|
August 15, 2011
|
Distribution Week #10 |
|
|
Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA Newsletter
  |
|
|
|
What's in the share this week... |
This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even though they're not on the list.
Mix-and-Match nine items this week from a list that may include:
Pick-Your-Own Crops
You are welcome to harvest the PYO portion of the share during any daylight hours, 7 days a week. Please check the board at the little red kiosk for information on amounts, locations and picking instructions. Remember, you can pick one time per week but it doesn't necessarily have to be at the same time you are picking up your share.
- Cilantro
- Thai, purple and Italian basil
- Dill
- Curly parsley
- Herbs and flowers in the perennial garden and flower patch
- Cherry tomatoes
- Plum tomatoes
- Hot peppers
- Husk cherries
- Raspberries
|
|
 |
Quick Links |
|
|
Upcoming events at the Farm
|
Saturday, Sept. 10th, 5-7pm
Rain Date: Sept. 11
$30/person
Limited to 100 guests
A soup supper outside on the farm featuring handmade bowls by Farmer Andy for you to eat from and go home with. All proceeds support our food access/hunger relief work.
Click here for full details and ticket purchase information.
Save the Date:
Waltham Farm Day
Saturday, Sept. 24th, 2-5pm
FREE event, open to all
Join us in celebrating MA Harvest for Students Week and farming in Waltham! More details to come soon.
|
|
|
| Preserving the Harvest #2: Lacto-Fermentation |
|
|
|
Thursday, September 8th from 6:30-8:30pm
Learn to preserve a multitude of veggies using lactic acid fermentation! This is the technique used to make sauerkraut and kimchi, but will also make delicious dill pickles and more. In this workshop, participants will make lacto-fermented bok choy and pickles to take home and enjoy!
WFCF is happy to welcome back Audra Karp, veteran lacto-fermenter and Certified Professional Midwife, to teach this workshop. Fee: $25 members/$30 non-members. Register Today! |
|
|
|
| Bulgar, Arugula, and Cannellini Salad |
Shareholder Sara writes in: Here's a recipe I think is really delicious. It's my go-to way to use a lot of arugula; it's substantial enough for a main course. If you boil the water in the microwave, this is a heat-friendly no-cook meal which is delicious served at room temperature! It's a good idea to let it chill for as long as possible before digging in; it's even better the day after it's made and better still the day after that.
1 c. bulgur
2 c. thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
1 15-ounce can cannellini beans
1 small red onion, quartered and sliced thinly
1 bu. arugula leaves
Dressing
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3/4 tsp. salt
Several pinches freshly ground black pepper Place the bulgur in a container with a tightly fitting lid. Boil 1-1/2 cups water and pour over the bulgur. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes. Bulgur should be tender but chewy. Prepare the dressing: While the bulgur is steaming, mix all the dressing ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Stir well and add the mushrooms, beans, and onion, and let them marinate. Stir occasionally. When the bulgur is ready, add it and any water remaining to the dressing while it's still warm. Toss to coat. Tear the arugula into bite-sized pieces and add them to the salad. Mix well, then cover and refrigerate until completely chilled, preferably overnight. Once it's chilled, adjust the salt and pepper to taste.
Source: "Veganomicon: The Ultimate Vegan Cookbook" by Isa Chandra Moskowitz and Terry Hope Romero.
Do you have a favorite recipe you make with farm produce that you'd like to share!? Send it on in! |
Notes from the Field: Tomatoes |
It's difficult to write about anything but tomatoes these days on the farm. We have faced 200 foot row upon 200 foot row, day after day this week, somehow thinking that each pick might just be a bit smaller than the previous monumental one. Gazing down a row of hundreds of pounds of ripe Taxi tomatoes, sustaining energy and motivation through the harvest becomes a psychological game. We find ourselves talking to the tomato plants, puffing ourselves up, letting them know who's boss and that they can't intimidate us with their pound upon delicate
pound of ripe fruit. I made the naïve mistake of mentioning the possibility of no picking tomatoes for one day and dashed way too many false hopes when we did indeed find our thumbs and index fingers thick with tomato sap later that afternoon.
 Don't get me wrong, I love the convenience of a tomato in the kitchen. Practically no stovetop or oven is needed this time of year and meals appear almost instantly in my house with a few tomatoes, fresh herbs and a little olive oil. Farmers' lunches during tomato season here tend to be very similar variations on the same convenient tomato-centric idea. Andy has his favorite lettuce, tomato and mayo sandwich, Dan a more classic BLT, and Amanda will often be found happy with a knife, a wedge of gouda and a tomato in hand. Larisa has taken George Foreman grilling (our lunchtime savior) to a new level, throwing a mix of tomato, egg and kale on it for a killer sandwich. So we love tomato season. But we'd also love to feel like we had time to do something other than pick, sort, weigh and organize them.
Speaking of convenience, the onions conveniently decided that they were also ready to come out of the fields this past week. We wanted to be sure to get them out of the ground once their tops had fallen but before all the leaves have dried brown. With the rain predicted for early this week, we knew that the pressure was on to get them out while they were still dry. So we found ourselves racing to get through tomato harvests in order to have a few hours a day by the end of the week to head over to our Lyman fields to pull onions. Then lug them pack to our curing shed (aka greenhouse with a shade cloth over it), and lay out each and every onion across stackable trays and mesh table tops.
 In the midst of this bulk harvest frenzy, we still managed to have one of those dreamy farm days on Friday when small crews break off for special projects, tackling and completing multiple tasks simultaneously. There are few things better than this. The weed crew got through a massive hand weeding project, tearing through our West field of fall Brussels sprouts, napa cabbage and collards. Check. After morning harvest and lunch, the last two beds of tomatoes got picked. Check. Andy, Andy and Rachel headed to the Lyman fields to harvest the last of the onions. Check. Dan and Larisa hummed along in tandem on the Super A tractors getting some control over the newest weed flush in our fall cauliflower, broccoli, kale and cabbages. Check. Lauren and I got caught up on greenhouse seeding. Check. To top it all off, Amanda and her family left for a well deserved vacation that day. Double check. A day like that after a week like that wouldn't have been possible without the head-down work ethic of the entire farm crew. As we approach the week ten halfway point of the summer CSA, it feels like an appropriate time to once again thank everyone working so hard on this farm, in recognition of all of the pulling, heaving, lugging, sorting, weighing and stacking and in gratitude for that dreamy Friday.
Enjoy the harvest!
- Erinn, for Amanda, Andy, Dan, Larisa and Lauren |
|
|
Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff
Claire Kozower, Executive Director
Jericho Bicknell, Education & Volunteer Coordinator
Amanda Cather, Farm Manager
Andy Scherer, Field Manager
Dan Roberts, Field Manager
Erinn Roberts, Greenhouse & Field Manager
Marla Rhodes, Development Coordinator
Deb Guttormsen, Bookkeeper & Tech Coordinator
Assistant Growers/Farmers in Training:
Larisa Jacobson, Lauren Weinberg
Farm Crew:
Rachel Dutton, Andy Friedberg, Courtney Giancaterino, Rachel Kaplan, Sam Powers, Shira Tiffany, Laura Van Tassel
Learning Garden Educators:
Marie Benkley, Rebekah Carter, Kristin Cleveland, Dede Dussault, Paula Jordan
Summer Fellow (from Stanford's Center for Public Service):
Joanna Rosene-Mirvis
www.communityfarms.org 781-899-2403 |
|
|
|
|
Waltham Fields Community Farm | 240 Beaver Street | Waltham | MA | 02452 |
|
|
