| Upcoming Programs/Events | |
Please join us...
Family Programs
for ages 0-4 and their caregivers.
FARM CRITTERS
Friday, August 20
9:30-11am
$10/child plus $2 for each additional child.
-----------
-----------
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!
-----------
|
| 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.
|
Compost at the farm
|
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 |
|
Summer CSA Distribution Days
Tuesdays 3-7 PM
Thursdays 3-7 PM
Saturdays 8 AM-12 noon |
|
|
CSA Renewal Update & New Wait List Notice
Dear Shareholders,
After years of the CSA being somewhat of a free-for-all for sign ups, we moved to a renewal process last year allowing current shareholders to renew their shares in the fall. We will again be doing a renewal process in October, but it will work a little differently than last year. This year's renewal process will allow for each of our 350 shares to be renewed. The option for renewal will largely rest with the primary shareholder. If the primary shareholder currently splits their share with one or more households (secondary shareholders), and doesn't want to renew the share under their name, a secondary shareholder will have the option to step in and become the primary shareholder for that share in 2011. Any shares not renewed by current shareholders will then be made available to organizational members on our Wait List.
The Wait List is in its beginning stages of formation and we want to make sure secondary shareholders have the opportunity to get on it from the beginning, if they would like to become primary shareholders for their own share. Hence, all secondary shareholders will soon be receiving an email invitation with a one-question yes/no survey. There is no harm on getting on the Wait List and establishing a numbered spot in line for yourself while also remaining a secondary shareholder until your number comes up.
To clarify, the only way a secondary shareholder will be able to become a primary shareholder from this year forward is to have their current primary shareholder drop out during the season or at renewal time or to have their number come up on the Wait List.
Secondary shareholders, please keep an eye out for the email about this which will come soon and provide more specific details about why and how we are creating the list. |
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
- Eggplant
- Okra
- Peppers
- Carrots
- Lettuce
- Corn (from Verrill Farm)
- Potatoes
- Cucumbers
- Summer Squash
- Zucchini
| |
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
Cherry Tomatoes
Tomatillos
Husk Cherries
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! |
|
Andy's "Cole Slaw"
Shareholder Andy writes "This is actually more of a salad than a coleslaw, but it shares some "slaw-like" characteristics so I call it that. But it's best fresh, as opposed to many slaws which want to sit and marinate for a bit."
Napa cabbage, top half of one
Carrots, good-sized handful
Fennel, 1-2 (depends how how big they are)
Sesame Oil, a few teaspoon or two
Another Oil, a few tablespoons
Rice wine vinegar, same
Apple vinegar, same
Salt, pepper
Start by taking your cabbage, I prefer napa, and slicing it into thin strips. This is most easily done by just running a knife through the cabbage at 1/4 inch intervals. The carrots get turned into match-sticks. Do this by first cleaning (or peeling if you're that sort of person) the carrots then slicing them in half so you can more easily work with them length-wise. Then take the carrots and cut them into planks, as thinly as you can. Each "plank" then gets cut into a "match-stick". (Basically, julienne them)
The fennel gets very thinly sliced, across the grain. This should result in thin strips of fennel.
Mix the fennel, cabbage, and carrots together. Next we make the dressing.
In a good sized bowl combine apple and rice-wine vinegar, then mix in about an equal amount of a fairly flavorless oil. To this add a teaspoon or so of sesame oil. (If you go with just sesame oil the flavor gets a little overpowering, but if that's your thing then go for it.) Grind in a generous amount of pepper, and sprinkle in a pinch of salt. Then whisk vigorously. You should get an emulsion going fairly easily.
Pour the dressing over the combined cabbage, fennel, and carrots and toss until you've mixed and coated each of the three main ingredients. If you like it cold, chill your salad, or have it right then and there. If you want it to keep a little longer use a different cabbage than the napa. (I prefer the napa for the lightness of it, but the upper portion of the napa will wilt overnight so for storage you might want a more robust cabbage.)
|
|
Notes from the Field
Similar to last week, we have not had any meaningful rainfall in quite some time so we are continuing to move irrigation. The dryness manifests itself in different ways around the farm. Wilting plants or brown grass are obvious signs, but this week we've noticed something a little different. Ripening cantaloupe and watermelons are being damaged but the cause is not what you might think. We're pretty sure that coyotes are eating melons as a way to get at the moisture inside! We've also noticed a handful of times this season that coyotes have chewed up drip lines trying to get at the water. Maybe this week we'll put out a few dog bowls for them to drink from so they'll leave our melons alone!
 Harvests continue to take up most of our time these days. And what a week of harvesting it was... 3144 lbs of tomatoes. Yup, that's right, we picked more than 1 1/2 tons of tomatoes last week! I'll admit that I had to eat my words a couple times this week. I mentioned to Dan a few weeks ago that I doubted we would ever see a 1,000 pound tomato harvest. Well, I was wrong, as we picked tomatoes seemingly all week long!
Coming back to the farm after being away for a week, I was amazed to see the first two generations of cucumbers and summer squash were continuing to produce. A few weeks ago in the notes from the field I said, "Undoubtedly, we will see a gap in squash and zucchini at the distribution over the following week or two as our next planting is not
ready for picking yet." Well, it seems the pest controls and plant nutrition we used on the cukes and squash did the trick. Thankfully the next generation of each is just getting going and the plants all look great. You know, sometimes it's not the worst thing to be wrong...
For the Farm Staff,
Andy
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 |
|
|
|
|
