Bread Day. Celebrate!

squash. another sign of fall. (last years' crop)

For those of you who have been in our farm community for several years (and who read our farm newsletter) have probably heard about ‘Bread Day’ before.  But, as it is an annual holiday, I find reason every year to bring up the joys of this holiday. Ok, what is Bread Day?  Bread Day is a holiday that exists to mark the transition from summer to fall.  I was 19 years old, it was fall and for the first time in my life this seasonal transition was not marked by the beginning of a school year.  My best friend and I were doing what we liked to call at the time, getting life experience, which I now know is just called, getting a job. We were feeling the lack of structure and new things and that change that a school calendar brings—prompting you to let go of summer and start fall.  Out of the craving for marking that September many years ago we decided to start Bread Day.  We found a recipe for Anadama Bread, baked a delicious loaf to eat warm with marmalade.  We bought flowers to make crowns to wear all day (this is back when I wore corduroy dresses) and celebrated the end of summer.

As funny as it sounds to recount the story of me sitting on my parents kitchen floor braiding flowers to make crowns and wands, I’ll never forget the smell of the baking bread and the true sense of acknowledging the changing of seasons.  Now, many years later, my best friend and I are both farmers. And we still celebrate Bread Day.  The official day is September 2—but in reality; bread day is whenever you feel that transition from summer to fall.  Every year, we call each other to describe what we did to celebrate Bread Day.  We share the tradition with love ones.  Yesterday was my Bread Day.  I made crackers. I woke up and brewed a big pot of coffee and got out the flour and herbs and oil and turned the oven on.  Amy, a farmer who used to work at Powisset, arrived just as I was pulling my first batch of sage-oregano crackers out of the oven.  After that, we rolled out the parmesan-sage batch.  We ate them warm with creamy blue-cheese and cilantro pesto piled on top.  Then we walked around the fields, full with our Bread Day feast, letting the cool air, the thriving kale and our full bellies mark the transition from summer to fall.  This year my best friend was doing her best to have her first child on Bread Day.  She was born on Labor Day instead.  

It is special being connected to a farm—we are in touch with the changes of the seasons through food. You will notice the pick-ups shifting from tomatoes and peppers to kale and spinach.  The natural transition from summer to fall is marked by the produce we eat and the flavors we crave.  Butternut squash and sage and collards and broccoli are on their way.  And maybe you will celebrate Bread Day by making a meal with fall crops from the farm or walking the fields after a pick-up and begin to notice that the farm smells and feels like fall.

I love September!  See you in the fields,

Meryl (on behalf of the Powisset Farm Crew)

In the Share this week:

up at the barn: lettuce or lettuce mix, hakurei turnips or bok choi, kale or chard, carrots, bell peppers, sweet peppers, tomatoes, basil, 

in the fields: husk cherries, chard

Fall Festival!

Hooray!  The Fall Festival is almost here!  

Sunday, September 30th from 10am-3pm

Come to the farm to celebrate Fall with us! There will be live music and potentially spontaneous contra dancing, cider pressing, potato picking, produce for sale, pumpkin painting (and pumpkins for sale), and community arbor building--help us finish our beautiful arbor. Our jam, honey and pottery vendors will be setting up and there will be food for sale!

I hope to see you there!

This event is free and open to all! spread the word!

If you are interested in volunteering that day, or in helping us spread the word, please let me know by contacting me at: mlatronica@ttor.org

Pumpkins at last years' Fall Fest!