Week 18: First frost- nope, not kidding at all.

lots of honey coming from the fall harvest!

Holy FROST ON THE PUMPKIN PATCH CHARLIE BROWN!!! Yep it really did happen. A week ago we had a 42 degree night, but somehow, in some weird, mystical, nature-way that I don’t understand, the mist came down the hills and settled on colder ground and frosted the edges of the grass, the clover, the edges of goat whiskers and…..our veggies. Mostly it seems like the gorgeous new green beans were the worst affected and they are all frost-kissed on the top. The beans are still good so try to ignore the ugly brown leaves.

We have two more weeks of CSA left after this week! I can’t believe the season is winding down already! But Winter Veggie CSA starts in mid-November and we are getting lots of sign-ups so get in on the action soon so that we don’t run out of these beautiful boxes stuffed full of fresh greens, potatoes, sweet potatoes, squash, roots, brussels and more. Sign up in the farmstand or here.

Our Meat CSA is also taking off! 2 share options to cater to your meat needs. All meats raised on Trustees farms here in Massachusetts- keep it local! If you have questions, please contact Jesse at jrobertson@thetrustees.org or check out our Meat CSA page for more info and sign up!

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

·         Cherry tomatoes (PYO, take a quart while they are still with us)

·         Beans, all (PYO-2^nd planting is starting to come in!!!)

·         Hot peppers (PYO)

·         Tomatillos (PYO hiding under all the huge growth-they should be bursting out of their paper skins)

·         Cabbage, tendersweet

·         Arugula

·         Onions

·         Peppers, sweet

·         Kale

·         Swiss Chard

·         Carrots

·         Salad Turnips

·         Fennel

·         Baby Bok Choi

·         Winter squash

·         Eggplant (the last week!)

Upcoming Events:

·      

Save the date: our Honeybee Basics Class in Nov.

   Digital Photography Series! Our own Trustees photography master Mark Gardner will be teaching these awesome courses this fall. First up is Fall Foliage on Sunday, October 22 from 2-330p. Member cost is $32 and nonmembers are $40. Bring your own camera, we’ll supply the expert guide.

·         Barnyard Brew Hikes!!!! Start your weekend early and come take a walk in the moonlight with us in November! We’ve been hearing owls, nighthawks and killdeer lately. We will have either a craft brewer joining us or a selection of brews to enjoy from a local brewery and we will mingle and delight in the full moon and the beauty of the autumnal season. It will probably be cool and brisk, so dress accordingly even though we will finish our hike by the campfire with some tasty treats. Thursday evening from 6-730p on November 2.

·         Pumpkin Chuck 5k Trail Run on November 5^th from 11a-2p. We have this awesome trebuchet that we like chucking old Halloween pumpkins and for the last couple of years, we’ve had folks bring their old pumpkins out to the farm after Halloween and we chuck them as far as we can with the trebuchet. This is so much fun that we thought we should add a trail run to it as well so that we can not only get rid of pumpkins, but we can run off those Halloween candy calories at the same time. Come join us! Sign up here.

·         Our Preschool Farm Explorer Program Series is happening during October. The Fall has a lot of fun to offer on the farm- see how big our goat kids have gotten! Milk a goat! Romp through the farm fields eating a cherry tomato or picking flowers with Kira, explore the fields, the forest and the hills, meet the cows. We have spaces available! Sign up online or      email kbaker@thetrustees.org to get in on the fun. (Program is meant for 2.9-6 year olds, with a caregiver).

We were making food and selling stuff at Heritage Day!

Farmstand: 

We have APPLES & PEARS from Cider Hill this week in the farmstand. Apples include varieties: Red Free, Fuji, Zestar, Cortlands, Macouns, Galas and Macs (red ripe from the tree!!!!) WHOA! 7 types of apple!!!!

UM. OUR NEW SWEATSHIRTS ARE INCREDIBLE!!!!! In honor of autumn, we have gorgeous, warm hoodie sweatshirts with our goat logo on the front. Support the farm and buy one today! We also have great, sturdy canvas tote bags to haul your veggies home from CSA! Tote bags are USA made and printed locally so grab one up today.

 

Veggie of the week: Cabbage

So, I know we’ve had a whole lot of cabbage this summer (let’s face it, our fields really grow great cabbage), but I wanted to share one more beautiful cabbage recipe that uses many of this week’s vegetable share.

Roasted Cabbage and Veggies with Sausage

Ingredients

1 cabbage, quartered

½ lb of carrots, gently shaved and halved

1-2 sweet red peppers, seeded and quartered

4 sweet Italian sausages or your favorite linked dinner sausages

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Set oven to 375. Lightly oil a cookie sheet and lay out the cabbage, peppers, carrots and sausages on the tray. Lightly brush with a little more oil and slide the whole tray into the oven to roast for 45 mins or so until the sausages are fully cooked and the vegetables smell amazing and are tender-crisp.