We try to keep the printed newsletter to a 2-page maximum, which means that we won’t list all the share items’ descriptions every week, but refer you to previous newsletters for information on items that have already appeared in your shares. In our newsletter, we try to give you an accurate listing of the produce in your box; however, since the newsletter is published before the harvest, we may sometimes substitute some vegetables for others.

THIS WEEK’S SHARE

ARUGULA or HON TSAI TAI: You will receive Astro Arugula (an aromatic, bright green, salad green with a peppery mustard flavor with leaves less deeply lobed and with a more strap-leaf shape) or Hon Tsai Tai (an Asian Green with pencil-thin, purple, budded flower stems; pleasing mild mustard taste). See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

YELLOW BEANS (Goldilocks Yellow): beautiful bright yellow beans; 5–6″ pods are straight, attractive, and flavorful. See Week 9 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

CARROTS (Bolero): excellent long-term, storage carrot with medium-long, thick, blunt, orange roots with edible green leaves; greens are delicious in soups and also salads. See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

SWEET CORN (Montauk): small, fancy, bicolor kernels on 8” long ears with superior, sweet flavor. See Week 12 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

U-PICK FLOWERS (NOW available for picking at HONEYBEE & TANTRE FARM for the next 2 weeks): With the last two weeks of the Summer CSA in sight, we have decided to open up our small, u-pick flower patch at HoneyBee U-pick for those of you who would like to pick a bouquet of flowers for free on Saturdays or Sundays, if it is too difficult to come to Tantre Farm. The selection at Tantre Farm has over 30 flower varieties to choose from, but there is a small selection of dahlias, strawflowers, and globe amaranth at HoneyBee. If you come to Tantre Farm, please feel free to come on Wednesdays and Fridays during pick up times, or schedule a time and day if you would like to come on other days of the week. Again, you may pick 16 stems per household with up to 3 sunflowers. Your bouquet is part of your share every week, although it is always greatly appreciated when you make a donation to pay for seeds and labor. Extra bouquets – $6/bunch for 10 stems. We hope you can come to enjoy this food for the soul!

KALE (Lacinato): dark green, noncurled, blistered leaves, but heavily savoyed. See Week 2 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

LETTUCE MIX or LETTUCE HEADS: Wed. members will receive Wildfire Lettuce Mix (a beautiful bag of dark reds and vibrant greens including Green and Red Oakleaf, Green and Red Romaine, and Redleaf lettuces; your lettuce has been rinsed once) and Fri/Sat members will receive Tropicana (a green leaf lettuce with large, bright green heads with thick crumpled leaves; good in salads and sandwiches). See Week 16 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

STORAGE ONIONS: You will receive Patterson (medium-large, blocky bulbs with dark yellow skin and thin necks; excellent storage onion) and Redwing (the ultimate red storage onion; globe-shaped bulbs are 3–4 inches across, moderately pungent, very firm). See Week 14 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

SWEET PEPPERS: You will receive any of the following Eros Bell Pepper (small, golden yellow, mini bell: slightly tapered fruits are a great snack size, a vg. 2″ x 1 3/4″, with a sweet and slightly fruity flavor), Cupid Bell Pepper (small red fruits are blocky to slightly pointed, snack size, and are particularly sweet when red), Carmen (6-inch long, tapered fruit that ripens from green to a deep “carmine” red; sweet taste in salads and when roasted and fully red-ripe) OR Red Knight Bell (big, blocky, thick-walled, green-to-red pepper with sweet flesh). See Week 10 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

RADISHES: You will receive a mix of Pink Beauty (pink-colored root with mild, spicy flavor) and Purple Bacchus (stunning, purple, round radish with white inner flesh; very good flavor and not too hot). See Week 1 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

U-PICK RASPBERRIES (only available at Honey Bee U-pick in Ann Arbor): The fall, red raspberries have been ripening and now are finally ready and plentiful to be picked as part of your CSA share on Sat. or Sun! If you are able to come to our Honey Bee U-pick site (5700 Scio Church Rd.) at the corner of Zeeb and Scio Church Roads in Ann Arbor, we are inviting you to pick 1 pint as part of your share for FREE (and you can pick 1 pint for someone else less able-bodied, if you like). If you are less able-bodied with an injury or the inability to bend or walk very well, please PREORDER your 1 pint one day ahead by email to pick up at the Honey Bee U-pick this week on Sat. (9/23) or Sun. (9/24). U-pick pints are $6/pint or Already Picked are $4/half pint (if we have enough staff to pick them to have on hand).

WHITE HAKUREI TURNIPS and GREENS: a white salad turnip with round, smooth roots that have a sweet, fruity flavor with a crisp, tender texture. See Week 16 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

WINTER SQUASH: You will receive Butternut (light, tan-colored skin; small seed cavities with thick, cylindrical necks; bright orange, moist, sweet flesh; longest storage potential of all squash) AND Spaghetti (3-5 pounds, pale yellow, oblong, smooth, medium size, only mildly sweet with “spaghetti” (stringy) flesh; bake like squash or boil and fork out the flesh, topping the “spaghetti” flesh with your favorite sauce; mildly sweet). See Week 16 newsletter for usage and storage tips.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. REMINDER: ROAD CONSTRUCTION ON OLD US 12 TO TANTRE FARM until Sept. 25! Just a heads up for all of you traveling to Tantre Farm in the next 2 weeks. A section of Old US-12 between Liebeck Road and Sylvan Road will be closed to replace a culvert. Your Google Map should show you alternative routes, but if you don’t mind gravel roads, you can get off I-94 at Exit 157 and travel west on Old US 12, take a left on Sylvan Rd (past the Road Closed sign), then turn right on Heim Rd, and then turn right on Hayes Rd. That will bring you right to our house the back way! There are several other ways to go through GPS.

2. ENDING SUMMER CSA DATES: NEXT WEEK is our LAST WEEK for the Summer CSA. That means Sept. 27 (Wed.), Sept. 29 (Fri.), and Sept. 30 (Sat.) are the last distribution days for our Summer Shares. Please bring boxes, bags, or coolers next week, so you won’t have to bring the box back at another time.

3. NEW DEADLINE FOR “EXTENDED FALL CSA” SHARE REGISTRATION: We are offering an Extended Fall CSA Share for $150 for 4 weeks starting the week of October 1-7 and ending the week of October 22-28. In order to receive all 4 shares, please register online anytime before Sept. 30 at https://tantrefarm.csaware.com/extended-fall-csa-2023-C26200. Please go to our website for more information.

4. ALREADY PICKED TOMATOES AVAILABLE: The cost is $1.50/lb We have Granadero (sauce) and Celebrity (slicer) available. Please let us know if you would like to pick up on Thurs. afternoon or Friday at the Farm or at the Ann Arbor or Chelsea Farmers Markets on Saturday. Orders need to be made by Thursday morning, so we have enough time to pull together your order.

5. THANKS FOR COMING TO THE TOMATO PRESERVING WORKSHOP on Sept. 23! During the workshop our enthusiastic participants managed to put up almost 80 quarts of canned tomatoes, 8 trays of dried cherry tomatoes, and 12 gallon bags of frozen tomatoes during our 3-hour workshop. This is an incredible amount of help from our community of CSA members to help feed our farm crew throughout the coming seasons! All went home with 1 jar of canned tomatoes. We are very grateful to Jessica Read, who facilitated the workshop, and all these hardworking participants! Many went home with their own box of tomatoes to preserve as well. Happy canning!!

6. YOGURT QUARTS, PLASTIC OR PAPER “GROCERY BAGS ONLY” ARE NEEDED, if you would like to donate some to the farm.

7. U-PICK RASPBERRY PATCH OPEN SATURDAY AND SUNDAY THIS WEEK: We will be open on Sept. 23 and Sept. 24 from 8 AM-4 PM at HoneyBee Upick for ripe fall raspberries, extra Tantre produce, Elder Farms eggs, and u-pick flowers for sale. U-pick raspberries are $6/pint and $4/half pint for Already Picked Raspberries. We also have opened a SELF SERVE produce wagon stand, which is open 7 days a week, but please bring Venmo or exact change. To keep informed go to https://www.tantrefarm.com/tantre-farm-raspberry-u-pick.

8. HIRED HELP NEEDED: We are looking for additional help for the rest of the summer and into the fall. Please email us or fill out an application from our website at https://www.tantrefarm.com/internships/

9. PICK UP TIMES & LOCATIONS REMINDER:
  *Ann Arbor Farmers’ Market (Wed.)—7 AM to 12 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time)
  *MOVE Fitness & Wellness Studio (Wed)—8 AM to 9:30 AM (SARA there the whole time)
  *Farm (Wed.)—10 AM to 7 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time with some self check-in)
  *Washtenaw Food Hub (Wed.) –6 PM to 8 PM (MARIS there the whole time and Hub Market open!)
  *Pure Pastures (Wed.) —9 AM to 11 AM (JESSICA there most of the time)
  *Farm (Fri.)—2 PM to 7 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time with some self check-in)
  *Ann Arbor Farmers Market (Sat.) —7 AM to 12 PM (SHANNON there the whole time)
  *Washtenaw Food Hub (Sat.)—9 AM to 12 PM (RYAN and Staff there the whole time)
  *Chelsea Farmers’ Market (Sat.)—8 AM to 12 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time)
  *Argus-Packard (Sat) — 9 AM to 3 PM (ARGUS STAFF there the whole time)
  *RoosRoast-Rosewood (Sat)–9 AM to 11 AM (LIZ there the whole time)
  *HoneyBee U-pick (Sat)–8 AM to 12 PM (TANTRE STAFF there the whole time)

RECIPES

WINTER VEGETABLE CHOWDER (from 366 Simply Delicious Dairy Free Recipes by Robin Robertson) Serves 6
1 tsp canola oil
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1/2 cup celery, chopped
1 medium carrot, chopped
1/2 cup turnip, chopped
1 sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 cup winter squash, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup sweet red or green pepper, chopped
1 tsp garlic, minced
3 cups vegetable stock or water
1/2 tsp minced fresh thyme
2 cups kale (arugula, turnip green, Asian green)
1 cup unsweetened soymilk
Salt and pepper, to taste

 Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat and cook onions, celery, turnip, and carrot for 5 minutes. Add sweet potato, squash, bell pepper, garlic, stock or water, and herbs. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Boil greens in lightly salted water for 3-5 minutes. Drain and set aside. Puree soup in a blender (or use a stick blender in saucepan) until smooth. Return to saucepan. Stir in the soymilk, cooked greens, and salt and pepper to taste. Slowly heat the soup, being very careful not to boil. Serve.

GREEN BEAN AND ROASTED TOMATO SALAD (from Capay Organic Farm CSA “Farm Fresh To You” website) Serves 2
4 tomatoes, each cut lengthwise into 4 slices
1/4 tsp (heaping) Dijon mustard
1/4 lb green beans (or yellow beans), trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp minced shallot
1/4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup mixed salad greens (arugula, lettuce, kale etc.)
1/4 tsp freshly grated orange zest
Salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees and lightly grease a baking sheet. Arrange tomatoes in one layer on baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Roast tomatoes in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until edges are browned, and cool. While tomatoes are roasting cook beans in salted boiling water 3 minutes, or until crisp-tender. In a colander drain beans and rinse under cold water until cool. Drain beans and pat dry. In a bowl whisk together juices, zest, mustard, oil, shallot, and salt and pepper to taste. Arrange tomatoes, overlapping them, on 2 plates and mound mixed salad greens and beans on top. Drizzle salads with vinaigrette.

COOL and CRUNCHY RADISH AND TURNIP SALAD (from Eggs on Sunday)  Serves 2
12 small radishes, thinly sliced
3 small salad turnips, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp toasted sesame oil
1/2 tsp rice vinegar
Juice of half a lime
1 Tbsp chopped chives or parsley
Coarse kosher or sea salt, to taste

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and stir gently but thoroughly to combine and coat all the slices. Taste and season with salt (start with a little pinch and gradually add it until the flavors “pop” as much as you like).

SPAGHETTI SQUASH CASSEROLE (from Moosewood Cookbook) Serves 4-6
1 spaghetti squash, 8-inches long
2 Tbsp butter
1 cup chopped onion
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb fresh, sliced mushrooms
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried basil
Dash of thyme
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 cup cottage or ricotta cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup fine bread crumbs
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
Parmesan cheese

 Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Halve the squash and scoop out seeds. Bake face-down on oiled sheet until it is easily pierced by a fork, about 30 minutes. Let stand until cool enough to touch, then scoop out pulp and place in large bowl. Meanwhile, heat butter and sauté onions, garlic, and mushrooms with herbs, salt and pepper. When onions are soft, add tomatoes and continue to cook until most of the liquid evaporates. Stir this mixture into squash pulp with remaining ingredients except Parmesan. Spread into buttered 2-quart casserole. Top with Parmesan. Bake uncovered for 30-40 minutes.

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