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CSA #35


Dear CSA-ers,
This week’s preassembled bag will contain spring mix, acorn squash, parsley, kale, carrots, and radishes. Custom Orders may be placed on the website at http://magneyfarm.locallygrown.net/market

This week’s CSA marks the second-to-last of the season. After a dicey stretch in November, we should be in good shape to fill the last two orders, though we regret losing some of the variety that would have come from our outdoor grow space. Nevertheless, the high tunnel grow spaces are looking beautiful and the vegetable quality they have produced has been excellent. We hope you have been enjoying those vegetables as much as we have enjoyed harvesting them.
Farm activities this week have revolved around planning for next year, harvesting, and cleaning out the tomato tunnel. In order to “turn over a tunnel” we must first remove the crop debris. In the case of crops that require elaborate trellising, such as tomatoes, we also must remove, clean, and store all the reusable trellising materials, which include our string “rollers” and clips. After that is attended to, we remove any fabrics and weeds, then the soil can be fertilized and “tilthed.” “Tilthing” is a gentle stirring of the top two inches of soil, which leaves soil structure and beneficial soil organisms unharmed. At that point, fabrics may be returned, irrigation laid, and seeds or transplants of new crops can be put in the tunnel. Each season the team seems to get more efficient at performing these tasks, and we can turn over tunnels much faster than we could when we began.
The featured vegetable of the week is carrots. Carrots are of course a familiar vegetable, but it’s worth exploring why some week’s carrots have looked different than others. The carrots of this and last week’s bag are a variety called “Chantenay Red Core.” The stubby appearance of this carrot is partially genetic (it is a shorter, thicker variety) and partially due to being stalled mid-growth by that early freeze. The hard November freeze prematurely killed all the top growth and for the last three weeks, the carrot roots have been focusing all their energy on regrowing those leaves, but not very much on growing themselves. Each season brings new challenges, and each setback puts us closer to mastery of a given crop. This year we feel we have started to hit our stride on producing root crops, finding not only what is optimum, but also their limitations. We are glad to have you enjoy the bounty of this journey.

As we move forward, we hope you will choose to continue supporting our farm through our CSA and Farmers’ Market presence. We are so pleased to be a part of the West Kentucky community, and hope to continue to grow with you.

Sincerely,
The Magney Legacy Ridge Farm Team