CSA SUMMER SHARE WEEK #11 We started harvesting the leeks this week! Perfect soup weather with the nights cooling down and the coming of the Autumn equinox. In France the 'Galeux d'Eysines' pumpkin is mostly used for soups, sauces and preserves such as pumpkin butter because the texture of the cooked fruit is very smooth. One of the tastiest pumpkins!

NOTES ON WHAT'S GROWING The next plantings of sweet corn and beans are not ready for harvest yet. The broccoli is heading up...unsure if it will be ready for next week but definitely the following. The red cabbage is forming heads as well - Enter the Autumn brassicas! The third zucchini planting has many small fruit so we hope to able to start harvesting zucchini again next week.

Amidst tending the brassicas, curing sweet potatoes (sweet potatoes cured for a few weeks are sweeter then those straight from the ground!), harvesting all the potatoes and storing onions and seeding more greens and roots for Autumn, we are preparing areas of the farm for the green manure crops we LOVE! These crops make a winter blanket, protecting the soil from the wind and rain of winter while providing all of the soil microbes roots to continue to feed on. Then in Spring, they become the soil’s salad - a mixture of nutrient rich grasses, legumes and herbs which build the humus layer in the soil and feed the plants throughout the season. It is wonderful to watch the farm slowly transition from tired crops, to bare soil, to sprouting green growth.

Peter and I have been taking lots of pictures of the farm and posting them on instagram. There are small thumbnails on our website home page. You can click on these to see them bigger.

The cherry tomato crop is still producing for U-picking during farm pick up times! Late summer is a great time to see the farm with late blooming sunflower rows, 2m high corn stalks, Autumn brassicas, beans, Autumn peas germinating, the pumpkins ripening, chickens in the buckwheat green manure crop...It looks fantastic and abundant! Please bring your own containers. Limit a 1 kilo bucket per family.

Farm pickup is 2-5pm Fridays and 8-11am Saturdays. Box pickup is available at other times by appointment only. U-pick is only available during farm pick up times.

NOTES ON STORING THE HARVEST Please check out our Vegetable & Fruit page on the website to find tips on maximizing the life of your veggies. We envisage that many of the vegetables you are receiving this week will last for two weeks with careful attention to storing upon arrival. Although we do wash all the greens after harvest, we are washing to take the heat out of the plants and wash away some surface dirt, not to prepare them for consumption. We also spray a seaweed/herb brew about every ten days. While this will not harm you, it does have a taste. We do suggest washing your produce prior to eating.

WHAT’S IN THE BOX The following are the items harvested this week. Items and quantities in your box may vary depending on your harvest day and the total harvest of each crop. The boxes are completely governed by what is ripe and ready for harvest and how much of it there is. We endeavor to divide the harvest fairly. 1/4 share: 5-7 items 1/2 share: 8-10 items Full Share: 10-12 items

Basil Beetroot Capsicum Carrots Chilies Leeks Potatoes Pumpkin Silver beet Spring Onions Tomatoes

Extras Cherry Tomatoes Chilies – 'Pimiento de Padrons'. Coriander Eggplant Lettuce Melons Radishes Silver beet Watermelon

RECIPE SUGGESTIONS Carrot and Leek Soup Creamy Pumpkin Soup Breakfast Slab Pie - This is a hearty silver beet pie recipe that works great for afternoon picnics, breakfast in the car, Saturday dinner. It is from from Deb Perelman who shares loads of great food at www.smittenkitchen.com

PASTA WITH SWEET CAPSICUMS I find that sometimes the simplest of recipes allow each ingredient to be savoured. Ingredients 2 sweet capsicums sliced thinly into strips 2 cloves of garlic olive oil fresh basil leaves, ripped roughly salt and freshly ground black pepper Shaved Parmesian cheese Pasta of your choice (penne, bowties and angel hair really hold the flavours of this sauce) Method 1. Prepare pasta according to instructions 2. Put a generous jug of olive oil into a fry pan over moderate heat. 3. Add crushed garlic and sliced capsicums. Fry until the capsicum is soft and slightly carmelised. 4. Add to pasta with fresh basil, salt and ground pepper and parmesian cheese.

You can search our recipes by looking for the key ingredients on our website recipe page

Please note - Photo is a randomly selected full share box except fot the whole pumpkin (full shares received 1/4).