In the Box

• Red Potatoes
• Green and Red Curly Kale
• Acorn Squash
• Cinnamon Basil
• Italian Red Garlic
• Heirloom Tomatoes
• Head Lettuce
• Cherry Tomatoes
• Sweet Peppers
• Roma Tomatoes
• Hot Peppers
• Cucumber

When the season began this year I had many goals. Some were for the farm and some were for me personally. One of the personal ones was that I wanted to try to reduce the stress caused by all the seasonal ups and downs. I jokingly referred to it as ‘Zen and the Art of Farming’. I wanted to keep my inner peace despite what the weather, bugs, diseases, wind, employees, customers and markets could throw at me.

Well, I’m not sure that I have succeeded at that goal. Or else, the weather picked up the challenge and decided to push me to my limits. This has been a year of weather extremes. It’s too dry and then too wet. First it’s hot then it’s too cold. Several farmers that I know have decided to throw in the towel after this season.

I am not quitting, but it was very challenging to get hit with the earliest frost I’ve seen in my 18 years of farming. Our average first frost is October 1st. Last Saturday I left for farmers market before dawn. I knew we had frost, but did not see the extent of the damage until returning home Saturday evening. We lost all the tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers, and patty pans. Peppers, tomatillos, sweet potatoes and basil were partially killed by the frost. We had tried on Friday to cover all the vulnerable crops, but the wind was so strong that the covers blew off.

Some years I am ready for the frost, but not this year. I would have liked to have a couple more weeks of the summer crops. I’m trying to put a positive spin on all of this. I’m trying to see it as an opportunity to get all the fall clean up done earlier than normal.

So, an early frost obviously has an impact on the items in your boxes. This will be the last week for tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and probably peppers. Cherry tomatoes are in the greenhouse, so the frost did not hit them.

But there is some good news as well. The fall crops are looking good. We dug the first potatoes last week. You have a small taste this week. There will be more in the weeks to come.

Kale actually tastes sweeter after a frost. The kale recipe listed below is a great way for non-kale fans to eat and enjoy kale.

Head lettuce is back in your boxes. The deer have been enjoying the lettuce, so I harvested the heads at the baby lettuce stage. You got a couple of small heads this week.

Cinnamon basil was the one basil that survived the frost. It has a sweet spicy scent. I did make some pesto with it on Sunday. It tasted great, but was definitely different from sweet basil pesto.

Something I’ve learned from some of the local restaurants is to mix pesto with mayonnaise and use in sandwiches. Try making a cheese, pesto mayo, and apple slices in a sandwich. I think the cinnamon basil pesto would be great in this context.

This Week’s Recipes

• Corn and Kale Skillet Cake
• Thai Chicken with Basil
• Easy Garlic Mashed Potatoes