CSA Week 16 - The "Harvest" Misconception

CSA Distribution/Farm Stand Hours

Tuesdays 2:30pm-6:30pm

Thursdays 10:30am-6:30pm

Saturdays 10:00am-4:00pm

Powisset Café Hours

Saturdays 10:00am-2:00pm

Barnyard Hours ($10/child, $5 for Trustees members) UPDATED HOURS

Thursdays 11:30am-1:30pm

Saturdays 10:00am-2:00pm

"Hey, who covered my eyes?!"

Hi all, I hope that you have had a great week. We have just a couple reminders to attend to again before the weekly updates.

• Firstly, please don’t forget to take our CSA survey. Your feedback is invaluable, and we want to make our farm as awesome as possible for you!
• Also, please note that the barnyard hours have changed. Instead of being open on Wednesdays, the barnyard will now be open on Thursdays from 11:30-1:30.
• We are holding a raffle for two handmade mahogany Powisset Adirondack chairs. Check out the beautiful pieces at the property! Tickets are $50 each, and only 100 tickets will be sold.

In this week's share

• Tomatoes
• Turnips
• Chard
• Kale
• Carrots
• Potatoes
• Leeks

Fall has arrived on the farm. Not just on the calendar, but on the thermometer as well. Today was grey and left us stopping at our cars for more layers for the first time since May. Harvesting turnips forced us to brainstorm how we used to keep our hands warm before the three-month long heat wave turned our brains to mush. Instead of figuring out which crops needed watering, we focused on which crops needed to be covered first to keep them warm. Before long, it will be time to keep an eye on the weather for frost and to cover everything with remay.

Sticking with the theme of fall, I thought it would be fun to address some fall misconceptions about farming. We often face questions about “harvest season” and “the harvest,” but as CSA members, you know that harvests occur over many months instead of one big event at the end of the season.  It is true however, that harvests change towards the end of the season. Spring began with spinach and other greens and root vegetables, and this is how it will end. Spinach is a cold-hardy crop that does well in chillier temperatures, as do root vegetables like radishes, turnips, beets, and carrots. Throughout the summer, heat forces leafy crops like spinach and lettuce to “bolt,” or shoot skyward in preparation for going to seed. This causes the crop to become bitter and undesirable. On the same note, cooking greens like kale and chard tend to do well in cooler temperatures. They are back in force, and will hopefully be in the share for weeks to come.

A friendly newt taking shelter in the weeds

The last of the fall harvest tends to bring the beets, kohlrabi, turnips, and most importantly, carrots. These are our bulk storage crops, and can be kept in proper root cellar conditions for weeks. We spent many hours weeding our beets and hope that they will produce a quality yield before long. Our turnips have been quietly getting bigger for over a month, and should lead to happy members looking for fall flavor in their kitchens. Carrots, one of the most difficult crops to grow, have done well on the farm this year and will hopefully keep the trend alive until the last distribution. Having to stay in the ground so long, weeds are the biggest problem for carrots. We weeded them recently, and we hope that they will swell in size until the frost sweetens them up!

Lastly, we should quickly address what we will call “squashgate.” It is true, squashes (including pumpkins) can be harvested late into the fall. However, many squashes, including our own, are harvested in the heat of summer and left to cure for weeks on end. While some squashes cure on the vine, others are less than ideal to prepare until their color changes. When strolling around your local market or hay ride this fall, please enjoy this little bit of insider farm information.

Enough with the boring crop info, here is another guest post from one of our loyal members. Let’s keep summer going with this amazing recipe for salsa! Fall flavors can be great, but variety is the key to life, and this tasty and nutritious salsa will brighten up any grey autumn day!

Hope to see you soon!

Jeff Hoodlet

Farm Apprentice

Summer may be past us but that doesn’t mean we can’t keep the party going with a little Salsa.... to dance or eat! I’d go for both.

Make good use of those tasty tomatillos and feel great about it too...

Tomatillos are not only high in fiber and antioxidants, but are also a great source of niacin (vitamin B3). Niacin has been shown to promote a healthy lipid profile. Just 1 cup of chopped tomatillo packs 15% of your daily niacin requirement!

Fiesta Salsa: a party in your mouth!!!

It’s really easy to come up with a great salsa when you have a great, fresh produce like we do. In this particular variation, I mixed chopped tomatillos, chopped yellow and red tomatoes, one finally chopped jalapeño, one small chopped onion. Add 1 clove of crushed garlic. Drizzle with olive oil & the juice of half a lime. Add some fresh cilantro. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Delicious over black beans and rice, or an awesome accompaniment for taco night! If you like your salsa on the sweeter side, try adding in small cubes of fresh mango.

Cheers!

Shira B.