Book swap, turkey pick-up, and more at the CSA!

Sara, who works behind the check-in table selling you eggs and shiitakes, had a great idea… a book swap table. We will try it tomorrow and if it goes well, and weather permitting, we’ll do it again. Just bring any books that you want to get rid of, and hopefully you will find others you want to read. The only thing we ask is that they be appropriate for children to see since so many kids come to the CSA, and they see everything.

Wedge Oak Farms will be delivering Thanksgiving turkeys for the next two weeks. If you ordered a turkey, you should have been contacted arrange your delivery day. If you have received no notification, give them a call so you aren’t caught off-guard when they try to hand you a turkey.

While it was a bit chilly this morning, the woods were quite magical. Being fall, and with yesterday’s rain, the maples shed huge numbers of vibrant yellow leaves. They coated the forest floor as far as I could see, and I felt like I was walking through a land of gold. The sunlight reached down and reflected golden tones across everything. Gold under foot, sunlight reflecting gold upward, it was as if I walked into an another world. Colors like that are usually part of the fiction of animated landscapes, and I had to remind myself that it was real.

I thought things couldn’t get any better, and then I hit the motherload. 8 pounds of wild oyster mushrooms, all fresh and lovely! They smell like fall, like the woods after a cold rain, like the fertile earth. I will have them for sale tomorrow at the CSA. I am hoping that shiitakes will be there as well, because the only thing better than one type of mushroom in your meal, is two types of mushrooms in your meal.

After all that, I would have been content if nothing else notable happened. Then I was graced by the fast, sleek, Cooper’s Hawk. Smaller than a Red Tail, and with a longer tail, they are fast and amazing to watch. Coming from a high perch in open woods and fields, they swoop down with great speed and agility. Then, to top it all off, I saw a group of Cedar Waxwings. They flit about, eating honeysuckle berries with their majestic brown crest, black eye band, and vibrant yellow ends of their tail feathers. One of my favorite birds to observe. Yes, I had quite a hike, with something to feed my body and my soul.

This Week’s Harvest: Mustard, Chard, Turnips, Butternut Squash, Daikon Radishes, Arugula, Mizuna, The last Tomatoes & Peppers, Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Parsley, Cilantro