In the past week it feels like fall is finally making its presence known. Sunday we awoke at 6am to prepare for the Acton Farmers' Market only to find a surprise frost had nipped many of our crops. Forecasts had shown a low of 41, which seemed safe, but at 2:30am the National Weather Service issued a frost warning for low lying areas. Our favorite quote from the warning was "The frost should not be widespread enough to warrant any headlines!" It was widespread enough to finish off our green beans and most of our eggplant and peppers, but we scavenged what we could Sunday afternoon when we returned from the market. Don't worry - we should have plenty of eggplant and peppers to last us through this week, and on top of that we have a bounty of winter squash and brassicas to look forward to!
Another thing to look forward to is our Harvest Celebration this Saturday, October 3rd from 1pm to 4pm! We'll have the tractors out for everyone to check out and explore, lawn games, a tour of the main vegetable field at 2:30, a craft project in the greenhouse, a sculpture from our "Art and Ag" resident artist Kerri Schmidt, and hot cider to enjoy. If you'd like to volunteer to help with snacks or lawn games, email Lise at lise@barrettsmillfarm.com.
In the CSA this week:
- Pie pumpkins - These pumpkins are much smaller than jack-o-lanterns, but they are the perfect size for making pie or soup!
- Buttercup squash - This is another tasty squash with edible skin. It has a very creamy texture and sweet flavor.
- Spinach - The heat and drought made growing spinach difficult this season, but we have a nice crop for this week.
- Salanova Lettuce - The hot dry summer was also hard on this cut lettucemix, but we planted a lot of it, so hopefully there will be even more to enjoy throughout the fall
- Mustard greens - we haven't had these in the CSA since the start of the season, but we decided to do a large fall planting so we could offer these spicy greens to members once more.
- Peter Wilcox potatoes - These purple skinned, gold fleshed potatoes have excellent flavor and store well. They also surprisingly have high levels of vitamin C!
- Nicola potatoes
- Hubba Hubba squash
- Colored Peppers
- Eggplant
- Garlic
- Scallions
- Carrots
- Beets
- Cabbage
- Kale
- Chard
- Lettuce
CSA PYO:
All PYO crops were damaged by the frost, but many of them still managed to survive. Green Beans are done, but we still have:
- Cherry tomatoes
- Husk Cherries - careful picking is required, as many fruit got damaged. If you're willing to spend a little extra time, though, you should be able to find good ones.
- Hot peppers - the plants are mostly dead, but at least on Monday many of the peppers seemed salvageable.
- Tomatillos - a small amount are left.
- Parsley and sage
In the store:
In addition to the crops listed above, we'll have Delicata squash, arugula, tat soi, escarole, leeks and jack-o-lanterns from Kenney Farm in Concord!
Mrs. Sigg's Fresh Pumpkin Pie
by Beth Sigworth from allrecipes.com
- 1 sugar pumpkin
- 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch single crust pie
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 2 1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
- 1 (12 fluid ounce) can evaporated milk
- Cut pumpkin in half and remove seeds. Place cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with lightly oiled aluminum foil. Bake at 325 degrees F (165 degrees C) for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the flesh is tender when poked with a fork. Cool until just warm. Scrape the pumpkin flesh from the peel. Either mash, or puree in small batches in a blender. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C.)
- In a large bowl, slightly beat eggs. Add brown sugar, flour, salt, 2 cups of the pumpkin puree, pumpkin pie spice, and evaporated milk. Stir well after each addition.
- Pour mixture into the unbaked pastry shell. Place a strip of aluminum foil around the edge of the crust to prevent over browning.
- Bake 10 minutes at 450 degrees F (230 degrees C), then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Bake an additional 40 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Remove the strip of foil about 20 minutes before the pie is done so that the edge of the crust will be a light golden brown. Cool pie, and refrigerate overnight for best flavor.