Week 9: More Heat, humidity and tornado warnings

Goats and new sheep in contemplation

We are so glad that the tornado petered itself out before it got to us (not that I didn't spend a good hour in the basement with dragons, anxious kids and annoyed cats AFTER running the very confused goats into the lower barn). The idea of a tornado raging through is terrifying for us- as farmers, it is more than just our homes and barns that are at risk. We have livestock and crops in the field- some of which we can get to safety and others which we can do nothing about. If the goats were pastured further out- 15 min is not enough time to run them back to a secure structure. The crops can not be protected. Greenhouses are only rated to survive an 80 mph wind gust- anything more or sustained will tear them apart.
Surprisingly, we still did a healthy business of farmstand and CSA during the tornado warning and Rachel hung out in the barn with promises of heading to the closest basement if the wind did start to pick up (her basement is across the driveway). Jesse was away in Maine picking up some sheep and we are pretty sure that Cole slept through the whole thing.

In case you hadn't seen the signs about Chestnut Hill Rd on Rt 30. The road is fully blocked just after the trailhead entrance due to the construction going on for the new development on the corner. It's been sort of non-stop entertainment for the farm crew to watch vehicle after vehicle completely ignore the signs and try to head down anyway. Only to watch them turn around in our parking area, back all the way back up the road, turn around in Whit and Pam Beals driveway (much to their annoyance) and all other manor of hilarity. Usually with some degree of irritation either on faces or in aggressive driving- all because they didn't see the GIANT ORANGE construction signs at the end of the road. I don't know about you- but I tend to read those signs as they generally contain pertinent information about the road that I am currently using. And I tend to believe them when they say that the road is closed. So here's my plea- let folks know that the road really is closed. It isn't a suggestion and it isn't open to 'local traffic only (of which there is none down there anyway yet) it's just closed for the foreseeable future as they move construction equipment to and from the development via the back end and they really don't want cars careening around the corner and into dump trucks. I anticipate an uptick in cars trying to get through around about school starting (and teenagers drive REALLY fast on their way to school) so I'm trying to get the word out now.

So, while central Worcester county was in the grip of tornado warnings and generally strange weather all around, Jesse was up in Maine acquiring some SHEEP for our conservation grazing group. We have had some difficulty in locating Katahdin sheep (a hardy breed that tend to shed their wool rather than having to be shorn every year), but we now have a couple of lovely ewes- Annie and Ruby- and a dozen ram lambs from which to choose a herdsire for breeding more ewes this fall. They are here at Chestnut for a little while getting accustomed to electric netting- which they have never seen. We are also getting them used to the idea of goats, another thing they are not used to but are very curious about.

What's in Your Share (maybe):
Just a reminder that we do our best to have enough for everyone to have a share of what we harvest for the week, but sometimes, it doesn't quite pan out the way we hope. A good example is last week's  broccolini- which was so abundant on Tuesday- did not regroup itself to have an additional harvest for boxes or Thurs/Sat CSA. At the same time, we harvested a meager 20# of tomatoes on Tuesday, but by Thursday there was over 100# and by Saturday, even more and so we gave out tomatoes instead of broccolini. We apologize to those that missed out on either item and will make it up as we go along during the season.

Tomatoes
Potatoes
Red onions
Carrots (Appleton Farm)
Squash & zukes
Cukes (running slow right now in the heat so limited this week)
Kale
Melons
Peppers (?) big IF. They looked close on Saturday, but we won't know until we get out there how good they really are.

PYO
basil
parsley, marjoram, savory, oregano, sage,
Green and yellow wax beans- quart
Cherry tomatoes- quart
okra- pint
Flowers- 12 stems

The dill and cilantro are pretty done, we will be starting a new batch soon for September harvesting.
Fruit Share this week is Wild Maine blueberries!!!! We will have extra for sale in the store along with peaches from Cider Hill, watermelon and muskmelons from our farm.


Our Farm Dinner is SOLD OUT for Friday. Sorry folks! Sign up now for the September dinner and don't miss out on the food, music and fun.

Farmstand! Our new Pesto and Pickled beets are in the store!!!! They are so yummy and we can't
wait for you to try them!
We also have new flavors of ice cream cups: Graham Central (graham ice cream with chocolate covered graham bits, Black Bear (black raspberry with chocolate), along with more Mint Cookie, Strawberry, Mississippi Mud and Choc. Chip.

Recipe of the Week: Velvety Zucchini Basil Soup 

This is another shareholder recipe brought to you by VegetarianGastronomy.com and you can use any of the squashes for this- you don't actually need all zukes. Zephyr would be quite wonderful.

Ingredients

• 9 cups zucchini , diced (~5-6 zucchinis)
• 2 cups white onions , diced (~1 white onion)
• 4 cups vegetable broth (see notes below)
• 8 cloves garlic , minced
• 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt

Instructions

1. In a large non-stick pot, heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat.
2. Add the minced garlic and diced white onion. Saute, mixing frequently, until fragrant and the onions start to become translucent.
3. Add all the chopped zucchini and saute for 1-2 minutes.
4. Add the vegetable broth and 1 teasp salt and combine.
5. Bring the soup to a boil. Reduce heat to keep a gentle simmer, and cover. Let the soup simmer until the zucchini is tender and cooked (to test, simply see if the zucchini easily mashes against the side of the pot).
6. Blend all of the soup until completely pureed. I used my Vitamix, but any blender should do just fine. Most likely you'll have to blend in two batches because of the volume of the soup. 
7. While blending one of the batches, add 1 cup packed fresh basil leaves and completely blend/puree into the soup.
8. Add all of the pureed soup back into the large pot and bring the soup to a gentle simmer, uncovered. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes. 
9. The soup should already be at the desired consistency (on the thick side), but for some reason if it is too thin, simmer the soup until you reach the the thickness you prefer.
10. Season with salt to taste and freshly ground black pepper.
11. Serve hot with a side of your favorite toasted bread.

Recipe Notes

For the vegetable broth in this recipe, I used Imagine Brand low-sodium.