Get Your Harvest On!

We've been in full-on harvest time mode here at the farm this past week.  Digging potatoes, curing (we hope) potatoes, drying beans, harvesting winter squash...It's a race against time as we desperately try to
"finish" the crops we've labored over all season, before the winter sets on in force.
The sunny weather we've had has been very very welcomed, of course!  We hear the weatherman is saying it might go away for a few days early this next week, but then hopefully come back for a bit longer.  So we hope!
So far, harvest time has been pretty good.  We've got somewhere in the neighborhood of 7000 lbs of potatoes dug and in the barn!  Yowser!  Probably another 3000 lbs or so to go?  Quite a potato yield we had this year!
We threshed out our first batch of Rockwell beans with much success and hope to thresh the rest today.  (And before I get a bajillion emails, yes we WILL HAVE SOME ROCKWELLS at market today.  Straight from the combine, not having received their final screening and bagging yet.  But if you are DESPERATE we will have a nice big basket for the Rockwell aficionados, you know who you are!...). 
We started harvesting some winter squash - granted they could be more "cured" and we are going to get a huge crop, but heck it's something!
So what does this mean you you? It means - fill up the pantry time of year!  I don't know about the rest of you, but there sure is something comforting about having a pantry full of healthy, nourishing, tasty food when the cold and dark days set come in earnest!
 We will be bringing this week the first of our 10 lb Potato Storage Bags.  These are mesh, 10 lb bags, by potato variety.  We still have some potatoes to dig, so we don't have the entire selection available this week, but we've got all the favorites - Yellow Finns, German Butterballs, Maris Pipers, Romance, Purple Majesty....Net bags are a great way to store potatoes for the winter - just keep them someplace dark, where they will stay cool but not too cool (in the 40s is perfect).  With those conditions, you should expect to have potatoes at least into January, if not longer.  I've stored them all the way until March.
We also will have our first selection of winter squash at the markets this weekend.  Yummy!  I love winter squash because it is not all GORGEOUS but it is so tasty, versatile and full of great nutrients (like beta-carotene) that are otherwise not easy to get in the winter.  And all wrapped up in an natural storage bag (no plastic needed!), it's hard winter shell!  We love to bake, mash, soup, roast, pie and just generally go crazy on winter squash!  I will caution, that with our cool, cool summer and wet fall, the squash is LATE this year and less "cured" than I normally like.  But that's okay, just use it on your kitchen table or countertop for a big of "fall color" and the warm inside temps will finish that ripening process.  Most winter squash only get sweeter the longer they age. 
So, hopefully we've teased your taste buds a bit and we'll see you at the markets today.  Only TWO MORE MARKETS LEFT IN COUPEVILLE!
Here's the "official" list coming to Bayview and Coupeville markets...
From Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie:
* Beet Bunches
* Leeks
* Torpedo, Ailsa Crag and Cippolini onions
* Garlic - food grade and seed grade
* Chard
* Kale
* Braising green bunches
* Collards
* Winter Squash
* Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes
* Shell Beans - probably the last week they will be available!
* Dried Rockwell Beans!
* Green Beans
* Tomatoes (Bayview only)
* Basil (Bayview only)
* Tomatillos (Bayview only)
From our friends at Prairie Bottom Farm
* Lettuce Mix
* Spinach - 2 kinds
* Arugula
* Cucumbers
* Winter Squash
* Carrots
* Beets
* Leeks
* Dill
* Fennel
* Summer squash
* Scallions
* Green Beans
From Mikey at Whidbey Green Goods (Bayview only)
* Cherry tomatoes
* Slicing tomatoes
* Mushrooms
* Apples
* Figs

Hope to see you at market!
Farmer Georgie

Willowood Farm of Ebey's Prairie