October 9, 2019

It’s the last week of the CSA season and we are so grateful to all of you for joining us this year! It has been a very strange and challenging year for our growers, but as a shareholder this has been one of my favorite seasons that we’ve ever had. We have had quite the variety of produce this year, and though some of it came later than usual, we got to enjoy a lovely spread all season long. This week we are blessed with a CSA first – parsnips! I think this crop must usually arrive a little later than our end date, but this year we are lucky to get this sweet root vegetable. Try the recipe included below or any mashed parsnip recipe. These are really a treat!

This CSA wouldn’t be possible without the incredible dedication, hard work, and love of our primary growers, Hilary and Hope Barnett and Denise Gould of Willowbrook Farm and Cory and Shanti Rade of Whipstone Farm. Every week they make sure that our baskets are full of the freshest variety of local produce possible. Thank you to Windmill Gardens, Fasteen Farms, Sanders’ Farm, Gratitude Orchard, Bob Haskell, and Marilyn’s Orchard for supplying the fruit, berries, special vegetables, and nuts that have rounded out our shares all season long. We are so appreciative of our distribution volunteers, Skip and Terri Larson, Jon Howe, Jeanette Richelson, Karen Sternberg, and Hope, Hilary, and Denise, for hauling heavy coolers and making sure the produce gets from our growers’ hands to yours each week. And of course, thank you to all of our shareholders for supporting local farmers by joining in the risks and rewards of the growing season. Your support is why we are here!

We are looking forward to celebrating the end of the season with you this week at our End-of-the-Season Potlucks in Cornville and Sedona. It is such a lovely opportunity to visit with fellow shareholders and share the bounty of the season. If you normally pick your share up at Willowbrook Farm and you would like to attend one of the potlucks, please contact us no later than tomorrow morning to let me know which potluck you will attend so we can be sure to have your share at the correct location.

Please remember to fill out our Early Bird Contract if you plan on joining us again next season. We already have 20 spots filled for next season and a waitlist of another 20+ people, so I encourage you to sign up early to be sure you get a spot! There are only 50 spots available and they are going fast. I will contact our waitlist in early November, so please return your Early Bird Contract (with $50 deposit) as soon as possible. Your are welcome to return contracts and deposits at this week’s distribution, mail in your contract and deposit, or signup and pay online. I am in the process of revamping our payment page due to some technical difficulties, so if it is down when you try to use it please contact me and I will send you a working link when it is up and running.

Thank you for a wonderful season!
Meghan

What’s in your basket – October 9th

Beans – Willowbrook Farm
Butternut squash – Willowbrook Farm
Carrots – Whipstone Farm
Kale – Willowbrook Farm
Onions – Whipstone Farm
Parsnips – Whipstone Farm
Salad mix – Willowbrook Farm
Super greens mix – Willowbrook Farm

Hope tilling in the cover crop at Willowbrook in preparation for planting garlic.

Winter squash bonanza!

Sweet, crunchy parsnips from Whipstone.