Winter Week 5—We Survived the Freeze…And Gift Cards!

Unfortunately, Swiss Chard is one of those crops that doesn’t handle freezing weather well. It hung in there down to about 24°, but repeated nights below 20° weakened the stems and it’s very sad now. But not dead. It may come back in the spring. At any rate, it was really pretty covered with frost.

THIS WEEK’S SUBSCRIBER MENU:
• Choice of Squash
• Potatoes
• Topless Carrots
• Salsify
• Curly Endive or Radicchio
• Collard Greens
• Baby Bok Choy
• Fennel
• Garlic

TRADING/SHARING BOX:
• All of the above and more

Click on the links above for information and recipes about these crops.

COMING SOON: Brussels Sprouts, Parsnips, Leeks

Undercover Escarole. Safe and cozy with its’ other chicory cousins while the freeze goes on outside.

We were worried. The last two years we’ve lost it all to the Arctic Blast, or the Polar Vortex. So when freezing temperatures were forecast, we hunkered down and waited for the worst.

We protected the chicories, cauliflowers and baby bok choy with steel hoops and frost-blanket (a thicker type of row cover). We picked everything that we feared wouldn’t survive—celery, fennel, and white cauliflower.

And after a week, everything thawed and we surveyed the damage. Glad we picked what we did because it wouldn’t have made it. It got down below 20 several nights, and that is just too cold. We lost the last week of arugula, some mustard greens, and a few other things that wouldn’t have lasted long anyway. But everything that we protected survived just fine.

And the real benefit? The kale, collards, brussels sprouts, carrots, parsnips—they are ALL frost-sweetened and dee-licious!

Trying something new this year: We’re selling reload able gift cards to our farm! You can load them in any amount, and use them any time you want! A great gift for friends or family who want to eat clean, healthy food, and redeemable from our farm at farmers markets or use it toward a CSA share! We get the funds right away so it helps us just like buying a share.

Here’s some news: We’re selling prepaid Gift Cards for the holidays! Anyone can buy them, in any amount. They’re a perfect gift for friends or family who can shop at any of our markets (Columbia City, University District, or West Seattle) or who might like to try one of our new Sampler CSA shares next summer. They can also be redeemed toward a CSA share. Buying them helps us out in the chilly winter as well, by paying us forward, just like a CSA payment.

We received a grant from NRCS to build a greenhouse, but we’re adding two more big ones to the farm this winter. This is phase 1: Laying it all out. We’re so excited to be able to grow even more early spring and winter crops, as well as more hot weather crops in summer. Maybe ginger, lima beans, melons,… so many possibilities.

More news: We received a grant from NRCS to build another greenhouse! King County had a matching program, which we also received, so we’re building two more big greenhouses. We’re really excited about all the possibilities for next year. We’re building now and will be planting in February. Let the games begin!

This is the exhausting life of the rat-hunting dog. You’d never know he’s quick and vicious with the rodents.

And, you may remember the incredible Rat Battle of last winter? We’ve got Mario on Rat Patrol every night now. I want to be able to plant peas in February and have them survive and thrive. That means Sugar Snaps in May, everyone. Who doesn’t want that?! No more rats!