Cool night temps continue around here, slowing down any growth we had hoped might be happening. We’ve dodged frost so far — friends of ours in Dixmont have been getting light frosts since last August! — which means that everything is still alive, but it’s just not growing very fast. This is the reason that full shares got chard AND kale today, instead of chard and tomatoes.

We harvested all of our winter squash yesterday — pictures to come. We need to cure them in our hoophouse for a couple of weeks before we put them into the share; this helps to ensure that they’re actually ripe and that they’re really sweet. As winter squash develop on the vine, they always look ready before they actually are, leaving impatient growers plenty of time to pick them too early. If you’ve ever gotten a winter squash (Acorn squash, especially) from the store and been underwhelmed by it’s flavor, then you’ve noticed this. As they cure we make sure to sample them — honestly, it’s excruciating work — to know when they’re ready. The squash haul wasn’t as abundant as it was last year — thanks to all of that cold and rain in June and July — but there’s still plenty to put in the share.

Also, I started a Facebook page for the farm. There’s not much there that isn’t already here, but if you have a Facebook account, it can’t hurt to head over there and “become a fan” of us. You can also find that button over on the right on the front page of this blog.

An update on egg shares: as the sun comes up later and goes down earlier, the hens natural tendency is to stop laying as they prepare for winter and their next breeding cycle. Of course, this isn’t so great for commercial egg production. We were taken by surprise last week when the number of eggs we were collecting each day dropped from 2 dozen to 2 — just 2 — and we quickly rigged up some timed lights in the coop to get them back into the swing. This is a common practice in egg production — it’s meant to simulate longer day length — but in our pasture based system involves hundreds and hundreds of feet of extension cord. Anyway, we’re hoping that they’ll start laying again soon but, until then, don’t be surprised that there are no eggs in the share.

Detailed share information, notes about the veggies, storage tips and recipe tips are all inside the full post.

All shares contain:

• Swiss Chard
• Fresh Onions
• Leeks
• Parsley

“Full” shares also contain:

• Island Sunshine Potatoes
• Garlic
• Kale
• Lemon cucumbers

Bread shares: one loaf of Multigrain and one of Olive

Veggie Notes

Leeks – We use leeks just as we do onions: as a savory base to just about any dish. The flavor is unique and distinct from that of onions, but entirely delicious none the less. Potato Leek Soup is a classic preparation, but as long as you chop it up and saute it in butter, you can do just about anything with it. Omelettes and quiche are very good options, and they’re also very good roasted and slightly caramelized.

Potatoes – These Island Sunshine potatoes, a variety that has a dry, starchy or flourly texture and are excellent roasted, fried or mashed. They taste excellent and — miracle! — are late blight resistant. Unfortunately, they were in the ground so long after all of the other potatoes come out of the ground that little bugs called wire worms flocked to them and chewed those little dark tunnels into the spuds. Just trim those parts out.

Cucumbers – These are heirloom cucumbers called Lemon cucumbers. The don’t taste lemony, but they do taste very mild and sweet. I’m not a cucumber person, but these are the only cuke that I can tolerate.

Storage Notes

Store onions, greens, leeks, parsley, and cucumbers in a plastic bag in the fridge. Potatoes should be kept in a cool, dark place, but not in the fridge. Garlic is fine on the counter.

As always, we welcome your feedback. Please let us know if you have any questions, concerns or problems. Also, please send along any recipes you’d like to share.

We hope you enjoy the share!