CSA Week 20
Hi Everyone!!
Happy Fall! Hope you're all well.
We're doing well! Been tending to our fall plantings this week and doing a lot of weeding. We're getting prepared for the winter! and getting excited to not working as hard as in the growing season even though our list of projects grows ever longer. At least in the winter we have less sunlight and an excuse to work less!
Just a reminder! We have a potluck this weekend and two to three musicians playing plus a farm tour. 5-8pm on Sunday September 25th! We'll have two new WWOOFers arriving on Sunday as well and we're excited to get to know them over the month that they'll be here. Julia (Devan) officially worked her last day today. After 9 months, we have really gotten to know them well. They will be living here for another month or so before they continue on their journey. We cannot begin to express the gratitude and love we feel for Julia, Nico and Carlos. They've been such an amazing addition to the farm family this year. While Carlos will be the new sous chef at Nashville's renowned Catbird Seat, Julia and Nico are still figuring out their path but will have an excellent month on the farm to make lots of halloween crafts.
Also, we WILL be continuing the CSA as planned and NOT taking a break. We decided to source some things from our friend Christian and his business Pond Creek Gardens. Here is a bio about him and his farm:
Hi, my name is Christian. I run Pond Creek Gardens, which is a small market garden located just west of Nashville out off of River Rd. My wife and I moved to middle Tennessee 3 years ago to start farming. We have two young and very active boys and primarily started farming so that we could supply our family with high quality, delicious food. We grow without the use of synthetic fertilizers or pesticides, instead focusing on building soil. We use no till growing techniques and focus on fresh greens and seasonal root vegetables. We are excited to work with our friends at Sugar Camp farm and hope you all enjoy the additions we will be providing in the coming weeks.
We're so glad to be working with him.
Here is your week 20 CSA list!
1 bunch radishes, 1 bunch green onions, arugula (not pictured), 1 pint chestnuts, basil, 0.5-1 lb peppers, 1 lb eggplant, 1 lb pears, 1 lb okra
The American Chestnut once dominated eastern hardwood forests. This amazing tree grew to be up to 10 feet in diameter and 100 feet tall. It's rich proteinaceous fruit was a staple for native Americans and settlers. Our friend Lonnie says that soldiers in the Civil War used to carry these nuts around in their pockets while on the march and they'd provide and nutrient and calorie dense snack. In 1904 chestnut blight, caused by a bark fungus, was brought in on imported Asian chestnuts. The disease was very detrimental to the tree. In a panic, chestnuts were logged heavily for their highly sought after lumber, speeding up their path to all but extinction. Today our eastern hardwood forests, once dominated by American chestnut, are mostly oak and hickories. Although you can still find American chestnut seedlings in forests today, chestnut blight inevitably gets them before they reach maturity. The American Chestnut Association is currently making strides to bring the chestnut back. It may be a hybrid of American and Asian chestnuts but it will be more than 95% the original genetics of the American Chestnut. I don't think our Eastern Hardwood Forests, will ever quite be the same, but there's hope to see the American chestnut again one day.
As for the chestnuts in our CSA this week, they are an Asian variety, but when you eat them, imagine what it would be like if these incredible nuts were all other the forest floor here in middle Tennessee as they once were.
Thanks everyone!!!
Love, your farmers,
Lizzie, Jesse, Tony, Julia, Nico, Carlos, and the animals.