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Waltham Fields Community Farm
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CSA NEWSLETTER 2016
Week 16 of 20
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FARM DAY!
This Saturday, September 24th
2-5pm
Tractor climbing, pick your own carrots for sale, games and demos for all ages, celebrating local agriculture and kicking off Massachusetts Harvest for Students Week.
Live music by Royer's One Man Band.
Produce & other items for sale in the barn.
This is a free event!
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Pick-Your-Own WILL BE CLOSED FROM 2-5PM FOR FARM DAY ACTIVITIES ON SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24
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CSA PICKUP DATES AND TIMES
COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE PICK UP DAYS
Wednesday, September 21-Oct. 19, 2:00-6:30PM
Thursday, September 22-Oct. 20, 2:00-6:30PM
Saturday, September 24-Oct. 22, 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)
kale
collards
chard
lettuce
beets
kohlrabi
okra
bell peppers
sweet peppers
potatoes
acorn winter squash
scallions
tomatoes
salad turnips or radishes
eggplant
Pick Your Own (PYO):
Plum tomatoes, beans, husk cherries, tomatillos & Perennial Herb & Flower Garden.
PYO WILL BE CLOSED 2-5PM ON FARM DAY,
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24th
RECIPES
We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including many different suggestions for beets ! Click here to check them out! |
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Week 16: Golden Hour
Janelle Plummer, Assistant Grower
This is hands down my favorite time of the year. Things have reached their fullest (okay, maybe not the tomatoes, those are looking a little tired) but the world seems golden. The mornings are noticeably cooler and time seems to move slower - the sun takes its time to stretch out over the Field Station and the dew on the crops lingers longer still. The moon this past week has been huge and beautiful. There's a serious joy for me in putting on a sweater in the morning. I bet you've heard that this is a fall farm, and I am a fall grower for sure. It's easy to marvel at the way September glows in New England light. Not quite fall, but not completely summer, just September.
As I write this, there are trays of slow roasted tomatoes cooling on my kitchen table and a freezer that is quickly filling up with vegetables freshly picked and put away for colder weather. There's not much that compares to reliving summertime harvests when we're deep in the winter. Eating locally allows us so many opportunities to connect to our food, our nourishment and sustenance, in deep and authentic ways. Families and ancestors before us have always put food up for the winter and when we share in that tradition, be it canning, freezing or fermenting, we keep alive a history as rich and bountiful as any harvest season.
It seems fitting that our fall crops are in the western fields - the sun rises in the east and sets in the west, same as the growing season. These are the plants that will stay in the field the longest, for some of the later, winter harvests. I've never seen cabbage or collards as large as these! In the past two weeks, I feel like I have seen the farm shift toward autumn. We continue on with our daily harvests, but the afternoons have seen more storage crops coming out of the fields. We harvested the last beds of storage onions this past week, quickly refilling the greenhouse that was just so recently emptied of seedlings. The crew drove pitchforks into the soil beneath sweet potato vines and began to unearth one of the more delicate crops we grow. Sweet potatoes always feel like a treat to harvest, and even more so to eat. Many different hands including the awesome Youth Crew and some dedicated volunteers have helped to get the garlic cleaned and cut. It seems to be one of everyone's favorite tasks, and is easy to get lost in. One afternoon midweek Anna and I did the last round of directly seeding into the soil. As she drove away with the tractor and I walked out of the field with arugula seed in hand, it felt almost monumental. Everything is in the ground! For now at least!
If you get the chance, take a peek into the high tunnel when you come to pick up your share this week. It's a true sign of transition into another season. And if you can, linger long enough to see the dusty evening light reflect off the frame. There's truly something special about September. Enjoy these golden hours of summer!
-Janelle, for the farm crew
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WHAT'S IN THE BARN
We usually have their plain capri, Ayrshire Farmer's, Hubbardston Blue & Fiery Fig in the barn cooler.
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 (22% of what we grow - which should amount to $80,000 of produce for low-income households this year).
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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Rainbow Swiss Chard with Apples and Pepitas
Serves 3
Ingredients 
- 1 bundle rainbow Swiss chard
- 2 Tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds), toasted
- 1 Tbsp cold pressed extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1/4 cup chopped apple of your choosing
- 2 tsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
- Wash and trim the Swiss chard, then place it in a pot of boiling water. Blanche it for few minutes, drain and set aside.
- Toast the pepitas in a small skillet over medium heat, shaking the pan often, until fragrant, tasty brown and plump, about 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the red onion and cook, stirring often until it begins to soften, 3 minutes. Stir in the chard and cook for about 4-5 minutes.
- Stir in the golden raisins and turn off the heat.
- Turn the greens onto a serving platter, sprinkle with lemon juice and the pepitas over the top and serve.
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IMPORTANT SHAREHOLDER INFORMATION
What's In The Share
Each Tuesday we'll send out a CSA newsletter letting you know our best guess for what will be in the share, for the items we're harvesting for you as well as for pick-your-own (PYO) crops. All shareholders need to check in with us in the Distribution Barn before picking up their share. Notice and respect the amounts indicated for the vegetables in the barn & in PYO and do not take the same vegetable twice unless otherwise advertised.
If it's your first time picking up a CSA share 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 & 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 PYO 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 sheets of paper available each week with a map and a list of crops that are available to harvest on it, along with where the crops are located and the amount allowed and harvest tips. PYO sheets will be available at all times at the PYO stand on the south side of the Distribution Barn. Please respect the quantity and limits so that there is enough for everyone!
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.
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 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: Janelle Plummer
Greenhouse Production Supervisor: Naomi Shea
Equipment Supervisor: Dan Roberts
Field Crew: Heidi Blake, Stacey Daley, Allison Ostrowski, Andre Tufenkian
Learning Garden Educators: Autumn Cutting, Alannah Glickman, Jack Leng
CSA Assistant: Danielle Barmash
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