Week 19: Fall on the farm is magical

Frost on the farm at sunrise

Fall at the farm is a beautiful site. The leaves are starting to change, the wind feels blustery and little bit intrusive as it works its way down our collars and through our seams. We’ve been turning over larger and larger sections of field and bedding them down for the winter in sweet fertility and cover crop combos such as rye, oats, peas, beans and clover. The bright green of these crops makes a shocking contrast to the gold of the light and the standing hay of the pastures, the red of the maples turning and the bright bright blue of the sky. The sunrise is magical these days, coming later, but glorious and the sunsets do not disappoint either and wash our already gold and red treelines with brilliant colors. A gorgeous female Northern Harrier hawk has been hanging out in the fields with  us every day….she hunts in the old beds of tomatoes, the dying peppers and the tall grass. She brought down a rabbit in the pasture the other day and we watched her on and off for well over an hour, she had to eat her kill on the ground because it was too big for her to fly away with. Since then she has mostly stuck to moles, mice and voles in the vegetable fields- she lets us get absurdly close before she decides that we’ve invaded her privacy too much for comfort. I don’t know how much longer she will be here, whether she will decide to take up residence or if she will migrate through, but I enjoy her right now. Her disagreements with our other resident hawks  (red tails, mostly) and the corbae is mightily entertaining since she can outfly them all.

We have one more week of summer CSA left- twenty weeks and the summer has flown by again. We

laying out protective row cover

hope that you’ve enjoyed it. As always, we had many successes and a couple of failures that we seek to remedy with next season. Our fields are still new and we are still getting used to what they are capable (or not) of. We know where, for example, we can grow carrots, and now, where we can’t. Winter squash was not happy in the beautiful field we put them in, so we will strive to find another, more suitable abode for them next year. We can pretty much throw tomatoes, cabbage and kale at the ground anywhere on the farm and they will make magic happen. Thanks for being a part of our community farm, we’ve really loved getting to know all of you and feeding you and yours all season.

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):

·         PYO- the frost has pretty much done in all the PYO gardens for the season! As always, you are welcome to glean whatever you can from what’s left out there.

·         Cabbage, tendersweet

·         Leeks

·         Onions

·         Peppers, sweet

·         Kale

·         Swiss Chard

·         Lettuce/Salad

·         Fennel

·         kohlrabi

·         Winter squash

·         Eggplant (the last week!)

Upcoming Events:

·         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).

Farmstand: 

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

UM. Now that fall is really here, 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.

OH! And our FALL HONEY is in! Come check out the rich deep gold and depth of flavor that the summer and early fall flowers brought to our already incredible honey. Spring honey is almost gone, but if you are taking it for allergies, come grab some of the new batch! It’s so beautiful and all I can think about when I look at it is the brightness of sunflowers, the sun glowing on the goldenrod, the brilliance of squash blossoms. And so so many busy bees that lend a constant happy white noise to our long days in the field. 

Veggie of the week: I don’t really have one, but once it starts to get chilly in the evening, I’m all for turning on the oven and baking something delicious. This is swiss chard and onions and ricotta and pizza all together and it makes my mouth water just thinking about it.

Pizza with Caramelized Onions, Swiss Chard and Ricotta

Courtesy of the NYtimes.com

Ingredients

    2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

    1 ¼ pounds onions, sliced

    1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme leaves

    2 garlic cloves, minced

    Salt

    freshly ground pepper

    ½ pound chard, stemmed, leaves washed

    1 14-inch pizza crust (1/2 batch pizza dough)

    ¾ cup ricotta (6 ounces)

    2 ounces Parmesan, grated 1/2 cup, tightly packed

    1 egg yolk

Preparation

    Thirty minutes before baking the pizza, preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet. Add the onions. Cook, stirring often, until tender and just beginning to color, about 10 minutes. Add the thyme, garlic and a generous pinch of salt. Turn the heat to low, cover and cook another 10 to 20 minutes, stirring often, until the onions are golden brown and very sweet and soft. Remove from the heat.

    While the onions are cooking, stem and wash the chard leaves, and bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Fill a medium bowl with ice water. When the water comes to a boil, salt generously and add the chard. Blanch for one to two minutes, just until the leaves are tender, and transfer to the ice water. Drain and squeeze out excess water. Alternatively, steam the chard for two to three minutes until wilted, and rinse with cold water. Chop the chard medium-fine.

    Roll out the dough, oil a 14-inch pizza pan and dust with cornmeal or semolina. Place the dough on the pan.

    In a medium bowl, combine the ricotta, egg yolk, Parmesan and chard. Spread over the pizza dough in an even layer, leaving a 1-inch border around the rim. Spread the onions over the ricotta mixture.

    Place in the hot oven, and bake 10 to 15 minutes until the crust and bits of the onion are nicely browned. Remove from the heat, and serve hot or warm.

    Advance preparation: The cooked onions and the blanched or steamed chard will keep for three or four days in the refrigerator.

Northern Harrier female in old tomato planting