of the season.  The variety of onions we grow are not necessarily a storage onion, but we've received many reports of how long they last.  I've heard of several methods for storing onions:  keeping them in a cooler out in a garage, in a cardboard box in a pantry or basement, or even just the crisper in the refrigerator.  But the most popular method for storing onions seems to be hanging them in pantyhose.  Here are some instructions clipped from a food magazine -

Cut off the legs from a used, clean pair of pantyhose.  Insert one onion down to the bottom, tie a knot after it or use a twisty tie, and repeat over and over again.  Hang the onions high in a cool, dark place with good ventilation.  Use a pair of scissors to snip out the the bottom onion as needed.

I am happy to say the garlic is planted!  The last row was finished tonight.  What a relief.  Now it's time to start cleaning up the farm and getting the fields and green houses ready for winter. 

I still have some garlic for sale - German Extra Hardy or Spanish Roja.  Please contact me directly if you are interested.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!'

Tara

CSA Newsletter #21, October 6

Your share this week:

• Tomatoes, last of the season*
• French Fillet Beans*
• Bell Peppers, last of the season*
• Hungarian Wax Peppers, last of the season*
• Leeks
• Yukon Gold Potatoes
• Red & Yellow Sweet Onions
• Cucumbers, last of the season*

*Several of the vegetables in this week's share were picked last week in preparation for the big freeze that came our way.  I recommend using them quickly.

We took last week off from the CSA with every intention of getting all the potatoes dug up and our garlic planted.  But things didn't go necessarily as planned.

The potato harvest went very well, and was completed in nearly a day thanks to some very motivated (a.k.a. "crazy") workshares. 

Then we moved on to planting the garlic.  The weather was great for a few days and we managed to get all the German Extra Hardy garlic planted.  6 rows!  Then the weather turned cold and wet quite quickly.  So we switched gears and focused our efforts on picking everything we possibly could out of the greenhouses just in case the temperatures ended up dropping as low as predicted.  17 degrees at the end of September?  That's way too early for this farm girl!

Most of our greenhouses are not insulated well enough to protect plants dropping to the low 20s.  Still we'll try to pull plants through with row covers.  Sometimes the cold isn't as bad as the predictions and plants are OK, but when the forecast is for temperatures to drop into the teens, we'll that's an entirely different thing.  And that's what we experienced this week.

 

One day we picked you another large share of French Fillet Beans.  Then the next it started snowing and we picked every single cucumber left on the plants, every bell pepper, every Hungarian wax pepper, and every tomato that was in the range from orange to red.  Just in case.  And most of those days' work are what you are getting in your shares this week.

Unfortunately the garlic planting didn't get finished.  And still isn't done as of today.  But the weather is supposed to stay dry for a few days and that is the next priority.

It was a real shame this cold had to come so early this year.  The cucumber plants were really starting to produce.  The peppers were starting to come on heavy too.  Maybe we can get them started a little earlier next year for a longer harvest.  It's always a balancing act - start plants too early and they could die (and you have to start over again, which we've had to do before) or start plants too late and they don't have a long enough season to produce to their potential.  Shain keeps records, but every year is different.  Can't control the weather, or the plants...

While I'm on the subject, let me give you an update on a few more crops you haven't seen yet, or been getting as much as you'd like:

-The cauliflower and broccoli plants were a failure this year.  Their growth was stunted quite considerably.  Some of them never growing over a foot.  Very sad.

-About 1/4 of our leeks went to seed this year.  Instead of forming a nice tender edible plant, they grew a thick fibrous stalk.  We have never had this problem before and are stumped at the cause.  Something for Shain to research this winter.

-We've done poorly on getting you many beets this year.  This is mostly due to the fact that there were so many crops ready to harvest in season that we'd keep putting off the beets until later because they hold well in the ground.  Now it's nearly the end of the season and we'll be giving you as many beets as possible.

Even with all the frustration with some crops not growing, or being as plentiful, we still feel like it has been a great year for growing.  Just different from last year.  Some crops do well one year and we think we have it "figured out" and the next year things just aren't the same.  We hope you have enjoyed this season overall.  As this season draws to an end (don't worry, NOT YET!), we ask you to contemplate your EverGreen Farm CSA experience.  We do want to hear from our members.  I'll be asking a few specific questions in the next few weeks, but any input you have is welcome.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #20, September 22

Please remember there will NOT be a CSA pick-up next week, September 29th.  We will return to regular deliveries on October 6th. 

In your share this week:

• Sweet Onions, red and yellow
• Basil, last of the season
• Golden Beets
• Carrots
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Bell Peppers
• Hungarian Wax Peppers
• Cucumbers (not all pick-up locations)
• French Fillet Beans

In last week's newsletter I mentioned that we were nervous about potential damage to our plants from freezing temperatures.  We've been ready to go and taking necessary precautions with heaters and row covers.  And so far...so good!  Little did I know that the cold was not to be the culprit which would bring certain demise to many farm crops. 

On Friday afternoon, as I was taking a break after working all morning to harvest produce for our second to last Saturday market, a storm blew in over Smoot.  The thunder and lightening was incredible.  The bolts of electricity were visibly close and put my computer into frequent spasms.  The noise of the thunder only confirmed my suspicion of how close this storm was to the farm.  I decided it would be wise to delay my next chore of going out into the steel structured greenhouses to pick tomatoes.  Looking out the window I noticed how the horizons on nearly every angle still showed blue skies, so I anticipated merely a quick and heavy rainstorm but considered how it would probably change Shain's plans for harvesting potatoes the next day.  Then I sat back with every intention of enjoying my prolonged break.

And the storm came down, but it wasn't rain.

It wasn't a snow storm either.  This is HAIL!

EverGreen Farm was pummeled by a hail storm which lasted for about 30 minutes.  The hail was marble sized and came down with wicked force.  All I could do was sit and watch. 

It occurred to me that I should take a few photos to document what I was seeing.  And it's a good thing I did because the warm rains that followed the hail melted much of the ice within a few minutes.  If I hadn't been home to witness this event, I would not have know it had happened. 

After the hail turned to rain I braved a trip outside to survey the damage.  My boots sunk deep into the mud which was completely dry ground just a hour prior.  I first went out to the new salad rows, hoping for a miracle.  The once tender growth looked as though it had been rolled over by an old fashioned lawn mower.  Then I went over to fields #1 and #2, shutting greenhouse doors as I went (and feeling so relieved the inside crops were spared).

This picture is a good representation of whats left of all the leafy green plants growing out in the fields, including our new Fall crops of salad, Swiss chard, and kale.  It was all shredded to pieces by the hail.

All the root crops are fine, except for their leafy green tops which aren't edible anyways.  (Except the beet greens, and much of them look just like the chard.  That's why you got "topless" beets in your share this week.)

I'm a little surprised at how well we are taking this loss.  A few years ago we'd probably have reacted differently (not a pretty sight) but I guess we are getting used to crazy things happening on the farm.  And maybe we are getting used to these types of frustrations.  Such is the life of farming!

Now it's time to move on to a heavy harvest of Fall root crops:  carrots, beets, potatoes, leeks and onions.  And hopefully the greenhouses will keep spoiling us with their bounty for a few weeks longer.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #19, September 15

In your share this week:

• Red Norland Potatoes
• Shell Peas
• Dill
• Italian Parsley
• Cilantro
• Tomatoes
• Sweet Onions
• Cucumbers (given to members at different pick-up locations each week, on a rotating basis)

The trees on the mountains behind our farm have started to change colors.  It's beautiful.  Could it be that we are moving into Fall?  Yes, I guess it's true.  Time for us to start watching the weather forecasts much more closely and taking precautions to bring sensitive crops through the cold nights as necessary.  Soon it will be a lost cause and we'll give in to the freezing temperatures.  But hopefully not for a few more weeks.  I'm not ready to say good bye to the fillet beans, basil, or tomatoes just yet.

The colder weather also brings us into the next phase of the farm season - harvesting fall crops.  Last Tuesday night the farm experienced it's first below freezing temperatures.  This cold took it's toll on a few crops, but did no damage to any of the plants in the greenhouses (thanks to the extra insulation of row covers too). 

The first solid freeze of the season isn't all bad news.  For example, the carrots get sweeter with every cold night.  And there's one crop we actually put off harvesting until after the first frost - the potatoes.  As you may remember, we got some extra cold nights back about a month ago which did some damage to the potato plant tops, but didn't kill them back completely.  Last week's freeze finished the job. 

On Saturday Shain dug up one of our six rows of potatoes for your share this week.  He said the potato harvest will be a better yield from last year.  That's good news.  You are getting about 5 lbs. of Red Norland Potatoes this week.  Just the first of several weeks of potatoes.  We also planted our favorite Yukon Golds and they'll get dug up another weekend.

Speaking of potatoes, Shain fixed a batch of his killer mashed potatoes for our Sunday family dinner.  I was amazed at how incredible they tasted!  I asked him what he did differently to make them taste so good.  He simply looked at me and said "I used the freshly dug potatoes".  Oh yes!  Now I remember.  Home grown potatoes make all the difference! 

With this weeks assortment of veggies we have a few recipe ideas to suggest: 

• Creamed Peas with New Potatoes
• Roasted potatoes with the parsley
• Potato salad using the fresh dill
• Cilantro Pesto 
• Pea soup - Any one have a good recipe?  Sounds yummy for this cool weather.

We are really pleased with the herb crops this year.  I remember the herbs bolting so quickly last year in the heat.  But this year we've been able to give you cilantro and basil right along with the tomatoes.  This week we decided to give more of the herbs before they turn bad from a hard freeze.  You never know when that will happen. 

Important:  There will be NO CSA DELIVERY on Tuesday, September 29th.  We decided to take another one of our "off weeks" to harvest potatoes and plant the garlic.  Usually we work extra hours to accomplish these large jobs in addition to harvesting and other work.  But this year we are trying harder to enjoy the farm and not put so much pressure on ourselves.  In your CSA sign-up information we clearly stated up front that the farm would be having several "off weeks" throughout the season.  We did this with the intention of taking more family vacations away from the farm.  We only ended up taking the one real vacation in August.  (Hey, it's a start.)  We decided to take another family trip in the middle of October, but we'll do that when the kids are out of school and it won't be on CSA harvest days.  So, we'll use this last "off week" to plant garlic instead.  I can't begin to explain how this one small change has been better for us.  Many of you have been very supportive and understanding and for that we thank you most sincerely.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #18, September 8

In your share this week:

• Basil
• Tomatoes
• Garlic, 1 lb. Polish Jenn
• Carrots
• Sweet Onion
• Scallions
• Snow Peas
• Squash/Zucchini
• Cucumbers (to another pick up group)

Over the past few weeks you have received one pound each of the 3 garlic varieties we grow.  Each has it's own unique qualities and flavor.  Shain enjoys picking out just the right garlic to use as he prepares different recipes.  I'm not so particular.  I just know it's strong and tastes so much better than what you get from the store! 

Spanish Roja - an award winning garlic, strong lingering flavor, spicy and "hot", small to medium size

German Extra Hardy - large cloves, excellent for roasting, strong flavor, has a bit of an upfront "kick", spicy too

Polish Jenn - true garlic flavor, medium sized cloves, medium heat

Shain plants a row of sunflowers each year.  Last year the sunflower plants were accidentally pulled up by some students who came to the farm and wanted to help us with some "weeding".   (We don't let kids help us weed anymore.  Not without extra supervision.)  This year's flowers are just about in full bloom.  It's quite a sight!    One benefit besides their added beauty is the abundance of bees they attract.  It's hard to see in these photos, but nearly every flower has a bee or two on it. 

Sorry to make this a short newsletter.  I've got a lot on my mind.  And a lot to accomplish before it gets dark.  1)  It's supposed to freeze tonight.  We have a lot of work to do to try to protect those crops that are vulnerable to the cold.  2)  The vet is coming soon to put down one of my beloved goats.  She is sick and beyond the help I can give her.  I'm not looking forward to any of this, but tomorrow is another day.  And the sun will be shining on those sunflowers.  There is beauty all around.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #17, September 1

In your share this week:

• Carrots
• Scallions
• Very Baby Squash/Zucchini*
• French Fillet Beans
• Snow Peas - yes, these are the types that are supposed to be flat!
• Italian Parsley
• Garlic, 1 lb. Spanish Roja
• Tomatoes
• Cucumbers (going to a different pick up spot this week)

*As I mentioned before, the squash and zucchini plants aren't doing too great this season.  It's our guess that the cooler weather kept them from growing to their full size and producing as in years past.  Then came that early frost a few weeks ago which probably stunted the plants as well.  We've been keeping a close eye on these plants and noticed quite a lot of very-baby squash and zucchini on the plants, literally 100's of them.  But they aren't really growing.  Instead they get to about 4 or 5 inches long and then rot on the plant.  So we decided to harvest a good majority of the small squash and zucchini this week and include them in your shares.  We'll see what the plants decide to do now.  If this helps at all.  However, Shain tells me there's another cold period coming in this weekend which could affect the plants negatively again.  I guess it's one of those times when we can only wait and see.

The tomato season is well underway here on the farm.  This is what it looks like inside greenhouse #4 where we have 3 rows of tomato plants growing, as well as a few other crops.

 

In this first photo on the left is a row of shorter compact tomato plants.  They dwarf in comparison to the other two rows of tomatoes (on the right) which are close to 6 feet tall.  These plants all yield a smaller tomato fruit, which is how we get an abundance of tomatoes this "early" in the season.

Here are the three early smaller varieties of tomatoes you'll be getting quite a lot of this season.   First, on the left, is an Italian plum variety called Principe Bourgese.  In the middle is a favorite we've been growing for several years called Glacier.  It has a lot of flavor.  The third type on the right is called Ida Gold, which is a new variety for us this year.  (They are the ones growing on the compact plants in the picture above on the left.)

Each of these tomatoes will have a nice sweet flavor, especially when eaten fully ripe.  One interesting development for picking the tomatoes is that I've needed to start picking them a little under ripe.  A lot of the tomatoes left to ripen completely on the plant are splitting and cracking due the the temperature fluctuations in the greenhouse.  It's basically getting so hot in the greenhouse that the juicy ripe tomatoes are expanding in the heat and popping their skins.  So, let your slightly less ripe tomatoes sit out on the counter top for a few days and they'll taste much better.

Then every once in a while we get a funky one to make us smile...

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #16, August 25

In your share this week:

• French Fillet Beans
• Basil
• 1 lb. Garlic, German Extra Hardy
• Tomatoes
• Dill
• Cilantro
• Scallions
• Cucumbers*

*Only some of you will be getting cucumbers this week.  The vines have just started producing so we'll only have enough to give them to some of you each week, on a rotating basis by pick-up location. 

This week you are getting our famous French fillet beans.  And I tell you, they truly are famous.   I have people asking me every year "Are you growing those wonderful beans again?", "When will your beans be ready", and "I can't wait for those beans!"  Yes.  They are that good.  Nothing like regular green beans. They do not need to be cooked for long and can even be eaten raw.

We hope you enjoy this first of many weeks of tomatoes.  There's just nothing quite like the flavor of a home-grown, vine ripened tomato!  We are growing several varieties this year and I will introduce you to them as more varieties ripen and get put in your share. 

You are getting a big bag of basil in your share this week.  It's appearance is a little disappointing, but I'm a basil snob and perhaps a little too picky.  Besides, the flavor is what really counts, right?  And this basil is all there, strong and flavorful.  I highly recommend you use some to make pesto, which freezes very well.

That reminds me...Shain wants you to use the basil a little differently this week. 

You see, Shain and I have different approaches to deciding what gets harvested each week for your share.  Often we go back and forth discussing our opinions before a final list is made.  I'm more straight forward, asking: "What is ready?", "What do we have time to harvest?", "What will last until next week without going bad?"  Shain thinks a little differently.  He thinks in terms of recipes, "What can they make with what we give them this week?"  Take the basil.  I noticed it was ready two weeks ago before we were going on vacation.  I discussed my thoughts with Shain and he over-ruled me with his strong desire to hold off on the basil until we could pick tomatoes to go with them.  "We need to give them basil when they get their tomatoes so they can make bruschetta!"  So folks, that's Shain's recommendation.  (I hope he makes some for me!)  

Many people have strong opinions on the best method for storing garlic and I've heard several of them from our CSA members and customers over the years.  What I've learned is that each person's house and storage conditions are different.  Do what works best for you, what you've had the most success with.  For us, we find our garlic keeps best if simply kept in the mesh bag inside a kitchen cubbard.  There are two conditions to keep garlic away from:  moisture (including steam, humidity, or anything like it) and sunlight.  Otherwise, our garlic should store for several months.  It has NOT been preserved in any way other than being hung to dry for a few weeks (also known as "curing"), so it may not last as long as grocery store garlic.

We would like to thank our CSA members for being so supportive of our time off last week.  And also thank our Workshares for arranging their schedules around ours to help make this vacation possible.  Most of all, thanks to Asher and the Cox Family for taking care of our place and the farm.  It was so very nice to leave this place for just a few days and be confident enough in our helpers to not even worry or fret about it.  We had a nice few days with family.  It was wonderful and relaxing.  Just what we needed.

And while we were gone...there were two nights while we were out of town that the temperatures droped to freezing.  Fortunately, Shain had everything set up best he could to keep the greenhouses secure (thanks again to our helpers for the exta work it required), but there's not a whole lot that can be done to protect crops growing out side.  Damage assessment:  the tops of the potaoto plants froze a bit.  Not completely, but probably enough to prevent any more major growth.  Also, the tops of the zucchini and squash plants froze, even under their row covers.  This is a little more disappointing becasue these crops are already struggling to produce any fruit.  With this cool summer we've had in Star Valley and now this early freeze, it's a real possibility we won't have any zucchini or squash this year.  (Which I am finding very hard to comprehend because of all the jokes I hear every year about the excess of zucchini and squash coming from this farm.)

One last thing, a few weeks ago we added a few workers to our Workshare group.  They are some great ladies who are helping me with the harvesting now that Shain has returned to teaching school.  One of these ladies wrote an enjoyable piece about her first day working here on the farm.  I've added it to this blog and hope you will take the time to read it.  (It follows this blog post if you are reading my entries in chronological order.)

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara

CSA Newsletter #15, August 11

Don't forget:  There will NOT be a CSA produce delivery next week, August 18th.  We'll return to weekly deliveries the following Tuesday, August 25th.

In your share this week:

• Carrots
• Kale
• Romaine Salad Mix
• Parsley
• Cilantro
• Scallions
• Garlic

Yes Folks, it is true.  We are taking a VACATION!  We are leaving the valley and going somewhere without a vegetable to harvest, an animal to feed, or a weed to pull.  The farm will be in good hands though.  We have some very kind people lined up to stay at our place, take care of the animals, milk the goats, water the vegetables and maybe even get in a little extra weeding.  People ask if I'm excited about this time off.  My response is that I haven't had time to think about it yet.  There's too much work to do around here to get ready to leave.  However, after I wake up from my post farmers market nap (more like a "crash" than a nap), I'll be at a nice resort in the mountains with a hot tub and I'm sure I'll quickly remember what it's like to relax.

So, I here you like the carrots...

Ah yes, they are good!  And they get even sweeter as the weather gets colder.  This variety you are getting is called Scarlet Nantes.  We've been growing these carrots for a few years and they have become a favorite to everyone who tries them.

So many crops are just about ready to harvest.  You'll likely have tomatoes in a few weeks, also basil, French fillet beans, and beets.  We found many more caterpillars in the greens this week.  They may be on their way out.

Have a great week and enjoy your veggies!

Tara