12/13/23 Newsletter: 2023 Reflections & 2024 Anticipation
2023 has been quite a year but one thing is for sure, our CSA has been tremendous. That means you. Our CSA has been a larger percentage of our production than ever before with higher membership and more of you through this winter than we’ve ever before without reducing like prior winters! We’re so grateful for you. The CSA is key to our mission of bringing nutrient dense food and connection to our local community. Working to solve the world’s problems one cabbage at a time. Thank you for joining us in this, we know there are other options and we’re honored to have you. It’s been a challenging year but you are a highlight!
Yesterday we had a crew meeting going over the finances thus far of 2023. We’ll make it through but it’s been a tough year. The weather has been particularly challenging; the cloud cover of last winter/spring put a big dent in our spring crops. Then we prepped for making up for it with a good summer but May and June were cloudy and the summer was overly mild without heat to bring on the hot summer crops. We had the deer which did so much damage it drove us to install an expensive automated gate. We had labor shortages, over the course of the year we were down 10% in hours. Also, we had a very new crew, from April on. We had two amazing farm managers in their third year of farming here with others who had great experience but were otherwise new to our system. Plus of course inflation has been big on everything from seeds, compost, packaging, bookkeeping and of course labor.
That was all gloomy, but we also know you’re our CSA members and you want to know the realities and the pulse of the farm and that’s the truth. AND things are looking up.
Going into 2024 we feel very strong. We have 5 crew members who have from 5 months to 3 years on our farm and it means 2024 won’t be so much of a teaching and getting people up to speed year but a year for rocking it and moving forward. It’s the difference between training how and why we grow lettuce consistently to feeling it in their bones and pressing for regularity themselves because they had to say sorry to farmers’ market customers when they run out. That’s a big difference. We’ve already added a couple new crops and we may try some new practices. We do have three new people coming in this year who have some great experience. We’re looking into resuming our education and outreach; we haven’t had enough ranging from getting you on the farm to be more connected to teaching new farmers.
As we move into 2024, a huge shout out to our crew: Farm Manager Lola, who has carried so much this year, trained so many and is keeping the flow. Flower Manager Lisa, who after two years in veg dove into flowers and had a very successful year. Sean, who’s farmed with tillage for a couple years and now understands our methodology to the core. Sarah, who sees where systems can be updated and upgraded on the farm. Bobby, who’s only been here since August but has a passion for growing food the right way.
One more change, we need to raise our prices for the CSA in the spring. We’re loath to do this. We didn’t feel we could raise prices when we were having issues, we are moving past those and we need to meet our raising costs, the biggest of which is paying our farmers a reasonable wage. We value our work, we have proof that our farming does produce amazing produce with proven high nutrient density while inspiring other farmers and sequestering carbon. The increase will start in March, we’ll let you know our plan in January. The increase will incorporate a sliding scale because food should be accessible. We’re raising prices at our farmers’ markets this week as a start.
We do highly appreciate your support.
Here’s to 2024. We’re excited!
Year End CSA Schedule
Over Winter Solstice, plus all the winter holidays, we’ll have a two week break of regular CSA boxes.
Your next Regular CSA Box is Jan 3rd!
Next week December 20th, we’ll have another
Special Add-On only Holiday Box
Email with details coming Friday.
Produce Notes & Recipes
This Week’s Box
Little Gem Lettuces
Baby Bok Choi
Brussels Collards
Brussels Sprouts (Classic Boxes) OR Broccoli (Family Boxes)
Savoy Cabbage
Winter Squash (Black Futsu for Classic Boxes, Delicata for Family Boxes)
Fuyu Persimmons
Family: Mustard/Arugula Greens Mix & Frisée Endive
This week we have a pretty big split between Classic and Family Boxes. It looks like Families are getting a lot more but they’re not getting Brussels Sprouts which is a big item, they had them in November. It is a key crop for us. A big Brassica that comes mid-winter. AND we’ve worked for years to get our strategy. You’ll find very few people grow them locally. We’re hoping to have 2-4 more rounds of Brussels Sprouts in the first boxes of 2024!
Storage: We recommend storing them on the stem, they do like a little humidity, so keep them in a plastic bag near the bottom of your fridge. If it’s really too many for you, freeze some. Blanch in boiling water 3-5 min (depending on size), drain and place in freezer bags.
Cooking ideas:
Steamed: Cut into quarters, steam 5 min. Toss with butter, olive oil or Mediterranean Dressing: (for 1 lb sprouts) 3 Tbs olive, 2 tsp lemon juice, 2 med cloves garlic, chopped, salt and pepper, 1 Tbs dijon mustard (opt), 1 Tbs minced parsley (opt)
Boil 8-10 minutes, drain and serve with butter.
Roast: Mix with olive oil, salt & pepper. Roast at 400F for 35-40 minutes, shake pan every 5-7 minutes for even browning. Done when dark brown on parts.
Sautéed: Cut in half, rub cut edge with olive oil, cook in large pan over medium heat for ~5 min, until bottoms are slightly brown and tender throughout, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Then turn up heat and cook till deep brown and caramelized, tossing occasionally. Dust with cheese of your choice.
Combine quartered cooked Brussels sprouts with sliced red onions, walnuts, and your favorite mild tasting cheese such as a goat cheese or feta. Toss with olive oil and balsamic vinegar for side dish or salad.
Now Brussels Collards can be used just like Collards or Kale, although they have an amazing Brussely flavor. We love them braised with some form of pork or apples or both. I think tonight in the Kaiser house will have a sausage, garlic, and Brussel Green sauté over rice.
Classic Boxes are getting Black Futsu Winter Squash. Usually we save this squash until last but they grew slowly, and had rain and frost before they fully cured. They’ve now cured in the barn but we lost far more than we anticipated and we want to get it out to your ASAP. Families are getting Delicata because we don’t have enough. Both are amazing.
Black Futsu are a Japanese heirloom Butternut. The flesh is golden and, while not necessarily sweet, it has the rich taste of hazelnuts. We usually have it simply roasted in halves or quarters with butter and it’s amazing. It’s not a good squash for any recipe that requires peeling because of their small size and bumpy, ribbed nature.
Family Boxes have an Elegance/Arugula Greens Mix. This is a mix of a young mustards as well as about half arugula. It would be amazing fresh with a miso dressing.
Everyone has a Savoy Cabbage this morning. These beautiful, dense cabbages will last a while.
Savoy cabbage ideas:
Steam and serve with fish, or wrap the fish in the leaves and steam
Sauté it with boiled potatoes, garlic and onions
Stuff the leaves with rice or potatoes and ground meat
Add to minestrone
Make sauerkraut or kimchi
Sauté with bacon and spaetzle
Use in borscht
Shred it with carrots and season with apple cider vinegar, sugar and salt to make cole slaw
Sauté cabbage, bacon and onions then toss with egg noodles
Combine with sliced sugar snap peas and a creamy dressing in slaw
We have Fuyu Persimmons for everyone this week from our neighbors Gary and Sue (also a CSA member). We manage their 8 Fuyu Persimmons in exchange for a large portion of the fruit. Like everything else this year, they are late to ripening but we wanted to get you a round of them before the holidays. We recommend not eating them right away, but putting them on your counter (room temp) until they darken in color and are slightly soft to touch. Fuyu are not the astringent persimmons and are great eaten like an apple or baked (but they will need to be quite soft before any baking).
We left most of the Persimmons on the trees and will be back to harvest them in a couple weeks and have them for you again in January.
Families have a head of Frisée Endive. Last night I cooked, my family swooned over a sauté of onions, pork, lots of garlic, Cannellini beens and Frisée and parmesan cheese over pasta. I had forgotten how good Cannellini and Frisée/Escarole go together and highly recommend.