September 1st Newsletter

Dear Members,

New crops this week are Banana Fingerling potatoes, Patty Pan summer squash, Moon & Stars watermelon, white sweet corn, honeydew melon (green or orange flesh) and with the possibility of either Zebra, Roma or our regular tomatoes. In addition to this you will also receive red onions, lemon cucumbers, carrots, green & purple bell peppers, Banana peppers, cinnamon basil, green beans and muskmelon.

Banana Fingerling potatoes are elongated and small. They are very easy to cook; boiled or roasted is the most commonly way it is served. Patty Pan summer squash looks like a flying saucer! It can be white, yellow or pale green in color. Cut them lengthwise, scoop out the seeds and bake for half an hour. Fry up some thinly sliced carrots, garlic, onion, bell peppers & basil. Stuff the squash and bake another 15 to 30 minutes. This squash can also be used the same way you use the others. Moon & Stars watermelon is a very old heirloom watermelon. It has a dark green skin with yellow flecks throughout. If you are lucky, you will see one or two large yellow spots; these are the moon & stars. We would love it if you could save the seed of this watermelon. Rinse the seeds, dry them on a paper towel and seal them in an envelope. Do not put them in a plastic bag, they will mold and be unusable!

Jerry and I really do not know what to expect from our fields anymore. This has been such an unusual summer! It feels like we went from spring to fall…no summer at all! We were taking our normal spin around the farm this morning. Stopping at the watermelon patch, we were eating different kinds of melon. We have discovered that the melons, (watermelon, honeydew and muskmelon) just don’t seem as sweet this year. Much to Jerry’s chagrin; the rain seems to have washed out the sweetness! Needless to say, this has made Jerry very unhappy. He only wants the best for his members!

It is less than a month from the Harvest Festival! We are already getting started mowing around the farm getting it ready for the big day. I still need RSVP’s from everyone planning on attending the festival. I need to know how many adults and how many kids will be attending. I need this more for the ordering of beef patties and hot dogs. So if you are vegetarian or your children will not be eating from the grill, please let me know! You may place your RSVP up to the date of September 15th.

I still need Master Grillers from 11 to 1 and 1 to 3; someone to clear off the buffet table, rinse the dishes and put them back under the buffet table from 11 to 1 and 2 to 3; there is also a need for a bathroom checker to make sure we have tata paper & paper towels available and take out the trash. I expect everyone to help keep the bathrooms neat and tidy!

This is such a fun day! There will be extra produce to pick and a self tour of the premises. You are welcome to bring popped popcorn to feed to the chickens (it’s their favorite snack!) or pick the weeds and grasses around the pens for them. Everyone needs to see how popcorn is taken off the cob and the popcorn sheller is the place to see it. We will have the popcorn sheller working in the barn and the apple press on the East side of the house. Please bring half a dozen apples to add to the mix; that way everyone could get a small sample of fresh apple cider! Hay rides will start just as soon as Jerry has eaten his lunch and has regained some energy!

Attention all horse breeders and trainers! There will be stick horse races at 1pm the day of the festival. Bring your best bred stick horse. Ribbons will be awarded for most original breed as well as for 1st, 2nd and 3rd race places. There will be several races with multiple age groups mixed together. This was so much fun to watch last year and we have decided it is a keeper! There were many wonderful homemade creatures! I think this year we will have a parade too so that everyone sitting down can see them!

It is time to start up the weekend workdays again. If you have not put in your four hours volunteering at the farm, now is a great time to do it! We will be gathering at the barn at 1 pm on Monday the 7th; Saturday the 12th at 9 am; Saturday the 19th at 9 am and Sunday the 27th at 1 pm. As we were taking our spin around the farm, we discovered the winter squash vines have collapsed and are now ready to pick and get into storage. We will be doing this until all of it has been harvested; which may take a few weeks! More than likely, we will continue to have workdays into October. Please contact Lorna Carnahan and let her know when you are coming. This way, if there is a cancellation for some reason, we can email you and let you know. Lorna's phone number is 303-593-1754 and her email address is lornacarnahan@gmail.com.

Thank you for helping us during this busy time of year!

Jacquie, Jerry, Alaina and Kyle

Do It Yourself Produce Rinse (similar to Fit)

1 quart water
2 Tbsp baking soda
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp cream of tartar

Mix and keep refrigerated for up to 3 weeks!