🎃Pahl’s 2026 Fall Festival – Free Entry:  

Our Fall Festival kicks off this Saturday, September 26th, and runs daily through October 31st! As a thank-you for being part of our CSA, each member will receive a free day pass to enjoy the festival. Bring the family out for a fun-filled day featuring our giant corn pit, pallet maze, multiple bounce houses, sand play area, and plenty of fall photo opportunities. You’ll also find pumpkins, fall décor, and seasonal favorites like apples and caramel apples.

This Saturday, we’re excited to welcome Sustainable Safari for two wildlife shows, one from 10–11 a.m. and another from 12–1 p.m. These educational and entertaining shows are included with festival admission at no additional cost, making this a perfect weekend to experience something truly unique.

On Sunday, PawPaw’s Snowball food truck will be here serving delicious sweet treats to enjoy during your visit.

We’re also celebrating opening weekend with some fantastic savings throughout the Market and Garden Center! Shop 25% off fall annuals, nursery plants, perennials, ornamental grasses, groundcovers, bagged mulch, and bagged soil. You’ll also find 40% off summer décor and 50% off evergreens, pottery, benches, plant supports, fountains, statuary, and birding supplies. Some exclusions apply, and sale prices are valid Saturday and Sunday only, so be sure to stop in and take advantage of these opening-weekend deals!

🍎 From the Field: The Minnesota Apple Story

Minnesota might be known for cold winters, but those same winters have helped make our state home to one of the most successful apple-breeding programs in the country. And this week, there’s a piece of that history inside your CSA box.

The University of Minnesota’s fruit-breeding work dates all the way back to 1878. Early settlers quickly discovered that many of the fruit varieties brought to Minnesota simply couldn’t handle our climate. That created a need for apples that could survive bitterly cold winters while still producing great-tasting fruit.

Over the generations, University researchers have worked to combine cold hardiness with traits like flavor, crispness, juiciness, disease resistance, storage life, and reliable production. It’s a remarkably slow process. According to the University, developing a new apple variety from the first cross to its eventual release takes an average of 20 to 30 years.

That patience has produced quite a lineup. The U of M has released 29 apple varieties, including Haralson, Honeycrisp, Zestar!®, SweeTango®, First Kiss®, Triumph®, and several others.

And that brings us to the apples in your box this week.

SweeTango® has Minnesota roots through and through. The apple comes from the University-developed Minneiska variety, which was created by crossing two other U of M apples: Honeycrisp and Zestar!®. From Honeycrisp it inherited that distinctive crisp texture, while Zestar! contributed juiciness and helped create its sweet-tart flavor. It also ripens relatively early, typically around early September.

Apple breeding at the U of M continues today. Researchers make carefully selected crosses and then spend years evaluating the resulting trees and fruit. Out of all those possibilities, only a tiny fraction will ever become named varieties that eventually make their way into orchards.

So when you bite into one of this week’s SweeTango apples, you’re tasting the result of more than a century of Minnesota agricultural research, and decades of work that can go into developing a single new apple.

Not bad for an afternoon snack!

What’s in the Box? 🍎🎃

This week’s share is packed with vegetables that are perfect for September cooking, along with a Minnesota favorite, SweeTango® apples. Butternut squash, leeks, celery, and peppers can find their way into everything from soups and roasted vegetables to easy weeknight meals, with a crisp apple for snacking along the way.

Here’s what’s inside:

  • 🎃 Butternut Squash
  • 🍎 SweeTango® Apples
  • 🌿 Leeks
  • 🌿 Celery
  • 🫑 Mini Sweet Peppers
  • 🌶️ Jalapeños
  • 🫑 Colored Bell Peppers

🎃 Butternut Squash: Roast it until tender for an easy side, blend it into soup, or add cubes to pasta, grain bowls, or casseroles. Store whole squash in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to use it.

🍎 SweeTango® Apples: A Minnesota original! SweeTango was developed by the University of Minnesota and is a cross between Honeycrisp and Zestar!®. It’s known for its crisp, juicy texture and a sweet flavor balanced with a lively touch of tartness. They’re excellent for eating fresh, adding to salads, or pairing with cheese. Keep them refrigerated to maintain that signature crunch.

🌿 Leeks: Their mild onion flavor is excellent in soups, potato dishes, eggs, and pasta. Slice and rinse them thoroughly before cooking since soil can hide between the layers.

🌿 Celery: Use it fresh for snacking or add it to soups, stews, stuffing, salads, and sauces. Celery and leeks also make a great starting point for a hearty soup.

🫑 Mini Sweet Peppers: Sweet, crunchy, and easy to snack on. They’re also delicious roasted, stuffed, grilled, or sliced into salads.

🌶️ Jalapeños: Add them to chili, salsa, tacos, eggs, or sauces for a little heat. Removing the pale inner ribs will help make them milder.

🫑 Colored Bell Peppers: Sweet and versatile, these are great raw, roasted, sautéed, or stuffed. Chop and freeze any extras for soups, chili, and other cooked dishes later.

This week’s share lends itself especially well to mixing and matching. Roast the squash and peppers together, build a soup around the leeks and celery, or keep things simple and enjoy those crisp SweeTango apples and sweet peppers fresh.