Friends of the Farm-

Ahhh...the arrival of fall weather is welcome company to us farmers and our crops! The cooler days of fall weather that we've been graced with this week have also brought a bit of moisture in the air. We also can't help but notice the shortening of each passing day. It allows our farm team a bit of celebrated rest after the long days of summer as well as the less daylight hours for our crops and chickens. This translates to a shift in crops (both yields and maturity of current produce plus our shift to successions of new crops) and and slowing of egg laying production. It's incredible to witness the rhythms of the earth and her season's through the daily lens of our intentioned farming. We have a front row seat everyday.
Check out the beautiful colors we are seeing across our beets and peppers this week!

In this week's recipe we feature Ratatouille! A nice warm dish for those looking to celebrate the Autumn season ahead and use the most of this week's box. This iteration is a play off of Alice Water's recipe for Ratatouille which we loved for her use of a basil bouquet. She credits basil for highlighting more of the sweet, fruitiness of the tomatoes and peppers versus woodier herbs that are often called upon such as thyme or rosemary.

Don't forget to tune into this week's edition of our CSA music playlist. Link to our Spotify playlist is attached below to join the groove.
This week brings another eclectic mix of tempo and genre. Perhaps an extra dose of sweet soul music to match the depth of flavors in this week's Ratatouille recipe. Mavis Staples, Aretha Franklin, and Jon Batiste (who you may recognize as the bandleader for Steven Colbert's Late Show) all represented this week. A bit of jazz / funk too with Yussef Kamaal & Gábor Szabó and forever favorites Funkadelic. The Fugees, Harry Belafonte, and a few other tracks that you may recognize from some well known hip-hop samples are also sprinkled in for a good time and encouraged dancing in your kitchens this weekend. Enjoy the familiar sounds and the new discoveries, alike!

Our website has seen recent adds, find the following features and other new additions at UmbelRoots.com.
Reminder that available as additions to any week CSA are the following current add-ons.:
+ Umbel Roots fresh chicken eggs - $8 /doz
+ Umbel Roots Seasonal Herbal Tea Blend - $16 / lb
(Mint, Lavender, Chrysanthemum, & Calendula)
+ Early Girl Tomatoes & Strawberries - additional tomatoes & fruit can be added per week at your request for peak-season cooking (inquire via email for pricing)
*simply reply to this email to have any inclusions added to next week's box!*

This and other past newsletters from this CSA quarter can now be found via our website at UmbelRoots.com. In the case of wanting to revisit a recipe, produce guide, or past playlist they are all collected here under the Newsletter Archive tab. We will continue to update each week.

All our best from the farm,
Tom & William
Umbel Roots