Heirlooms... Heroes of the Harvest!

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I had tears in my eyes harvesting these beauties this morning.  Just north of 85 lbs in all.  The CSA got a very colorful box today between the tomatoes, Mercury red onions, French Fingerling potatoes, Tolli's Sweet Italian peppers, tomatillos with jalapeños, yellow squash, zucchini, Genovese basil, and mesclun mix.

Thanks to a Little High Pressure...

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Temps in the mid-90's this week ensured that some phatty tomatoes went in the boxes today. Yes... they taste as good as they look.

Tomatoes at last...

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We've had a wonderfully successful summer. We were Certified Organic by CCOF at the beginning of July. Our CSA met its target enrollment of 60 members soon thereafter and has not slowed a bit since. The climactic theme this summer is "cool nights," which was immensely helpful in slowing down the ripening of certain crops, allowing us to stagger our harvest while not compromising on freshness. It also allowed our fruit trees to put on an incredible amount of growth with minimal sun-scald to tender new leaves and stems. Thank you to everyone who has taken part in the CSA, and we hope you've enjoyed your boxes as much as we've enjoyed harvesting for you! To those still on the waiting list at this point, we definitely plan to go bigger next year, and look forward to including you.

Summer/Fall 2011 Crop List

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A huge "Thank You" to everyone already subscribed to Neighbor Farms CSA. We are very excited to be growing for you this season along with our partners at Old House Farm. Many of you have asked what we have in the ground, so here are a few recent photos along with a complete list of our vegetable crops (and varieties) for the summer/fall season, 2011:

• Basil: Genovese
• Beans: Butterbeans (soy), Scarlet Runner
• Broccoli Raab: Brassica Rapa
• Cauliflower: Incline
• Asian Greens: Tatsoi
• Collard Greens: Flash & Georgia Southern  
• Carrots: Hercules, Nelson
• Herbs: Cilantro, Mint, Oregano, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary, Thyme
• Kale: Ripbor & Toscano
• Leeks: American Flag
• Onions: Cabernet, Mercury, Mt. Whitney, Walla Walla
• Peppers: Anaheim Chile - Numex Joe E Parker, Chile de Arbol, Corno di Toro, Early Jalapeno, Hot Ancho Chile - Tiburon, Sweet Pimento - Lipstick, Tolli's Sweet Italian
• Potatoes: Banana Fingerling, French Fingerling, Purple Majesty, Red Pontiac, Rose Finn Apple, Yukon Gold
• Squash: Golden Scallopini Bush
• Tomatillos: Cisineros, Mexican strain
• Tomatoes: Ananas Noir, Amish Paste, Black Cherry, Black Krim, Chadwick Cherry, Chocolate Stripes, Costoluto Genovese, Dagma's Perfection, Dr. Wyche Yellow, German Pink, Gold Medal, Italian Heirloom, Japanese Black Trifele, Paul Robeson, Persimmon, Pink Brandywine (Sudduth's), Plum Lemon, Polish Linguisa, Principe Borghese, Purple Calabash, Santa Clara Canner, San Marzano Redorta, Super San Marzano, Sweet Tangerine, Virginia Sweet

Introducing Neighbor Farms CSA!

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Abounding Harvest Mountain Farm is proud to announce our new partnership with Old House Farm. Together, we are offering Neighbor Farms CSA. Our 21-week Summer Session begins July 1st 2011. Weekly boxes will be bursting with summer's diverse and flavorful bounty! Please visit NeighborFarmsCSA.com for more information on how to subscribe.