CSA Week 17 - Winter Shares Now Available

In this post…

• Updated barnyard hours
• This week on the farm
• Distribution list
• Healthy cooking with Shira!

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

Hello friends,

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.
• If you are interested in signing up for a winter share, they are now available! Three bulk pick-ups in November and December for $150. Stretch out your farm-fresh produce before winter hibernation sets in!

Farm stand looking good

With October upon us, we are definitely in Fall mode at the farm. This development has been weeks in the making, but it is official with the vibrant red leaves consuming the oaks along Powissett Street. Even when we are able to get some extra sleep and head into the fields at 8am, sweatshirts are a must until the sun burns off the mist and thaws out our sore shoulders. Growth tends to slow during this time of year, especially with the weeds. We try to plant crops that continue to produce in cooler temperatures during this time of year, but the pigweed and grass definitely prefer the kind of heat that we experienced throughout the summer. This slower growth gives us a little extra time to cultivate our beds, which we have needed because we can’t get the tractors into the fields when it is as wet as it has been.

Thank you to everyone who came out to help with Sukkot!

The cultivating tractor only has two-wheel drive and would likely get stuck in the mud if we attempted to bring it out anyway, but for other reasons, we try to limit vehicle use in the fields until the soil has dried out. Soil tends to be healthiest when it is disturbed as little as possible. Driving tractors or trucks on top of soil creates compaction, which makes it difficult for roots to penetrate and lowers the numbers of microorganisms that encourage healthy nutrient levels. This compaction occurs most when the soil contains moisture. Over the past few weeks, it has been so wet that there is often standing water in certain spots in the fields.

As expected, the distribution list will begin to slowly shift into crops that were seen earlier in the year. We are still clinging onto some summer crops (tomatoes and peppers), but we are welcoming in seasonal varieties like turnips and carrots.

In this week’s share

Not beet pesto, but making chicken noodle soup with all
Powissett ingredients!

• Potatoes
• Chard
• Kale
• Turnips
• Tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Onions
• Carrots

Thanks again to Shira B. for giving us another new recipe! If you would like to share a recipe of your own, please feel free to send them to me at jhoodlet@gmail.com.

Hi everyone,

Something tells me fall is here and I am seeing lots of roots in our future! I love using vegetables in novel ways and thinking out of the box! The pesto recipe below is a favorite of mine and features beets instead of basil or other greens. The sauce is the most gorgeous magenta color when finished. Kids will love the way it colors their spaghetti pink! The toasted walnuts add a nice dose of omega-3 fatty acids, which can help boost your mood, especially as the days get shorter and our lives get busier this time of year! I'd call this comfort food at its finest. Make extra; keeps well in the freezer.

Shira B.

Beet Pesto

1.5lb beets - scrubbed, trimmed and halved  --  toss with EVOO and coarse salt; wrap tightly in parchment and then foil; roast at 425 for 60min

Let beets cool, then peel.

Cook 1lb of spaghetti (I use "barilla plus" for extra protein) and reserve 1c of the cooking water

In a food processor or high powered blender, combine beets, 3/4 c toasted walnuts, 1 large chopped ripe tomato (seeds removed)

Add 2 cloves of garlic smashed with sea salt to form a paste, and some fresh oregano or whatever fresh herbs you have on hand.

Puree well, adding reserved pasta water until creamy in consistency

Toss beet "pesto" with pasta and top with a heaping Tablespoon of Part-skim Ricotta; drizzle with EVOO and a sprinkle of black pepper!

*For a vegan version, omit the ricotta and sprinkle with nutritional yeast.

*Beets are an excellent source of folate and a very good source of manganese, potassium and copper.

They are also a good source of dietary fiber, magnesium, phosphorus, vitamin C, iron and vitamin B6.

http://www.health.com/nutrition/beets-health-benefits#beets-benefits-opener

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. 

Please Read if Picking up on Tuesday 9/18

Hi CSA Members!

We just wanted to let you know that our well pump is having issues and is in the process of getting fixed.

This means that the farmers haven't been able to wash the delicious vegetables they harvested for Tuesday's CSA pickup. We'll be open today during our usual CSA hours if you would like to pick up today,  but just wanted to give you a heads up that the vegetables will still have LOTS of field-fresh mud on them. 

You’re also very welcome to pick up your CSA share on Thursday or Saturday if you would prefer to wait for cleaner veggies - we should have water back by then. 

Thanks so much for your support for local food!

Sarah Kelly

CSA Coordinator