Volume 15 - No 21 - Week of October 25th

Last Delivery of the Season

The season has come to an end. We hope you were pleased with the seasonal produce and we thank you all for your support of our small farm.

The year was difficult being a drought year, but more manageable than last year which was too wet. Many crops did much better than prior years such as the peppers & eggplant. Conversely some crops did not so well such as broccoli and other brassicas. There were crop failures as well.

If you have any ideas for different veggies you would like to see next year, just send us an e-mail and we will look through our seed catalogs in January as we prepare our large seed order for 2011.

We had a great trip to the farm on Sunday and CSA members & families helped plant garlic. It was a nice warm day, with partly sunny skies. We started by "popping" the garlic cloves from the blub, and then went into the back field to plant & mulch. We followed this by Farmer Sue's famous lunch which included: Red Cabbage & Sunchoke Coleslaw, Roasted Blue Potatoes & Onions, Veggie Medley & Rice Bake, Spaghetti Squash, Lasagna, Hot Dogs, Roasted Zucchini, Fresh picked salad & Roasted garlic.

We do hope we have a better garlic year for the 2011 season. Thank you to all who came to help and hope that you enjoyed the day at the farm.

Some news that never made prior newsletters was Farmer Rich helping with starting a garden at The Hoboken Dual Language Charter School on Jefferson. We started some lettuce, rosemary & thyme plants and they seeded some radishes and all was going well for the budding farmers until they received a hail storm. A future project for the school is to have the students make birdhouses and paint them anyway that they want. We would then put up the birdhouses on the farm as you can never have enough birds around to help with insect control. We do plan on assisting them again in the spring. We also are going to the Bethlehem Early Learning Center in Ridgewood to talk with the preschoolers about what grows on the farm.

From the Fields:The fields are all shut down now that the season is over and are being cleaned up for next year. The greenhouse in Franklin has also been fully harvested and will be closed up until March. The greenhouses on the farm are in need of some repair which will keep Farmer Rich busy during the off-season.

Weather Report: Another frost hit the fields on Friday which was the heaviest one to date and it was surely a COLD morning. Fortunately, the greens in the greenhouse were not affected. The weekend was gorgeous and a great way to end the harvest year harvesting on a bright sunny day on Saturday and then Hannah & Lisa finished the harvest before our Trip to the Farm started on Sunday.

Animal report: No problems in animal land this past week. We do hear the geese overhead heading south for the winter and Farmer Rich has seen the robins in flocks as well. Though not as noisy as the geese, they too must be migrating to a warmer climate.

Fruit Delivery:Tonight's delivery we have some late season apples from Windy Brow Farm. Depending on your delivery site, you will be receiving either Greenings or Melrose apples.

Thanks to all CSA members for your continued support.

End of Season Potluck Dinner

Hosted by the Hoboken Midtown CSA group, but All CSA members are invited. November 6^th @ 7:30 pm

The Yankee Clipper Boat - owned by Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs anchored in the Hudson River off Sinatra Drive, Hoboken

Directions:From the Hoboken Historical Museum (1301 Hudson Street), walk toward the Hudson River, thru Shipyard Park, onto Sinatra Drive sidewalk. Enter and exit through the Iron Gate in the railing to Shipyard dog run Walk through the Shipyard dog run. Close dog run gates behind you and if a dog is present, check with the owner before entering. Step onto Pier and walk to end to go on board. NOTE:Unfortunately, the boat is not child-friendly and not set up for the safety of children under under12. Only Children 12 years and older will be able to attend.

ALSO - NO LIQUOR is ALLOWED on the Yankee Clipper Boat. Please do not bring any wine, beer or liquor the evening of the Pot Luck dinner. Thank you!!!

Please RSVP by October 25^th to Valerie D'Antonio (see your weekly newsletter for contact info)

She will be coordinating three categories of dishes: -appetizers -main dishes -desserts

If possible, please contact her as soon as you can with the dish you will be bringing so that there will be a good variety. It is great to get together at the end of the season and to meet many of you who enjoy the harvests each week that we don't get to see on delivery day. We hope that many of you can make it.

Week of October 25th - 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 at anytime during the season. 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.

• Recipe Links
• Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
• Hoboken Midtown Delivery
• Hoboken West Delivery
• Jersey City Hamilton Park Delivery
• United Synagogue of Hoboken

Volume 15 - No 20 - Week of October 18th

Next Week - Last Delivery of the Season

What a way to lead into the end of the season with a heavy frost & high winds. Fortunately there is only 1 week to go!

The force of the high winds on Saturday caught a small hole in the middle greenhouse and turned the small hole into a huge one, ripping about 1/3 of the plastic off the greenhouse. It was overdue for replacement, so this will prompt us to replace it during the off season.

As we were driving to Hoboken on Sunday morning for the Garlic Fest, the crew called in to report a heavy frost which affected a few of the fields. They were ready to harvest some of the greens, but had to wait until it warmed up as the mustards were almost frozen. The late greens actually like it cold and are considered "cold hardy" plants.

It was great to see many CSA members at the Garlic Fest in Hoboken on Sunday. What a beautiful Sunday afternoon it was and everyone enjoyed the tasting. We also brought some of Shawna's jarred goodies to taste as well and everyone loved her zucchini bread, apple breads, jams, chutneys and especially a red pepper garlic spread.

The garlic in tonight's delivery is Spanish Roja and it perhaps the most popular garlic at our tastings and on Sunday it was as well. It was actually voted the "People's Choice" of garlic at our Olde Lafayette Village tasting 2 weeks ago. We'll have to remember to have a vote for your favorite garlic next year in Hoboken to see which of the varieties people really like!

The Spanish Roja Garlic is a very potent variety to most. It also makes an excellent roaster which will tone down the "fire". If you eat it raw, the flavor is quite sharp and "spicy", so be prepared!!!

What's up & growing:The season is winding down with just 1 more delivery. We harvested the potatoes that were planted by CSA member help during the trip to the farm in July. They will be filtered into the delivery sites next week. The interesting thing about them is that the potato plants never flowered; they just produced the potatoes, unlike spring planted potatoes which do flower. They actually did rather well for being planted so late!

Weather Report: About 1/2" of rain fell during the week, but the high winds were the story of the week. Temperatures are remaining seasonal to warm for this time of year. Actually the first frost of the season was later than last year.

Animal report: A deer broke into the middle field and decided to eat the tips of the remaining tomato plants. Either the same or another deer broke into the field in the same spot about 2 weeks ago. We have since fixed that section of fencing and hope it is secure for next year.

TRIP to the FARM-Help Plant Garlic

Sunday October 24^th. 11 am - ??

Want to spend a day in the country and help us on the farm? We are scheduling our next work day at the farm to be a garlic planting day. Help us plant garlic for the 2011 season. We picked up some new varieties for other local farmers to plant over the weekend at the Garlic Gathering in Olde Lafayette Village. Some of them include: Porcelain, Romanian Red and German Red

· Who - CSA members, families, friends

· What - Plant Garlic !!

· Where - @ Catalpa Ridge Farm in Wantage

· When - October 24^th, starting at 11 am

· Why - visit the farm to help out

Just RSVP via e-mailso we can send you directions, as well as plan on refreshments & lunch.

Fruit Delivery:Tonight's delivery we have some late season apples from Windy Brow Farm. Depending on your delivery site, you will be receiving either Melrose or Mutsu apples. Melrose, (the official apple of Ohio) looks like a vintage apple, but surprisingly, it only dates back to WWII. It's a cross between a Jonathan and a Red Delicious. Good in the kitchen since it stays firm with cooking and it doesn't need much sweetener. Mutso (also known as Crispin), is a cross between the Golden Delicious & the Indo, and arrived in the USA in the late 1940's. Its generous size & appealing color attract you to what lies within...a crisp, white, juicy flesh, with just a touch of tartness.

Last Delivery of the Season will be: The Week of October 25^th

End of Season Potluck Dinner

Hosted by the Hoboken Midtown CSA group, but All CSA members are invited. November 6^th @ 7:30 pm

The Yankee Clipper Boat - owned by Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs anchored in the Hudson River off Sinatra Drive, Hoboken

Directions:From the Hoboken Historical Museum (1301 Hudson Street), walk toward the Hudson River, thru Shipyard Park, onto Sinatra Drive sidewalk. Enter and exit through the Iron Gate in the railing to Shipyard dog run Walk through the Shipyard dog run. Close dog run gates behind you and if a dog is present, check with the owner before entering. Step onto Pier and walk to end to go on board. NOTE:Unfortunately, the boat is not child-friendly and not set up for the safety of children under under12. Only Children 12 years and older will be able to attend.

ALSO - NO LIQUOR is ALLOWED on the Yankee Clipper Boat. Please do not bring any wine, beer or liquor the evening of the Pot Luck dinner. Thank you!!!

Please RSVP by October 25^th to Valerie D'Antonio (see your weekly newsletter for contact info)

She will be coordinating three categories of dishes: -appetizers -main dishes -desserts

If possible, please contact her as soon as you can with the dish you will be bringing so that there will be a good variety. It is great to get together at the end of the season and to meet many of you who enjoy the harvests each week that we don't get to see on delivery day. We hope that many of you can make it.

Week of October 18th - 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 at anytime during the season. 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.

• Recipe Links
• Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
• Hoboken Midtown Delivery
• Hoboken West Delivery
• Jersey City Hamilton Park Delivery
• United Synagogue of Hoboken

Volume 15 - No 19 - Week of October 11th

Abundant Sunshine !

The weather was gorgeous the later part of the week with a stunning Saturday/Sunday to harvest the deliveries. There was a frost warning on Sunday morning for Sussex County. There was a heavy frost from Franklin (where we have 1 greenhouse) to Farmer Diane's, but fortunately NO frost at the farm!! The warm weather crops are winding down anyway, so it would not have been the end of the world if we did get frosted.

The crew has removed all the stakes from the fields and is diligently working on getting all the plastic up from the beds. Most of the beds where we plan on planting the garlic have been fully harvested, so we need to till it for the October 24^th trip to the farm.

What's up & growing: We have two more weeks for the deliveries, as long as we don't get a freeze or a snowstorm. Lettuce, leeks, red mustard, chard, potatoes, onions, carrots and herbs are all slated to be harvested for the last 2 weeks.

Weather Report: The temperatures have been cooler since the big rain, more like autumn. We need our jackets and gloves in the am then can unlayer in the afternoon. More rain is in the forecast for the middle of the week. Just about 1/2" of rain fell last week. Just enough to keep everything perked up.

Animal report: The Wooly Bear Caterpillar is in!

This has become an annual part of the newsletter for the past 14 years and for the most part has been pretty accurate. Weather folklore enthusiatasts have long assessed that the woolly bear caterpillar is one insect that is supposed to give us some insight as to how severe the winter will be. It is said that if the middle stripe is narrower than either of the black stripes, the winter will be severe. Conversely, if the center stripe is wide, we'll have a mild winter. If all the stripes are the same size, we'll have an average winter. This year, 3 out of 3 Wooly Bear caterpillars seen have wild center stripes, so perhaps a mild winter?


TRIP to the FARM-Help Plant Garlic

Sunday October 24^th. 11 am - ??

Want to spend a day in the country and help us on the farm? We are scheduling our next work day at the farm to be a garlic planting day. Help us plant garlic for the 2011 season. We picked up some new varieties for other local farmers to plant over the weekend at the Garlic Gathering in Olde Lafayette Village. Some of them include: Porcelain, Romanian Red and German Red

• Who - CSA members, families, friends
• What - Plant Garlic !!
• Where - @ Catalpa Ridge Farm in Wantage
• When - October 24^th, starting at 11 am
• Why - visit the farm to help out

Just RSVP via e-mailso we can send you directions, as well as plan on refreshments & lunch.

Fruit Delivery:Tonight's delivery we have some late season apples from Windy Brow Farm. Depending on your delivery site, you will be receiving either Jonathan, Empire or Fortune Apples. The Jonathan was first discovered in Ulster County, NY in the early 1800's. Its popularity has grown due to its use in several well-known crosses (Jonagold, Jonamac, Jonalicious). It has a somewhat spicy tang, crisp, juicy flesh under a thin skin. It is great for fresh eating and making applesauce. The Fortune is a product of Cornell's Agriculture Department and was first introduced in 1996. This apple is a hybrid cross between a Schoharie Spy and the Empire. It is great for fresh eating, applesauce or pie. Stores well too!

Last Delivery of the Season will be: The Week of October 25^th

End of Season Potluck Dinner

Hosted by the Hoboken Midtown CSA group, but All CSA members are invited. November 6^th @ 7:30 pm

The Yankee Clipper Boat - owned by Victoria & Richard MacKenzie-Childs anchored in the Hudson River off Sinatra Drive, Hoboken

Directions:From the Hoboken Historical Museum (1301 Hudson Street), walk toward the Hudson River, thru Shipyard Park, onto Sinatra Drive sidewalk. Enter and exit through the Iron Gate in the railing to Shipyard dog run Walk through the Shipyard dog run. Close dog run gates behind you and if a dog is present, check with the owner before entering. Step onto Pier and walk to end to go on board. NOTE:Unfortunately, the boat is not child-friendly and not set up for the safety of children under under12. Only Children 12 years and older will be able to attend. Please RSVP by October 25^th to Valerie D'Antonio (see your weekly newsletter for contact info)

She will be coordinating three categories of dishes: Ÿappetizers Ÿmain dishes Ÿdesserts

If possible, please contact her as soon as you can with the dish you will be bringing so that there will be a good variety. It is great to get together at the end of the season and to meet many of you who enjoy the harvests each week that we don't get to see on delivery day. We hope that many of you can make it.

UPCOMING EVENTS

4^th Annual Garlic Fest- Hoboken Historical Museum - 1301 Hudson Street

· Sunday October 17th 1-5 pm

Week of October 11th - 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 at anytime during the season. 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.

• Recipe Links
• Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
• Hoboken Midtown Delivery
• Hoboken West Delivery
• Jersey City Hamilton Park Delivery
• United Synagogue of Hoboken

Volume 15 - No 18 - Week of October 4th

October Rain !

We have been reporting all season about our struggle with drought conditions, which has occurred in past seasons as well. It has been dry with spurts of rain now & then but on Friday we made up for it all in one day! We received over 7" of rain on Friday alone and had received another ½" earlier in the week. It certainly is no fun working the rain, but duty calls!

The temperature definitely dropped on Sunday morning a low of about 42⁰. The record high for Sussex County for October 1^st was 87⁰ in 1919 and the record low was 24⁰ in 1899. I wonder what type of seasons those farmers had!

The crew continues to work on cleaning up the fields on non-harvest days. They are starting to remove the plastic from the wrapped beds.

It was great to meet some CSA members who traveled up to Olde Lafayette Village this past weekend to the Garlic Gathering.

What's up & growing:The hot weather, summer crops are "limping" along. We are trying to squeeze out another week's harvest or two out of them as long as we don't get a frost. This includes the eggplant, tomatoes and peppers. The rain, though a bit much, certainly perked up the mustards, Daikon, chard and kale. Everything that needed water was very thankful. The late potatoes are still in the field and we be digging them for the delivery first chance we get. They definitely will be in one of the final week's harvest.

Weather Report: As reported, over 7" of rain fell on Friday. This week's forecast is for more rain as well through Thursday. We hope that we don't get into a rainy trend as more work is yet to be done with 3 weeks to go for the season. Fortunately, the area where we plan on planting the garlic is one of the driest parts of the field. Last year we struggled to get the beds ready due to a wet trend.

Animal report: Everything is quiet with no problems. We are waiting to give our report on the Annual Wooly Bear Caterpillars, but have yet to see one. I don't know if they were washed away! The folklore about the Wooly Bear Caterpillars predicting the upcoming winter will be forthcoming.

TRIP to the FARM-Help Plant Garlic - Sunday October 24^th. 11 am - ??

Want to spend a day in the country and help us on the farm? We are scheduling our next work day at the farm to be a garlic planting day. Help us plant garlic for the 2011 season. We picked up some new varieties for other local farmers to plant over the weekend at the Garlic Gathering in Olde Lafayette Village. Some of them include: Porcelain, Romanian Red and German Red

• Who - CSA members, families, friends
• What - Plant Garlic!!
• Where - @ Catalpa Ridge Farm in Wantage
• When - October 24^th, starting at 11 am
• Why - visit the farm to help out

Just RSVP via e-mailso we can send you directions, as well as plan on refreshments & lunch.

Fruit Delivery:Tonight's delivery we have some Mutsu Apples from Windy Brow Farm. Mutso (also known as Crispin), is a cross between the Golden Delicious & the Indo, and arrived in the USA in the late 1940's. Its generous size & appealing color attract you to what lies within...a crisp, white, juicy flesh, with just a touch of tartness. Windy Brow offers pick your own apples until October 10^th this year or when Mother Nature decides.

UPCOMING EVENTS

4^th Annual Garlic Fest- Hoboken Historical Museum - 1301 Hudson Street

· Sunday October 17^th 1 pm - 5 pm

The END of SEASON POTLUCK is coming up. It is hosted by the Hoboken Midtown group - but all CSA members are welcome - Tentative date is November 6^th. More details to come…..

Week of October 4th - 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 at anytime during the season. 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.

• Recipe Links
• Beth Haverim Shir Shalom Delivery
• Hoboken Midtown Delivery
• Hoboken West Delivery
• Jersey City Hamilton Park Delivery
• United Synagogue of Hoboken