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 this week from a list that may include:  

• Lettuce 
• Carrots 
• Beets 
• Okra 
• Pickling cucumbers   
• Tomatoes 
• Eggplant 
• Bell Peppers 
• Collards 
• Kale 
• Potatoes 
• Chard 
• Celery 
• Napa and savoy cabbage 

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.       

• Raspberries
• Chiles
• Cherry tomatoes
• Plum tomatoes
• Green beans
• Cilantro
• Basils:  Italian, Thai, purple, lemon and lime 
• Dill
• Parsley
• Perennial herbs & flowers

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Upcoming events at the Farm

Shareholder Rose writes in ... Here is my Super Simple Soup:

6 cups chicken broth
3 Tbl Toasted Sesame Oil
1 Tbl Soy sauce
pinch of ginger
pinch of salt
pinch of pepper
One head of Bok Choy cut into large pieces
1 pint of Snow peas
4 garlic scapes cut into 1 inch lengths
1 can bamboo shoots
4 ounces mushrooms
1 lb cooked shrimp and/or cooked cubed pork strips (both optional)

Bring the broth, oil, soy sauce, and spices to a boil. Add the garlic scapes and the bok choy and simmer until tender. Add the remaining ingredients and simmer for approx 5 minutes. 

Serves about 8.

Do you have a favorite recipe you make with farm produce that you'd like to share!?

Send it on in!

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!

Notes from the Field:  A Few Reminders About Pick-Your-Own Crops

 
As we begin to make the transition to fall on the farm, just a few ideas -- some new, some old -- about ways to make sure that pick-your-own crops work well for everyone.

1.  Please avoid picking in the rain or when there's a heavy dew, if possible.  Wet weather spreads diseases in plants, and it's much easier for these to spread when many people are walking through the plant rows.  Of course, we know this isn't always possible, and we definitely respect that folks need to pick when they are able.

 

2.  Please remember to check the pick-your-own board at the red kiosk for picking quantities.  Some things are deliberately vague -- a bunch of basil to you might be different than a bunch of basil to the shareholder next to you.  Some things are very specific -- a half pint of raspberries is a half pint of raspberries, no matter who's picking. "Take what you'll use" means just that -- if you'll use a lot, take a lot.  All of this is done on purpose.  When we are vague, we encourage you to use your best judgement about what you'll use and how plentiful the crop seems to be.  When we're specific, please, even if you think that there's "so much out there" that you should pick more than we recommend, follow the guidelines.  There are quite a few shareholders in the CSA, and our experience as farmers helps us make the best call that we can on a given day, based on what's out in the field and who we expect to come pick that day.  Quantities do sometimes change from day to day, because picking conditions change from day to day.   And even if you don't take our containers home with you, we urge you to use them to measure -- sometimes what you think is a pint container might turn out to be... something else.     

3.  Please also remember to pick only the crops that are on the board for picking that day.    

4.  We suggest that you try starting your harvest at the far ends of the rows, or even in the middle -- anywhere except for that first 20 feet of the bed where everyone (including us) starts picking.  Many crops (like green beans) will produce better if they're picked regularly!  

5.  If you don't do your pick-your-own during a CSA pickup, and you have some flexibility about when you come (we understand that some people don't), consider coming the morning of a CSA pickup.  These are the "off times" when, if you have flexibility, you might find that the crops have had a chance to recover best from the heavy picking they get during CSA pickups.  Directly following a CSA pickup (for example, on Saturday afternoons) things might look more picked over, though you usually can still find what you are looking for.     

6.  Please ask us, in person or by email, if you have any questions about pick-your-own crops!  We hope that you feel at home and at ease in the fields.  It's wonderful to see so many people enjoying the farm!  

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