FDA Rules may endanger small farms–please comment by Nov 15!  The final Food Safety & Modernization Act rules must consider the small organic farmer, and the proposed rules in their current state could undermine or endanger small scale organic farms.  More information, a consumer letter template, and how to post your own comment online or from your printer here.  Also, I and my son Quinn will be running a 5K In Lexington on Sunday with the team from Northeast Organic Farming Association to raise money for their policy work, esp. this latest campaign.  Feel free to donate if you feel moved.   Thanks for whatever you can do to help a little extra at this time–your membership in Shared Harvest is of course the all-important ongoing support for our small organic family farms.

From Jenny and Bruce at Picadilly Farm (Thursday, Oct. 31):  Frosty cold mornings on the farm, down to 23 degrees on Monday! Not quite so cold yesterday, but cold enough that we couldn’t begin the harvest until 10am. We moved quickly through it, amazed to see the leafy greens unfreeze and perk right up. Of course, they’ll only do that through so many freezes before throwing in the towel, and we’re approaching that point. I’ll be sorry to see the abundant greens harvest pass us by.

Please join us next Friday for an end-of-season shareholder gathering (and kimchi making!). Friday, November 8^th.   We’ll share a meal together, and Bruce and Jenny will talk a bit about the season and growing at Picadilly. Jane Hammer will then show interested folks how to make kimchi (we’ll provide the farm produce and instructions; bring a quart jar or two to fill up and take home). Join us if you are able! RSVP to jane [at] sharedharvestcsa.com

And we hope you enjoy the harvest!

Share contents for Saturday, Nov. 2, 2013:

Use or process these within a week:

Lettuce-1 head

Bok Choy—1 head of large or 1 bag of baby, can be frozen for later use in soups (chop)

2 broccoli or cauliflower–can be blanched and frozen for later use.

Spinach – a bunch or bag, can be blanched and frozen for later use.

Peppers – mostly green, can be chopped and frozen for later use.

Kale—1 bunch—great in soups, grated and marinated for a salad, or kale chips!

Escarole—great in soups

Arugula – a bunch—use in salads or make arugula pesto and store in back of fridge or freezer.

These will keep for a couple of weeks in your fridge crisper drawer:

Napa Cabbage (great for kim-chi or soups)

Parsley – a bunch of flat leaf

Radicchio—shred in a salad or roast with garlic and parmesan in the oven

Leeks—keep whole or chop for soup and freeze (no need to blanche)

Salad turnips – a bunch (cut off the greens and use them first)

These will keep for many weeks in cold storage (keep moist in bag, with some ventilation):

Carrots – 6#,

Potatoes – 5#,

Beets – 2#,

Kohlrabi—peel and slice or grate as an excellent salad or stirfry ingredient

Cabbage—if you are making sauerkraut or kimchi, do that asap

Fennel–great in roasted vegetables, or shredded raw on a salad.

These will keep for many weeks in cool, dry conditions (40-55 degrees), like a shelf in your basement or unheated room as long as it doesn’t freeze:

Garlic ½ #(can also be stored in a tightly closed jar in the refrigerator)

Onions, yellow

These will keep for months at 50-70 degrees—NOT COLD STORAGE:

Sweet potatoes 3 #’s