Summer CSA pick up #16 this week

Farm News

On the farm this week it really feels like we are getting into a steady little habit. Harvest for CSA and the weekly market. Harvest for winter storage. Work some processing of winter storage things (like garlic or onions or chickens) in somewhere. Plant some Siberian Kale for the Winter CSA in the hoops. Clear a section of the 25-acre to feed the pigs and so that we can plant in a cover crop.

That feeling of steadiness and habit really only means one thing, something will come up. Maybe it was the 100F this week. Maybe it is the 60s next week. Maybe it is that Winter CSA sales seem super slow. Sometimes that “thing” is only obvious in hindsight. (BTW, have you purchased your Winter CSA yet? Click HERE and take that off your list ✔️.)

But that all really sounds like a Negative Nancy way of looking at things (no offense to those wonderful Nancy’s out there!) and that isn’t the point. The point is that farming trains you to expect the sudden, weird, crazy, unexpected. It’s sort of like looking down the road for the pothole that you know is there even if you don’t see it yet. Or running a river and expecting a wave to turn into a rock or be a bigger hole then you thought. You just have to be prepared.

This upcoming week we are expecting that it will be cold mid-week (you might need to bring your sweaters to come and pick up your CSA!) and we are hoping that it doesn’t freeze. We are expecting to harvest both the first summer melons and the first winter squash. We are expecting to process garlic.

Better watch all those expectations, team. Who knows what really will happen.

~ Alison & the Farm Crew

Sign Up for your Winter CSA

The Winter CSA Details

• Choose your pick up location: Bend, Sisters, or Farm Store
• Meat only or Meat and Vegetable
• Select your own vegetables, meat is prepackaged for you
• 1st Thursday of the month pick up in Bend and Sisters, November-May
• Friday-Saturday after the 1st Thursday of the month pick up at the Farm Store, November-May
• Pay in Full or Monthly subscription payment –> with the monthly subscription, you pay for November when you sign up (maybe today…) and then don’t pay again until Dec. 1.

Top Pic: Olive, Nat’s dog, has resumed her co-pilot roll on the farm. Another sure sign of fall approaching. This is her usual spot in the winter, but not so much in the summer when you can usually find her trotting along behind or riding on the flat bed. (Photo credit: Ray Hansen)

Next Two Pics: Bugs aren’t always that great to find on the farm, but these two we really like. The thread-waisted wasp pollinates flowers as it feeds on their nectar and the females kill caterpillars. They drag the caterpillars to a hole in the ground and bury the caterpillar with an egg ensuring their larva has something to eat. The praying mantis feeds on all the pests one finds in the garden: beetles, flies, moths. I particularly like Amanda’s imitation of the praying mantis she and Ray found in the hoops. (Photo credit: Amanda Mythen & Ray Hansen)

Next Pic: Sometimes chickens escape and they need to be returned to their home. Cue the animal truck! (Photo credit: Ray Hansen)

Final Pic: Anuenue welcomed her third calf to the farm this week. This little cutie birthed so easily and right in view of the road. Great entertainment for the neighbors 🙂 (Photo credit: Ray Hansen)

Veggie CSA

Every week, we include this section with what we think will be coming out of our fields and hoop houses for the CSA pick up. Keep in mind, that we send this email on Monday just as we start harvesting for the week. That means this is a guess/estimation/extrapolation of what we think we are seeing in the fields. Sometimes we are spot on, but other times we are not.

Our CSA is market style, this means that it isn’t a guarantee that we have of all these things for everyone. Instead, this will be the variety of what we will hopefully (fingers crossed) have for you to choose from this week.)

A note on foundations: SURPRISE! You will learn your foundations and all the details of your CSA for the week when you pick up.

Harvest List will probably include:

asian greens, napa cabbage, yod fah
green onions
kale & chard
head lettuce, salad mixes, arugula
beets
basil
beans
hot & sweet peppers
okra

eggplant
tomatillos
zucchini & yellow squash
cucumber
fennel
carrots
tomatoes
broccoli & cauliflower
corn

Meat CSA

Tune in next week for the Meat CSA.
Don’t forget, Meat CSA picks up every other week. Next meat CSA is 8/21.