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Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA Newsletter #6
July 12, 2009
In This Issue
CSA Pickup Schedule
Pick-Your-Own Crops
Fava Beans and Cukes Recipes
Tour de Farms Bike Tour
Notes from the Field
Coming up at the Farm 
 
Greens Breakfast on the Farm,7/18, 8-10am 
Fritatta, roulade and hearty salad early morning feast with Chef Joh Kokubo from Kitchen on Common restaurant in Belmont. See our website for more details.
 
Children's Program Sign Up

Sign Your Child Up Now!  We still have a few openings in our summer Children's Learning Garden Program. Tuesdays and Thursdays, 1:30pm-4:00pm, July 7 - August 13 
Recipes
We've been getting some great recipes -- especially for collards.
 
Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? Don't be shy --
 let us know!

For more information, see our Recipe pages.
Farm Wish List

5 gallon buckets, preferably with lids

Free or very low-cost massage or chiropractic practice for our hard-working farm staff

Small air compressor
Fun for the Kids
 
Digging In The Dirt Family Program, July 17th This is the first in a series of programs that we will be offering at the Farm this summer for children ages 0-4 and their caregivers. Friday, July 17th: For Urban Groups (this includes Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, and other towns around Waltham).
The focus will be soil: what lives in it, what it is made of, and how we use it here on the farm! Activities will include worm exploration, spreading compost, hunting for insects, and much more. $10/Adult w/1 child, $2/additional child 
 
Fun on the Farm, Tuesdays, 3:30 - 5:00 pm
Kids, please join us for free play, old-fashioned games, story hour (see above), nature drawing (bring supplies!) and a nut-free snack. About once a month, we'll do a special activity such as tour bee hives and chicken coops, inventory birds and insects, make cornhusk dolls and our famous Silly Olympics. Parents, nut free snack contributions would be great! Look for Anastacia near the distribution shed at 3:30.
 
Story Time   
Tuesdays, 4-4:45 pm at the meeting shelter.
Boudicca Hawke (age 9) will once again do Story Time on the farm for children of all ages.     She will have a selection of books that are related to farms and the creatures that live on farms, however if anyone has a favorite book they'd love to share, please bring it as she will be happy to read that too.
CSA pickup schedule for the week
 
Tuesday, July 
14
 from 3-7 PM 
Thursday, July 16 from 3-7 PM 
Saturday, July 18 from 8 AM to 12 noon
Quick Links

What's in the share this week...

Please note:  this list is prepared the week before you receive 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.  
kale in shed
  • Lettuce
  • Red cabbage
  • Fennel
  • Carrots
  • Collards
  • Kale
  • Red 'torpedo' onions
  • Swiss chard
  • Zucchini and Summer Squash
  • Cucumbers
Pick-Your-Own Crops
 
Shareholders are welcome to
pick-your-own anytime during daylight hours. fennelPlease remember to always check the white board on the red kiosk for updated PYO information.


  • Perennial herbs and flowers (including mint and thyme)
  • Flat and curly parsley
  • Genovese, purple and Thai basil
  • Fava beans
  • Epazote
  • Dill
  • Cilantro
Fava Beans plus Cucumber Gazpacho 
 
Grilled Fava Beans
From Marla: Look at this recipe for grilled fava beans that I came across, sounds like you can't go wrong and so easy.
 
Pineapple Cucumber Gazpacho
From Barrett: A raw recipe that I can't wait to make once cucumbers are in abundance!   Also uses jalapeno, scallions and cilantro, perhaps from the farm!  A great "alternative" gazpacho.
 
4 cups pineapple chopped
4 cups cucumber chopped
3 Tblsp jalapeno
3 Tblsp scallions
1 Tblsp lime juice
1 cup fresh pineapple juice
2 teasp sea salt
1/2 cup cilantro
1/2 cup macadamia nuts, chopped
3 Tblsp olive or avocado oil (I've never tried avocado oil)
 
Blend 3 cups each of pineapple and cucumber, along with 2tblsp of jalapenos and scallions, lime juice and pineapple juice.   Blend until smooth and taste. 
 
Add remaining pineapple and cucumber, cilantro and ½ the oil, pulse until it's a little bit chunky.  Add the chopped nuts and drizzle remaining oil.  Sprinkle with the remainder of jalapeno and scallion. 
Tour de Farms Bike Tour
Boston's 3rd Annual, held Saturday August 1st
 
Back by popular demand!  This year's Tour de Farms will feature two loops - a 15-mile route in Boston to visit urban farm and garden projects, and a 40-mile route to visit community farms on the city's outskirts.
 
Boston Urban Farm Loop
This 15-mile route covers Dorchester, Roxbury, Jamaica Plain, and Mattapan. Farm stops include The Food Project, City Natives, ReVision Urban Farm, and the Minton Stables Community Garden. 9 am start at Franklin Park.
 
Community Farm Loop
This 40-mile route covers Boston, Brookline, Watertown, Waltham, Newton, and Milton. Farm stops include Allandale Farm, Waltham Fields Community Farm, Newton Community Farm, and Brookwood Community Farm. 8 am start at Franklin Park. This is an advanced ride for experienced cyclists.
 
Both rides will be led by experienced riders and there will be technical support in the case of flat tires -- but please be sure to bring extra tubes and tools! Rain or Shine (except in case of extreme weather).

On-line pre-registration is required; registration and insurance fee $10. For more information, contact Jennifer Fahy at Farm Aid.
Notes from the Field

red lettuceI don't mind admitting that the past few weeks were some of the more challenging of my (admittedly brief) farming career.  Maybe when I've been farming for 50 years, and have many seasons to look back on, I'll remember these four weeks of rain as little more than a blip on the screen.  In the moment, however, many local farmers would agree with our colleague who thought someone had better throw a dance party before we tried therapy, or a career change.  The worst part, besides being soaked through for days at a time in spite of increasingly musty rain gear and boots, is watching the long list of to-do items pile up without any chance to make progress. 

Each Monday, we sit down in the farm office and fill a white board with tasks for the week, including field preparation, greenhouse work, cultivating and weeding, and seeding and transplanting.  Generally, by Saturday at noon, the white board looks emptier than when we began.  For the past few weeks, however, the lists on the board have gotten longer rather than shorter as days of rain make it impossible to get work done.  In farming, as in so many things, timing is everything; to ensure a consistent supply of vegetables over the course of the season, it is essential that crops are planted on time and grow at a steady pace. Too much cold weather or rain means that crops don't go in on time, or that they don't grow at the right rate, meaning gaps in the harvest.  As you know, it also means that the weeds have a greater chance to catch up when the crops as they grow more slowly.  The sight of those weeds makes our hearts sink as we walk around the farm each day, and our call for help last week was in hopes that we could try to take advantage of the nice weather to set them back before they got to the point of affecting yields or harvest speed. 

On Saturday morning, many, many members and shareholders came to the farm to help weed.  One former work share, who now has a small CSA of her own, came as a celebration of her birthday with two friends visiting from out of town.  People came with their children, their parents, and their friends, and our hearts lifted as we watched pathway after pathway be cleared of weeds and covered with biodegradable plastic mulch to keep them from growing back.  Our thanks go out to everyone who came and pulled a weed, both on Saturday and throughout the week at times that were convenient to them.  As farmers, we can begin to feel a little isolated in our wet, muddy, weedy crabbiness during bad weather.  It is a huge boost both to our moods and to the functioning of the farm to see the community that supports us in person, in the fields, when it is so sorely needed.  Thank you all so much for helping us dig -- and weed -- ourselves out of the rainy rut.

Next Saturday, two of WFCF's favorite people will be married in Connecticut.  Alison Horton and Dave Soccodato, who have been involved with the farm as work shares, volunteers, and CSA shareholders over the past four years, met when Alison caught Dave's eye and ear at a party with her enthusiastic comments about healthy, delicious local food.  Dave had already been to the farm as a volunteer, and they soon began to come together, sharing work and meals, and soon vegetables.  When they began remodelling Alison's kitchen together, we knew it was meant to last.  spinachIn 2008, Dave took on a full season apprenticeship at Fort Hill Farm in Connecticut, and Alison went with him.   At the end of that year, both were certain that organic farming had a place in their lives, and that their lives would be spent together.  Last week, they made a decision to move to Montpelier, Vermont, where they hope to find a farmstead on which to raise a family.  We offer them our love and congratulations as they move forward into their new life together.
 
Finally, all of us on the farm were heartbroken to hear of the death of our dear friend Cary Girod in a bicycle accident in Washington state.  Cary was a work share on the farm this season, and had been a volunteer in the fields last year.  She was a dedicated and skilled worker on the farm, where she and her boyfriend, Nils Soranson, often brought friends to help the farm crew on Saturday mornings.  Cary was a math teacher at Buckingham, Browne and Nichols School, where her infectious smile, energetic athleticism and passion for the environment affected many students.  She was on a month-long vacation with Nils at the time of her death.  I am both haunted and uplifted by the memory my last sight of Cary, smiling joyfully and waving goodbye across the fields on a beautiful early-summer morning as she was set to leave on the trip she had planned for months with the man she loved.  While I know that she would not want her friends to be sad, I can't help feeling that the world is truly poorer for her loss.  Please hold her memory and her family and friends in your hearts with love. 

Amanda, for the farm crew
Warmly, 

The Staff of Waltham Fields Community Farm
Jericho Bicknell, Education and Outreach Coordinator
Amanda Cather, Farm Manager
Amanda Dumont, Field Crew
Debra Guttormsen, Administrative and Finance Coordinator
Paula Jordan, Spring & Fall Children's Learning Garden Assistant
Sarah Kielsmeier-Jones, Field Crew
Claire Kozower, Executive Director
Brad Leatherbee, Field Crew
Jonathan Martinez, Assistant Grower 
Blake Roberts, Outreach Market Intern
Dan Roberts, Assistant Grower
Erinn Roberts, Assistant Grower
Nina Rogowsky, Children's Learning Garden Teacher
Andy Scherer, Assistant Farm Manager
Lina Yamashita, Summer Children's Learning Garden Assistant
Ryan Yorck, Field Crew
Waltham Fields Community Farm | 240 Beaver Street | Waltham | MA | 02452