The beautiful fall weather makes the harvest a lot fun. We are out there every day now. The nights are freezing cold and the outer leaves and tips of the green plants have been damaged; the cells burst.

We have harvested green cabbage. This year our red and green storage cabbage did not make it, so we planted a fast growing early cabbage which will not store as well. We will be making sauerkraut, you are welcome to join us and/or make it at home!

We are leaving Daikon Radish, Turnips and the 2nd planting of beets in the ground to grow some more. We will harvest them as late as possible.


EVERY ONE is invited to our Martinmas Celebration Potluck on November 9th from 4-6pm. Please RSVP to Tina Schinner tina_tyg@hotmail.com

Chili will be provided by Ursula. Following dinner there will be Martinmas stories, songs and a lantern walk. (Please bring your own lantern or flash light.)


For those of you that did not receive the email about the vision of Cresset Farm with the question about its future we print the following letter:

Hello CSA members and friends of the Cresset farm,

Saturday (10/18/2008) during the farm festival and fundraising event at the farm, Lawrence shared with us his vision for how he and Ursula would like to see the farm ‘grow’ in the near and distant future. Although this vision entails a lot of exciting new directions the farm could take, it is clear that they could use help in making this a reality. As Lawrence mentioned, they want to make a decision by this Thanksgiving whether to continue with the farm or to move somewhere else by the end of 2009. If they decide to stop with the farm, there would not only be an end to our veggie/milk/ egg/meat shares, but also a dramatic end to all that they have accomplished in their ten years of labor and love for the land.

The wish is to purchase 10 acres of the current farm on which to build a new home- stead and secure some neighboring land for farming.

We want to know if you would be willing to contribute to this vision in any way, shape or form. We realize that it may be difficult to see where you could contribute, but it is our firm belief that we, as the community served by Cresset Farm and through the various skills and interests that reside within it, can come up with a strategic plan towards their vision.

It is our intent that, based on your feedback, several ‘task forces’ can be identified that will be able to assist in the various legal, financial, strategic and other issues at hand, both for the short term as well as the longer term.

Please let us know if you have any questions, suggestions or interest with regards to this letter.

Kind regards, Anouk Tompot and Onno Wink.
303-722-3734 or tompotwink@gmail.com


In The Share:
Potatoes
Spinach
Collards
Endive
Tatsoi
Napa
Broccoli
Mustard
Small lettuce

Calendar
Nov 8 Farm Day 10 - 12:30 Pot Luck Follows
Nov 9 Martinmas Celebration 4-6 pm
Nov 14-15 Final Summer Distribution
Nov 21-22 First Winter Distribution

Barter Member Bio: Allison St. Claire

I am grateful every day for Cresset Farm, Ursula and Lawrence, and the entire Cresset community for taking me back to the future.

You see, I spent all my summers – until polio struck both my mother and me when I was almost 13 -- living with my retired Quaker farmer grandparents and extended family in lush Lancaster County, Pa. The rest of the year, at least twice a month we drove halfway across Ohio to spend the weekend with my Hungarian immigrant grandparents. Both lived on and from the earth and animals they lovingly tended.

Every visit to Cresset takes me back. Seeing the cows I can remember my Nagymama’s nimble fingers twisting just so to squirt the delicious, warm-from-the-cow milk into my waiting mouth in Ohio. Or I feel the damp dirt road under my always-bare feet and the pull of young muscles as I helped haul a 5-gallon milk can sloshing with raw-milk goodness from the Amish farm up the road in Pennsylvania.

The Cresset chickens fluttering about their business remind me of the scrunch of fresh straw and squish of chicken poop between my toes (always barefoot, re- member) as my small hand squirmed to avoid the pecks greedy hens imposed while trying to protect that precious egg beneath her.

And now, every week as I pick up my veggies and other farm products, I remember picking, pulling, weeding and hoeing all summer long for all those jewel-like jars of home-canned fruits and veggies we’d cart back to Ohio. As I inventory the bounty each week my mouth waters (OK, actually drools) as I flash back to the middle-European peasant food that moved from huge kitchen garden to root cellar and storage shed to coal stove to table and into our tummies. Pasture-fed beef, pork, rabbit and chicken. Lush greens I can’t name because I can’t spell in Hungarian. Root crops ditto. Herbs neither. But there they all are – straight from beautiful organic earth at Cresset Farm and tended so lovingly by the farmers and all the volunteer and barter helpers - that taste and nourish just like I remember so many years ago.

But just when I thought I could never go back again to real food, exquisite taste sensations with every bite, and healthy abundance and variety grown locally, I discovered Cresset five summers ago. Back in the ‘70s and ‘80s I used to drive to Boulder from Denver to shop at the Pearl St. Market – the only place I could find those days for organic food. It grew from a small storefront to become Alfalfas, then Wild Oats and finally Whole Foods which thankfully opened stores in Denver, saving me from too much carbon-footprint guilt. But even those sources were not quite what I craved.

But now, on to the future. My passionate wish is that everyone be able to take advantage of what I appreciate so much about Cresset. I wish it for everyone who still eats as though that fallacious theory of “better living through chemistry” still reigned; anyone who will never know the joys of home-grown, home-cooked meals, and appreciate the loving effort that creates them. Although I can’t physically handle work at the farm, I enjoy contributing as I can. I love to solve puzzles (scheduling and coordinating pick up sites), answer questions (I’m a newbie, what should I expect?), and generally communicate the CSA vision and mission to anyone who will listen...read...eat...explore... Thanks everyone for letting me be part of our conscious, committed, extended family!

[When not finding, fondling, fixing or consuming good food, Allison lives in Denver with her adult son, two dogs, uncounted fish, and far too many enormous dust bunnies. She works up an appetite by running her fingers across a keyboard several hours a day writing, editing and honing her spatial relationship skills with non-violent video games.]

P.S. If you have not already read Michael Pollan’s advice to the next “Farmer in Chief” that ran in the New York Times, here’s the link. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if the next president actually made a new, sensible, sustainable food policy a high priority?

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/12/magazine/12policy-t.html?_r=1&scp=6&sq=michael%20pollan&st=cse&oref=slogin


Shredded Collard Greens with Walnuts and Pickled Apples
2 red apples such as Gala or Idared
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pickling spice
1/2 cup walnut halves
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound collard greens
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1. Make pickled apples: Quarter and core apples, then cut each quarter lengthwise into 1/8-inch-
thick slices. Boil vinegar, water, sugar, salt, and pickling spice in a saucepan, stirring, until sugar is
dissolved. Add apples and return to a boil. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and cool. Chill, uncovered,
until cold, about 1 hour.
2. Prepare nuts while apples chill: Toast walnuts in oil in a small skillet over moderate heat, stirring
occasionally, until a shade darker. Cool nuts in oil. Transfer nuts to a cutting board with a slotted
spoon, reserving oil. Coarsely chop 1 tablespoon nuts and finely chop remaining nuts.
3. Prepare collard greens: Halve each collard leaf lengthwise with kitchen shears or a sharp knife,
cutting out and discarding center ribs. Stack leaves and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-wide strips.
Transfer to a large bowl.
4. Just before serving: Transfer all nuts and oil from skillet to collards and toss with 1/2 teaspoon
salt and pepper to taste. Add apple slices, discarding pickling liquid and spices, and toss again. Yield
6 servings.