Rising River Farm
13208 201st Ave SW
Rochester, WA 98579 360-273-5368
contact@risingriverfarm.com
www.risingriverfarm.com

October 17 ***** Box 18

Hello,
Well, this is it, the last box of the season. Jim and I want to thank you all for supporting our farm this year through your involvement in the CSA and visits to the market. We hope it was enjoyable for you and you’ll join us again next year. There is a sign-up form at the end of this letter.
Greg, Isaac, and Jonathon are the last three crew members to stick around for mud-slogging season. They are troopers to get up early and be out in the cold all day. They’ll stick around for another few weeks to help us with carrot harvests, field clean-up, and a few other multi person jobs.
We are looking forward to hunkering down for the winter, reading by the fire, sleeping more, having more family time, and just being aimless for a while. We’ll still have to force ourselves outside now and again to harvest for November/December market and to attend to the projects we dropped at the onset of summer, but it can be when we chose to do it. There is the year-end inventory and clean-up, tractor maintenance, and shed building. Those can all have a pleasantly loose time line, say… sometime before April.
Cylas, of course, is hoping for some degree of flooding this winter so he can canoe around the farm. Jim and I could personally do without the hassle and drama, but we’ll plan for it anyway so we are not scrambling around at the last minute, Instead we hope to sit back and stoke the fire and let come what may.
I’ll remind you as I do every year where you can get tasty food until the CSA starts up in spring. The Olympia Farmers market is open Saturday and Sunday through December from 10-3 and we will be there with carrots, leeks, squash, spuds and onions. Every year there are more and more farmers there longer in the season with a surprising diversity of winter vegetables. Some even manage to pull off salad greens until December! (Hats off to them.) We are indeed lucky to live in such a mild climate where food can be grown for so long. There are lots of fruit, baked goods, fish, meat and a huge selection of locally made crafts and gifts (think holiday gift shopping.)
The Olympia Food Co-ops are always a great option for fresh and healthy foods. They are really working hard to source local produce when they can. They label the origin of all the fruits and veggies so you can make more informed choices. The bulk of the fruit and veg. is organic and it is all clearly labeled. It is more affordable than Safeway, Top Foods, or any other big chain store since the co-op specializes in organics. I find shopping at the co-op a relaxing, social experience. It is small enough to feel homey, yet big enough to have good variety. I always run into people I know and can let the kids freely roam without fear they’ll get lost. Yes, parking can be limited at times, but you can figure out less busy times to shop or enjoy the exercise of pushing a 50 lb cart to the far corners of the lot and back!

STORAGE QUANTITIES:
Want Kraut cabbage or more storage quantities of onions, carrots, red and russet potatoes, or shallots? Call us to place an order and we will deliver it to the Farmers Market. The cabbage should be ready in a week or so. Everything else is available now.

In your box this week:
-For the sake of efficiency for us and convenience for you we bagged up 2lbs of loose carrots for you to enjoy.
-Green Tomatoes: Some folks love their green tomatoes so we are leaving a help-yourself basket at the site. So, help yourself! Fried green tomatoes, anyone?
-The squash today are Gold Nugget and Acorn. Gold Nugget is creamy like delicata, but not as sweet. The Acorn is a flakier squash. They should all be ready to eat now, but would be fine sitting around your kitchen for weeks. They are meant to store.

Following is a 2008 registration form. Send it in now with a $50 deposit and resume payment in spring (or feel free to pay it all now, up to you.) If you have friends and family that are interested, please direct them to our website www.risingriverfarm.com where they can download a registration form and sign up. They can also call us and we’ll send them a brochure with a form. Thank you for caring about your food, community, and health of the environment. Thank you for playing a big role in keeping this family farm alive and well!

Enjoy your fall and winter,

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2008 CSA Registration
Include a $50 deposit and send to: 13208 201st AVE SW Rochester, WA 98579

NAME(S):________________________________________________________________
ADDRESS:_______________________________________________________________
PHONE: (HM) ________________________________ (WK) _____________________
EMAIL (optional): _________________________________________________________
PICK-UP SITE: (Check One)
_________East Oly _________Centralia
_________West Oly _________ Farm
_________Tumwater

SIZE OF SHARE:
_________REGULAR $400
_________SMALL $325