If a tree grows in Brooklyn....
If a tree grows in Brooklyn why not peanuts in NJ. That's right! Since we have to supplement the deliveries, as the season has been so terrible, Farmer Diane called us that she found a local farmer with peanuts and we said sure why not!! These of course are raw or "green" peanuts and can be boiled or roasted (see recipes on the back). You can simple eat them raw and add them to salads whole or chop them and sprinkle the bits over your salads, raw soups, and even raw desserts. The flavor of raw peanuts is quite delicate compared to the more familiar taste of roasted peanuts.
When we bought the farm back in 1985, Farmer Rich planted 100 apple trees. The deer proceeded to eat all but 9 of these trees in the course of the first few years. The remaining 9 trees have intermittently produced fruit over the years and this year when Ali & Lisa check them out, they had about 200 pounds of our "wild" apples to pick. Though they are a bit on the wild side, they taste great, more of a tart taste, but have not been sprayed ever (and they look it). You also will be getting Yellow Delicious apples from Windy Brow Farm this week.
From the Fields: With the better growing weather the seeded crops are doing very well. In this week's delivery you will be getting a mix of baby greens which are thinnings from the rows of mustards, oriental greens and radishes. We hope to get another batch of thinnings for another delivery. Some spinach is on the horizon. It too is doing well in the field.
The final bed in the Franklin greenhouse has been rolled over and seeded with arugula. The Sweet Peppers continue to do extremely well (as you have noticed) and until a frost should continue to do so. The winter squash harvest has started. This week you will be receiving butternut squash. More varieties are coming, such as delicata, carnival and acorn.
The established crops in the field look the best they have all year, though 16 weeks into the season. We hope that this increases our deliveries for the remaining weeks yet to come. Farmer Rich considers this the worst season in our 14 years of CSA deliveries. We have tried hard to keep the deliveries consistent and hope that you all understand the risks involved when there is season where the weather has severely impacted the outcomes of the crops.
The crew continues to pull up the plastic on the beds in the field as the season is winding down. We plan on tilling it and plant a cover crop of oats for the winter.
Weather Report: Some rain did fall on Thursday and it helped the newly seeded crops which are all field planted and depend on rain and/or irrigation. The night temperatures are in the high 30's. There was a frost warning for the area, but fortunately it did not hit the farm, though the week ahead looks like some frost may hit.
Animal Report: The Farm Cat continues to become a part of the farm family making it's rounds and keeping the voles & field mice at bay.
Pick of the Week: click on the links below or to the right to bring you to the delivery specific to your pick-up location. Deliveries will be of similar variety & poundage, but may contain different items. Occasionally, some crops are ready to harvest but not enough to deliver to all our drop-off locations. What we do is start to filter them in each week to a different drop-off until there is enough to delivery to everyone.
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