Week 13... hopefully that's not too ominous

Hi everyone,
Well, the veggies are still going pretty strong despite the advance of more fall-like weather! We just picked three buckets full of new green beans this evening and harvested the first of the winter squash.
Here's what's in the bags this week:
Salad mix (baby swiss chard, baby spinach, beet greens and lettuce)
Red Onion
Sweet Peppers
Tomatoes
Cherry Tomatoes
Broccoli
Radishes
Beets (red and golden)
"Satina" Potatoes (yellow)
Spaghetti Squash
Eggplant- for full shares this week

We're hoping to keep going with the distribution for another 4 weeks, but that will be somewhat dependent on the weather.

Now that fall is getting going, I'm really starting to crave apples! Here in New York, we are right in the thick of prime apple country, and there are lots of great local places to buy delicious varieties of apples or pick your own. I just heard yesterday from someone in the CSA that there is a new organic (soon to be certified) apple orchard that just opened up in Jamesville, NY. Apples are a very tricky crop to grow to market standards using organic methods, so I'm very excited and interested to hear that there's one starting up right in our backyard! The orchard is called Adam's Acres and it's located on 7047 Sevier Rd, Jamesville, NY. Their website is: www.adamsacres.net
I'm hoping to make it out there this weekend because they're picking Honeycrisps right now and that ranks pretty high on my list of favorite apples.

It's great to have organic options, and I try and go for those whenever possible because I believe farming practices that refuse to use synthetic pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers are better for the environment and better for the health of the people who grow and eat the food. I also try and buy as much of my food locally as I can, too. Sometimes you can get both in the same product (organically & locally grown) but often you have to choose between an organic option, a local option and a (typically) cheaper option that's neither local nor organic. I certainly shop on a tight budget, so price does come into consideration. What it comes down to, in my opinion, is a balancing act. I hope that over time, organic and locally grown produce will become more common and more affordable in our grocery stores. Farmers' Markets are great ways to find both local and organic items, but I don't always have time to get there. In fact I rarely do because I work during the hours of the market in our town. But when and where I can, I try to get organic and local, or at least one of the two. Whether one is more important than the other probably depends on your priorities, but I think if you can try to choose one or the other more often than the "mainstream" option, it helps make a better food system more possible for our country.

Enough soap-boxing... Enjoy your veggies!
Sarah