09/18/2026
"There are years that ask questions and years that answer." - Zora Neale Hurston
This Week’s Lesson: The land does not need a study to tell its story. It needs people who have learned to pay attention.
When our children were younger, Wisdom and I would take them to the Georgia coast for spring break. One of the places we grew to love was Sapelo Island, home to Hog Hammock, one of the last remaining Gullah Geechee communities on the Georgia coast. The families there are descendants of West and Central Africans who survived enslavement and carried forward traditions around food, farming, language, and culture for generations.
On one visit, we spent time helping elders clean up property that had overgrown and the conversation turned to research being done along the coast. Scientists were documenting erosion and coastline change. The findings from the study would be shared with the community in a meeting where charts and diagrams were shown to explain what was happening to their land and how they might need to prepare. We asked the elders what they thought about it, and I still remember the spirit of their answer.
"We do not need a study to tell us what we already know."
They had been watching that shoreline their whole lives. Their parents watched it. Their grandparents watched it and the elders before them did the same. They planted by the seasons and the moon, they read the water and the sky, and they knew when things were changing because they had been taught to pay attention. Not because science is not important. It is. But sometimes science is measuring what people who have lived in relationship with a place have known for generations.
Wisdom and I spoke about the memory of our time on the island and the conversations had this week as we reflected on what the fall equinox is bringing in to our present understanding.
Next week, on September 22, we reach the fall equinox, that moment when day and night come closest to balance. Then the scale begins to tip toward longer nights. A few days later, on the 26th, comes the Harvest Moon, and the farm changes right along with the sky. The okra that fed us all summer is still coming out of the field, but it is telling us its season is almost finished. It lets us know the shift is here by the size of the stalks, which is standing nearly 13' tall. This week we pulled our first big harvest of delicata squash, the first of many winter squashes to come, and there are pumpkins waiting in the field. When the winter squash comes in, you know fall has arrived. No calendar required.
Wisdom has a name for this time of year. He calls it last call. We have about sixty days before winter settles in, and the farm knows it. It is the last call to preserve the harvest before it is gone. Last call to get our overwintering crops in the ground. Last call, really, of the whole planting year to do the things we said we would do.
The farm keeps time, and we stand as the stewards or farmers that are its timekeepers. It is not a study. It is a practice, kept alive by being maintained and passed on. That knowledge is an inheritance, and it is one we intend to pass on, to our children and hope that they will pass it on to theirs.
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~ This Week's Harvest ~
Our market table is full this week.
Fresh produce: Arugula, Red Russian kale, greens salad mix, mustard greens, sweet potato greens, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, yellow squash, zucchini, okra, garlic, young fresh ginger root, black garlic, green onions, radishes, potatoes, covington and O'Henry Sweet Potatoes, muscadine grapes, and small offering of carrots and apples, chicken eggs and duck eggs.
Fresh herbs: Basil, chives, lemon balm, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, mint, thyme, shiso.
Gourmet mushrooms: Chestnut, Oyster, Trumpet, Black Pearl, and Lion’s Mane.
Fresh Chicken: Whole, halves, wings, breasts, legs
Our Signature Drinks: Ginger Mint Lemonade and Lavender Lemonade cold and ready for market.
Shop our farm stand at the Uptown Farmers Market every Saturday to get your share of the harvest.
Where: 300 South Davidson Street, Charlotte, NC 28202
Time: 8:00 a.m. until 12:30 p.m.
Can't make it to the market, order online for pickup: shop.deeprootscpsfarm.com.
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Reserve your seat today!!
INHERITANCE: A Farm-to-Table Experience, 11/1
If this week's story speaks to you, our fall dinner is where it comes to life. Inheritance is our farm to table dinner on Sunday, November 1, a seat at the table for everything this land and this season have given. The menu is built from what we grow, and the evening is built around the stories, the people, and the knowledge we are passing down.
Each chef will prepare food inspired by something they inherited, whether a recipe, a technique, or a person who shaped the way they cook. We will gather beneath the covered pavilion at our Monroe farm for a family-style meal, with the stories told right at the table. The event starts at 2:30PM.
Seats are limited, and this dinner will sell out. Reserve your tickets today. We also have opportunities for sponsorships and partner support. Visit our website to reserve your seat today or to learn more.
deeprootscpsfarm.com (https://shop.deeprootscpsfarm.com/dinners-workshops-and-events?fbclid=IwY2xjawUFs1JwZG9mAWV4dG4DYWVtAjEwAGJyaWQRMUROYThqc29sY3VUdFZNaXdzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEe-Q80LyBZcVRfrMMFSCUNbNDBJkR-ejppqe7NAo0HpcIES3HWZnekuy9wLYQ_aem_ST6dL2WWERzY-0HehI5FXA)
From the Kitchen Recipe: Roasted Delicate Squash Rings
Delicata is the easiest winter squash you will ever cook, because the skin is tender enough to eat. No peeling required.
What you need:
- 2 delicata squash
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or honey
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Optional: a pinch of cinnamon or smoked paprikas
~ HOW TO MAKE IT ~
1. Slice one or two delicata squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Cut into half moons about half an inch thick.
2. Toss with olive oil, a drizzle of maple syrup or honey, salt, and pepper. If you want a little warmth, add a pinch of cinnamon or smoked paprika.
3. Spread in a single layer on a sheet pan and roast at 425 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, flipping once, until the edges are golden and caramelized.
Serve them alongside our fresh chicken, toss them into a salad with our greens, or eat them straight off the pan. We will not judge.
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A Big SNAP Update for Saturday
We have very good news for our SNAP customers this week. Earlier this month, we shared that the Charlotte area Double Bucks match had been reduced from up to $50 down to up to $20, and that change has been in effect at the past couple of markets.
This Saturday, September 19, the Uptown Farmers Market is stepping up with Triple Bucks. The market will continue its traditional match of up to $50, even though the County Double Bucks program is currently limited to $20. The County match then adds its up to $20 on top.
Here is what that means. Swipe $50 in SNAP EBT and you receive $120 to spend at the market:
$50 SNAP + $50 Uptown Farmers Market match + $20 County match = $120
That is $120 of fresh, locally grown food, straight from the farmers who grew it. This matters. Access to good food should not shrink when budgets get tight, and we are grateful to a market that puts its money where its mission is. If you or someone you love shops with SNAP, this Saturday is the day to come see us
BEFORE YOU LEAVE
We hope this week's message stays with you.
What we have learned as farmers and what the elders on Sapelo taught us is that the land is always speaking. Our work is to pay attention, and to make sure the next generation knows how to listen too.
So as the season turns, I would like to invite you into this practice with us. Take a moment this week to notice what is changing where you are. The light, the air, what is growing, what is finishing. What did your elders teach you to pay attention to? What are you passing on?
Reply to this newsletter and tell me. These stories are worth keeping, and I would love to hear yours. Because maybe inheritance isn't only what someone leaves behind. Maybe it is also what someone teaches us to notice.
In so much anticipation of the joy to come,
Cherie, Wisdom and The Deep Roots CPS Farm Family
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To learn more about our farm and our programs go to our website here:
deeprootscpsfarm.com (http://www.deeprootscpsfarm.com)
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