(CSA Newsletter: Summer Week 16)
Meet this week’s vegetables:
The CSA pick-up site is moving! Starting on Tuesday, Nov. 6 (Election Day & the beginning of the ‘fall’ CSA season), we will be meeting at the YCAP food bank warehouse. The pick-up will continue to be held at the same day and time — Tuesdays, 3:30 – 6:30 pm.
The food bank warehouse is located about three blocks up 1st Street from where we meet now, so it should still be convenient for everyone. We’ll be using the loading dock back entrance, accessible from 1st Street, just east of the post office parking lot exit, between Ford and Irving. You’ll see the YCAP food bank truck outside, and we’ll also put out our white board sign during the pick-up, directing you to the loading dock door. We’ll set up our tables as usual inside, but I think we’ll all enjoy the dry warm location!
In addition to getting out of the increasingly damp weather, we’re also excited about the win/win relationship this creates with the food bank and YCAP. We’ll be able to immediately donate leftover produce to the food bank staff, who will then distribute them as needed to other food pantries, soup kitchens or individuals.
Also, we’re excited to gain a more intimate knowledge of local hunger issues and how we can better help with solutions. We’ll pass that information on to you as we learn more over the fall.
We’ve also been talking with Tricia Harrop, the YCAP director, about getting the CSA involved in a volunteer day at the food bank sometime this fall or early winter. So, for those of you who actively seek community involvement, especially around the holidays, keep your eyes peeled for dates and time. We think it will be a fun way for us to interact as a CSA community and serve the wider Yamhill County community at the same time.
Anyhow, thanks in advance to YCAP and the food bank for graciously letting us use the space one afternoon a week.
Thanks to Jason and Laurie Furch of Red Fox Bakery for offering their space as well … and thanks to Jason and Laurie for understanding when we realized our veggie distribution set-up might be too big and muddy in the fall for such a cozy bakery space. We’ll just have to make time for coffee and pastries in our farming life so we can hang out there the way we’d hoped to. Once the rain actually started, we were reminded of how messy year-round farming and distribution can be.
So, to recap: We have two more weeks of pick-up at First Baptist, then on November 6, we move to the food bank warehouse on 1st street. We’ll remind you of this every week until the move. Hope that helps everyone remember!
And, while we’re in the reminding mode, we hope everyone will make it to our final CSA Open House on Sunday, October 28, 1 – 4 pm. The pumpkins we planted are finally starting to turn orange (we had some problems with mice eating our first round of seeds, so they got in the ground later than we planned). Don’t worry, we still have a nice crop of harvested pie pumpkins for the shares, but our ‘fun’ pumpkin patch might be less exciting than we initially intended. There are pumpkins to choose from, but for a perfect jack-o-lantern pumpkin, we recommend also swinging by Heiser Farm’s pumpkin patch on the island (less than three minutes from our place), where you can find a wide variety of pumpkins to buy. Two pumpkin patches in one weekend! What could be better?
In the meantime, enjoy this week’s vegetables.
Your farmers,
Katie & Casey Kulla
Oakhill Organics
P.S. Next week we’ll be distributing our annual CSA survey. We know we still have time left in the year, but we wanted to catch your thoughts mid-season — when you’re in the thick of it. We’ll ask the usual questions: what did you love, what did you ‘not love,’ etc. Your thoughtful reflections are always welcome, so we hope that many of you choose to respond!
Fall vegetables & meal planning
This time of year, veggies start representing substantial ‘food value’ for our diets. Potaotes, winter squash and all the root crops we’ll soon be harvesting each bring a new ‘filling’ element to meal planning with vegetables. Consequently, in the fall, we often find ourselves often eating meals consisting entirely of vegetables.
For example, with this week’s veggies, we might roast potatoes and cipollini onions and serve them with kale braised with garlic. With just a little cheese on the side (or grated over the onions and potatoes), it’s a complete and satisfying meal!
… or, roast broccoli/cauliflower, tomatoes, zucchini, and cipollini onions. Lace the pan with whole garlic cloves. Serve over a bed of cous cous, topped with goat cheese or feta.
… or, mash cooked red potatoes with roasted garlic and serve as a bed for braised kale and turnip greens. Lay lightly pickled beets over the top and sprinkle with grated cheese.
… or, make a big pot of kale and potato soup.
To make any of these dishes ‘go farther’ for a meal with friends, we might also add meat in the form of a roasted chicken, steaks or sausage. We find that very simple meat preparations go best with our most veggie-rich meals.
