Happy Final Veggie Delivery Greetings!

Well, it certainly feels like winter is quickly approaching! It got down to 22 degrees last night out here in Glendale. We had to wait until 10:30 this morning for the frost to melt off the greens so we could pick them. The microgreens suprised us by not even germinating in time this week, even though we planted them earlier than we ever had before! Today we had 10 hours and 22 minutes of daylight, only 23 minutes away from minimum amount of sunlight needed for plants to keep on growing (which is 10 hours). Despite all of these frosty days, we are still giving you a lovely final share this week! We have some pretty heirloom winter squash for you, as well as some tasty potatoes to send you off into the winter with!

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2011 In Review!

Since this is the last CSA email, I thought it would be nice to write an overview of what we grew this season. After crunching some harvest numbers in a spreadsheet, here are some of our harvest totals for the 2011 Season.

BUG Farms in 2011 Grew:

• 500 Pounds Summer Squash
• 800 Pounds Heirloom Tomatoes
• 717 Pounds of Radish Microgreens
• 700 Pounds Greens (Spinach, arugula, mustards, lettuce, etc)
• 1,000 Pounds Bunching Greens (Chard, Kale, Collards)
• 1.120 Pounds Carrots
• 2,120 Pounds Beets (Including Greens)
• 11,275 Pounds Total Food in 2011! (Over 5.5 Tonnes)

That means that each full share recieved about 150 lbs of food over the season! We ended up having 110 CSA Members this year, with 37 members having Full shares, and 73 members having Half Shares.We had 21,000 square feet of growing space, which is just over 1/2 acre spread over 7 backyards.

This season had a lot of weather related challenges, we had the wettest two months EVER in Salt Lake in April and May, which put many of our crops behind. The temps didn't warm up and soil didn't dry out until June, and all of our long season crops were outplanted about 3 weeks behind schedule. We did have a very mild summer, with only one day reaching over 100 degrees! The fall overall has been quite stable with fairly average temperatures allowing for a nice late harvest.

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New Delivery Changes For The 2012 CSA

We are really looking forward to next season, lot of exciting changes coming our way. As I have been writing about, we will be relocating all of our farming activities from Sugarhouse to backyards out in Glendale. I am settling into my new house in Wasatch Commons quite nicely, and look forward to walking out to my backyard farms, walk-in cooler, and chicken coops instead of having to drive to them all! We had to drive an average of 35 miles everyday to get around between our plots, and next year we hope to only have to drive for some of our CSA deliveries.

Speaking of CSA Deliveries, we are seriously looking at minimizing our driving miles next year, and have a couple of awesome, heavy duty bike trailers lined up to do many of our deliveries via bike. We can probably only do the flat land deliveries this way (biking a 500 lb load up the Wasatch Fault would be tricky to say the least) so we will be using the truck to do "Up The Hill" deliveries. So, when you sign up for your share for next season, just choose either "Up The Hill" or "In the Flats" to delineate your delivery neighborhood. Also, because of the time/fuel it takes to do home deliveries, we are planning on adding a delivery fee ($100 extra for  Full Share, $50 extra for 1/2 Share) for those who are choosing that option. BUT if you are a returning member, and you sign up and give us a $100 downpayment before the end of the year (December 31, 2011) your delivery fee will be waived, as well as recieving the early bird discount (another $100 for full shares and $50 for half shares), making the 2012 Full Shares $500, and Half Shares $300 for early bird returning members. To recieve the delivery fee waiver, please send me an email so I can take the discount off of your membership : ) We just finished the sign up page on the website, so feel free to sign up for 2012 online here before the end of the year to get the Early Bird Pricing as well!

Become a CSA Pickup Host!

Because some folks might not be able to afford an additional delivery fee, we are planning on expanding the pickup options for next year. So, if you are interested in becoming a pickup location for other folks next year, you will recieve another $100 discount from your full share. We are looking for locations in the Avenues, Sugarhouse, East Bench/University, and Liberty Wells Neighborhoods. If you are interested, send me an email and I will give you more details!

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Thanks for your Support for Grain School!

Because of all of your generous donations, we were able to raise $700 towards tuition for attending Grain School at Native Seed/SEARCH this winter! Jesse and I will be splitting your donations to cover each of our $600 tuition, and we will hopefully be able to recieve a working scholarship for the remaining portion. We are excited to bring back small scale grain growing knowledge to start a couple of 1/2 acre fields of quinoa, wheat, and tepary beans for the 2012 season. We will keep you updated as to our plans of the grain vein : ) Oh, and to those of you who donated, we will be bringing you some tasty homemade jam in your deliveries this week!

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I know this is a looong email, but there are lots of juicy end of season tidbits to share. I will be making a quick CSA survey so you can all voice your thought/opinions on your share this year that we will incorporate into our crop/farm plan for next year. We have learned a lot and hope to only improve with each passing year. We truly, deeply thank you for your wonderful gastronomic support this year, and hope to see you all back with the CSA next season! All right, here are the final week CSA details and recipes, enjoy!

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Week 23 (A&B) Share
 
1 bunch Kale or Collards
1 bunch Carrots or Beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard
1 bag lettuce mix or Asian/Mustard/Arugula Mix
1 bunch Sorrel
1 bag potatoes (mixed varieties)

Winter Squash! (mixed heirloom varieties)

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Recipes

Sorrel and Potato Soup

Adapted from "Vegetable Every Day" by Jack Bishop. Thanks to CSA Member Sandra Hatch for giving me a copy!

2 Tblsps olive oil

2 leeks, or green onions, halved and sliced crosswise into thin strips

1 lb potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes

4 c veggie stock

4 c sorrel, washed and chopped

Salt and Pepper

1. Heat oil in large saucepan. Add leeks/onions and saute over med heat until completely softened.
2. Add potatoes, stock, and salt and pepper to taste and bring to boil. Reduce heat, partially cover, and simmer until potatoes are extremely tender, about 30 minutes
3. Stir in sorrel and continue cooking until sorrel has wilted, 2-3 min. Adjust the seasonings. Serve hot or cool slightly, puree in a blender or with a hand blender, chill, then serve ice cold.

Baked Squash Casserole with Indian Flavors

Also from "Vegetables Every Day", add some rice and a salad and everyone will be satisfied.

2 1/2 lbs winter squash

2 Tblsp oil

2 medium onions, halved and sliced thin

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp curry powder

2 tsp minced fresh cilantro

salt

1 c coconut milk

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Use a spoon to scoop out and discard strings and seeds. Cut squash into pieces about the size of your hand. Remove the skin and a layer or two of flexh? you want to remove any whitish or green flesh right beneath the skin) with a vegetable peeler or paring knife. Cut the peeled squash into 2 inch chunks.
3. Heat oil in large skillet. Add onions nd saute over med heat until godlen, about 8 min. Add garlic and curry powder and saute until fragrant. Add squash pieces and toss just long enough to coat with the onions and curry. Season with cilantro and salt to taste. Scrape mixture into 13X9-inch bakind dish. Drizzle with coconut milk over squash.
4. Bake until squash is tender and lightly browned, about 1 hour. Let settle for several minutes and then serve

   Spaghetti Squash with Pine Nuts, Sage, and Romano

• 1 spaghetti squash, halved lengthwise and seeded
• 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
• 1/4 cup grated Pecorino Romano cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
• 2 teaspoons butter, melted
• salt and pepper to taste
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Place the squash, cut side down, in a large baking dish.
  3. Bake the squash in the preheated oven for 50 minutes.
  4. Scrape flesh of squash from the rind using a fork and place in a bowl. Add the pine nuts, cheese, sage, butter, salt, and pepper; toss to combine. Serve immediately.

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There you go! Well, this is the last offical CSA Newsletter, but I will periodically be sending out emails with updates on BUG Farms. Also look out for the End of Season Survey email in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your support of BUG Farms!

Sharon