Fall 2023 CSA

November 19, 2023

Thanksgiving is a farmer’s favorite holiday: the growing season is over, the harvest has wrapped up, and winter preparations are finished — or darn close. By the time Thanksgiving week rolls around, we are prepared for months of winter and this week in particular, I’m delighted to focus on family and time in the kitchen in preparation for the big meal. I already have pumpkin and apple pie in the works and the pecan and chocolate cream are soon to follow. My mom thinks that one pie for every two people is a bit much, but I don’t think that in the least. Pie and time are the rewards this week for a season of hustle and 90-hour work weeks.

I used to hang with a group of ultramarathoners and they would talk about how they’d feel so sad after an ultramarathon, even if they’d done well. I understand that now: the focus that’s kept us moving is now in the past and we need to find a new purpose. I usually combine mourning and recuperation, but my mourning period will be brief because I had so much excellent help here this year that I don’t need to recharge before I move on to a literal pile of books, new cider projects, and reconnecting with friends.

I hope you get rest and calm this Thanksgiving. I hope you get to eat delicious food and share it with people who are meaningful to you. I hope you get to practice excessive gratitude to the point that you bump up against the question of if there ever is such a thing as excessive gratitude.

I’m going to skip the video this week because for the first time this season, my head is clear enough to put my sentiments down in writing. The apples are largely the apples we used last week — GoldRush, Golden Russet, and Keepsake — though you might have gotten some extras too. Half share subscribers get Cherry Rhubarb this week because it would’ve been weird to have a CSA season without Cherry Rhubarb, and full subscribers get Northern Spy in hopes that you’ll be able to put it to good use at Thursday’s meal. Check out last week’s video and pics for apple details.

Lastly, thank you so much for participating in the CSA this year. I appreciate the opportunity you gave me to get the fruits of my team’s labors to you and I appreciate all of the notes you sent and comments you made about how you’ve enjoyed the CSA this year.

November 12, 2023

Remember when we were all complaining about the lack of fall at the beginning of September? We’ve got it now! Maybe September summer and November fall will become a new normal for us in Minnesota? In any case, I’m enjoying the extra time to button up for the winter — and I’m enjoying the extra (abnormal for November) sunshine too.

This week’s apple varieties are Keepsake, GoldRush, Golden Russet, and Winter Banana.

• Keepsake is a U of M variety that’s a cross between Frostbite and Northern Spy. It’s a delightful and delicious little apple.

• GoldRush is the longest-keeping apple variety I grow. Keep it in vented plastic in your fridge and you’ll be able to eat it in the summer!

• Golden Russet is an heirloom apple variety with a deliciously rich flavor that you can enjoy fresh or baked.

• And Winter Banana is an heirloom variety only faintly reminiscent of banana but I think it’s a sunny little charmer.

This week’s cider is Cherry Rhubarb — not that it’s particularly seasonal, but I just couldn’t see how we could go an entire CSA season without Cherry Rhubarb!

Next week will be the last week of CSA deliveries for full subscribers (and for half subscribers with deliveries on the even weeks), but we’re doing a few extra deliveries next week since it’s the last Sunday before Thanksgiving — and you just might need pie. You can see what we have at the Thanksgiving 2023 link but in preview: pie! baking apples, an apple tasting kit (with labeled apples and tasting notes), fresh-pressed cider, cheese and meat sticks and, of course, hard cider. Deliveries are free with a $100 order but as a CSA subscriber, you won’t pay for delivery even with an order under $100. Unfortunately I can’t set that up in advance on PayPal, but if you send me a note I’ll process that shipping refund for you ASAP. I’m excited about that pie from Vikings and Goddesses this year because it’ll contain all Calville Blanc d’Hiver apples, which is an heirloom variety from France that was grown at Versailles. Orders close EOD Friday.

November 5, 2023

It’s much quieter down here today after finishing our orchard season last weekend and butchering chickens yesterday. For a quick summary of our day yesterday, check out Theresa Cecka on meat_musings via Instagram for her reel. The five of us who were here had a great time and it’s always wonderful to work together on a project like this. We’ll offer the experience as a course next year, so keep appraised when the time comes.

This weekend’s video comes to you from the pig pen, which is a spot where I’ve been spending plenty of time lately preparing them for the winter. Keeping pigs during the summer is easy — maintain the fence, fill the feeder, and keep the water flowing. But once freezing temps come around, keeping that water flowing gets a lot more complicated and one just wants to baby the pigs by giving them bedding and pets and reassurance. They’re quite hardy, though, so it’s really more about that water line and me feeling bad!

This weekend’s apples are Haralson, Fireside, and Honeygold — later season apples, but I saved the latest-season apples for the last couple weeks of the CSA. And, by the way, I did manage to get as many of the apples out of the orchard as I could, so it was nice to finish the season with that sense of satisfaction.

Okay — back to the pig pen to stabilize the gate, shore up the fence, and get them some pomace from our last pressing!

October 29, 2023

It’s been a mad dash down here to get the apples picked before they all froze. The forecast was a little bit all over the place and it looked like we’d have ‘til end of day Sunday, then Saturday, then Friday . . .and the nighttime lows ended up being higher than predicted so we picked through dusk last night. There may even still be some apples that escaped damage last night, so I’ll be heading out to the orchard as soon as I finish up here.

It’s our last day open at the orchard for the season, though we’re offering a chicken butchering class on Saturday, November 4. I’m teaching the outdoor part and Theresa Cecka from the Minneapolis Meat Collective is teaching the indoor chicken breakdown part of the course.

It’s such a bittersweet time of the year, isn’t it? Cherish these days of gorgeous fall color before the beauty of winter sets in.

October 22, 2023

Good morning! What a beautiful day we have in front of us. For apples this week, we have Kerr, Haralson, Northern Spy, Honeygold, Prairie Spy, and Frostbite.

• Kerr is a cross between a Dolgo crab and a Haralson. If it’s too tart or astringent for you, try it in jelly or in a quick bread.

• Haralson we all know and love but as a reminder: U of M release from 1923 that’s a cross of Wealthy and Malinda.

• Northern Spy is an heirloom variety from New York that’s a great all-arounder — good for fresh eating, baking, and cider.

• Honeygold is another U of M release that’s a cross between Golden Delicious and Haralson. It was released in 1970.

• Prairie Spy is a U of M release from 1940. It’s a dense apple and keeps well. Good for fresh eating and great for pie.

• And Frostbite can be dated back to 1921 at the U of M. It was used quite a bit in the U’s breeding program but wasn’t released with its own name until the last 15-20 years or so because they thought it was just too weird. And it is! I think it’s the weirdest tasting apple you might ever have.

For cider this week, half-share subscribers are getting a new vintage of Scrumpy Original and full-share subscribers are getting cyser, which we packaged under our Roundabout label.

This week, I took the video in the cooler. Have a lovely week!

October 15, 2023

Hey everybody! I was up at 5:00 to make CSA donuts and you’d think with that start time, I’d be ahead of schedule — but I’m not. Moms — you know how your kids are always saying “mom, mom, mom”? Well, on weekends I’m orchard mom . . . which is what brings me to 11:30 without posting here. Also, my sister wanted to make the video with me this week, so we finally got that done after a few false starts.

For apples this week, we have Kerr, Haralson, Northern Spy, Honeygold, and Frostbite.

• Kerr is a cross between a Dolgo crab and a Haralson. If it’s too tart or astringent for you, try it in jelly or in a quick bread.

• Haralson we all know and love but as a reminder: U of M release from 1923 that’s a cross of Wealthy and Malinda.

• Northern Spy is an heirloom variety from New York that’s a great all-arounder — good for fresh eating, baking, and cider.

• Honeygold is another U of M release that’s a cross between Golden Delicious and Haralson. It was released in 1970.

• And Frostbite can be dated back to 1921 at the U of M. It was used quite a bit in the U’s breeding program but wasn’t released with its own name until the last 15-20 years or so because they thought it was just too weird. And it is! I think it’s the weirdest tasting apple you might ever have.

And this week’s video with my sister as guest star! Tia references Stephanie Hansen’s show, Tastebuds, in our video. If you want to watch it, you can find all of her Tastebud videos at https://www.stephaniesdish.com/taste-buds/

Oh — two more things: this week’s fresh cider blend is mostly Haralson and Cortland. And this week’s hard cider for the Essence of the Orchard subscribers is Scrumpy Original. I always enjoy lower acid and lower sugar ciders as the weather cools down, and Scrumpy Original, being akin to a British cider, fits that bill.

October 8, 2023

It’s fall and I couldn’t be happier about it!

This week, we have Regent, Cortland, and Zabergau Reinette. Yes — these are the same apples as last week (for you full subscribers), but we’ll have a number of new varieties next week. To whet your appetite: we’re talking Frostbite and Northern Spy for sure . . .and we’ll see what else I get around to picking this week. Hopefully lots!

This week saw turning around a batch of Cherry Rhubarb and a batch of Rustic Apple. Both were more challenging than usual because the base I used for them was so richly flavored on its own and the concentrate I use to flavor it is homemade (and subject to variation too), but I figured it out — only took six iterations (and I can usually do it in two). Even though I do take some measurements for sugar and acid, my palate is the final arbiter of what goes out the door. Here’s a snapshot of my tastes all lined up:

Because this batch of Rustic was late-breaking, I made today’s video in the cidery again. Enjoy!

October 1, 2023

Good morning, folks! We have three apple varieties today: Cortland, Zabergau Reinette, and Regent. Cortland is a child of McIntosh and just picked on Friday; Zabergau Reinette is an apple you’ve seen before this year but is tasting great — its acidity is really coming through; and Regent is a U of M release that’s just a solid workhorse for eating, baking, and cidermaking.

For hard cider this week, we have Minnesota Mule because it’s such a good cider for hot weather drinking . . . and it’s HOT! Drink on ice, why not???

September 24, 2023

We’ve got quite a variety of apples going out to you today! From left to right in the photo below:

• McIntosh, a Canadian heirloom variety from 1811 or so

• Zabergau Reinette, a German variety originally planted in 1885

• Maiden Blush, out of New Jersey in the 1700’s

• Zestar!, very sweet, a U of M release

• Ginger Gold, a crowd pleaser

• Paula Red, a McIntosh seedling from Wisconsin

For more info on each variety and to hear what’s happening at the orchard this week, check out the video below!

Essence of the Orchard
This CSA package offers a basic version of what we do around here — apples, fresh-pressed cider, fermented cider, and cider donuts.

• Half peck of apples

• 1/2 gallon fresh-pressed cider

• Half-dozen cider donuts

• A four-pack of cider or one 750-ml bottle

Freshie Fresh
This package is alcohol-free and bumps up the quantities of apples, fresh-pressed cider, and cider donuts.

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

Freshie-Fresh with Fermentation
More apples, more fresh-pressed cider, more donuts, and hard cider too!

• Peck of apples

• Gallon of fresh-pressed cider

• Dozen cider donuts

• A four-pack of cider or one 750-ml bottle