Tomorrow marks the last CSA delivery for the season at the Dumbo site.  While this was our 3^rd season having a CSA program, we found the logistics of delivering vegetables into the Brooklyn neighborhood an engaging task at times.  I am grateful that my son Will, had the patience to endure being behind the wheel of the delivery van for up to (6) hours at times, for the round trip for those heavier traffic days.  Our season was thankfully, not punctuated with anything out of the ordinary, as far as the regular challenges that we have faced in other summers.  Some crops did better than others during the summer.  The crops that came in heavier yields were represented better in the CSA shares than those items that did not make it to harvest size or quality.

I can honestly say that we, and our farm crew, worked very hard to make this first season go as well as possible, and to provide as many different varieties of vegetables as we could during the course of the season.   In addition, when our yields permitted, we provided significantly more in quantity than what either the partial or full share might have been.

It has been a good learning experience for us and we look forward to making next season even better.  I am pleased with how everything went with the Dumbo CSA program.  We appreciate your support as members and thank you for making the choice to be a part of our Farm CSA.  Your participation quite simply, helps us to farm.  While we rely on our retail sales at the farm and at the farmer’s markets that we participate in, the support we receive from our CSA members is not only significant but important in rounding out our balance of production.

We look forward to seeing those CSA members that plan to visit the Farm this coming weekend, November 16^th, Sunday from 1:00 PM to 3:00 PM rain or shine.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Asparagus Green , Purple Passion
Beans      Green Snap, Waxed & Burgundy
Beets     Red Ace, Golden, White, Striped
Broccoli Chinese Guy Lon, Traditional Head type
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage Green Savoy, Tendersweet, Red, Arrowhead
Napa, Baby Bok Choy, Traditional Bok Choy, Nyu Choy, U-Choy
Carrots Red Dragon, White, Yellow, & Orange
Cauliflower White, Violet Red, Orange, & Romanesque
Cucumbers Asian Seedless, Kirby pickling, Traditional slicers
Eggplant Asian purple, Italian, White, Varigated, &  Specialty
Garlic  German Stiff neck, White New York, Rose,
Greens Baby Arugula, Spinach, Tatsoi, Mizuna, Red Russian Kale, Red Mustard
Leeks
Kohlrabi
Lettuce Red Leaf, Green/Red Boston, Green/Red Iceberg, Red Oak
Melons Sweet Summer, Asian types
Onions Red, White, Yellow Bulb type
Parsnips
Peppers Sweet Bell Types, Purple, Red, Orange, White, Yellow, Green, Hot Chile, Thai
Potatoes Kueka Gold, Norland Reds, French Fingerlings, Yellow Banana
Radish French, Easter Egg, Japanese Daikon, Korean
Rhubarb
Shallots French
Squash Acorn, Delicata, Butternut, Spaghetti, Summer yellow and Green Zuchinni
Sweet Potatoes
Tomatoes Cherry, Plum, Beef, all colors and varieties
Watermelon Red, Yellow, Orange   Seeded and Seedless types

Partial
Red leaf lettuce
1 bunch Italian parsley
3 heads baby bok choy
1 bunch French radishes
1 bunch mixed beets
1 head Red romaine

PARTIAL
8 oz. mesclun
1 bunch u-choy
1 bunch mixed carrots
savoy cabbage
1 # Kueka gold potatoes

For those that follow the weather closely, you may know that this past Thursday evening, we had a sustained time period (more than a couple of hours) of temperatures in the mid to upper 20 degree range (Fahrenheit), for a good hard ‘White Frost’.  Some folks refer to a Frost of this magnitude as a ‘Killing Frost’.  Any vegetable not cool weather hardy, like our Broccoli, and Cabbage, was killed by this freeze.  The affected crops included all of our Tomatoes, Peppers, Eggplants, Squash plants, beans and some others.

Even though the temperatures have moderated and returned to mild temperatures in the upper 50’s, damage to the cells of the frost sensitive plants from that evening, was too great for those plants to survive.  If you’re familiar to what can happen to a water pipe that has frozen, then you can imagine what happens to the cells of these plants that rupture when they are exposed to freezing temperatures.  Knowing that we might have freezing temps, we did our best to harvest as much of these items to put into our barn for storage on Thursday afternoon.  So as not to surprise you if you happen to stop in at the farm stand, we will have a little of some of these items left to sell on the farm stand over the next few days.

With the beginning of the end (of the season) in sight, I always seem to have mixed feelings.  As much as I want the harvests of the season to continue, I also welcome the shorter work days and slower rhythm of the fall and winter on the farm.  It has been a good season to date, and I look forward to begin recharging our batteries soon.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Partial
1 broccoli
8 oz. bag mesclun
1 bunch French egg radishes
1 bunch mixed beets
1 # gold potatoes

As we begin to wind down our crop production, there is one important planting that we’ve been doing over the last few weeks that prepare our fields for the winter, our cover crop.  We’ve been doing spot seeding of some sections of the fields with plantings of perennial Rye grass, one of the cover crops we use to protect the soil from wind and water erosion during the winter months. When planted properly, this type of cover crop develops a thick cover of grass to keep the winter winds from carrying the top soil away during those dry windy days that are coming.  The roots also help in holding the soil from washing away during periods of heavy rain fall.  We try to cover crop all areas not having a late fall vegetable growing.

During the early to mid 1930’s there were a combination of circumstances that lead to what was called the “Dust Bowl Days” in the mid west United States.  At that time, drought, coupled with millions of newly plowed acres in the plain States, left bear soil to windy conditions to create huge dirt storms that went on for days, weeks and longer in some cases.  The amount of damage to the soils in those areas was unprecedented in geological history.

Experience has changed farming practices since then to plan for seasonal changes in the weather and to protect the most precious asset on the farm, the topsoil.  With proper cover cropping, there is minimal topsoil loss occurs during the winter months.  As a certified organic farmer, I am obligated to manage our field’s topsoil with cover crops not only during the winter months but also when ever possible during the growing season to help build organic matter and additional nutrients.

Be well,

Fred & Karen

Partial
1 head broccoli
Red romaine lettuce
1 bunch easter egg radishes
1 bunch mixed carrots
1 bunch leeks
tender sweet cabbage