Thank You for a Great Season!

As another season winds down, we hope you’re looking forward to a bountiful Thanksgiving with family and friends. 

Tables laden with delicious, locally grown foods form our vision of a perfect Thanksgiving. Our FarmShare deliveries this week provided a good start with a final harvest of fall veggies and a host of hearty recipes. We’ll also be posting recipes on our blog throughout the holiday season and winter months ahead. So, if you need a little last minute inspiration in your FarmShare kitchen, you know where to go.

This time of year, we’re frequently asked what FarmShare does over the winter months.  After a short break for turkey, we’ll begin taking orders for our holiday gift boxes. Between now and January we take time to visit with our farmers. Over hot coffee, we assess the past season and make plans for next year’s crops (if there’s a vegetable you’d like us to offer, now is the time to let us know). February is conference time. We attend both the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm gathering and the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture conference where we gather a wealth of knowledge and ideas, meet new farmers, and get inspired for spring. Winter is also a time for us to reconnect with our local food community through involvement with organizations such as E4S, Local Food Cleveland, and Slow Food.

And, with Mother Nature’s cooperation, we’ll also be delivering fresh veggies and wholesome local foods to you throughout the winter months. Watch your email for announcements about our winter deliveries. And if you're not already on our mailing list, join now.

We'd like to thank everyone who participated in FarmShare this season. At the top of our list is our subscribers. Without your commitment to fresh, locally grown food we could not do what we do. We hope you’ve enjoyed the past twenty weeks with FarmShare and look forward to seeing you throughout the winter months ahead for more delicious locally grown food and fun!

And thank you to the cream of the crop, our farmers and producers. We’ve worked with over twenty-five small-scale, family farmers over the course of our 2010 season — mostly organic and sustainable; both rural and urban; greenhorns and seasoned veterans alike — to bring you the freshest and the finest produce, artisan breads, locally made cheeses and more. From the potatoes and carrots you know and love to new discoveries like sunchokes and komatsuna, we’re very proud of the quality and variety of foods produced by FarmShare farmers and we're thankful for the hard work and dedication of all who've grown the amazing food we've enjoyed this season.

We are also grateful for our dedicated FarmShare crew, Sarah, Cory & Elysha who make each week's delivery so much fun. 

And a very special thank you to our partners at Forest City Enterprises who host our downtown delivery site at Tower City; Vantage Financial, home of our Independence delivery site; and On the Rise Artisan Breads for hosting us in Cleveland Heights.

We wish you all a very happy Thanksgiving. See you soon!  

-Kari

“The pleasure of good eating is about much more than the taste of the food.
It is about a deep appreciation for, and connection with, everything on our plates.”
~Pleasure & Process: A Recipe for Good Eating by Fred Kirschenmann, Center for Ecoliteracy (visit www.ecoliteracy.org)