November 9, 2009
Waltham Fields Community Farm
Winter CSA Newsletter
Distribution Week #1
In This Issue
What's in the shares this month
Annual Appeal Underway
Crop Updates
Quick Links
CSA Overview

Newsletter Archive

FAQs

Tips for Share Pickup

Harvest Schedule

Produce Info and Recipes
Bring Us
Your Leaves!

Your old leaves will help us make great compost at the farm!  Bring leaves loose or bagged in paper bags (no plastic bags, please!). Loose leaves can go on the leaf piles at the back of the farm; bagged leaves should go on the traditional compost piles with household fruit and veggie scraps (please remember, no meat or fish bones or scraps).  

Thank you!

Mashed Potatoes and Turnips with Roasted Pear Purée



Makes 16 servings

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
8 Bosc pears, peeled, quartered, cored

5 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
2 pounds white turnips, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces
1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) butter, room temperature

Preparation

Preheat oven to 350°F. Combine honey, lemon juice, and melted butter in large bowl. Add pears; toss to coat. Arrange pears in single layer on large rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast pears 30 minutes. Turn pears to coat with juices and roast until very tender, about 35 minutes longer. Transfer pears and caramelized liquids to food processor; blend until smooth. (Pear puree can be made 2 days ahead. Cover and refrigerate.)

Cook potatoes and turnips in separate large pots of generously salted water until tender, about 25 minutes. Drain well. Transfer turnips to processor; puree until smooth. Mash potatoes with room-temperature butter in large bowl until smooth. Stir in pureed turnips.

Season to taste with salt and pepper. (Can be prepared 6 hours ahead. Cover and refrigerate. Rewarm in microwave before continuing.)

Rewarm pear puree. Place potato-turnip mixture in large serving bowl. Swirl in pear puree and serve.


Roasted Curried
Cauliflower

Ingredients

12 cups cauliflower florets (from about 4 pounds cauliflower)
1 large onion, peeled, quartered
1 teaspoon coriander seeds
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
3/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 1/2 teaspoons curry powder
1 tablespoon Hungarian hot paprika
1 3/4 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place cauliflower florets in large roasting pan. Pull apart onion quarters into separate layers; add to cauliflower. Stir coriander seeds and cumin seeds in small skillet over medium heat until slightly darkened, about 5 minutes. Crush coarsely in mortar with pestle. Place seeds in medium bowl. Whisk in oil, vinegar, curry powder, paprika, and salt. Pour dressing over vegetables; toss to coat. Spread vegetables in single layer. Sprinkle with pepper.

Roast vegetables until tender, stirring occasionally, about 35 minutes. (Can be made 2 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature. Rewarm in 450°F oven 10 minutes, if desired.)

Mound vegetables in large bowl. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Serve warm or at room temperature.
 Winter Shares are Here!

Winter share pickups at the farm are:
  • Saturday, November 14  from 1-4 PM
  • Saturday,  December 5 from 1-4 PM
Shares will be individually packed in waxed boxes.  Take a box home and bring it back empty at the next distribution, or bring your own bags or boxes to unload your box at the farm.  Claire, Erinn, Amanda and Andy will see you then!

Remember to bring your checkbook if you ordered cheese and/or pickles!  We'll also have a limited selection of cheese and pickles for you if you did not place a pre-order, as well as some award-winning apples from Autumn Hills Orchard, bread from Mamadou's bakery in Winchester, and New Hampshire maple syrup to help round out your holiday meals. 

Bring your own household compost if you don't mind the chilly walk to the compost piles.  Thanks to everyone who has brought compost!

What's in the shares this month

Need help using a vegetable? Check out our Recipe pages!

Feel free to submit recipes and cooking ideas to us via email. We'd love to include your family's favorite recipes!
Annual Appeal Underway!

Have you received our annual appeal letter?  Please support our food access and education work!  Donate on-line through our website.
 
Notes from the Field  (reprinted from last fall's first winter share newsletter)

"This time, like all times, is a very good one if we but know what to do with it." 
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Once the oak leaves fall, about the second week of November, the wind whips across the fields at our farm.  The lush green rows of summer are transformed into vivid blocks of color in a sere landscape -- red kale, purple cabbage, bright green salad turnip tops.  Layers of floating row cover protect tender greens from the now-frequent frosts.  A warm, wet week brings new growth on spinach, chard and lettuces, slowed down by the short days and made sweet by the cold.  Hawks hunt from the treetops, casting their sharp eyes across the flattened fields for the slightest movement of mouse or vole.  Early evenings and chilly nights lend themselves to braised or roasted root vegetables and hearty soups.  Late autumn is a very good time, if we know what to do with it.

Late-season harvests remind us of the bounty of the New England growing season that stretches beyond corn and tomatoes.  This November distribution will bring a plethora of greens still growing in the ground at the farm, while the December share will be heavier on roots and squashes as the year wanes and the ground freezes.  The harvest for the November share really began back in late September when Jenny and Bruce and their crew at Picadilly Farm harvested their winter squash and we dug thousands of pounds of sweet potatoes here in Waltham.  We'll continue beginning on Monday, when we will pull carrots and other root crops, cut cabbages and leeks, bunch radishes and find chard and lettuce hidden under their coverings.  We plan to harvest through the week -- one benefit of late-season crops is that cold weather helps concentrate sugars in their cells, helping even fresh greens keep longer in cold storage. 

We here at the farm will definitely be giving thanks this month -- for the winds of autumn as well as for the cornucopia of food that will grace our plates on Thanksgiving and the community of farmers and eaters who make it possible.  We hope you eat well and in good health!  We look forward to seeing you on Saturday.

-- Amanda
Warmly,

From all the staff at Waltham Fields Community Farm:

Jericho Bicknell,
  Education and Outreach Coordinator
Deb Guttormsen,  Administrative and Finance Coordinator
Claire Kozower Executive Director
Amanda Cather
, Farm Manager
Erinn Roberts, Assistant Grower
Andy Scherer, Assistant Farm Manager
Waltham Fields Community Farm | 240 Beaver Street | Waltham | MA | 02452