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Week Seventeen! - We are providing the e-news for ALL shareholders, however only Full Share and Week A Half Shares pick up this week!
WARNING: Heavy boxes this week. Be sure to grab them from the bottom and LEAVE THE BOXES AT YOUR PICKUP SITE. We are having to use older, less rigid boxes now since so many good ones have gone missing, so please be extra careful when lifting your box this week.
PLEASE LEAVE THE BOXES AT THE PICKUP SITES! Several boxes are going missing each week, and we are officially short on our 3/4 bushel boxes. If you have some at home, please bring them to the pick up sites asap so we can make it to the end of the season. Thank you!
Winter CSA Shares - Sign up now before they're gone!
Want to have great veggies for your Thanksgiving or to eat when the snow is on the ground? These shares have wonderful greens and easy to store crops (onions, parsnips, carrots, winter squash, etc.) Sign up now as we do fewer of these shares compared to the regular CSA! Details and registration are on our website here:
Flower U-Pick - Get Your Blooms Before the First Frost!
The flowers on the farm are blooming in abundance! Feel free to bring along a jar/vase of water and scissors to cut a few blooms when you pick up this week! We have had a request for longer picking hours to accommodate those who do not pick up shares on the farm, so you've got it! Stop by anytime between 8am- 7pm and we will show you where you can pick. Please remember to limit your picking to one handful per week - we want there to be enough for all to enjoy!
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Farm News from farmer Evan
Welcome to Week 17 of Wellspring's summer CSA. After the doom and gloom I spread in last week's newsletter there is much better news this week. As everyone I am sure has noticed, the weather has warmed considerably and we have been having a wonderful resurgence in many of our crops. I am hopeful the peppers will continue to ripen and we may even be able to give out some red peppers next week. The tomatoes are making a valiant comeback as well and we are happy to give out more again this week. It appears the weather will be much the same through this weekend and well into next week!
The other exciting news is there is spinach, watermelon, and delicata winter squash. While these three vegetables don't have a ton in common (although watermelon and winter squash are in the same plant family) it seems like a milestone for each of these crops to be in the share, and they just happen to be in the same box. Watermelon require a fair amount of heat and a considerable amount of time to ripen so to me it is a sign that we actually did get a summer even if it really didn't feel like we did. I am very excited about the winter squash for the exact opposite reason. Winter squash signifies the start of fall and fall vegetables. Fall is my favorite time of year (cool, crisp, colorful, hearty soups, and pies) and fall vegetables are some of the most delicious (winter squash, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, celeriac). The delicata squash is especially delicious. Sweet flesh; plump, tasty seeds; and best of all, you can eat the skin and all. I like merely cutting them in half and roasting the halves on a lightly oiled pan until the flesh just starts to turn brown. With our first harvest of spinach I feel a great sense of relief. It was one thing after the other with the spinach this year: fields that were too weedy, poor germination, too much rain, and a few poor management decisions to name the primary culprits. All of that is behind us now and we have one beautiful fully mature stand, another that will soon be mature and 4 or 5 beds for the winter shares that are still young but have germinated very well and are looking incredibly healthy. It should be enough spinach to give to the summer shares a few more times as well as a good amount to the winter shares. All in all I am especially proud of this week's box and hope you all enjoy eating it as much as we enjoyed growing it.
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What's In the Box and Where Does It Go?
CROP FRIDGE? NOTES/VARIETY
Salad Turnips Yes separate the edible greens!
Winter Squash No Delicata, store on counter
Chard Yes Rainbow
Carrots Yes Mokum, separate the greens
Sweet Onion Yes Alisa Craig
Beans Yes green OR yellow, bagged
Hot Pepper No Jalapeno, bagged
Garlic No German White, bagged
Cabbage Yes Farao
Tomatoes No cherries OR slicers
Parsley Yes yum!
Spinach Yes bagged w/ beans, pepper, garlic
Watermelon counter or warmest part of fridge
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Storage Tips
The garlic is now cured and will keep in pantry or on the counter. The beans are NOT washed and should only be washed right before using. The delicata squash is not yet cured and is not a long-term storage squash (like a butternut), so use it in the next couple of weeks. For the root veggies, the roots should be cut from the tops and stored separately to prevent the greens from wicking moisture out of the root and making for some limp beets or carrots. Peppers, tomatoes, and melons all like to be stored around 50-60 degrees so keep them in the warmest part of your fridge, on the counter, or in the garage.
Save those scraps! Keep the stems, trimmings, peels, etc from your veggie prep each week in a gallon bag in the freezer. When you accumulate enough, you can make a delicious, homemade vegetable stock...from seemingly nothing at all! Check out this blog post for the details on how to do it.
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Recipes from Farmer Heather
Delicata Squash:
It it only fitting that the first of the winter squash makes its debut the same week as the watermelons; just another testament to the wild Wisconsin weather! The delicata is a cook's dream as far as winter squash goes. The skin is tender so no peeling is necessary, and the fruit is small so there is minimal chopping involved. Trim the ends, cut it in half lengthwise, scoop out the seeds, and cut it into half moons for easy roasting! If using the squash as is (i.e. not pureeing for soup or hummus, below), it is much easier to cut it into the desired size pieces before roasting rather than afterwards. There are an endless amount of roasted squash recipes out there, so let's get out of our comfort zones here with some alternative hummus. No chickpeas allowed.
Winter Squash Hummus
adapted from Modern Farmer via Food52
Makes 2 to 3 cups
**Adding some curry powder or turmeric to this hummus is an idea I would fully support.
1 pound hard squash, such as delicata or butternut
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (plus 1 tablespoon)
1 head garlic, separated into cloves and peeled (about 1/4 cup cloves)
1 or 2 hot peppers (jalapenos, serranos, etc), sliced in half, stems and seeds removed
1/8 cup tahini
1 1/2 Tbs lemon juice
Plain yogurt for garnish (optional)
Cilantro leaves for garnish (optional)
Roasted pumpkin seeds for garnish (optional)
Crusty bread, pita, or crackers
Preheat the oven to 350� F. Cut squash in half and remove seeds. Rub flesh with 1 tablespoon olive oil and a generous pinch of salt.
Place squash cut side down in roasting pan and bake until very soft, about 1 hour. While squash is baking, place garlic, hot peppers, and remaining olive oil in a small pot over low heat. Poach garlic and peppers in oil until completely soft (30 to 40 minutes). Garlic should be very lightly browned. Scoop out flesh from roasted squash and place in food processor. Add garlic-poaching olive oil, garlic, peppers, tahini and lemon juice. Puree until smooth, about 1 minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Hummus texture will vary depending on squash variety and size; add up to 1/4 cup water until desired consistency is reached. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours and up to 1 week. Garnish each cup of hummus with 1/8 cup yogurt, 1/2 tablespoon pumpkin seeds, and sprinkling of cilantro leaves. Serve with crusty bread, pita, or crackers.
Watermelon: There are several tricks to telling if a watermelon is ripe. Do they slip right off the vine when lightly tugged? Is there a bright yellow spot on the side that was on the ground? Is the leaf nearest the fruit dried and shriveled? My personal favorite is giving it a gentle slap and listening for a hollow sound; the tone will vary depending on the size of the fruit which is another thing to be aware of when playing the watermelon drums. Though we employ a combo of these techniques when choosing which melons to harvest, you never truly know until you cut it open (which we won't do for you). If you get a watermelon that is under-ripe, please let us know.
Watermelon and Toasted Jalapeno Pico de Gallo adapted from The Watermelon Board 
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced seeded jalapeno
3 tablespoons minced shallot or onion
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
3 limes (juice squeezed from the limes)
2 cups minced watermelon
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 cup diced roasted red pepper
ground black pepper to taste
Heat the oil in a heavy non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Saut� the jalapeno, shallots, and garlic until golden and toasted around the edges. Remove from heat and add soy sauce and cumin. Cool. Scrape the cooled ingredients into a bowl and toss with lime juice, watermelon, parsley and roasted pepper. Season with pepper to taste. Serve with chips, fish tacos or atop grilled salmon.
THIS Grilled Watermelon Ceviche looks divine too!
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Upcoming Classes, Workshops and Events at Wellspring!
For more information and to register for classes, please visit www.wellspringinc.org or call (847) 946-5565
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Save the Date for Wellspring's 
Free Farm Festival!
Agri-CULTURE Fest
Sunday, Oct. 12
10 a.m. - 6 p.m.
A celebration of the culture in agriculture and all things local, organic and sustainable!
- Live music
- Local food and craft vendors
- Food options including local, organic, gluten-free, vegetarian... you name it!
- Hayrides
- Pumpkin Painting and Activities for kids
- "Farmer Olympics" for all ages
- Free educational workshops including a wild edibles walk, backyard bee keeping basics, cooking demonstrations, and more!
Volunteers Needed!
Interested in helping at Agriculture Fest? Volunteers are needed to greet guests, help with children's activities, aid in set up & clean up, serve food, and help the event run smoothly.You can help all day, or choose your shift and stay for the fun!
The festival runs from 10 am to 6 pm, we will additionally need folks to help with set up and clean before and after those times. Can't help on Sunday, we will need volunteers to help with setup on Saturday too!
Please contact Francie at wellspringeducation@gmail.com if you are interested in helping out!
Composting and Fall Soil Fertility Workshop
Saturday, October 4th
9 to 11 am
Learn backyard composting basics and how to improve soil quality over the winter. We will cover composting basics including: what can be added to compost, pile maintenance, how to harvest finished compost, and compost application to garden beds.
Cost: $25 until 10/1, $30 after. Click here to learn more and register
Seasonal Produce Cooking Class 
featuring Root Veggies!
Thursday, October 9th
6 to 8 pm
Wellspring offers a series of monthly cooking classes, inspiring students based on veggies during their peak season! In each class, a chef leads demos and tastings, and provides healthy cooking tips. Wine served to accompany each tasting and recipe handouts to take home. Assorted root vegetables will be the highlighted produce items for October! This category includes carrots, beets, parsnips, rutabaga, celeriac, and more!
Cost: $30 for those pre-registered the Monday before, $35 at the door (if openings) Click here for more info and to register
Tuesday, October 14th - 9:30 to 10:30 am 
Preschoolers and Parents Farm Day
Program for ages 2 to 5,
younger siblings are welcome
Preschoolers will meet the Wellspring chickens, try new veggies, dig for worms, sing songs and participate in garden-based games and activities, all while learning about where our food comes from!
"We loved the preschool farm day at Wellspring! You keep the young ones occupied and entertained while including all of their senses - never a lull in the activity, which suits the active bodies and minds of the 2-5 year olds! It is a great, hands-on experience!" - Debbie W.
Cost: $6 per child (adult must accompany) Click here for more details and to register
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