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Waltham Fields Community Farm
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CSA NEWSLETTER 2015 - Week 2 of 20
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CSA PICKUP DATES AND TIMES
COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE PICK UP DAYS
Wednesday, June 10-Oct. 21, 2:00-6:30PM
Thursday, June 11-Oct. 22, 2:00-6:30PM
Saturday, June 13-Oct. 24, 9AM-2PM
Any shareholder is welcome to pick up on any of the above days! You don't have to let us know when you're coming. Feel free to switch back and forth from week to week if that works best for you, or choose a day and stick to it for most of the season. We'll be happy to see you whatever day you come to the farm.
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 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): Napa cabbage Lettuce Collards Garlic scapes Green garlic OR Scallions Swiss chard OR Kale Rhubarb Kohlrabi
Farmer's Choice chicory: Escarole or curly Frisee
Spinach
Pick Your Own (PYO): Snow peas Snap peas Perennial herbs & flowers
SPRING RECIPES We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including six different suggestions for kohlrabi! Click here to check them out! |
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OPERATION CROP MOB
Our first of two Crop Mobs is this Saturday, June 20th, 9am-12pm.
WHAT: Bring friends and family as we mob the fields and tackle the weeds! Complimentary refreshments for those who stay til noon.
WHERE TO MEET: Meet at the Volunteer Shelter (near the Waltham Fields Bulletin Board and Container Garden - toward the backside of the brick UMass building).
BRING: A bottle of water, a hat to block the sun, sunscreen, shoes or boots with hard soles are best, gloves if you prefer them, and dress in layers and bring rain gear if there is a chance of rain. Check the weather before you come to the farm to work so you can dress accordingly and click here for more information on volunteering at the farm.
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NOTES FROM THE LEARNING GARDEN
Hello Share  holders!
Welcome to the 2015 season at Waltham Fields! For those of you returning, you may have seen me with Youth Crew helping with distribution in the barn last summer, working in the Learning Garden, or out by the chickens. For all the new folks, I'm looking forward to having you get involved with our education programs, to accompany your CSA experience (you get a discount on registration for all of our youth classes and adult workshops, and there are free events as well). As Education and Outreach Coordinator, I'm excited about all of our upcoming programs, events and classes we have to offer this season.
While you are picking up your CSA shares this season, feel free to visit the chickens, just beyond the Learning Garden. Our chickens are a mix between Rhode Island Reds and Rhode Island Whites and are about seven months old. Their eggs are used to make delicious farm-fresh snacks. Visitors are welcome to feed them grass through the fence, the chickens love it!
We have just finished the spring season of classes in the Learning Garden, where Little Sprouts (ages 2-4) to Garden Explorers (ages 7-10) planted seeds, cooked healthy farm-fresh snacks and cared for our chickens, and now we are eager to start our summer programs. Children in our Learning Garden classes are exposed to the daily work of our farm and engage in a range of activities focusing on vegetable production, sustainability, cooperation, and problem solving- as well as preparing healthy farm-fresh recipes in our solar kitchen. There are still spots open in some of our summer Learning Garden programs for Garden Explorers (grades K-4), Farmer for a Week (grades 5-8) and Farm Corps: 4H at Waltham Fields (grades 8-12). Sign your young farmer up today!
Finally, don't forget to check out our upcoming farm events, including:
* Vegetable Fermentation 101 Thursday June 25th 5:30-7:00pm
Just a few spots left in this hands-on fermentation workshop, co-presented by Boston Ferments!
* Farm Tour and Pizza Night Thursday July 9th 6-8pm
Join us for a summer evening on the farm. Bring your own picnic dinner or order pizza from the Posto mobile pizza oven. Free tour starts at 7pm.
* Farm Tour and Movie Night Thursday July 13th 6-10pm
Join us for a summer evening on the farm. Free tour starts at 7pm. Family-friendly movie starts at 8pm.
* And, of course, save the date for Farm Day, our free farm event on September 26th, from 2-5pm
See you around the farm this season!
Alex Lennon-Simon
Education & Outreach Coordinator
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WHAT'S IN THE BARN
Stillman Quality Meats - Hardwick, MA
Stillman Quality Meats is a family farm dedicated to producing premium grass-fed and pasture raised meats and poultry. Their meats are better tasting and more nutritious than most of what you can find in the grocery store, as local and sustainable practices are used, animals are humanely raised and slaughtered, and animals are fed all natural diets. Chickens are cage-free, raised on pasture, never fed or treated with anitbiotics, are fed an all natural diet, and never have their beaks trimmed or wings clipped. By supporting Stillman Quality meats, you are supporting a sustainable environment as well as supporting a healthy you. WFCF is currently carrying whole chickens at $25 each, boneless/skinless breasts at $11.99/pound, and bone-in thighs at $10.99/pound.
Want More Rhubarb? 
Fill out this form
to pre-order organic, antique rhubarb from Silvermine Farm in Sutton, MA to pay for and pick up the third week of the CSA (Wednesday June 24th, Thursday June 25th, or Saturday June 27th).
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)
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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.
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IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
What's in the Share
Each week, we'll send out a CSA newsletter on Tuesday letting you know our best guess for what will be in share, for the items we're harvesting for you as well as for pick-your-own crops. All shareholders need to check in with us in the Distribution Barn before picking up their share.
Our first shares will start out smaller and grow with the season. Choice will be more limited in these earlier weeks but we'll start to see more bounty roll in later in the month. We'll send out your first official CSA newsletter next Tuesday with a crop list and more information for you, so watch your email inbox!
If it's your first time picking up a CSA share with WFCF, we strongly encourage you to join us for one of the orientation tours listed in the section above. If you can't make it to any of the three dates/times, let us know when you check in and we'll help guide you through your first pick up. Also, please feel free to ask us questions anytime. We're here to help you!
Bring Your Own Bags or a Box
Please remember to bring your own bags or a box to the farm to pick up your CSA share! We strongly encourage the use of reusable bags/boxes for all vegetables on the farm. If you forget your bags or want some really great ones, we have reusable Waltham Fields Tote Bags for sale in the barn for $4, with proceeds supporting our food assistance and education programs.
Pick-Your-Own Crops
All shareholders are welcome to pick-your-own anytime during daylight hours, and you don't have to do your pick-your-own when you pick up the rest of your share. Like last year, each PYO crop will have a number assigned to it. We'll have a sheet of paper available each week with a map and a list of crops that are available to harvest on it, along with the amount allowed and harvest tips. Then just look for the corresponding number in the field to pick your own! PYO sheets will be available when you pick up as well as during non-pickup hours at the PYO kiosk on the south side of the Distribution Barn. Please respect the quantity limits so that there is enough for everyone!
For flowers, our vegetable shareholders will be able to pick some of the flowering plants in the perennial gardens and there will be two weeks during the 20-week season when shareholder are given access to our annual flowers for picking. If you're a flower lover though and haven't purchased a flower share yet, we still have some left. Flower shares offer 10 weeks of picking two bouquets per week for $100 (just $10/week for a bounty of food for the soul)! Click here to learn more about flower share purchase. If You Need to Miss a Pick Up If you can't pick up a share one week, we are not able to allow you to double up on another week. But you can send friends or neighbors to get your veggies on any week you can't make it yourself. Have them check in under the last name of the primary shareholder for your share. You don't need to let us know they're coming. They will just check in under your name at the CSA barn. If no one picks up your share, the veggies will be included with our weekly donations to hunger relief organizations.
Balances Due
All fees were due by June 1st, including share balances and maintaining current membership with our nonprofit organization. If you're not sure if you still owe money for your CSA share or membership, check your email for a notice from our Bookkeeper and Office Coordinator, Rebekah Lea. Please get your outstanding balance payments to us in advance of or at the second pick up this week. Credit card payments are no longer accepted for share payments. Please send in or drop off your check made out to WFCF.
For Those Splitting a Share If you are splitting a share, please remember that you need to pick up the whole share at one time each week. It is NOT acceptable for one partner to come at one time and pick up half of the share and another to get the other half later. You'll need to coordinate with your share partner to figure out how to divide the share up, either by taking alternate weeks, meeting up at the farm to pick up the share together, etc.
Dogs on the Farm
Dogs are welcome on the farm but are not allowed in the CSA barn or in the vegetable fields per health department regulations. Dogs must be leashed and owners must clean up after them.
Share Pick Up Questions
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Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff
Year-Round Staff:
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, Evan Rees
Weed Crew: Anna Blaustein, Leo Martinez, Gina Masciovecchio, Annie Nguyen
Learning Garden Educators: Sadie Brown, Autumn Cutting, Alannah Glickman
4H Club Leader: Kimi Ceridon
Summer Interns: Cassandra Baker, Alisa Feinswog, Ali Rabideau, Jesse Simmons
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