Week 20

The end.  Like most ends it is also a beginning.  We are constantly talking about next season and what we need to do to be ready for it.  At the moment we need to till in a bunch of greenhouse arugula and lettuce before the caterpillars have a chance to get too comfy.  We want it to be empty for a little while with no caterpillar food before we plant it again.  We were hoping to do over-wintered spinach in it but I am not sure if it will be ready in time.  It has been a horrible fall for both caterpillars and aphids.  We have also had more weeds in the field than in previous years and my theory is that last year's late freeze allowed a lot of things to go to seed that wouldn't have if we had had a September frost.  At some point in the season we stop weeding because there is so much other stuff to do and we assume the weeds won't have time to fully mature.  I think we may have done the same thing this year and we are going have to be very proactive next year at depleting the weed seed bank.  With a little extra time on our hands on Mondays we will spend the next few of them trying to get the fields cleaned up - rolling up drip tape, mowing, disking and general tidying so that we start next season organized.

The cauliflower we have been waiting on is ready and everywhere we look, including in the final farm share box.  We are going to dig our first parsnips this morning, bunch some greens and cut some cabbages for you.  The green cabbage is our storage cabbage and it will keep for months in your refrigerator if you want to hold off on eating it.  We decided to go with a classic and give butternut squash this week.  You might be getting a little stock pile of squash on your counter.  They should also all keep for a while.

Come ready to make some decisions - there are a few choices for you this week.

Carrots 
Cauliflower - mostly white but some romanesco and purple as well 
Butternut Squash
Bunched Green - assorted kale or chard
Shallots
Choice of Parsnips/Celery Root/Turnip
Cabbage - Choice of Green/Red/Napa

Thank You