Please note our delivery day changes because of the upcoming Labor Day weekend -- seeding cover crops for green manure -- U-pick cornucopia
Fox Creek Farm CSA Newsletter, week of August 26, 2019
In this newsletter:
Farm News
Recipe: Garlic roasted Red Norland potatoes
This week's share & U-pick update
IMPORTANT NOTE: Delivery day change because of Labor Day
Monday, September 2 is Labor Day. So we are making a one-time change to our CSA delivery schedule, as following:
Monday, 9/2 sites, will be delivered on Tuesday, 9/3 (same times)
Tuesday, 9/3 deliveries, will be delivered on Wednesday, 9/4
And Thursday, 9/5 deliveries will still be on Thursday, 9/5 (unchanged)
Farm News
We're looking at a week of rather nice weather to be farming. Not too hot and humid, Not too cold. We're harvesting lots of wonderful produce, and we're cleaning up the earliest fields we started harvesting from.
With some of the fields coming out of production, we are starting to seed our fall cover crops. We've been using cover crops ("green manure") extensively on the farm for years. It prevents erosion, breaks up weed cycles, and converts carbon dioxide into soil organic matter. And in future years, the slow decomposition of the organic matter releases the much needed nitrogen we need to grow our crops.
As you may remember, last year the farm was one of the recipients of the New York State Climate Resilient Farming Grant Program in 2018. The grant assisted us with the purchase of a no-till grain drill over the winter. This piece of equipment allows us to seed cover crops after a market crop, without the need to plow. And without plowing, we don't need to disk. So we reduce a lot of tractor passes through the field. And a lot of rapid decomposition of soil organic matter (and carbon dioxide release) that normally is the result of moldboard plowing!
The U-pick is still looking awesome, but there is a hint of fall in the air this morning. Seriously, if you have a trip on the farm on your to-do list, try to make it in the next few weeks!
Your farmers,
Raymond and Sara
Recipe: Garlic Roasted Red Norland Potatoes
With the first potatoes from the farm in the share this week, and the more moderate temperatures outside, we thought this garlic roasted potato recipe to be very timely!
Ingredients:
About 2 pounds of Red Norland potatoes, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon sea salt
¾ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 F. Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet in one layer, and add the oil, salt, pepper, and garlic. Toss to coat the potatoes, and roast in the oven for about 45 minutes to 1 hour, until crisp and golden. Don’t forget to flip the potatoes a couple of times during the roasting process! Remove from the oven, and season to taste with pepper and salt. Garnish with parsley (optional) and serve right away. Side dish, serves 6.
In this week's share & U-pick update
This week's share: Lettuce, garlic, Red Norland potato, onion, red cored Chantenay carrots, heirloom and slicer tomatoes, and cucumbers. We rotate summer squash, eggplant, peppers, green beans, cilantro, parsley, basil, Swiss chard, kale, sweet corn, and saladette tomatoes,
And the U-Pick Cornucopia continues! The U-pick garden is looking fantastic. Culinary herbs, flowers (the picture above is from a CSA member harvest), lots of different cherry tomatoes, tomatillos (they are ripe when the husk is opening), ground cherries, hot peppers (from hot to very hot). All surrounded by a beautiful working farm!
Thank you for your support of our family farm!
We pride ourselves in providing our CSA members with an experience that exceeds your expectations. Please don't hesitate to contact us with any of your questions or concerns regarding the farm.
