Dear Farm Community -

The weather is starting to feel like fall ~ we’re harvesting on chilly mornings, delighting in the sweater weather till the sun heats us up again and we revert back to the tank tops you see above. But today marks the first day of our autumnal roll-call start-time. In summer, our crew gathers bright and early at 7 AM every day, but as the sun lingers below the horizon a little longer each morning, we eventually find ourselves harvesting in the half-light. That’s our cue to shift with the season ~ and today we officially roll the clock back and start a little later. It’s a small shift, but a meaningful one. Part of how we live by nature’s rhythm, rising and resting with the sun. And truly, as our autumn harvests start to get huuuuge, that extra 30 minutes of sleep in the morning feels so welcome!!!!

The chill we’re feeling in the morning air reminds us that winter is steadily on its way, and our preparations have begun in earnest. Our big goal: to put up ten new high tunnels before winter weather sets in. Farmer Antho and Farmer Josh made quick progress last week, assembling the frames for three of them in just a few days. It’s a strong start to an ambitious project that will greatly benefit us (and you!) through the winter. In the coming weeks, more tunnels will rise as we move swiftly to stretch greenhouse plastic over the frames and fill the beds within with greens, radishes, turnips, herbs, carrots, and more.

Your CSA’s this week have an exciting special treat!!!! We partnered with local certified naturally grown orchard, Athens Orchard, to bring the most delicious fall treat to your CSA shares ~ the Fuyu persimmon. A sweet, cinnamony non-astringent variety originally from Japan, the fuyu’s flavor is reminiscent of honeyed pear and mango. These persimmons, unlike astringent varieties, can be eaten at any stage of ripeness (dig in!)

These persimmons are incredibly delicious and truly need no zhuzhing up, but if you are dyin’ to get fancy with it, the sky’s the limit! This recipe for a persimmon and pomegranate salad blends two specialty fruits with funky blue cheese, dried cranberries, and pistachios. You can use the salad mix in your share as your base, or stop by market and pick up some arulugula to go by the book! Transform your fuyu’s into a baked masterpiece (the hype here is well-deserved) by baking up this persimmon upside down cake or persimmon sticky toffee pudding! And for those of you who enjoy cocktails, you can make yourself a fancy one like this Spiced Persimmon Bourbon Old Fashioned. Ooh la la hello Fall ;)

Warmly,
Diamond Hill Farmers

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Field Tunes 🎵 Farmer Antho is listening to Leda by Makthaverskan 🎵