Quite the icebox we're in this December. It's been a few years since we've had below average temps for this long. In the big picture, it's no big deal and everything evens out. Generally, cooler weather is good any time of year. We get plenty of heat overall. In the summer, hot weather presents excess stress on plants , and in the winter, colder weather does a better job of "cleaning the slate," so to speak, with respect to diseases. Many southern states have to deal with diseases that we northerners never see because the cold and freezing temperatures tend to eliminate or reduce them most years.

I'm not saying we never wish it were a little warmer. Just about everybody wants warmer weather now, especially anybody who's wishing for spinach in the last box of the season--which is next week already! With highs expected in the teens for most of this week, and a few nights below 0, spinach growth will be slow at best, so I'm afraid this week is the last spinach you'll see until the Winter Season. After 3+ weeks of this weather, we're not getting the spinach growth we'd like and would normally expect by now. Eventually, the spinach will grow as temperatures always even out in the end. So it'll warm up sometime in January or February or March and we'll have thousands of pounds of spinach.

This is a good time to point out that eating locally, over the entire season, gives one the best chance of receiving the best diversity of crops. Our summertime membership is highest, probably because summer crops like tomatoes and peppers are very popular. Our winter membership tapers off significantly, and I'm starting to think it has to do with the fact that CSA's are still a bit of a trend that hasn't spread to the winter realm. Our winter share has little competition as we're pretty much the only game in town during the deep winter months of January through March. Additionally, we've got the greatest variety of offerings in the winter, ranging from greens to root crops to jarred and frozen items. And, hands down, the winter box has the most sugar of any season's boxes. The carrots and spinach are exceptionally sweet, the beets aren't far behind, and winter squash is pretty sweet too. We've been saving our yellow onions for the winter share, and, believe it or not, yellow onions have more sugar than any other vegetable crop, around 12%! That's twice what a sweet tomato has, and more than many apples. You've heard me talk about "sugar onions" (caramelized onions); I cook them most days in winter, and put them on just about everything I eat in winter.

So, the moral of the story is that if CSA members stick with us year round, in many ways, it's best for everyone. For example, because spinach is a little slow now, it is sure to be heavy in the months to come. The winter share will be loaded with spinach! For us, having a stable membership means we don't have to look for as many new customers, we don't have to take as much extra produce to farmers' markets in hopes of selling it, and we don't have to adjust our delivery driving routes as much.

This will probably also be the last week we include fresh winter squash in the boxes (we've got lots of frozen squash stocked up for the winter shares). For some reason, our butternut squashes have not done as well in storage as they should have. I suspect poor handling practices during harvest, and possibly too cold storage conditions. Though winter squash have tough seeming skins, even the smallest bruises will cause premature rotten spots. I've seen butternuts last ten months, and I've seen them last one month, and the difference is usually in the handling. So, use yours as soon as you can, and, if you've got more than you need now, it's always a great idea to roast them, scoop the flesh, and freeze it. 

                                                                                            -- Chris