| Upcoming Programs/Events | |
Please join us...
Family Programs
for ages 0-4 and their caregivers.
FARM CRITTERS
Friday, August 13
or
Friday, August 20
9:30-11am
$10/child plus $2 for each additional child.
Sign up today!
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Fun on the Farm/ Agricultural Journaling
Thursdays 3:30 - 5pm
Kids of all ages, join us for free play and occasional old-fashioned games on the farm, while your parents pick up their shares and chat with other members. Bring a nut-free snack to share if you're so inclined. Mobile meet up: Just look for the kidpack!
Agricultural Journaling Have a yen to capture the unfolding of the agricultural season from week to week? Bring sketchbooks, drawing implements, watercolors, camera or what have you. (Also a camp chair, if you don't like standing or sitting in the dirt.) All ages. Meet-up: Check in with Natasha; she'll know where we are.
For either gathering, check in with Natasha at the distribution shed.
Jointly organized by A-OK Home Learners, Purple Giraffes 4H and Waltham Fields Community Farm CSA. Any member of these three groups is welcome to attend!
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| Recipes |
Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? It's okay if you've found it on another website, we'll give that site credit! :) Don't be shy -- let us know!
Looking for ideas on how to prepare Farm produce?! We have a wealth of possibilities for you! See our Recipe pages.
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Compost at the farm
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Feel free to add to our compost pile! Just look for the pile labeled " Add compost here"!
If possible, please bury your scraps and/or cover them with leaves from the nearby leaf pile. And remember no meat scraps, no whole bread loaves. Biodegradable serving-ware from picnics or parties needs staff approval |
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Summer CSA Distribution Days
Tuesdays 3-7 PM
Thursdays 3-7 PM
Saturdays 8 AM-12 noon |
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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.
- Tomatoes
- Peppers
- Eggplant
- Carrots
- Onions or Shallots
- Lettuce
- Cucumbers
- Summer Squash/Zucchini
- Mustard Greens
- Potatoes
- Corn from Verrill Farm | |
APPLE SHARES ARE STILL AVAILABLE 1 Tote Bag per week for 8 weeks - $80 Starts at the end of August Don't miss out on your chance to pick up delicious apple varieties with your share each week. You'll get a tote a week of mostly apples with a sprinkling of other fruits such as pears and plums. The fruit is grown by Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton, MA and owner/farmer Lyn Harris provides a printout of information on the varieties included with each week's share. They are soooo good! To get one or more Apple Shares (there's no limit on the number of apple shares per summer CSA shareholder): Drop off a check for $80/share made out to WFCF with a memo that says Apple Share/s. Or you can pay on-line through our website as if making a donation. Make sure to note in the Special Instructions box what your payment is for. ------------------- |
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 and locations. 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.
- Basil - Parsley - Pickling Dill - Chile Peppers - Cherry Tomatoes - Flowers - Perennial Herbs
Reminder: Please check the PYO board before picking
I'm sure many of you have noticed that the raspberries are beginning to ripen...We have too and we're very excited! We expect the late summer picking to be good in the patch and we will begin irrigating in earnest during this fruit swell period to help them along.
However, in order to allow a significant amount to be ripe for 350 shares, we ask that folks check the PYO board to see when the raspberries are "open" for picking. Thanks for your patience! |
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Skillet Gnocchi with Chard & White Beans
From Eating Well online, serves 6 (though one reviewer commented that it really servies 3!).
Ingredients
1 T plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1 16-ounce package shelf-stable gnocchi
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup water
6 cups chopped chard leaves, (~1 small bunch) or spinach
1 15-ounce can diced tomatoes with Italian seasonings
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
Preparation
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add gnocchi and cook, stirring often, until plumped and starting to brown, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the remaining 1 teaspoon oil and onion to the pan and cook, stirring, over medium heat, for 2 minutes. Stir in garlic and water. Cover and cook until the onion is soft, 4 to 6 minutes. Add chard (or spinach) and cook, stirring, until starting to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, beans and pepper and bring to a simmer. Stir in the gnocchi and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan. Cover and cook until the cheese is melted and the sauce is bubbling, about 3 minutes.
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Joke from the Field
What's a chicken's favorite vegetable?
Answer: Bk-bk-bk-BOK Choy |
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Notes from the Field
This week's Notes are by Assistant Farm Manager, Erinn Roberts.
The past week truly highlighted the differences between this season and last season. Seems all we've been doing is picking tomatoes and moving irrigation pipe. Every day we have to choose top irrigating priorities from a long list of urgencies. Among other crops and considerations, we've been irrigating to prevent whole beds of lettuce from bolting before the heads even size up, to keep tender brassica transplants alive and to coax germination out of our fall carrot seeding. By now, every member of our farm staff from Weed Crew to Field Crew is adept at setting up irrigation. As soon as new transplants go in the ground, we're left figuring out the best way to get water on them. These hot and dry weeks have continued to make our non-irrigated Lyman fields a tough place to be for a seedling, but the bok choy, fennel and kohlrabi that were transplanted with some great Saturday morning volunteers 2 weeks ago are looking strong. We managed to get them in the ground just before a little bit of rain, which makes all the difference in the world.
We're happy to be spending our time doing that other thing I mentioned-picking tomatoes! We learned last year what a quick timeline Late Blight works on. In 2009, the first signs of infection in one planting were followed by total devastation of three separate plantings in less than two weeks, and that was before we harvested any ripe fruit at all. So while we're pleased to have had tomatoes in the share for the past two weeks, and in real quantity last week, we're not taking them for granted. What you've seen on the stand so far have been our early varieties. Yellow Taxi and pink Jet Star have added some color to those reds, but the purple and black and green and striped and wine colored heirlooms in our main crop is what we're really keeping our fingers crossed for. As long as these hot dry days keep us moving pipe that just might not be too much to hope for.
As for other mid-summer crops, eggplant is starting to come on strong while peppers are just getting going. Aphids and consequent disease devastated a high percentage of our early cucurbit plantings, zucchini in particular. Through targeted use of Safer brand soap and consistent fertilizing, we seemed to have managed to diminish the aphid population and boost general plant nutrition. A few beds of summer squash actually managed to pull through and are suddenly green and full of squash right now. So while the exceptionally hot and dry days keep us busy getting water all over the farm, overall our summer crops are quite happy about them. That makes us happy.
For the Farm Staff,
Erinn
Office/Admin Staff:
Marla Rhodes, Development Assistant Debra Guttormsen, Administration and Bookkeeper Amanda Cather, Special Projects Coordinator Dede Dussault, Student Intern
Farm Staff:
Amy Cook, 1st year Assistant Grower
Dan Roberts, 2nd year Assistant Grower
Weed Crew:
Kenny Darling, Ruby Geballe, Jeremy Gillick, Caitlin Watson
Field Crew:
Darin Faber, Brad Leatherbee, Marcy Taubes, Becky Tisbert
Ruby Geballe, Outreach Market Intern
Education Staff
Alex Lennon-Simon, Learning Garden Educator
Paula Jordan, Learning Garden Educator
Rebekah Carter, Learning Garden Intern |
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