CSA Week 13 and Farm Stand updates

The winter squash harvest is well on it’s way! We have cleaned and rearranged in the barn to make room for the red kuri, buttercup, buttercup, pumpkins, and spaghetti squash we have brought in over the past couple of weeks. While the spaghetti squash is being distributed now, the others will need time to cure before they are ready for eating this fall. It will take some creative maneuvers to fit in the rest of the incoming harvest of delicata, honeyboat, gourds, and acorn squash. We hope to get these in this week as we are working hard to clear areas of field for the planting of oat and pea cover crops. Around mid September we switch to seeding the hardier winter rye as a cover crop. While it doesn’t fix nitrogen like the peas, it can put on more growth in the fall despite the cooler temperatures to ensure the soil is protected over the winter. While we will need to wait to enjoy some of these squash that are crowd favorites, the wait is now over for the garlic crop! The garlic has finished curing and we will begin to give it out in the CSA this week and will also have it available for sale in the farm stand. Yum!

The fall crops are beginning to arrive but that doesn’t mean the CSA is almost over! We are in week 13 of the CSA. Main Season members pick up for 20 weeks, the last day of the Main Season CSA is October 26th. Extended Season CSA members pick up for 24 weeks so the last day of the Extended Season CSA is November 23rd. Flex CSA members have 20 weeks of pick-ups over the course of 24 weeks so Flex CSA members may pick-up until November 23rd unless you have used all of your 20 pick-ups before then. If you are a Flex member, feel free to ask Molly in the farm stand to find out how many pick-ups you have used so far this season. You may also email Melissa.

While every week in the farm stand feels like a celebration of local food, we hope you’ll also join us and the other farms of Concord for the annual Ag Day farmers’ market event on Main St. in Concord Center Saturday, September 14th from 10am-2pm. We will be open as usual at the farm for the CSA and farm store Saturday 9am-3pm but we’d also love to see you join in the excitement on Main Street! In addition to farms selling all Concord-grown products, there will be music, kids activities, informational tables, and tickets available for the Concord Garden Club’s annual Kitchen Garden Tours, which take place 1pm-4pm that same day. Bring your friends and stop by our tent to say hi!

This week in the CSA:

• Garlic- The garlic has been cured so it can be kept outside the fridge in a cool dark place.

• Salanova lettuce mix - Now that the cooler weather has returned salanova is back in the CSA and farm store.

• Tendersweet cabbage

• Blacktail Mountain Watermelon - This heirloom variety of watermelon is super sweet and tasty! We pick them ripe so all are ready for eating.

• Sweet Italian and bell colored peppers - The elongated red Carmen peppers look like they might be hot but are actually the sweetest of our peppers!

• Spaghetti squash

• Tomatoes

• Green bells and purple “Islander” peppers

• Eggplant

• Fresh Onions - Keep these in the refrigerator, the cured onions for longer storage (outside the refrigerator) are coming later in the fall!

• Cucumbers

• Carrots

• Kale

• Yukina Savoy or arugula

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-your-own:

• Green and yellow beans - A new planting ready for picking! We have some green and a bed of yellow just for fun.

• Tomatillos - Tomatillos should be picked when the fruit has filled out so much that the husk has split, they can be green or purple.

• Husk cherries - Husk cherries should be picked when the husk is brown and papery. To eat, remove the husk - the berry inside will be yellow. Husk cherries usually fall on the ground when they ripen, hence why they are sometimes called “ground cherries”!

• Cherry tomatoes - The sungolds are on their way out but other varieties are still plentiful!

• Hot peppers - Jalapeños (green), fresno (red) and ancho poblanos (green, about 4” long).

• Herbs: parsley, dill, cilantro, Italian basil, Thai basil, chives, peppermint, spearmint, thyme, oregano, tarragon and sage. For Italian basil, please pinch the tops only so that the plants will branch and grow bigger.
  

  CSA Hours:

Tuesday and Thursday 11am-6pm

Saturday 9am-3pm

PYO Flowers

We’ll have snapdragons, bachelor’s buttons, calendula, orlaya, gomphrena, cosmos, strawflower, statice, star flower, verbena, rudbeckia, scabiosa, celosia, decorative basil, sunflowers (in the flower field this week), zinnias, and more. Picking is open to PYO Flower CSA members as well as to the public for purchase by the bouquet (we provide the a jar for measuring your bouquet size and you fill it with the flowers you’d like to take home!).

This week in the farm stand:

We will have all of the veggies listed in the CSA available in the farm store as well as radishes, broccoli, toscano kale, summer squash and bunches of Swiss chard. We are also excited to now have lemongrass from our high tunnel! This was an experimental project this year and one that we think we will repeat next year! Lemongrass generally grows in more tropical climates, but it has done well in our high tunnel. It is great in teas, sauces and stir fries. We will also have sweet corn from Verrill Farm, eggs from Pete and Jen’s Backyard Birds, mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and the first raspberries of the season from Silferleaf Farm, an organic raspberry farm just down the road from us on Strawberry Hill Road. We may not be able to have them every day in the farm stand, so take advantage when we have them!

Lemongrass!

Roasted spaghetti squash with mushrooms, garlic & sage

by Feasting At Home

Ingredients

• 1 small spaghetti squash (about 2 lbs)

• 1 Tablespoon butter (optional, or just use olive oil)

• 2 Tablespoon olive oil

• ½ an onion, chopped

• 12– 16 ounces sliced mushrooms – cremini, shiitake or chanterelles

• 4–6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 3 Tablespoons fresh torn sage

• salt and pepper to taste

• generous pinch nutmeg

• ¼ cup grated Romano cheese (or Parmesan) OPTIONAL

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F

2. Cut spaghetti squash in half (either way) and place open side down on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake 40 minutes-50 minutes – or microwave for 12 minutes.

3. While squash is baking, heat oil and butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Sauté onions until just tender about 2-3 minutes. Add mushrooms , turn heat to medium and saute until they begin to release their liquid,about 5-7 minutes. Add garlic and sage and continue cooking until mushrooms brown, about 4 minutes. Season generously with salt and pepper and nutmeg.

4. Check squash, by piercing with the tip of a sharp knife to see if it’s done.

5. When tender, take out of the oven, turn over and let it cool slightly until cool enough to handle, then scoop out seeds. Scoop out the spaghetti squash into the saute pan with the mushrooms and stir to incorporate. Taste for salt, and add more if necessary. Stir in most of grated cheese, saving some for garnish. Place in a serving bowl, top with remaining cheese.