Season 11 Conclusion. Thank you for your support.

Hi there!

Week 22...the last week of our 11th Summer CSA Season. Wow! Not only does 11 sound like a big number to me, but seeing the birth dates for new hires makes me feel old some days.

I prefer to think of 11 as a sign of maturity and experience. This journey has been extremely rewarding in so many ways. Most recently, I'm extremely thankful for the hard-knocks I've had as a farmer. I understand today more than ever the challenges of the small farmer and what it really takes to raise healthy, "natural" foods (natural being more than just something you put on a label).

I like to always give examples, despite my staff arguing with me that I go too deep. So, here I go. Read on if you like.

Turkeys. Yes, a very timely topic indeed. Turkeys are very susceptible to a protozoa (yes, I had to learn what this was as a farmer) called histomonas meleagradis. It's essentially a parasite that is transferred to turkeys via a worm, and the worm either lives in the feces of chickens or in the soil for a minimum of 3 years. In short, if a turkey is outside on pasture, and/or near chickens, it is highly at risk of this parasite, which causes a disease called blackhead.

So, what to do? Well, for years turkey farmers fed medicated feed with either arsenic based antibiotics or metronidazole, both of which have been banned in the feed of animals for human consumption since 2015. Anytime I've seen a turkey without energy, I pull it aside and quarantine it. It almost always dies, in which case I do a autopsy, and I find the tell tale lesions on the liver and a swollen cecal (part of the small intestine). Arg, I have it.

Knowing what I know now, I'm mortified by the medicated way of the past, and there is no FDA approved "chemotherapy" for blackhead in turkeys. Some people can still find flagyl on the black market - it's actually quite easy to get at pet stores as Fish Zole - but that's just not right.

With some serious internet scouring, I found research supporting essential oils in treating blackhead. Oregano, lemon, and garlic were all the most promising. They showed results in "in virtro" studies (in a test tube), but no solid research was shown to prove their results in production.

So I worked with two natural feed supplement companies to get a concentrated dose of both garlic and oregano into the feed. So far the results have been good. Further, by utilizing large pastures and moving the turkeys daily, I have been able to slow down the transmission of this disease. In a traditional confined feeding operation, once blackhead is detected, a producer usually expects 80%+ losses. I couldn't fathom that right now. That would literally bankrupt me.

In the end, this story turned out to be the long way to eliminate any fluff in this email and say, "Thank you for supporting this journey and supporting a farming renaissance back to traditional, healthy production practices."

Sincerely,

-Trevor

Stock Up for Winter - Special Orders

The web-portal is up to date with everything from Ribeye Steaks to Chocolate Pie, so be sure to login before midnight tonight to place your order for your favorites.

Because this is the last week, if you are purchasing items at the back of the truck, please bring a check or cash at the back of the truck. We cannot allow items to be put "on account" this week.

If your account has a balance, please bring your final payment as well.

For those not joining us this winter, please bring your green/orange/tan/yellow FFM bags back. But, keep your last one from this week and tote it around town with pride!

Place a Special Order

Special Orders need to be placed & paid for in full by Tuesday at midnight to be delivered on this week's routes.

Notes from the Office: Halloween

This Thursday, 10/31, we will not have our Avon and Mayfield Heights deliveries. If you pick up at either of these locations please plan to pick up your bag at another stop. You are welcome to pick up at the Beachwood or Westlake stops earlier in the evening. Special orders for these stops will be on the Beachwood or Westlake trucks unless otherwise specified.

If you prefer, you may also pickup any other day of the week at our other stops. The only time we need to know is if you need to transfer a special order.

For a full list of our pickup locations and times, please check the website HERE.

From Scratch: Pumpkin Sage Linguini

If you haven't picked up on a theme here, I like to do things the hard way.

And our friends at Ohio City Pasta are always up for a challenge.

Our mission is to support local farmers and artisans. That means that the ingredients of an artisan product needs to be local as well. This can be challenging sometimes as the climates of certain parts of the world favor certain ingredients, such as wheat grown for flour.

Often times, local bakers and artisans don't use local grains. I disagree with that, so when we make pasta with OCP, they gratefully work with us to use our ingredients.

So this week's pumpkin sage linguine includes organic flour from Stutzman Farms, fresh pasture raised eggs from Wholesome Valley Farm, and organic pie pumpkins from Annanias Miller, cut/roasted/pureed at Wholesome Valley Farm. Yes, doing a signature product like this is a lot of work for both OCP and us. It would be much easier to use conventional flour, open a can of Libby's pumpkin, and throw in some pasteurized eggs from a jug. Nah, not how we want it.

So we hope you enjoy this amazing product this week! Try it with a very light sauce - maybe even a classic browned butter sauce. If you haven't made "beurre noisette" before, just do a quick google or YouTube search. It's literally a stainless pan, butter, and heat. That's it. If you want to dress it up a bit, fold in some sage leaves or even a teaspoon or so of brown sugar or sorghum for a slightly sweet and malty note to the sauce. Drizzle it - don't douse - over your pasta.