Chatfield CSA E-news October 28-November 1

Dear Shareholders,

Alas, this our last week of 2013 community supporting agriculture. We want to thank you all for taking a risk, buying in advance and supporting small farms in Colorado! We hope you enjoyed the veggies, distribution and recipes. A special thanks goes to all of you who volunteered.

Surveys:

Sometime next week, you will receive the end of season survey which we hope you complete. The survey may be completed online or in print. Your opinions are integral to this program and many of the decisions we make are based on feedback recieved from you, the shareholder. 

Renewals:

Renewals will begin Janurary 1, 2014. Current CSA shareholders may renew their shares before we open sales to the public. Also, as a current shareholder, you have the most flexible and affordable payment plans! There will be a few changes to the size and cost of next year's shares. Your first payment will be less than $100 if you utilize the online payment schedule when purchasing your share. Additionally, because you have the choice to create a payment plan, we are no longer offereing the downpayment option. 

Reminder: The Final Potluck is Saturday, November 9th, 2 - 4 p.m. in the Green Farm Barn. Please park in the front parking lot by the visitor center and walk over to the barn.

Final Produce List: October 28 - November 1st
(Many CSA's ended several weeks ago!)                                                                                          

broccoli
spinach or arugula choice
spinach
chard or kale
parsley
onions
garlic
hot peppers
potatoes                                                

*We wanted to have more winter squash varieties to hand out but unfortunately (similar to pumpkins this year) the wet soggy conditions led to our squash harvest rotting!

Featured Recipe: Broccoli Pesto Pasta

You can also try this recipe with kale and spinach.
Note: The sauce is gluten-free and could be used with a gluten-free pasta.

1/2 pound broccoli
1/2 pound dried spaghetti
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon table salt
Freshly ground black pepper or pinches of red pepper flakes
4 tablespoons heavy cream
A heap of grated parmesan (about 1/2 cup), to serve

Bring a large pot of salted water to boil for your pasta.

Remove broccoli florets from stems and chop into medium pieces. Peel stems with a vegetable peeler (I do this so that they cook quickly, plus, I prefer their taste without the tough stem skin) and slice them into 1/2-inch segments.

Use your pot of future pasta water to steam (by suspending a mesh strainer over your pasta pot and covering it with a lid for 5 to 6 minutes) or par-boil (for 3 to 5 minutes) your broccoli florets and stems until just tender, then drain if needed and set them aside.

Add pasta to water and cook until al dente, or about one minute less than fully cooked. Before draining pasta, reserve a cup of pasta cooking water and set it aside. Drain pasta.

Wipe out pot so that you can use it again. In the bottom of pot, melt butter and olive oil together over medium heat. Add onion and reduce to medium-low, sauteing it until tender, about 7 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another two minutes. Add steamed broccoli, salt and red or black pepper and turn the heat back up to medium-high, cooking it with the onion and garlic for a few additional minutes. Pour cream over mixture and let cook for 30 seconds.

Transfer broccoli mixture and all of its creamy bits at the bottom of the pan to a blender or food processor and blend in short bursts until it’s finely chopped and a little sauce. Don’t worry if it looks dry; that reserved pasta water will give it the sauciness it needs in a minute. (Theoretically, one could also use an immersion blender here inside their pot to make the broccoli sauce, but it might be a bit messy with all of the chunks and small bits.)

Add the broccoli sauce back to the pot with the drained spaghetti and a splash or two of the reserved pasta water. Cook over medium-high for 1 to 2 minutes, tossing the mixture so that it evenly coats. Add more pasta water as needed to loosen the sauce. Adjust seasonings to taste, adding more salt or pepper, and scoop into a serving bowl. Shower spaghetti with grated parmesan and dig in.

Grower's Perspective: A note from Phil the Farmer
Phil Cordelli, head CSA produce grower

Pessimism is a tool of the farmer to weather the ups and downs of the season. Josie kept writing in the newsletters about “beautiful” or “wonderful” produce we’d be giving out and I kept editing her adjectives, but for our last distribution, I can safely say that we’ve had a great season! We had our struggles and minor disasters, but then I think back to May 1 when I watched snow fall on our newly seeded and transplanted beds, wondering if we’d have any produce! And more recently, the hurricane-force winds, hail and flooding which shredded our greens and made our peppers look like Swiss cheese, but we stripped off the ruined leaves and fruits and the next flush was indeed beautiful and wonderful. The winter squash was beset by cucumber beetles and squash bugs, so yields on some crops might have been down, but we had no total crop failures.

This season, more than most, was a total team effort. The CSA crew and I learned what works here and what doesn’t, valuable insights and techniques coming from every single employee. Our dedicated, hard-working and lighthearted core volunteers were integral to our accomplishments. The big volunteer days provided a massive boost when the tasks threatened to overwhelm us. This week, in ten hours, we were able plant all the garlic for next season, move the chives from their location in field one to the herb garden, dig up three beds of asparagus from their current location beset by thistles and transplant them. I thought this would at least two weeks!

And of course you, the shareholders are a critical part of the team. It is so immensely satisfying to be a part of this community that has developed around the food we grow, to swap recipes and ideas, and to be a part of something that feels much larger than just selling vegetables. The farm at Chatfield is owned by none of us, and yet belongs to all of us. I hope you will continue to be involved, come visit us at Chatfield for a snowy stroll this winter and come to some of the upcoming events such as Gleaning Day.

Lastly, if you’re in need of some winter reading, my first book, "Manual of Woody Plants," was just published by Ugly Duckling Presse. The product of many winters of work (or rather winters without as much farm work) features poems in the form of a field guide to trees, vines and shrubs. You can order it from the publisher through their website at www.uglyducklingpresse.org/catalog/browse/item/?pubID=241. I’ll also bring a few copies to distribution this week.