We are freezing our butts out there!  But we're not complaining, it's awesome.  Welcome to week 14 of the CSA guys. 

This week everyone gets the following:
Kale
Green beans
Kohlrabi
Onions
Daikon radish
Lettuce
Loquats

Large shares also get:
Baby arugula with edible flowers
Choice between scallions or parsley

We've had our eyes on the many public loquat trees in the farm's neighborhood.  Today we finally drove this crew around to collect enough fruit for you guys.  They are a local delicacy and you will never find these rare fruits at the store, so count your blessings that you are a part of this CSA.  They have a super short season and an even shorter shelf life.  Eat them right away and watch out for the 2-3 seeds in the middle.  If you have room for a tree at home, plant those seeds; they'll produce fruit in under 10 years.  We have a tree at the farm that we started from seed only 6 years ago and it's given us it's first tiny crop this year.  

Our friend Chris French has been growing the most beautiful produce on his acre in Redland this season.  In the past one of our most reliable crops has been kale, but this season we've had a couple of issues with it (which we have have now finally overcome!) so Chris' awesome kale has been a life saver.  This week Chris will be harvesting kale for you guys in the freezing night air (since hes has a day job and works at his farm after hours by head lamp!). 

Kohlrabi again!  We took a little break from growing kohlrabi, but we're glad it's back.  What a cool looking crop to grow.  Kohlrabi and all the other brassicas really like this cold weather and you'll notice the difference it makes when you taste it.  Sweeter, milder and crispier flavor.

Sorry for the photo tease, we're only getting green beans this week.  Did you know that green beans are one of the biggest industrial crops produced in south and central Florida all winter long which are shipped all over the US.  We provide a huge percentage of the countries fresh produce (summer squash, tomatoes and green beans for the most part) during the freezing months.  Just as the midwest is considered the countries bread basket, we are the veggie basket right now. 

Large shares are getting baby arugula (bagged with edible flowers!).  We tried an experiment with growing our arugula under row cover for the first time, although growing tender greens under cover is nothing new in agriculture (row cover is a breathable, water permeable agricultural fabric used to protect crops from pests, weather and many other things).  Our goal was to protect it from mites, a tiny almost microscopic bug that deforms leaves, but also to shade it a bit from the sun because our arugula in the past has shown signs of sunburn, especially after we let it grow back over and over for multiple harvests.  The extra work has paid off because this arugula is looking PERFECT.  Enjoy.