Week 4: Getting Outdoors and what can the Trustees do for you

Trekking through the woods at Monument Mountain

This is my plug for getting out and enjoying the fact that you have a membership to the Trustees now that you are CSA shareholders (and for those of you who are splitting shares with a member, maybe this will convince you to become one, we can set that up for you in the farmstand!). Hopefully you all received your membership cards and packets and know that there are 118 properties across the state that are open for you to enjoy (most of them have been open to you all along, but you may not have known about them!) Your membership is helping to steward more than 22,000 acres of land in Mass. There are historic houses, public gardens, community gardens, farms, mountains, field, streams, museums, miles of beaches, islands and more and it is truly incredible, so thank you for that. 

My family holds memberships to many land conservation organizations across the state and nationally and we like to explore our natural environment, but the Trustees has some truly magical places. Now, I want you to get out and enjoy them too. I’ve been making a point over the last 6 months to get to a lot of these special places. We’ve hiked Monument Mountain in Stockbridge, scrambled over pink granite rocks of Coolidge Reservation in Manchester-By-the-Sea, trekked the old farm roads of World’s End in Hingham, scratched the pigs at Powisset Farm, explored the Italianate Garden at Castle Hill in Ipswich, and so many amazing woods trails in Rocky Woods and Rocky Narrows. I learned one weekend that Rocky Narrows was acquired as the first reservation 125

At the top of Monument Mountain

years ago, and it was Frederick Law Olmstead!!!! (famous landscape architect) who recommended to Augustus Hemenway that it should be protected for all time because of its unique beauty and the habitat along the Charles River. While some of these properties (the North Shore or the Berkshires) are a bit of a haul to get to, we bring a picnic and make a day of it, and for the others, they are less than an hour to get to and so easily enjoyed as a morning or afternoon. These weekend adventures are a blast! The kids bicker and sometimes whinge a bit, but when we get to the properties and they can run down the forest paths or explore the wonder of a tide pool or look out over a much bigger world…it is all worth it. Leave the dishes and the laundry and mow the lawn later and go on an adventure. Need some advice on where to explore first? Ask us!!! We’d love to share where our special place adventures have been.

What’s in Your Share This Week (maybe):

• ·         Lettuce
• ·         Kale
• ·         Swiss Chard
• ·         Scallions
• ·         Garlic Scapes
• ·         Kohlrabi
• ·         Beets- red, gold and chiogga
• ·         Escarole
• ·         Napa Cabbage
• ·         Salad mix

 Goat News:

The goats are still at the back of the farm- busily munching down invasives and poison ivy. We have started the weaning process, moving some of the biggest boys to the boy paddock and giving their mom the break they are ready for. That means we will also be waking up early and doing some milking and hopefully finding the time to make some cheese, fudge and other delicious things.

Call for VOLUNTEERS- we need WEEDING WARRIORS!

This is still our very busy time of the year between trying to get fall (!) transplants in the ground and keep the weeds under control. Unlike last summer, we’ve had a lot of rain… which means the weeds are going crazy out in our fields and we could use your help- even if it is just for an hour. Shoot me an email and come help us out in the fields. Mondays anytime, Wednesday afternoons- come weed with us!

Events!!!!

• ·         JULY FARM TO TABLE is THIS FRIDAY!!!!!! SIGN UP NOW (we need to sell a minimum of tickets or we will have to cancel)!!!!!You can sign up in the farmstand or online, but come eat gorgeous food with us, bring some friends and kick back and enjoy some great live bluegrass music from Railroad House Band. Didi Emmons is cooking up some incredible food for us too- made with veg from the farm. Menu is online on our Facebook Page!
• ·         Our Little Sprouts Program starts up on Thursday morning from 930-1030- bring the kids and help Kira explore and plant and create in the Learning Garden.
• ·         Meet the Farmer! This Saturday from 10a-noon join the farm team for a pollinator walk and talk. We will be getting up close and personal with the crawlers, flyers, hard-shells, and more that live in our fields and both protect and harm our crops. This is a free event and open to all ages. We will have two tours- one starting at 10 and one starting at 11. Come see the universe living all around us.
• ·         July 15^th! S’MORES NIGHT at the farm. Come join us for a campfire and lawn games and s’mores galore. This is a mellow drop in and hang out and relax in the evening…make your favorite old fashioned s’more with us, or bring some funky add-ins.

Farmstand:

New Products include Appleton Farms milk! YAY! This lovely Jersey milk is rich and creamy and

so delicious. Supposedly, the milk from Jersey breed cows (originally the landrace breed from the Channel Islands along with the Guernsey) has easier to digest proteins (also known as A2 proteins) in it that make it less harsh on the stomach for dairy-sensitive folks. I don’t know if that is true or not, but the milk is wonderful. Jersey’s produce milk that is 18% more protein, 20% more calcium and 25% more butterfat than the average Holstein milk cow. Plus, they are wicked cute with their little dished noses.

We also have Goodness Remedies amazing essential oil sprays- including her Tick OFF and Bug OFF (combo sprays that smell amazing and yet say "SCRAM" to ticks and bugs), her Comfort and Anxiety sprays which I want to spray on myself all the time anyway. And we are carrying her dryer bags (20 load use each- just toss them in the dryer and all your sheets and clothes will smell of like the fields of Provence in the summertime) and her lavender eye bags to relax and soothe after a long day. 

Vegetable of the Week and Recipe:

The first beet harvest!

Beets!!!Ah, the beautiful beet. I love their earthy sweetness and overwhelming full flavor. To me they are best sliced in ¼” rounds and tossed with olive oil and a little salt and laid out on a baking sheet. Roasted in the oven until they are tender and just starting to brown- they almost never make it to the table and I’ve burned a finger or two and definitely my tongue eating them straight off the pan. We are growing four varieties this year, and, if you are long time shareholder, you know what a hard time we’ve had getting these to do well in our fields. The golds and chioggas (or candy striped) usually do pretty well, but the reds ALWAYS languish and get sick looking, pale and tiny leaves. So this year, we trialed two new varieties- the Cylindra and Merlin red beets instead of my old stand-by varieties and I am loving the results. We also upped our fertility program to keep those beet leaves deep green and the resulting roots are astounding. I know there are some of you out there that are not beet fans, but if that is because you didn’t really know what to do with them- we’ve got you covered.

Roasted Beet & Goat Cheese Pizza

I’m not kidding…. Sub feta if you don’t like goat.

Ingredients:

Your favorite pizza crust, enough for 1 large pizza (we use a recipe from Pioneer woman)

Pizza Night!!!

1 bunch of beets, sliced and roasted as I said above

8oz of fresh goat Chevre

Fresh thyme

Fresh basil, slivered

Olive oil, balsamic vinegar and honey

Instructions:

Roll out your dough on a cookie sheet and par-bake it (or grill if you like grilled pizza) until the dough is dry, but just barely browned.

Smooth goat cheese on the crust, sprinkle with thyme and basil. Layer the beet rounds onto the cheese and put back in the oven or on the grill for about 8 minutes or until crust is richly browned and beets are crisping. Finish and serve with drizzle of olive oil and a little (just a little!) honey and balsamic.  You can get creative and add other things to this including fresh chopped scallions, roasted garlic, greens and more.