Tomato Mountain logoTractor, Field, Hoops & Sky
~ In the Box ~

Winter Week 4 
Wednesday, February 27
 

Click item for more info





(Sm & Lg shares only)

(32oz jar)
 

~ Recipes ~    pureed turnip soup

This velvety Turnip Potato Soup (PDF) provides a backdrop for any number of creative garnishes. It's shown here with cooked bacon, but ribbons of lightly sauteed spinach or julienned or grated and curled carrots and/or radishes would be colorful. You don't need a garnish to sell this soup, though--it can stand alone in its sweet and creamy goodness. For more ideas using turnips, check out our website or end-of-year ideas in our 2012 newsletter archives. 
 

Questions? 
 
 Email us or call
 
Robin (in Chicago)
708-370-8017
or
Chris (farmer/owner)
608-712-1585 
 
   
 
 
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Thank you for your flexibility in allowing us to adjust for the weather conditions, and for your wishes for the safety of our drivers. We're glad to be on the road today rather than yesterday. As always, feel free to call or text Robin at 708-370-8017 if you need an ETA.
 

It feels more like January as we get ready to head into March with snow on the ground and cold temperatures forecast for the next week at least, maybe two. Nonetheless, spinach continues to grow in the hoop houses with the longer days
Spinach under row cover
Spinach in a hoop house
and higher sun angle. We actually had two hoops' worth of spinach grow bigger than we'd have liked because we waited too long to harvest it. Though the spinach in those two houses was nice a week or so ago, it became deficient in nitrogen trying to grow more, and got quite yellow. We'll till it back in and chalk it up to a learning curve and growing pains (no pun intended) for us. The good news is that we've still got several hoops that look good and we'll have plenty in the upcoming weeks. 


Root crops are holding up well in the cooler with the last of the garlic and turnips, and next to the last of our radishes going out this week. Some things are in short supply, so not everyone will have the same box, but as always, we're watching value to make sure things are fair and balanced (pun intended). In fact, for the most part, we've been over value quite a lot this winter, mostly because we've
Radish horizontal
Shunkyo radish
got lots of storage crops and whole roasted tomatoes, and only about half the customers we had in the fall. We're trying not to be too far above value as we finish off the winter season (two deliveries remain after this week), so that we can save some carrots for the first week or two of the spring season in April. We'll have some frozen fruit in the box the last week of the winter share. There aren't enough strawberries for everyone, so we'll break into our stash of frozen raspberries from the fall of 2011 to make sure everyone gets something sweet.

Our spring seed sowings are well underway. Compared to last year's crazy warm spring, we're actually a little behind, but there's plenty of time to catch up, and we can always speed things up by keeping hoophouses closed more after planting and capturing the heat. We're planning on saving the four slowest and latest spinach hoops for the spring by opening them up as soon as possible and keeping them on the colder side. As soon as night time temperatures are 20 degrees or higher, we'll open up these houses as much as possible to slow down growth and save the spinach for when we really need it. We've got plenty now and for the last two winter deliveries and we want to make sure we've got enough crops in the spring for our growing CSA membership. Also, it is dangerous to keep spinach too warm and the hoops too closed up/stagnant as the weather warms and the sun moves higher in the spring sky. That is part of how we lost the two hoops of overgrown spinach mentioned above, so we're trying to balance conditions for harvest timing and crop quality.

Next delivery we'll have more spinach, the last of our fall stored beets, and, if they hold up, the very last of our radishes, in the box. This week's radishes are the red Shunkyo radish, which is the more traditional type (despite the cylindrical shape). It is easy to tell that they grew in cool and moist fall conditions as they are rather mild and almost sweet as radishes go. Next week a few people will see the watermelon radishes which are usually a bit hotter and sweeter. Sometimes, after storage, flavors can change and are hard to predict, but we'll find out soon enough. And, as promised above, we'll have frozen fruit in the last box of the winter come late March.

Chris Covelli
for Tomato Mountain Farm
Tomato Mountain Farm  |  N7720 Sandy Hook Rd  |  Brooklyn, WI  53521