Summer CSA Week 18

The ease of the Winter CSA

Bend

• How pick up works: pick up at the Deschutes County building in the big parking lot just north of the main big building, 1300 NW Wall Street. Park in the many open spaces, check in with the person at the start of the vegetables and walk down the line picking out your large haul! Grab your bag of meat after you get your vegetables on the way back to your car.
• Pick up window: 4:30-5:30 on the 1st Thursday of the month, November-May

Sisters

• How pick up works: pick up on the sidewalk in front of the Fir Street Park (right where the Farmers Market is in the summer). Park in the many open spaces, check in with the person at the start of the vegetables and walk down the line picking out your large haul! Grab your bag of meat after you get your vegetables on the way back to your car.
• Pick up window: 3:00-3:15 on the 1st Thursday of the month, November-May

All the other details

• Estimated time to grab your CSA: 5-10 minutes
• What to bring with you: a couple reusable shopping bags
• What if the weather is acting wintery? We will have our tents set up in both spots and don’t forget your jacket and boots!
• How much does it cost? That depends on your share!
  • large meat (10lbs/month) and vegetable share: $241/month
  • small meat (5lbs/month) and vegetable share: $171/month
• What will I see in my meat share over the winter? We will work our way through whole animals. You will get ground beef, steaks, and slow cooking cuts; ground pork and pork links, chops, and slow cooking cuts; whole chickens; lard, beef broth, chicken broth.
• What will I see in my vegetable share over the winter? Here are last year’s December and April shares:

December:
1 garlic
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch kale
2 kohlrabi
1 cabbage
1 squash
1 leeks
4 handfuls potatoes
2 handfuls carrots

April:
4 garlic
3 onions
2 shallots
4 handfuls carrots
8 handfuls potatoes
1 tetsu winter squash
2 celeriac
2 bunches kale
1 bunch green onions
1 bunch cilantro
1 dozen eggs

We are cruising into the finish line for harvesting our Winter CSA crops. The last of the potatoes and beets are coming, the last round of pigs are heading to the butcher and chickens are getting processed all this week! The onions have all been harvested. The garlic has been processed. It is time to do the thing and buy your Winter CSA!

Top Pic: The crispness in the air when the smoke blew out last week was nothing short of perfection! (Photo credit: Dylan O’Leary)

Next Pics: The feelings fall are big right now in the harvest. We are still filling the truck with goodies, including large heads of cauliflower, and are busy storing all the winter goods. Last week we sat in the sun and sorted and cleaned garlic.  (Photo credit: Ray Hansen & Melissa Harmon)

Final Pic: The 25 in its fall splendor. Heads of lettuce, cabbage, and asian greens next to cover crop next to the perfectly browning out buckwheat. (Photo credit: Melissa Harmon)

Farm News

What a lovely spell of weather. Although in a typically strange move it is probably going to freeze on the farm this week and also hit 90F. I mean, really, what is typical now? Is it typical that we have lost the predictability of being “done” with the really hot days when it starts to freeze? Is it typical that it stayed cool forever this spring and then got HOT immediately? Is the new typical just not really knowing what is going to happen?

Maybe, but that is why choosing to feed yourself and your family from Rainshadow is so important. You know that the vegetables at pick up are organic, absolutely packed full of nutrients and flavor, and grown in a way that doesn’t takes advantage of the humans working on the farm or the soil and environment that provide all that delicious flavor and nutrition.

You know that because we save seed each year, we are steadily growing plants that are uniquely suited to Central Oregon’s predictable unpredictability.

You know that because there are humans behind each radish you eat or tomato you reverently carry to your car or melon you sniff that your choice of where to shop is a powerful one and ensures that farming by humans and for humans continues and supports your local economy.

Thanks for being part of something we can count on in this typically a-typical world we live in.

Now, if I may be so bold, please, please, please sign up for your winter CSA this week. We are finishing our potato and beet harvest this week. These frosts might kick us into harvesting winter squash next week. The garlic is processed and tucked in ready for the winter CSA. All the Winter CSA needs is you to sign up for it and join in the fun!

And, because it is the end of September, below you will see the announcement for the 2025 Summer CSA. Take a look. We have an exciting surprise down there!

~ Alison & the Farm Crew

Summer CSA Pre-Sales are Open

The 2025 Summer CSA will look similar to the 2024:

• Pick ups in Bend on Wednesday, Sisters on Sundays, and at the Farm Store Wednesday-Saturday.
• Small, Medium, and Large Meat and/or Vegetable CSAs.
• Foundations and your choice vegetable options each week.
• Varied meat CSA based upon enjoying all an animal has to offer.

But, we have made a very important change! After chatting with many of you this season, we would like to introduce a change in our missed pick up policy! We want to reimburse you for missed Vegetable CSAs. For each missed pickup, we will add Market Bucks to your account.

• Small: $25/missed pickup
• Medium: $35/missed pickup
• Large: $45/missed pickup

This way you can pick up extra veg later or purchase some pickles, grains, honey, or meats. All you have to do is send us an email and let us know you will be missing your pick up so we can add your Market Bucks to your account!

And don’t forget our referral bonus! Tell a friend about the CSA and when they sign up tell them to put your name down in the additional notes. Then you both will get $25 in market bucks as a bonus. Tell a lot of friends and you could very easily pay for your CSA with your referral bonuses!

Buy your 2025 Summer CSA today (or at least before November 10) and use coupon code 25earlybirdsummer when buying your CSA. With 25earlybirdsummer you’ll save $50 and be invited to our Early Bird CSA dinner in early June – a night of farm dishes, live music, community, and a special farm tour. This deal ends on November 10, so sign up now!

Veggie CSA

Harvest List will probably include:

asian greens, napa cabbage, yod fah
green onions
kale & chard
head lettuce, salad mixes, arugula
kohlrabi
beets
basil
beans

eggplant
tomatillos
zucchini & yellow squash
cucumber
fennel
carrots
tomatoes
broccoli & cauliflower