Weekly CSA Newsletter: August 13-19, 2006 (Week #10)

In This Issue:

  1. This week's share may include: ...
  2. Pick-Your-Own Crops and Information
  3. Notes from the Field - A Bad Year for Squash?
  4. One Way This Farm Helps Feed the Hungry and How You Can Help Too
  5. Recipes
  6. Upcoming Events: Third Sunday Gathering August 20th at 4 PM
  7. CFO Contact Information

1. This week's share may include

  • Tomatoes
  • Peppers
  • Eggplant
  • Celery
  • Potatoes
  • Summer Squash
  • Cucumbers
  • Garlic
  • Carrots
  • Beets

2. Pick-Your-Own Crops

  • Cherry and Plum Tomatoes
  • Green Beans
  • Tomatilloes - Please see the PYO board for harvest instructions.
  • Hot Peppers - Please pick only the varieties that are on the board!
  • Basil
  • Parsley
  • Flowers - Please bring scissors if you'd like to cut flowers. Parents, please accompany children to the flower garden.

All shareholders are invited to pick your own from 9 AM to 7:30 PM on Sundays and from 3 PM to 7:30 PM on Thursdays. Please visit the PYO station near the red shed for locations of crops and all PYO tools and materials.

3. Notes from the Field

A Bad Year for Squash?

Expectations are funny things. Over the course of the first 9 weeks of our CSA distribution this season, as folks have picked up their 1-3 pounds of cucumbers and summer squash each week, the farmers have heard some interesting comments: "soon we'll have unlimited zucchini." "Soon we'll have more cucumbers than we know what to do with!" "There are weeks in the summer when we have 30 pounds of tomatoes per share."

These comments, hopeful though they are, strike a sour note with farmers. Why? Because when we create the crop plan for the season, we try NOT to grow crazy amounts of crops like summer squash, cucumbers and tomatoes. Yes, we want folks to have lots to take home, if possible. Our real goal in planning the season, particularly when working with folks who've made a commitment to us for the whole year, is not to have bumper crops that we spend hours and days harvesting only to hear folks moan "wheelbarrows full of cucumbers AGAIN!". Instead, what we aim for is to create a steady supply of a variety of useful crops that our shareholders enjoy eating, in quantities that they can handle.

So, to use summer squash as an example, in past years we have put our first planting in the ground a little later than we did this season. This year we also used brown plastic under the crop and reemay over it as a way to push the planting along a little faster. We've spaced our plantings out a little more as a way to avoid having two plantings double up on one another at the peak of their harvest. And we're experimenting with extending the harvest of squash into the fall with a later planting. (We also missed getting one planting into the ground because we were swamped with work. Oops.)

The result: no, we have not had the excesses of summer squash this season that we've had in years past. We did, however, have squash earlier than we have in the past, and we hope to have it later. We've had relatively consistent, moderate harvests of squash for six weeks now, which, for us, is a better thing than having enormous harvests for 2-3 weeks. It's meant that we finish our harvests by noon instead of closer to 3 PM, enabling us to get more work done on harvest days, keeping the plantings on track and the farm in a little better shape weed-wise. In short, even though we didn't have wheelbarrows full of squash for shareholders to take home ask much as they could carry this year, we may be on track to creating a more sustainable, consistent supply of summer squash than we have in the past. Would I add a bed or two to each planting to boost our harvests a bit? Yes, probably. I'd like to see more like a consistent 2 pounds per share per week for around 10 weeks, so maybe an additional 1-2 beds per planting would be a good hedge against the bad cucumber beetle pressure we have this season, cool weather, lighter production by heirloom varieties, or other things that make summer squash plants act like less than their usual frustratingly productive selves. And hopefully next season woodchucks won't eat half of our third planting.

You can see how much thought goes into when, where, and how to plant just one of the more than 40 crops we grow on our farm. The subtleties of each season make this a little bit of a guessing game, but every year we get a little better at it. We know which crops we have trouble with (peppers, potatoes, broccoli) and we add more into the crop plan. We know which crops are generally productive (tomatoes, kale) and we keep those numbers the same (but we are trying out a new late planting of tomatoes this season). One of the reasons that this job is so endlessly interesting and challenging is the incredible mental energy that goes into managing this diverse and moving patchwork of crops throughout the growing season, and then remembering what worked and what didn't through the haze of sheer physical exhaustion that descends during the height of the season.

Anyway, there you have it: The Story of Squash, 2006. The end, of course, is not yet written, but a good part of the story is complete. Each crop has a similar story, with its own thrilling escapes or tragic collapses. The garlic one I think it particularly interesting detective story this year, although it's going to cost us a lot of money, so it's a tragedy in its own way. We're happy to tell them to you if you want to hear them. In the meantime, it's entirely possible that you will have many, many pounds of tomatoes to take home this season - or maybe not.

Enjoy the harvest.

Amanda Cather, for the Farm Staff

4. One Way This Farm Helps Feed the Hungry and How You Can Help Too

by Sara Iverson

I am a CSA shareholder and also one of the directors of the Bread and Jams Sunday Meal. Bread and Jams is one of the organizations that benefits from the hunger relief work done at this farm. We receive produce from Food for Free every week. Waltham Fields Community Farm donates produce to Food for Free, so I thought I'd just share this "other side" of the hunger relief effort with you.

The Bread and Jams Sunday Meal is the only meal that takes place in Cambridge on Sundays. Now going into its 17th year, the Meal is attended by an average of 80 clients, from all over the metro Boston area. Each Meal is prepared and served by volunteers.

Volunteers sign up to either cook, or serve the food. The cooks look over the produce we have received from Food for Free and use their imaginations to come up with soup, appetizers, salads, entrees, and deserts for about 80 people. It's just like what we do after we pick up our shares from the farm, only on a larger scale. It's always fun to see what we'll receive. Sometimes we get 5 boxes of cauliflower and 3 boxes of cherries and sometimes we get a nice mix of veggies and fruit, we never know what will be in those boxes! We cook in rented kitchen space at Christ Church in Harvard Square and then the meal is served outside on Cambridge Common. The meal is free for anyone. In the winter we move to a kitchen in Saint James Church in Porter Square where we can serve indoors.

The volunteer servers personally serve the food to each client. This is a great way to get to know people less fortunate than ourselves. It is eye opening, especially for children (who are welcome to volunteer) to see who needs free food. The meal is a safe and comfortable place for individuals to relax, eat, and chat. I have gotten to know many of the clients and have been moved and enriched by them. Many of these people depend on our program, and this farm in Waltham, for a healthy meal. They have medical problems, such as diabetes and celiac disease. These illnesses come with dietary constraints that can make it difficult for them to feed themselves with food stamps and other food programs that offer less nutritious food. They are desperate for healthy, well prepared meals. Because we have eager volunteers and Food for Free, we are able to provide them with a good meal on Sunday's.

If you would like to learn more about the Bread and Jams Sunday Meal, or if you'd like to sign up to volunteer please visit our website at breadandjams.org. This is yet another way to participate in hunger relief.

5. Recipes

Tabouleh Salad with Tomatoes and Feta

Susan Wernimont

Yield: 4 - 6 servings

  • 1 cups uncooked bulgur or cracked wheat
  • 2 cups boiling water
  • ½ tsp salt
  • 4 oz crumbled plain feta cheese
  • ½ cup dried cranberries
  • 1 green peppers, cleaned and diced
  • 1-15 oz cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
  • ¼ cup minced green onions
  • ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
  • ¼ cup minced fresh mint
  • 1 - 2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil
  • 1 tsp grated lemon rind
  • 20 cherry tomatoes, quartered
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • ¼ cup rice vinegar
  • Juice of one lemon (approx. 3 Tbsp)
  • 2 Tbsp water
  • 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
  • ½ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp coarsely ground black pepper

Combine boiling water, bulgur, and 1 tsp salt in a large bowl. Cover and let stand 30 minutes. Add next 10 ingredients (feta through garlic). In a separate bowl, whisk together vinegar, lemon juice, water, oil, salt, and pepper. Pour dressing over salad, toss gently to coat. Cover and chill well (8 hours or overnight).

Colorful Grilled Veggie Kabobs

Susan Wernimont

Yield: 4 - 6 servings

  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp. finely chopped garlic
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tsp. finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
  • ½ tsp. grated lemon peel
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 2 summer squash (zucchini, pattypan, yellow) cut into 1 1/2 -inch chunks
  • 16 cherry tomatoes
  • 16 small mushrooms
  • 4 small white or red onions, cut into 1 ½ inch chunks
  • 1 large yellow or green bell pepper, cut into 1 ½-inch chunks
  • 1 small eggplant, cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
  • Bamboo skewers (about 30 cm long), soaked in water about 30 minutes

In a large bowl, blend olive oil, garlic, salt, thyme, rosemary, lemon peel, and black pepper. Add vegetables and toss to coat. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator about 30 minutes.

Remove vegetables from marinade, reserving marinade. On skewers, alternately thread vegetables, trying to ensure each end of skewer has a vegetable that won't easily fall off (tomatoes, mushrooms, zucchini are good choices). Grill kabobs over medium heat, turning and brushing frequently with reserved marinade, about 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Serve over a bed of couscous or rice.

Note: The marinade is also good with a splash of balsamic vinegar.

6. Upcoming events

Sunday, August 19th, 4:00 pm Third Sunday Gathering and Summer Potluck

Bring your favorite farm dish to share, and bring blankets or chairs to sit on! We'll gather at the tent beside the distribution shelter with farmers and families, then find a cool spot to share food and stories about the season.

Third Sunday Gatherings: The third Sunday of every month we host an informal gathering of members, shareholders and supporters. This is a chance to connect with other farm-friendly folks. The gatherings are scheduled to begin at 4:00 PM. Meet near the distribution shelter. Third Sunday Gatherings begin in May and are held through the third Sunday in October. The Third Sunday of November is CFO's Annual Meeting and Potluck.

7. Contact Information

To reach us:

Community Farms Outreach is a nonprofit organization dedicated to farmland preservation, hunger relief, and education.

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