It's been very busy at the farm, so we did not make you a hand-drawn newsletter again. This past week we hosted an amazing Shabbat dinner with SO MUCH delicious food, a Franciscan Retreat, a work day to prep the corn crib for the re-siding, and the Boone Garden club for a tour of the farm. The weekend before, we had a great potluck and discussion, and some of us went to Allyson's wedding (Allyson was a farm intern in 2018) This coming weekend, a number of the folks on the farm will be travelling to the midwest Catholic Worker gathering, so you might just get an email newsletter again next week. All these events are great for our spirits, but we have been getting a little behind on our farm work - so feel very invited to come out on tuesday, wednesday, or friday mornings if you would like to help out!

IN YOUR BOX:
sweet potatoes (from Gary Guthrie at Growing Harmony Farm)
kale
chard
eggplant
sweet pepper
hot pepper (in a bag)
tomato
leeks
luscious pears

MAYBE:
cabbage
green bean
dill
holy basil
hazelnuts
okra
watermelon
raspberry

SWEET POTATO:
Our dear friend and mentor Gary Guthrie is great at growing sweet potatoes, and he knows that we struggle to grow them well here. This year, he volunteered to grow some for us, and he says this was their best sweet potato year ever. This week, you will get your one and only portion of sweet potatoes, as a gift from Gary Guthrie.
Sweet potatoes are tropical plants and do not like to be cold, so do not put them in the fridge. they are very happy at room temperature, in the shade, with plenty of air flow, so just leave them out on the counter until you are ready to cook them up.

HAZELNUTS:
Havelnuts are native to the US and Iowa and we have a bumper crop this year. Besides being yummy for humans, they are a big favorite of the woodland creatures, so we are picking them all this week and sharing them with you all to finish processing. Right now, the nut is inside a shell which is inside of a quirky looking bract. It will take a few weeks and a little work until they are ready to eat, but the steps are simple.

1. Spread them out in a single layer on trays or screens (or a shallow cardboard box) in a warm, dry place out of the sun.

2. Turn them every few days until the outer bracts are brown and easy to remove. This should take about two to four weeks.

3. They can then be shelled, or stored in the shells.

4. In the shell, they can be stored at room temperature for several months.

Shelled, eat them within a few weeks, or store them in the refrigerator for up to a year. To increase their shelf life, wait to process them until just before use.
We have cracked open a few nuts and some of them are VERY TINY! some of them are medium. We are still learning! There are so many nuts on the trees and it seems like an amazing yield, but with this year's extreme drought, maybe the plants didn't have a lot of energy to spare to make big nuts.

WE TOTALLY NEED MORE HELP WITH HARVEST AND WEEDING

Harvests 7-10am tuesday and friday morning. Weeding Wednesdays, anytime between 8am and noon.

END OF SEASON? We will continue with weekly harvests and deliveries through the first week of October. After that, we will let you know. it all depends on the frost and freeze timing.

NO MORE SOCIAL EVENTS? It's likely that there will not be any more big public events on the farm for the rest of the season. If you want to visit the farm, or hang out with us, consider joining us for a tiny potluck, maybe for lunch on Wednesday, or dinner another day. Just contact alice, and if we can find a time, bring some food to share, and Alice, Nate, and Maggie will share some food with you. If you want to schedule a work day or group to help out, we would love that too!

thanks so much!

alice mcg 978-471-8414