In the Share: Week 22

Sweet potato harvest

GREEN TOMATOES (F/P) We've gleaned the patch in preparation for the coming frost. Check Tom's blog for info on cooking them.

CELERIAC (F) The perfect fall ingredient in soups and salads

SWEET PEPPERS (F/P) The last of the colored peppers. Next week we'll have green ones.

EARLY JERSEY WAKEFIELD CABBAGE (F) Sweet heirloom with a pointy head

BEAUREGARD SWEET POTATOES (F/P) The orange-fleshed sweets everyone knows and loves.

LEEKS (F/P) Another week of the buttery alliums

LETTUCE (F/P) More smallish heads from the fall crop that refuses to get very big before bolting. What gives, dear lettuces?

BROCCOLI OR CAULIFLOWER (F) Not much left after this week. The partial shares will get whatever we have next week.

SUMMER SQUASH, SALSA PACK OR EGGPLANT (F) Should be the last of these too depending on what happens tonight.

HERB CHOICE (F/P) Rosemary, sage or parsley or a dried herb

ALSO THIS WEEK: Parker Farms delivery

NEXT WEEK: More lettuce, greens, green peppers and cabbage. Beets, turnips, kohlrabi and garlic. Watermelon radishes.

THE FIELDS: Today we prepared for the possibility of frost. The forecasters are predicting 36 degrees which is close enough to freezing to get the row cover out and bring the tender crops in. We harvested all of the green tomatoes, peppers and baby eggplants. Most of these will be in the shares this week, with just the green peppers holding in the cooler for next week. We covered the lettuces and tender greens that might get nipped by the frost. A thin layer of the fabric gives an extra 4 degrees or so of warmth. We also pulled the drying pepper plants up by their roots and hung them in the greenhouse to dry.

Mulching with hay has been an almost daily task lately. We are laying down thick layers on all of the perennials as well as many new areas that we are converting to the no-till system. The hay makes me sneeze, but the crops appreciate it as do those who get to ride in the back of the truck with a full load. Lori and I are joined here by Mindy, a student from the 'Ecology of Food' course at William Jewell College.