CSA Week 14 - A Break From the Heat

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)

Wednesdays 1:00pm-3:00pm

Saturdays 10:00am-2:00pm

In this post

Turtle rescue from the Powisset Farm Freeway

This week’s share

Upcoming events

Better weather

Scalloped potatoes and leeks

This week’s share

Tomatoes

Leeks

Celery

Carrots

Chard/Kale/Collards

Delicata Squash

Carnival Squash

Lettuce

Pick your own

Cherry Tomatoes

Hot Peppers

Shishito Peppers

Life is still buzzing at the farm even as fall quickly approaches. We had one of our busiest days of the season in the farm stand on Saturday. Over one hundred CSA members picked up their shares and new visitors went in and out of the barn while visiting the Notch Brewing biergarten. Our season is over halfway complete, but we still have some of our most exciting events ahead of us...

-Notably, our Powisset Pig Roast will take place on Sunday, September 16.

-We also have our final Friday Farm Dinner on September 21.

-On Sunday September 30, the farm will fill with people celebrating the Jewish festival of Sukkot.

-Although over a month away, our Harvest Fest will be on October 14. Harvest Fest is one of our biggest events, and should be a blast!

Along with these large events, we have many other goings-on at Powisset, including cooking classes in our kitchen. If you are interested in any of these happenings, please check out our events page!

 

A rare mantis is a welcome beneficial insect on the farm!

The weather is always in the front of our minds at the farm, and this doesn’t change with the seasons. It has been far more comfortable working in the cooler temperatures and it has given us a chance to plant our last round of fall lettuce without the concern of the plants being stressed by the extreme heat that we experienced throughout the summer. It looks like we will see some more warmth and humidity in the coming week, but nothing like we saw in July and August. The high humidity carries the potential to propagate disease in the crops, but the temperate late summer weather is a change welcomed by the plants and farmers alike.

To help brainstorm about one of our upcoming veggies, I found a recipe for scalloped potatoes and leeks. Leeks are a good source of vitamin K, manganese, vitamin B6, copper, iron, folate, and vitamin C. They are also an excellent source of flavor. I cannot take any credit for this recipe, but I will definitely be preparing it this week. We have a wide variety of potatoes in the farm stand that would work beautifully with this dish. If you have any other great recipes that you are willing to share, I’m sure that your farmers and fellow members would be excited to hear about them!  It is a long season full of some lesser-known foods and some foods that we know all too well and are looking to prepare in different ways.

Here is the link for the scalloped potatoes and leeks recipe: https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/scalloped-potatoes-leeks

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon margarine
• 2 cups thinly sliced leek
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 3/4 pounds yellow Finnish or red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch slices
• Vegetable cooking spray
• 1 2/3 cups 1% low-fat milk
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

How to Make It

Step 1

Melt margarine in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add leek and garlic; stir well. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until the leek is tender. Remove from heat; set aside.

Step 2

Arrange one-third of potato slices in an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; top with half of leek mixture. Repeat layers, ending with potato slices.

Step 3

Combine milk, salt, pepper, nutmeg, and egg in a bowl; stir well with a wire whisk. Pour over potato mixture. Bake, uncovered, at 425° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle cheese over potato mixture, and bake for an additional 15 minutes or until browned.

 

A quiet grey Saturday far from the bustle of the biergarten

With the final days of summer upon us, we encourage you to make the most out of your time at the farm! Enjoy walking along the trails that lead along the fields and through the back pasture, or check out one of our programs or events that you have been eyeing over the past months. While you are in the area, why not check out Noanet Woodlands or Rocky Woods too? We hope that Mother Nature will give us some time before frost blankets the ground, but this is your opportunity to enjoy the outdoors without falling victim to instant dehydration or frostbite.

Hope to see you soon!

Jeff Hoodlet

Farm Apprentice