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CSA PICKUP DATES AND TIMES
COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE PICK UP DAYS
Wednesday, July 26th, 2-6:30pm
Thursday, July 27th, 2-6:30pm
Saturday, July 29th, 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):
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Strawberries plants flowering. We hope for PYO strawberries next season.
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Beets
Carrots
Green cabbage
Napa cabbage
Collards
Kale
Lettuce
Fresh eating onions
Potatoes
Scallions
Summer squash
Salad turnips
Zucchini
Dandelion greens
Pick Your Own (PYO):
SPRING RECIPES
We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including many different suggestions for potatoes! Click here to check them out! |
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LAST WEDNESDAY PICNIC SUPPER
WHEN: Wednesday (tomorrow), July 26th, 5-7pm
WHERE: At the Farm!
WHAT: BYOBlanket and picnic supper and enjoy our farm, fields and music by keyboardist Isabel Savine! Free ~ all are welcome.
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NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Week Eight: Don't Call it a Comeback. Or do.
by Erinn Roberts
For all intents and purposes, my farming season is just starting. I left for maternity leave in mid-April, late enough to see our pea crop into the ground but too early for our first big spring plantings. I missed the seedling sales, the training of new crew and all of the early season crises of pulling equipment out for the first time and finding out what needed unanticipated repairs. These things are all in the rear view for the rest of the staff that was here and the farm is close to being done for the year with the major transplanting pushes and greenhouse seeding. All the while, I was enjoying an amazing 3 months with our daughter Willa, who was born when the magnolias were blooming.
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New potatoes.
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Soon, we'll just have rounds of lettuce and greens to get in the ground and open beds to cover crop in preparation for next year. I feel so fortunate to be returning to a farm that's looking beautiful and productive with people who are happy and motivated to be here. Anna took the reins in my stead and I couldn't be more impressed. She guided old timers like Naomi and Janelle in the early season and welcomed a whole fleet of newcomers in late May and June with the weed and field crews. It was a learning curve that she took in stride and shot out of well before the end of my leave. I was talking with Tim, our steadfast tractor operator/jack of all trades, earlier today about how much of farming is about making countless decisions each day, and how the important thing is to actually make the decision; whether or not it's the right one is where the learning opportunity lies. You're never going to have a full day of right decisions, and you've got to roll with knowing that, remember what went wrong and why and move on. All of that in the midst of the impossibly long to-do list makes for a very stressful occupation. Thank you, Anna, for taking it all on with an open and eager disposition and one of the strongest work ethics out there.
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The festive garlic harvest began last week.
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The other reasons I could fully immerse myself in my time with Willa are named Dan, Naomi, Janelle and Tim. The farm wouldn't be where it is right now without these 4 and their unparalleled commitment to this place and organization. After 10 years, Dan holds a wealth of institutional knowledge, that, along with his unique combination of keen intuition and deductive rationalism, makes him the go-to guy for troubleshooting or answering the "why/how/when do we do this?" questions that undoubtedly come up. At the risk of sounding overly biased, seeing as I'm lucky enough to be married to him, Dan's perspective on the farm is invaluable and one that I utterly rely on. Naomi managed the greenhouses with a level of organization that the Virgo in me just loves and she knocked it out of the park with our annual May seedling sales. She too has been a part of the farm in some capacity for about a decade, and over that time has developed into an astute and thoughtful farmer who gets the job done. Those of you who have flower shares can thank Janelle for how absolutely beautiful that planting looks this year. She took that on 100%, and her attention to detail, her strong sense of what a job done right looks like, and generally fantastic aesthetic sensibilities shine here. She has also been managing the weed crew, and is expertly implementing all of the best practices that one plans for but are so difficult to execute in the urgency of the season. Tim joined us again this year as a pinch hitter tractor driver since I'd be out of the game. He's got the mind and vision of an engineer and has been farming long enough to problem-solve and think creatively on his toes. With an easy going and competent manner, he can hop onto any tractor and get done exactly what's needed. (Some of you may have seen him in the fields on his bicycle cultivator as well.) I am indebted to all of these people, plus a strong field and weed crew, for making my maternity leave one that I could fully immerse myself in and enjoy.
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Garlic placed in the greenhouse to cure.
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As for me, Dan and I are learning how to be working parents and farmers with a baby. The typical ten to twelve hour days we were used to are less possible now, but I'm appreciative of having the flexibility of bringing Willa in with me for a few hours each day. You may catch her on the farm if you come by for early morning pick-your-own or for a bit of time in the late afternoon.
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Irrigating was a must during last week's hot weather.
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If you're wondering what happened on the farm this past week, look to your share. While we were catching up on some big transplant projects (broccoli, cauliflower, fall lettuce, fall fennel...), we were also starting some of our bulk and summer crop harvests, which are among my favorites. First, new potatoes were in the share last week and spuds will continue to be over the course of the next few weeks. Fresh eating onions are coming on, with the beautiful Ailsa Craig variety on deck once we make our way through the pearl onions. Eggplants are just starting to ripen, and the long slender purple fruits will be the first variety to show up in the share. And tomatoes, those juicy gems of the summer, are on the horizon; the cherry tomato crop will be the first to ripen and you should start seeing them on the PYO list in the next couple weeks. Perhaps most notable, though, is the garlic, which is always such a fun way to spend an afternoon. The crop is looking decent, and we should have some fresh garlic in the share soon. It's a bountiful time of year to be returning to the farm and I feel invigorated to be back. The challenges are familiar, but I'm so grateful to have a strong group of co-workers I can call friends to tackle them with. And a smiley, wonderful Willa to greet me when I get home. Enjoy the harvest, Erinn, for the farm crew
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WHAT'S IN THE BARN
New look, same great product! Finger Lakes grown, brined and roasted pumpkin seeds (aka pepitas) are a crunchy seed snack loaded with nutrients like Vitamin E, zinc, copper, manganese, magnesium, omega 3 and omega 9 oils, lutein and beta carotene. Seeds are dry roasted at low temperatures to preserve the delicate omega-3 fats and optimum flavor. Eat right out of the bag or sprinkle over your yogurt, add to granola, or on soups and salads like wheat-free croutons.
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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2 tablespoons unsalted butter
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2 tablespoons olive oil
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1 cup day-old bread, torn into ¾-inch pieces
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Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
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1 tablespoon Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
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1 tablespoon (or more) fresh lemon juice
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1 large bunch dandelion greens, trimmed, leaves torn into 2-inch pieces
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5 Medjool dates, pitted, torn into pieces
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2 ounces mild dry blue cheese
Preparation
1. Cook butter in a medium skillet over medium heat until it foams, then browns and starts to smell nutty, about 4 minutes. Add oil and swirl to combine. Place 2 Tbsp. brown butter in a salad bowl; set aside.
2. Add bread to skillet, season with salt and pepper, and toss to coat. Cook bread, tossing occasionally, until golden brown and crunchy, about 5 minutes (croutons will crisp more as they cool). Set aside.
3. Whisk vinegar and lemon juice into reserved browned butter; season dressing with salt and pepper. Add dandelion greens and dates and toss to coat. Taste and season with salt, pepper, and more lemon juice, if desired. Add croutons and blue cheese and gently toss to coat.
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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
Tractor Operator: Tim Cooke
Field Crew: Zoe Flavin, Ebony Nava, Ivory Nava, Allison Ostrowski, Bekah Waller
Weed Crew: Luna Goddard, Zane MacFarlane, Cristin Sloan, Clare Stephens
Distribution & Outreach Assistant: Owen Weitzman
Learning Garden Educators: Autumn Cutting, Annie Fortnow, Jack Leng, Zack Lennon-Simon, Lauren McDermott
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