This is YOUR Community and S’MORES!!!!!

Green headed bee- one of our native pollinators

So, I one of the things that drew me to CSA when I first started farming was standing in the csa room as an apprentice and meeting all the students, teachers and staff that were part of the college. I learned who had just published their first book, who was hanging a show and who had been accepted to grad school. And then at some point, I became a connection point for the CSA members and could introduce folks to each other. It became even more exciting when I moved on to other CSA’s and neighbors could meet each other, and there were playdates arranged around distributions. I always love finding out who and what everyone does- who is/was a lawyer, an artist, a stay at home parent, a nurse, a yoga instructor, a pastor.  I love that we all make our way in the world in different ways. I’m a farmer, that is shocking to most folks who don’t meet me for the first time in the CSA barn, covered in dirt and surrounded by vegetables, because I don’t fit the idea most folks have in their mind when they think of a farmer. But that’s the beauty of it…I don’t know you are a biotech engineer or if you are a florist or own a car company. When you come to pick up food, you are neighbors, community, friends, and don’t necessarily wear your job as obviously on the outside as you carry it around inside your head. So don’t be afraid to toot your own horns. Got your own business? Bring some information to put up on the bulletin board! I never mind advertising for my CSA shareholders.

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

Mystery bug on Swiss Chard

• ·         Kale, green curly
• ·         Chard, rainbow
• ·         Salad turnips
• ·         Beets- red, chiogga & golden
• ·         Scallions
• ·         Salad mix
• ·         Head lettuce
• ·         Romaine
• ·         Napa Cabbage
• ·         Cucumbers (limited this week)

Upcoming Events:

·         This Saturday we are having an informal gathering for CSA members at the farm. Come by around 6pm-8pm for S’MORES night. We will have the campfire and some favorite s’mores fixins, you bring yourself- your favorite crazy add-in if you like- and your family. This is nothing fancy, we will throw the lawn games out in the orchard. Also, if it is raining- we will cancel and hold it another time cause campfires in the rain are no fun.

•  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.

•  Nature Journaling Course- Sketching, writing, and drawing in a journal is a great way to improve children's observation skills, help them gain an interest in science and the environment, and it's a wonderful way to relax during a busy summer. Journaling materials will be provided to each participant and staff will lead groups of kids and adults out onto the farm to find new places to explore and observe. This program is suitable for all ages with a focus on children age 5-10. The cost is for anyone journaling with us and includes materials. Cost is $12/member child (adults are Free but must hang with their child)

• Our first Friday Farm Dinner was a great hit! More than 50 folks joined us for a delicious farm to table meal in an informal and casual setting. We are having another dinner on August 4^th! Get your tickets now because the food will be just as amazing. Sign up here. https://goo.gl/UNG623

Veggie of the week:

Romaine lettuce is popular enough on its own to almost be classified as a separate vegetable. You can do a lot more than just make a salad- it’s firm, ultra crisp texture lends itself to many of the same recipes we typically use for cooking greens. This week’s Romaine is slightly sweeter than most of the tasteless or bitter romaine hearts you find in the grocery, so you can use it in some of those interesting cooked lettuce recipes and not worry that it won’t taste amazing. I know it seems a little odd to cook lettuce- but try this recipe from the NY Times make the Caesar dressing or drizzle with a little balsamic or lemon juice and find this green to be crispy, slightly charred outsides but creamy on the inside. I think this pairs well with Moose Hill Farm Ribeye steaks (throw the romaine on when the steaks are done, but still resting) and a little Allora Pasta black pepper parpardelle.

Grilled Romaine

Ingredients

For the dressing:

• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• 6 anchovy fillets, rinsed and minced
• 2 teaspoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons cider vinegar
• Kosher salt and black pepper to taste

For the salad:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 heads romaine lettuce, tops and bottoms trimmed neatly, the heads cut lengthwise into quarters
• ½ cup grated Parmesan

• Nutritional Information
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Preparation

1. Build a fire in your grill, leaving one side free of coals. When coals are covered with gray ash and the temperature is medium (you can hold your hand 5 inches above the coals for 5 to 7 seconds), you are ready to cook. (For a gas grill, turn all burners to high, lower cover and heat for 15 minutes, then turn burners to medium.)
2. Meanwhile, make the dressing: Put the minced garlic into a bowl, and add the minced anchovies. Using a whisk, mix and mash these ingredients together until they form a paste. Add the mayonnaise and the mustard and whisk. Add the olive oil, whisking all the while, and then the vinegar. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
3. Make the salad: Drizzle the olive oil over the quartered heads of lettuce. Lightly grill these directly over the hot coals for 15 to 20 seconds on each side, until they are lightly golden, then remove to the cool side of the grill. Using a pastry brush or a small spoon, paint the dressing over the lettuce, making sure to get dressing between the leaves. Sprinkle the lettuce with Parmesan and cover the grill for 1 or 2 minutes to allow the cheese to melt and the lettuce to soften further. Remove lettuce to a platter and serve.

   

   The view across Chestnut Hill Road is so beautiful

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.