Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER
   Week 13:  September 3, 2013                             Like us on Facebook  Visit our blog 
 
In This Issue

Events & Info

  

Artefact Home/Garden to Hold Benefit for Waltham Fields!

Saturday, Sept. 21,

10am-6pm

Stop by Artefact on Pleasant St. in Belmont and shop their amazing collection of home goods and furniture, with proceeds to benefit the farm's programs!

  

REGISTRATION is Open for Fall Workshops and Learning Garden programs.

 

Sat., Sept. 22

Pepper Variety and Cooking Workshop

with Joh Kokubo of Kitchen on Common and Farmer Dan

 

Sat., Oct. 12

Workshop: Make Your Own Baby Food with Kim Hunter, Waltham Fields Educator and mother of two young ones growing up on lots of farm-fresh food

 

Little Sprouts Programs for Pre-K children and their caregivers

  

FARM DAY

Sat., Oct. 5

2-5pm

Free event on the farm celebrating local agriculture and Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week. Live music & farm fun! All are welcome - bring your friends and family! Volunteers Wanted, please contact Kim.

 

ALL OF OCTOBER: Eat at Elephant Walk in Waltham!

We are delighted to be the October beneficiary, with proceeds from lunch, brunch and dinner at The Elephant Walk's Waltham location supporting of our work. Enjoy a fantastic selection of French and Cambodian food.

  
What's In the Share This Week
Each week, we do our best to predict what will be available in the CSA barn and in the fields.  The CSA newsletter is prepared before we start harvesting for the week, so sometimes you'll see vegetables in the barn that weren't on the list, and sometimes vegetables will be on the list but won't make it to the barn.

Arugula/Mustard Greens: our first round of seeding of these tasty greens didn't germinate well in the dry heat but we plan to have more throughout the fall.
Carrots 
Eggplant: Time to make ratatouille before the summer ends!
Celery
Escarole: a farm favorite, these greens are great sautéed with lemon and garlic over pasta
 
And a few other surprises from Picadilly Farm.

Pick-Your-Own Crops This Week 
Pick-your-own fields are open to all shareholders any day of the week during daylight hours. Please check the pick-your-own stand for maps and a list of available crops, along with amounts to pick. Please harvest only in labelled rows, and pay close attention to the amounts you harvest in order to ensure that there will be enough for all shareholders. 

Cilantro 
Dill 
Parsley 
Basil
Plum Tomatoes availability will be weather dependent; cool nights mean tomatoes don't ripen as fast
Husk Cherries
Tomatilloes

Green Beans 
Perennial Garden
Herbs & Flowers: Please pick carefully (use scissors), pay attention to signs, and watch your step in the perennial garden.  


Double Tomato Soup 

This week's recipe comes to us from JJ Gonson of Cuisine en Locale. You may remember Cuisine's fantastic spread at our Sprout event this spring!

In late summer, when tomatoes are here in abundance, there is no better time for this super tomato-y power poppin' souper soup.

 

Ingredients
10 red ripe round tomatoes- salad slicer or similar
4 red ripe roma or paste tomatoes
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 large or 1 small white onion
2 sprigs of thyme, oregano or both
1 cup rich red wine
Sea salt

 

Peel the round tomatoes by cutting a shallow X in the non stem end, and plunging into boiling water until the lips of the cut peel back. Cut the peeled tomatoes in half, remove the seeds and puree until smooth. Put the puree on the stove to boil and hold a slow simmer.

 

Cut the Roma tomatoes into quarters, and remove the stem and seeds. Add to a hot saute pan with 2 T good oil, the onion and garlic, roughly chopped, and the leaves of the herbs. Cook on medium heat for 20 minutes, shaking occasionally. Allow the tomatoes and onions to become quite soft, then add the wine, raise the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the alcohol is cooked out of the wine.

 

Puree the sauteed mix and stir into the warm tomato puree.

 

Adjust the flavor with salt, and cook for 10 more minutes. Serve over cheddar cheese or with a grilled cheese sandwich, garnish with fresh herb leaves.


Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? We love to include your recipes in our next newsletter! Please send it in to Susan Cassidy 

WINTER SHARES FOR SALE!

We still have a few WFCF winter shares for sale!  Winter shares are the perfect way to extend your CSA experience through the late fall and eat local (and delicious) for the holidays!  Winter shares are $200.00 and include three pickups at the farm on Saturday afternoons, November 9, November 23 and December 7. We plan for winter shares to represent the tasty bounty of the season, including carrots, beets, sweet potatoes, turnips, radishes, cabbages, lettuces, spinach, arugula, bok choy and kohlrabi, onions and garlic, and winter squash and potatoes from Picadilly Farm. Sign up at any CSA pickup!  Availability is limited, and we'll sell winter shares on a first-come, first-served basis until they are gone!
Notes from the Field
Many thanks to Saul Blumenthal for sharing the lovely photos he took at the farm.

We have only one
Summer each year so we must
Grow all that we can

It is not easy
To enter each day ready
To learn the hard way

August: The Grinder
Each morning feels earlier
Each dusk sore and spent

August is sweeter
 
Buried under tomatoes
A gift of wild grapes

How fortunate to
Spend my days side by side with
Loved ones with questions

To spend my summer
With new faces taking turns
Asking "Is this it?"

"Is this the right way?"
"Is this the time to harvest it?"
"Are these the weeds?"


Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds
Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds

Weeds weeds weeds weeds weeds

We are tilting now
Toward shorter days and cool nights
Or that illusion

Days can be fickle
Impossible to predict
At this time of year

Let the melon juice
Run down your chin. Relish that.
It does not last long.

Enjoy the harvest, 
Dan, for the farm staff
Quick Links

 

www.communityfarms.org

240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452 
Marla Rhodes, Volunteer & Development Coordinator
Amanda Cather, Farm Manager
Erinn Roberts, Greenhouse and Field Manager
Dan Roberts, Field Manager

Sutton Kiplinger, Assistant Grower
Zannah Porter, Assistant Grower
Andy Scherer, Farmer

Hector Cruz, Maricela Escobar, Amber Carmer Sandager and Lauren Trotogott: Field Crew

Lizzie Callaghan, Sage Dumont, Alice Fristrom, and Eli Shanks: Weed Crew

Mikaela Burns, Matthew Crawford, Sarah Schrader and Fan Watkinson: Farm Educators