🍁 The Dirt, Issue #9: A Season for Slowing Down

Read the full issue here.

As the air turns crisp and the days grow shorter, there’s this quiet rhythm that settles in — not just in our homes, but across the farms that fill our totes each week. The rows of tomatoes have thinned, the greens have slowed, and in their place come the grounding flavors of fall: squash, roots, and herbs that warm the soul.

In northern Illinois, this shift is more than a change of ingredients — it’s a reminder that nature asks us to slow down too. The fields rest a little more each day. The meals get a little heartier. The kitchen feels like the center of everything again.

This week’s tote celebrates that rhythm. Delicata squash from Bland Family Farm, Yukon gold potatoes and sage, the kind of ingredients that turn a weeknight dinner into something that feels like Sunday. The kind that don’t ask for much — just a drizzle of olive oil, a pinch of salt, and maybe a few quiet minutes by the stove while everything caramelizes just right.

It’s easy to forget that eating seasonally isn’t just about what’s available — it’s about how we feel. Fall foods bring a sense of calm. They nourish differently. They give us what we need to reset.

So this week, we hope your table feels a little cozier, your meals a little slower, and your connection to this place — to our farms, our soil, and our food — a little deeper.

Because food is how we find our way back to what matters most.