Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER 2015 - Week 10 of 20
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In This Issue
FARM TOUR & MOVIE NIGHT
This Thursday, August 13th 
6:00 - 10:00PM

Join us for a summer evening on the farm. Bring  chairs, blankets, a picnic, and your friends & family. Free farm tour starts at 7pm and movie starts at 8pm. Farm stand open with refreshments and veggies for sale until 7:30pm.

WHAT'S IN THE SHARE - Our Best Guess
This is our best guess at this point. Actual crops may vary from what's listed here due to a variety of factors. 
  
In the Barn (Picked for You):

Due to the hail storm last Tuesday, some veggies may look a little rougher than normal but they still taste just as good!
Lettuce
Peppers
Tomato
Onions
Cucumber
Summer squash
Zucchini
Kale
Collards
Chard
Beets
Carrots
Scallion

Pick Your Own (PYO):  

Remember to only pick the amount listed on the PYO description sheets found at the PYO Station and follow the signs & directions in the field.  A taste or two is okay while you're picking but in order to have enough for everyone please refrain from snacking extensively out in the fields.  If an area is roped off, it is closed to PYO.

Beans, dill, cilantro, basil, cherry & plum tomatoes (weather dependent), parsley, chiles & perennial herbs and flowers.  

SUMMER RECIPES
We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including
twenty different suggestions for carrots! Click here to check them out!
NOTES FROM THE FIELD - 
Halfway There
From Erinn Roberts, Farm Manager

It's been a funny season so far.  In May, we didn't get any rain until the last day of the month.  June was a bit better, book-ended by an inch or two of rain in the beginning and end of the month.  And then July came on, relentlessly hot and dry.  None of the irrigation systems could keep up with the depth of dryness in the parched soils.  Every so often we'd get a threat of rain, or even a few drizzles from the sky, but never anything that amounted to what Dan would call "having a significant impact on agricultural crops" until the hail and wind storm on Tuesday.  That morning, we delayed the harvest as thunder rolled and lightening lit up the sky, but no rain came to pass.  We ended the day in much the same way, all of us standing in the doorway, watching the giant redwood sway in the gusty storm while golf ball sized hail bounced off the pavement.

Walking out after the storm to assess the damage, we saw our beautiful fall crop of collards tattered and torn, ripe and green cherry tomatoes scattered on the ground and dings in all manner of fruiting crops.  Although everything was desperate for a good soak, it was an unfortunate way to finally get it.  Over the next couple of weeks, you'll see the damage of the storm play out on the stand, as we bring in those torn collards, frayed lettuces and dinged cucumbers.  You've already seen the long term impact of the warm and very dry May in a few crops: potatoes, radishes and turnips all germinated poorly during that time and they were almost non-existent on the stand.  Now, another few weeks will come to pass that exemplify what it means to "share the risk" of a CSA growing season.  The veggies may not look quite as beautiful as we strive for, but they taste just as great.

This week also marks the halfway point in the CSA season.  We're starting week 10 a bit slower than we expected.  Peppers are starting to come in but eggplant and tomatoes are really taking their time.  You heard last week from Zannah about the plight of the eggplant at Gateways, though we're still holding out hope that they'll turn a corner.  I can't figure the tomatoes, though.  Maybe this happens every year but it's more noticeable because it's a week or so later, but I'm making myself crazy waiting for all the fruit out there to ripen.  Some plants look strong and healthy, some have a fair amount of septoria leaf spot and early blight, soil borne diseases that we deal with annually.  But all of them have a great fruit set on them.  It's just all still green.  Except for the 300 pounds we've harvested so far.  If there's one thing the July heat wave was perfect for, it was ripening tomatoes.  Every day for the past two weeks, I'd walk out to the tomatoes, waiting for the great red flush to begin.  No such luck.  It's got to happen sometime, but I've given up trying to predict when that will be.

The cucumbers, squash and zucchini are starting a slow decline, though we should see some amount on the stand through the rest of the month at least.   We've got one more planting of squash and zucchini to come on over at our Lyman fields but I think we've ridden the peak of the cucumber harvest.  Summer onions are still looking good and we'll have some more Red Longs this week and hopefully some nice Walla Wallas soon as well.  We'll start picking a new planting of chard, kale and collards, and despite the hail, the plants are looking beautiful in the front farm field.

This past weekend, the sunlight and the air felt like autumn.  And as much as I'm anxious for all those tomatoes to ripen to really mark the summer season, I'm also looking forward to the arugula, mustard greens and salad turnips that were seeded just after the hail/rainstorm last week.  They won't be on the stand for another 3-6 weeks but the germination is looking fantastic.  I'm feeling optimistic about fall...

Enjoy the harvest,
Erinn, for the farm staff
WHAT'S IN THE BARN 

 

Deli Ham & Salami Cotto from Chestnut Farms in Hardwick, MA. 

  

Many of you know and love Chestnut Farms meats already, as we have been carrying a number of their products for a few years. Kim and Rich are passionate about the high quality of life for their livestock to ensure good health for their animals, their customers as well as the environment. We're happy to share the news that Chestnut Farms is now a full time vendor at the recently opened Boston Public Market.  We are now carrying 6oz packaged Uncured Deli Ham & Uncured Salami Cotto - for $8.99 each.

All of our retail products are available for sale to the public. For our own produce offerings, we prioritize giving shareholders a good return on their investment and meeting our food assistance goals (20% of what we grow - which should amount to $80,000 of produce for low-income households this year)
.
Early in the season, crops for sale to the public will be those that we have an abundance of and later in the season, if production is going well, we hope to operate as a full-fledged farm store with a wide range of vegetables available to the public during our weekly CSA distribution hours.
CUCUMBER SMOOTHIES
Overwhelmed with cucumbers? Shareholder Casey Meisenbacher recommends you peel, chop & freeze your extras and use them in smoothies through the fall and into the winter! Here are a few recipes she recommends from the 365 Vegan Smoothies cookbook by Kathy Patalsky. 

Clever Citrus Cooler 
1 cup frozen diced cucumber 
1 cup chopped spinach 
1 large orange, peeled and segmented, plus a pinch of grated zest 
½ cup mashed avocado
½ cup coconut water 
½ cup ice 
BOOST IT: 1 teaspoon flax oil 
This frosty green cooler-combining citrus, cucumber, and superfood spinach-will help you cool, calm, and collect your oh-so-clever thoughts. DIRECTIONS: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend from low to high until frosty smooth.

 

The Cool Pink Cucumber 

1½ cups frozen chopped cucumber 

1 cup pink grapefruit juice 

½ cup frozen peach chunks 

1 banana

BOOST IT: 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves 

Cool meets pink in this frosty grapefruit-cucumber smoothie. Grapefruit is a cleansing ingredient for detox mode and contains plentiful amounts of the amazing antioxidant vitamin C. This blend is also rich in potassium to help you stay hydrated. Tip: Freshly squeezed citrus is best for flavor and nutrients! 

DIRECTIONS: Combine the cucumber and grapefruit juice in a blender and blend from low to high until smooth. Add the remaining ingredients and blend from low to high until frosty smooth. 

 

Minted Cucumber-Kiwi Cooler 

1 cup frozen diced cucumber 

½ cup chopped spinach 

1 to 2 kiwis, peeled 

1 cup coconut water 

¼ cup ice 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint 

BOOST IT: 2 tablespoons mashed avocado 

Don't get all hot and bothered-get cool and calm-with this frosty green cooler. Sweet kiwis and frozen cucumbers merge to make a perfect cool-me-down sip. Boost this blend with some creamy, monounsaturated fat-rich avocado; adding healthy fats to smoothies helps slow digestion and release of energy to prevent blood sugar spikes and crashes that can stress you out. DIRECTIONS: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend from low to high until frosty smooth. 

 

Green Island Cooler 

½ to 1 cup coconut water 

1 cup chopped fresh or frozen cucumber 

½ cup frozen pineapple chunks 

1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, plus a pinch of grated zest 

1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint leaves 

2 teaspoons maple syrup or agave syrup (optional) 

½ cup ice 

BOOST IT: ½ frozen banana 

For some people, stress contributes to unwanted weight gain. So learning how to chill out is a smart way to maintain or reach your body weight goals. This tropical green drink can help. One sip of this low-calorie cucumber, pineapple, lime, and mint cooler and you will be swept away. Not even a sweltering glow of sunshine could interrupt your chilled-out mood from sipping this lime green blend. Hydrate, refresh, chill, and easily reach your slim-down goals. 

DIRECTIONS: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend from low to high until frosty smooth. Start with ½ cup coconut water and add more for a thinner blend. 

 

Frozen Cucumber Cleanse 

1½ cups frozen diced cucumber 

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice, plus a pinch of lime zest 

¾ cup coconut water 

½ banana 

1 kiwi, peeled 

A few pinches of cayenne 

Sweetener to taste (optional) 

BOOST IT: 1 teaspoon aloe vera juice and/or chopped fresh mint 

Cucumber is the ultimate cool-down ingredient-especially when frozen! Embrace a new level of chill from this frosty-sweet green smoothie. Add some healing aloe vera juice to further calm and renew your mind, body, and soul as you cleanse. Fresh mint is also a nice touch. 

DIRECTIONS: Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend from low to high until frosty smooth. 

Share Pick Up Questions
More questions about share pickup?  Check out our CSA FAQs!  You can also contact Lauren Trotogott, our Distribution Coordinator.
Quick Links
CSA INFO & PICK UP TIMES
Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff

Year-Round Staff:
Claire Kozower, Executive Director
Marla Rhodes, Volunteer & Development Coordinator
Erinn Roberts, Farm Manager
Zannah Porter, Farm Manager
Alexandra Lennon-Simon, Education & Outreach Coord.
Lauren Trotogott, Distribution Coordinator
Rebekah Lea, Bookkeeper & Office Coordinator

Seasonal Staff:
Assistant Grower: Anna Kelchlin
Farm Assistants: Tim Cooke, Dan Roberts, Naomi Shea
Farm Stand Assistant: Leo Martinez
Field Crew: Anna Hirson-Sagalyn, Roy Kresge, Jack Leng, Claire Penney, Evan Rees
Weed Crew: Anna Blaustein, Leo Martinez, Gina Masciovecchio, Annie Nguyen
Learning Garden Educators: Sadie Brown, Autumn Cutting, Rebecca Fennel, Alannah Glickman
Summer Interns: Cassandra Baker, Alisa Feinswog, Ali Rabideau, Jesse Simmons

www.communityfarms.org
240 Beaver Street
Waltham, MA 02452