The Fields at Dusk

oats holding the soil for winter

Walking the fields on a Monday evening at dusk is one of my favorite moments of each week.  I walk out just as the sun dips far enough below the trees and the light changes enough for me to pull the rim of my baseball cap to the side, no need to shade my eyes from the bright sun of the day that is drawing to a close.  This Monday, that perfect time of night arrived early (before 6!) and I pulled on a warm, hooded sweatshirt, left my dog and my notebook in the house to ensure a walk that would be quiet and slow, designed for all of my senses to simply appreciate all that I was about to see. 

I walked past the broccoli fields and the kale; dark green leaves standing tall and eager to be touched by frost to sweeten up.  I passed patches of cover crops, small oats that had grown a few inches tall where there had been beets and lettuce and mustard greens.  At the tip of each blade, a small drop of dew had formed and at that moment it was difficult to tell if it was morning or night.  As I walked past the dew-covered field, and towards a low point in the back field where the potatoes are planted, the temperature fell and I pulled my hood over my ears.  I gasped a little when I realized that October had arrived on the farm, bringing fall, bringing the end to another summer at Powisset Farm. 

carnivale!

Walking along the rows of potatoes, I counted twenty-two rows that lay in the fields side by side like ocean waves coming in to the meet the beach, one after another after another.  I figured that more than 8000 pounds of potatoes lay under those waves, waiting to be harvested by our five sets of hands that are working the fields until the soil is too frozen to pry those spuds from.  I envisioned our race against that cold as I glimpsed to either side of the rows of tubers to see beets and turnips and rutabaga; an acre of storage crops eager to be picked. 

popcorn!

Ducking under the fence and heading across the fields by way of the popcorn and squash-filled greenhouse, I walked up and down rows of cabbage and red romaine lettuce and radicchio that glowed greens and magenta even in the dusk.  I looked to the edges of the field at the stretched out row of diakon radish tops and at the golden weeds growing up around the electric fence and at the eggplant and peppers dripping off of their plants.  It has been a challenging growing season with extreme temperatures—early frosts, and intense heat waves and weeks without water, and weeks with too much water all at the worst moments—and yet, here I am standing in fields filled with food for our last two weeks of summer CSA and our season of winter CSA about to begin.  And every time I walk these fields at dusk on a Monday, I see something different.  I am in awe of the constant changes in the fields, at the way a bed of arugula is cleared in three days to feed us all, in the way that the popcorn is dry and brown when only last week it glowed green in the distance. 

radicchio!

 

 

 

In October we will eat squash and wear sweaters when we harvest and my field walks will get earlier and earlier.  And they will still be my favorite moment of the week. Join me for a walk sometime.

See you in the fields,

Meryl & the Powisset Farm Crew

 Pork Shares For Sale:

Powisset Farm is offering a Pork Share again this season.  The pork share is about 25 pounds of pork (or roughly a quarter pig).  There will be sausage, loin chops, country style ribs, spare ribs, ham slices (or ham roast), ham hocks, bacon and feet included in the share.  The price will be $160 (although, it may a little less or more than this depending on total weight of your box).  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 me at: mlatronica@ttor.org to sign up.  Pick up of the pork share will most likely be Friday, October 4^th and Saturday the 5^th.

Winter Shares for Sale!

Our summer CSA will be wrapping up in four weeks, but the veggies don’t have to end!  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.

Dates and times of the 2013 winter share:

October 26

November 9

November 23

December 14

All pick-ups are at the farm from 10am-3pm

Cost of the winter share: $275

Two more weeks!

This is week 18 of our summer CSA! We will end our summer season on October 12. 

Our farm stand will be open through the 26th of October, open all three days a week.  Our stand will also be open on November 9th and 23rd and December 14 during our winter share hours.

What's in the share: 

In the barn: sweet potatoes, pumpkins, winter squash, purple top turnips, lettuce, eggplant, peppers

In the fields: cornstalks (bring clippers), hot peppers, parsley, dill flowers, kale or chard