I’m sitting in the barn on a Tuesday afternoon (a little
late to the blogging this week…). I
watched as Tessa bent her knees and leaned into the big red barn door to slide
it open and start distribution for the twelfth week of our 2014 season. A few members, squinting into the sun outside
the barn, walked in toward the tomatoes, lettuce, corn and all that waits,
fresh picked just for them. Twelve
weeks. More than halfway through our
20-week summer CSA season.
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| scallion harvest! |
The halfway point of a CSA season has always felt very
significant to me. In life we have
birthdays, anniversaries, and rituals to mark the passing of time. To celebrate special moments in time, or
remember people/times or places that are important to us. We don’t have any special celebrations to
mark the middle of our CSA season, but it tends to line up with some big
changes, and big changes at our farm usually mean lots of treats and lots of
reflection!
At the half way point, I like to celebrate our crew and
celebrate the end of our summer crews’ season, which ended last week. Losing
our four pickers and weeders, their spirit, their hard work, their bodies in
the fields helping to lift and smile and sing, is a big change to our farm
team. We go back to our crew of five
full-timers and wonder how we will ever pick all those tomatoes. At the halfway point, I like to celebrate the
numbers. Numbers of hours worked (we
each average 80 a week), numbers of plants planted and harvested (this is
likely in the 100,000s). Numbers of days
left until fall (35). At the halfway
point I like to look at back at what we have harvested so far—last week we calculated
that we had already harvested 10,000 heads of lettuce in 10 weeks—and take one
small moment to appreciate all that it took to produce the food we have already
harvested and how much we have all feasted on that bounty.
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| fennel is back! |
At the halfway point I look out to the fields to see what is
to come. Winter radishes, turnips and rutabaga
are thriving in the warm soil, ready to be thinned for their last month of
growing. The youngest carrots, planted
for our winter CSA, are a few inches tall and growing more every minute. Our massive (truly massive) onion harvest is
curing in every possible barn space at the farm, preparing for long-term
storage. And our summer crops are
flourishing; the peppers and eggplants are more beautiful than ever and just
this morning we hauled in over 1000 pounds of tomatoes.
With the season going at full speed it’s difficult to stop
and sing happy half-birthday to our farm.
But, at least we can sing half of the song and take pride in that we
have grown so far. How has the first
half of the season felt to you? What are
some of the milestones you mark the summer with? Are those moments connected to the farm? Are they connected to your first bite of
cherry tomatoes? For me the halfway
point is a good time for a piece of blueberry pie, a moment of reflection and a
time to gather my strength and spirit to give the next ten weeks as much energy
and attention as the first 10 received!
Happy halfway birthday, Powisset Farm CSA!
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| so many beautiful flowers in the stand lately! |
See you in the fields, (singing happy birthday),
Meryl & the Powisset Farm Crew
What’s in the share this week (most likely):
Full: lettuce, kale, greens mix, tomatoes, peppers,
eggplant, tomatillos, corn, beets, fennel, carrots, onions
Small: lettuce, choice of greens, peppers, eggplants,
tomatoes, corn, beets, fennel, carrots, onions
PYO: cherry tomatoes, raspberries, flowers, parsley
Wondering what to do with your abundance of
cucumbers? Join Powisset Cooks! in the field for a short harvest followed by an
exciting hands-on exploration in the kitchen with our Culinary Educators to
learn the fine art of pickle making. Limited to 12 participants, so sign up quickly!
This class will be co-taught by Ken Cmar, the longest running
chef at Cuisine en Locale, the
premier "locavore" caterer in the Boston Area. Cuisine en Locale is
dedicated to using only the absolute farm freshest, local ingredients (down to
the salt and oil) in every dish made. No exceptions, save a few exotic spices.
Ken
got the pickling bug from his Hungarian grandmother, who had a German
restaurant which featured ingredients grown in the garden behind the
restaurant. Picking and preserving is essential at Cuisine en Locale, enabling
the catering company to use local ingredients even in the darkest days of
winter.
Winter Shares and Pork Shares for Sale!
Winter CSA:
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| potatoes! all winter! |
With the summer CSA heading into its second half, we are thinking about our winter CSA!
Join our winter CSA and continue to eat
Powisset produce deep into the winter! The winter share has: greens
(kale, cabbage, collards, & more), potatoes, sweet potatoes, winter squash,
beets, carrots, turnips, parsnips, rutabaga, onions, leeks, shallots, garlic
and more! There are four pick-ups, from the end of October through the
middle of December. We will give you a wide variety of produce, tips for
storage and recipe suggestions.
The winter share is a warm, festive time
at the farm and we will do our best to provide you with as much variety as
possible, as well as produce that is great for long-term storage.
Join us! To sign up, please email: mlatronica@ttor.org
Or, sign up at the barn when you come for your share.
The cost of the Powisset Winter Share is $300
Dates and times of the 2014 winter share:
October 25
November 8
November 22
December 13
Pork Shares:
Powisset Farm is offering a Pork Share again this season.
The pork share is about 22 pounds of pork (or roughly a quarter pig).
There will be sausage, loin chops, country style ribs, spare ribs, ham slices
(or ham roast), smoked ham hocks or pig feet, bacon included in the share.
The price will be $175. If you are excited about getting a wide variety
of pork from our very own Powisset-raised pigs, then this share is for
you! There will also be cuts of pork available at the farm if you just
want a little pork and do not want to commit to a share.
There are a limited number of shares available; so we
will sell shares at a first-come-first served basis. Please contact Meryl
at: mlatronica@ttor.org to sign up or with any questions. You can also sign up at the barn. Pick
up for most of the share will happen in early September.
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