Winter Share Distribution #1 – November 20, 2021

Winter News from Windflower Farm

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Windflower Farm! Thank you for purchasing a winter share – we hope you enjoy it!

Please mark your calendars for our four distributions on the following Saturdays: November 20^th, December 11^th, January 8^th, and February 5^th.  Your pick up time and location is noted below:

Central Brooklyn (1251 Dean St., 4:30 to 6:00)

Please note:

1. A friend, family member or neighbor can pick up your share for you if you are not able to make it to distribution. Please ask this person to sign-in under your name.
2. Site hosts are not obliged to save shares for members who miss the distribution window. Any shares leftover after distribution will be donated to community fridges or food pantries and will help other community members in need.
3. The farm is not able to send you a make-up share if you miss a distribution. The farm will send your shares on the distribution dates only.
4. The farm will send you a newsletter a day or two before distribution. Please save these two emails to your preferred contacts list: windflowercsa@gmail.com and tedblomgren@gmail.com and check your SPAM folder if our newsletter does not make it into your inbox.
5. Watch for updates from site hosts on social media. Many sites post updates about the share on Instagram and Facebook.

What’s in your share?

• Carrots
• Russet potatoes
• Yellow and red onions
• Shallots
• Butternut squash (some from Windflower and some from Daren Carroll)
• German Red or White garlic
• Sweet potatoes
• Boc choy and Koji
• Red Russian, Lacinato and Red Ruffles kales
• Ginger (the last from Nate’s summer crop; freeze if not needed right away)
• Honey Crisp and Empire apples (Borden’s Orchard)
• Apple cider (Borden’s Orchard), packed separately

If you’ve ordered shares of eggs or maple items from the Davis Farm or grains from Kristoffer Ross at Hickory Wind Farm, please ask your site coordinator where these can be found. Attached, you’ll find a bread recipe from Kristoffer.

What’s new on the farm?

On this unusually warm Thursday, we harvested greens from five of our Caterpillar tunnels. A white-stemmed choy, a green-stemmed choy and a trifecta of kales, including Red Russian, Lacinato and Red Ruffles. Our winter greens are in unheated greenhouses, nevertheless, by midmorning, most of us were down to tee shirts. If the next four weeks remain mild enough, the greens in your December share will be the same. We are trying to reduce our use of plastic packaging. To that end, we’ve decided not to bag your greens. Everything in your box should be thoroughly rinsed before eating.

With all of the Medinas in Laguna Prieta, Mexico this winter, we are a small group, which is part of why we limited our winter share membership this year. Another reason is that the organic produce pipeline, like supply chains everywhere, is severely limited this year, making it hard to fill gaps in our production. The rainy 2021 season was difficult for everyone who farms. We have good quantities of the winter staples – squashes, potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, and sweet potatoes – and just enough of the crops that make it interesting – celeriac, leeks, kohlrabi, turnips, shallots. And, at least for now, we have heaps of very pretty greens. Your November and December shares will come almost entirely from Windflower Farm. Exceptions will always be noted in the What’s in your share? section. We have done a little horse trading with our organic farming neighbors in recent weeks, swapping some of our extra shallots, leeks, onions and sweet potatoes for the carrots, beets and potatoes that will help fill out your January and February boxes. You should expect to have a hefty box to carry home!

We hope you enjoy the first of your winter shares and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Best wishes, Ted