Week 12: Give us a break Summer! It's time for SCHOOL!

I took a little break from blogging last week- sorry folks, but vacation takes its toll and while I came back renewed from camping in Maine, there was a lot to catch up on in terms of work, both in the field and out of it. Acadia was, as always, an adventure of amazement and stunning beauty where mountains touch the ocean and where water touches sky in a sweep of silver. We climbed peak after peak- no easy hikes for us- my children are half mountain goat and sprint up rocky inclines laughing and eat blueberries as they wait for me to join them, sweating and panting but fulfilled. I remember being their age and doing exactly the same thing. It is sometimes a shock to wake up in the morning and realize that I am not a 12 year old. But I love that my kids are touched by the beauty they see spread out in sea and tree and rock, that they point to distant peaks and wonder which mountain it is and that they scream "HELLO" at strangers they see on the other side of the many gorges we climb. They also respond politely to all the hikers we pass on the trails. Morgan now says 'happy trails' something he learned from his time working trail crew with the Student Conservation Association this summer. It is good.
The farm is also whole and nothing tragic happened while we were gone. That's always a nice thing- we have left vacations early to drive frantically home because of emergencies of weather or animal or fence or illness, so we really really enjoy when that doesn't happen.
As we go into the next few weeks of back to school craziness some of you will forget to pick up your CSA shares. This happens every year. Do not panic- remember that if you miss your day, you can pick up on one of the other two distribution days during the week. You can also email me at ddubois@thetrustees.org if you happen to find that you aren't going to make it before we close. We can pack you a bag and leave it in the fridge (please don't make this a habit, but we are happy to help you out). Schedules change at this time too, so if you know that you need to permanently change your regular pickup day, then just make a note on the check off sheet so that we have a general idea of how many folks are picking up on a particular day.

What's in Your Share this Week:
Lettuce
Onions
Leeks (new!)
Beets (Appleton)
Tomatoes
Peppers
Squash (ugh, limited, planting is going down fast)
Edamame

Pick Your Own:
Flowers- 12 stems
Chili peppers- 10 pieces
Cherry tomatoes- 2 quarts
Okra (i'm not cleaning these so there are a lot of big ones out there- if you cut some, please cut the
big ones off the plant and leave them on the ground- thanks!)
Parsley

Animal news:
We let the young Heritage breed hens out onto grass for the first time! They started out a little hesitant but eventually made their way out of the house and started exploring the outside world. We have Polish, Crevocouers, Wyandotte's and Silver laced Cornish.


Farmstand news:
Our tomato puree is back in stock with this season's first run!!!!!! The jars look beautiful, a slightly more orange color than last season because both Powisset and we have planted some heirloom sauce tomatoes in bright yellow and orange that are toning down the bright red of the other tomatoes. The flavor is outstanding however and they are ready for you to add to your favorite tomato sauce meals.
We brought another load of tomatoes today- 3000lbs of tomatoes from Appleton, Powisset and Chestnut all went to be processed into puree!
We are offering bulk 20# boxes of sauce tomatoes for canning/preserving for $25. We need 48 hours notice to get them to you. Please email ddubois@thetrustees.org if you are interested. Pick up days are the same days and times as our CSA and farmstand hours.
We will also pack 20# boxes of the larger grape tomatoes for drying/freezing for $30. These are delicious oven roasted with olive oil and garlic powder and a little salt and then frozen for enjoyment in the winter.

Winter Shares are COMING! We will have a waitlist signup (hopefully next week) from which we will send out a link to our new software signup system as soon as it is ready in mid-late September. We anticipate that we will sell out of our Winter shares. This season will look a little different than last year because of the timing of Thanksgiving. We will have two distributions (the first the weekend before Thanksgiving and the second on 12/7-8). We will have a basic storage veggie box, but you will have the ability to customize your box to add in extras such as more of specific veggies, fruit such as cranberries and apples, and our store offerings such as meats, tomato puree, pickles, and dressings.

EVENTS:  A reminder that our September Meet the Farmer is cancelled due to Labor Day weekend and staff shortage this coming weekend.
Another reminder is that our September Farm dinner is already SOLD OUT. Sorry folks, but we are planning a CSA potluck for sometime in mid-October. Stay tuned! This will be a more casual gathering of our CSA community (and we are trying to talk our illustrious assistant manager and farm crew to provide musical entertainment for this).
Our Fall Festival is just around the corner. It happens the Sunday before Heritage Day and is a day full of games and fun! Think hay-mazes, great food, games, face-painting, craft vendors, pumpkin carving and more!

Recipe of the Week: Farmer's Favorite Country Style Ribs with Leeks & Potatoes
I love leeks and how creamy and delicious they can be. I, as a busy farmer mom who works insane hours all summer long, also love a one dish wonder meal. So I often grab whatever is hanging out in the walkin cooler and scan the freezer for broken packages of meats and concoct something. This recipe happened last week... it is super flexible and you can sub pretty much any starchy root for the potatoes (think carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, etc). You can also sub any protein for the country style ribs (we made it with chicken breasts, but you could do pressed firm and marinated tofu, beef steak or fish- though you will have to adjust the cooking time- we took the chicken out and left the potatoes and leeks in the oven to continue cooking). This recipe also takes a little longer than I usually love- 45mins to an hour cooking time so plan accordingly.
Ingredients:
1 bunch of leeks, cleaned and thinly sliced
1.5 pounds of potatoes, rinsed, skins on and thinly sliced
4 country style ribs, thawed
1 tsp chili powder
garlic powder
salt and pepper
olive oil
optional: 2-4oz of cream cheese
 Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375. In a large bowl, toss the leeks and potatoes with olive oil and a sprinkling of salt. Transfer to a large casserole dish. Sprinkle with a little garlic, salt and chili powder.
2. Rinse the ribs and pat dry. Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, a little garlic powder and chili powder. Lay on top of the veggies and put in the oven. Cook for 45 minutes or until the potatoes are tender and the ribs are done. Keep checking them (and especially if you are using an alternate protein, but you don't want your meat to get too dry). You can always remove the meat and let the veg keep cooking for another 15 mins. As soon as the potatoes are tender you can remove from the oven and mix in the optional cream cheese to make a creamy, heavenly sauce that is magical with the meats.

New field!