2017 Harvest 24

2017 harvest 24.jpg

Well folks, here we are...the final harvest of the 2017 season. We hope you've enjoyed your experience this year with Tumbleweed Farm. This season definitely had its fair share of ups and downs but overall, Taylor and I are happy with what the two of us were able to produce. Every season has thrown something different at us but we're constantly learning and growing with the seasons. Hopefully, you've enjoyed the journey with us!

The CSA season may be over but we'll be at the Hood River farmers market for 3 more weeks (Saturday's from 9-1pm) and this coming Saturday we'll also be attending the annual "Stock Your Pantry" at the Rockford Grange in Hood River. It's a double market day for us but we're always stoked to participate in this great event. It's a market that's geared towards filling your cupboards and freezer with storage veggies, meats, grains, cheese, fermented foods and more. It starts at 2pm and goes until 6pm. It's a great opportunity to prepare for the long winter ahead!

This week's share has a somewhat intimidating looking winter squash but please don't fret! The mighty Blue Hubbard is not something to shy away from. This is one of the most flavorful winter squash varieties that we grow. It's sweet so it makes for a lovely pie filling or base for a pumpkin soup. If you're afraid you'll sever your arm slicing into one of these beasts just use your knife to poke holes all around the squash and place the whole damn thing in the oven (350F) for about 2 hours (the time will depend on the size of the squash). Once it's cooked through it's easy to slice and scoop out the seeds. This variety of squash stores well so you can save it for Thanksgiving or Christmas and share it with a big group. Or you can do what this character does to slice open his Blue Hubbard.  This week we're also introducing black radishes to you all. The variety is called Nero Tondo and it's a beautiful radish with black skin and a tuxedo white flesh. It's on the spicy side but tastes great when sliced thinly and served with a dollop of cold butter and sea salt. It's also lovely on pizza and the spices mellows out when it's cooked. Go wild!

Alrighty folks, we're going to sign off for the last time this season but we'll be in touch with each of you individually after the holidays to connect about next season. We always give priority to current CSA members before opening up new spots. So if you want in, you're all good! 

Thanks again for putting your trust and money into our farm. We couldn't make a living doing what we love if it weren't for all of you kickass folks!!! So thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Cheers to the harvest!

Your farmers,
A & T

Harvest 24

  1. Turnips (remove the greens and store them separately)
  2. Black radishes (remove the greens and store them separately)
  3. Kale
  4. Tumbleweed Farm Salad Mix
  5. Blue Hubbard Winter Squash
  6. Bok Choy
  7. Garlic
  8. Onions 

Recipe Suggestions

Pork and Butternut Stew (use the blue hubbard squash instead of butternut)

Pork and Butternut Stew (use the blue hubbard squash instead of butternut)

2017 Harvest 23

2017 Harvest 23.jpg

Well folks, it's hard to believe that after today we've only got one more week until the 2017 farm season is a wrap. Thank you everyone for being a part of our extended family this season and for putting your trust in us to grow you and your families the best damn food we know how to grow. There were plenty of ups and downs this season but for the most part, Taylor and I can hold our heads high and feel proud of what we were able to produce. Thousands beyond thousands of pounds of food have been hand picked from our farm, washed, and packed for CSA, markets and restaurants.  It's hard to believe that it's just been the two of us for the past 5 years but we're happy to announce that next season we'll be adding some extra hands to the field crew!  

This week we were blessed with plenty of rain followed by a few days of warm sunny weather. It's the perfect temperature outside to prep the fields for our big garlic planting (happening next weekend). We sow garlic in the fall and it chills out in the field all winter and wont be harvested until next July. This season's garlic was awesome so we're saving the biggest, healthiest looking cloves to plant as our seed garlic. Fingers crossed for another great harvest in 2018.

We hope you all got the invite to the Migration Harvest Dinner on Friday November, 10.  The food will all be farm to table and paired with delicious beer from the always amazing Migration team. Check out ticket info here.  The tickets may go fast as we're opening it to the public but want to give CSA members priority (and a discount) so if you're thinking about attending I'd recommend getting tickets ASAP! 

Alright folks, we hope you enjoy your veggies this week. As always, there are recipes below to help inspire you to cook through the week.

Cheers to the harvest!

Your Farmers,
A & T

Harvest 23

  1. Kale
  2. Spinach
  3. Watermelon Radishes (remove the greens, you can cook them but they're tough so cook them low and slow in butter and a little white wine or chicken stock until tender)
  4. garlic
  5. onions
  6. Kohlrabi
  7. Butternut Sqaush
  8. Sweet DumplingWinter Squash 
  9.  Adirondack Blue Potatoes

Recipe Suggestions

 

 

2017 Harvest 22

Tumbleweed Harvest 21.jpg

Howdy folks and welcome to week 22 of your Tumbleweed Farm harvest. This week we're happy to have a few new items making an appearance. Rutabagas (my favorite!) Fairy Winter Squash and spinach are all a welcome change. The rutabagas are one of my favorite fall root veggies to cook with. They make a killer mash and give regular mashed potatoes a run for their money. If you own the Dishing up the Dirt cookbook you'll fine a good recipe for Rutabaga Home Fries and a Hearty Winter Stew with plenty of root veggies including rutabaga. Rutabaga's have a mild sweet flavor and while some of your roots might have some worm damage on the outside their thick skins protect the inner flesh so you should be just fine when you slice into them.

The Fairy Winter Squash has a lovey sweet flavor and is reminiscent of butternut squash in taste. It's great roasted, pureed, or added to soups, stews and sauces.

If you were to walk around Tumbleweed Farm today you'd notice that about 75 percent of the farm is out of production. We've tilled and cover cropped most of the farm in preparation for winter and we're currently only harvesting from a small section in the lower field. It feels pretty darn great to have the farm transitioning from summer production to winter rest. The last few days of sunshine have been lovely and we're equally excited for a few days of rain.

We hope you all enjoy your boxes this week. It's perfect cooking weather. So go ahead and dish it up folks!

Cheers to the harvest!

Your farmers
A & T

Harvest 22

  1. Spinach
  2. Beets
  3. Rutabagas
  4. Fairy Winter Squash
  5. Bok Choy
  6. Head Lettuce
  7. Onions
  8. Garlic
  9. Fennel

Recipe Suggestions

Pork and Winter Squash Stew (you can sub the spinach for the kale in this recipe)

Pork and Winter Squash Stew (you can sub the spinach for the kale in this recipe)