CSA Week 14, Farm Stand updates, and Ag Day this Saturday!

After a hiatus last year, the annual Ag Day Farmers’ Market is back! Come visit us in Concord Center on Saturday, September 11th, 10am - 2pm. If you’ve never been before, Concord Ag Day is a once a year farmers’ market celebrating local agriculture organized by the Concord Agriculture Committee to showcase Concord farms and local produce. We’ll have a booth with a more limited selection than our in our farm stand, but we do plan to have cherry tomatoes, salanova lettuce mix, carrots, kale, flowers and a few other items to be determined later this week. There will be seven other Concord Farms at the market, as well games, veggie car races and local non-profits will have tables at the event. While the event is outdoors, we ask that all individuals who are not fully vaccinated (including children under 12) wear a mask.

With school back in session, Saturdays have become a very busy CSA pick-up day, especially before lunch. If you’re able to come pick up your CSA earlier in the week (Tuesdays are especially quiet), we encourage you to do so to help spread out the traffic on the farm. Spreading out CSA traffic on Tuesday and Thursday would be especially helpful this week, as our staff will be split between the farm and Concord Center for Ag Day on Saturday!

In the CSA this week:

CSA pick up hours are Tues/Thurs 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Face masks are required under the CSA tent during the first hour of each day. Please note we do our best to predict what will be available each week, but conditions change and there may be slight variations in what’s available!

• Delicata squash - These small, sweet squash have edible skins. Our favorite way to prepare them is to cut in half length-wise, scoop out the seeds, then slice into 1/4” thick half moons to roast on a baking sheet.

• Spaghetti squash

• Scallions

• Garlic

• Tendersweet cabbage - This variety is very sweet for a cabbage, and has a softer texture than later storage varieties.

• Fennel

• Tomatoes

• Eggplant

• Carrots

• Beets

• Kale

• Lettuce

*We still have watermelon from our final harvest of the season last week. It is not enough to make it through the end of the week, but we will definitely have it available in the CSA Tuesday and hopefully Thursday as well.

CSA PYO:

Handwashing sinks are provided at the entrance to each PYO field. For the sake of food safety, please wash hands before picking. The barn bathroom and wash area sinks in the barn are for employees only (we do now have a green porta-potty restroom by the tree behind the red barn for customer use with a portable handwashing sink just beside it).

*Please note that we close down the PYO fields for lightning storms.

• Green Beans

• Sunflowers

• Cherry tomatoes

• Tomatillos or husk cherries

• Shishito peppers

• Hot peppers - jalapeño, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax, fresno and aji rico varieties are all producing. Signs in the field indicate what to look for in terms of ripeness, as well as how spicy varieties are.

• Herbs- parsley, cilantro, basil, sage, thyme, oregano
  

PYO Flower CSA:

Picking is available for Flower CSA members as well as to the public for purchase by the bouquet. We will offer picking until our first frost (sometimes as early as mid September). Picking is available any time the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Varieties blooming now include: zinnias, marigolds, statice, gomphrena, celosia, decorative basil, frosted explosion, cosmos, ageratum, rudbeckia, ammi, scabiosa and more! There is also a bed of many varieties of branching sunflowers blooming that you are welcome to use to fill your jars. Please pick stems above the first branching of all flowers to encourage future growth.

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA the farm store this week we will also have salanova, peppers and leeks. We will have mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm, sweet corn from Verrill Farm and honey from Double B. We are currently out of eggs from Codman Farm, but hope to have more soon.

We accept credit card, cash, check and EBT in the farm store. The farm store is open Tuesday - Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Masks are required during the first hour of each day and are encouraged the remainder of the day. Staff will continue to wear masks inside the farm stand all day. We are keeping a chalkboard list of items available outside the store and our Shopkeepers would be happy to shop for anyone who is uncomfortable entering the store. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday, Friday and Saturday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering opens at 6pm the day before pick-up.

Big Batch Chicken Thighs with Fennel and Scallions

By Kat Boytsova, from Bon Apetit, March 2019

This is intended to make enough for leftovers later in the week!

Ingredients

• 8 garlic cloves, finely grated

• 1½ tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

• 2 Tbsp. honey

• 5 Tbsp. grapeseed or vegetable oil, divided

• 8 skin-on, bone-in chicken thighs

• 2½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more

• 3 large fennel bulbs sliced into ¾"-thick wedges (reserve stems and fronds for another use)

• 8 scallions, trimmed

• 1 lemon, halved

• Toasted sesame oil (for drizzling)

Preparation

1. Place racks in upper third and middle of oven; preheat to 425°. Whisk garlic, red pepper flakes, honey, and 2 Tbsp. grapeseed oil in a large bowl. Season chicken thighs with 2½ tsp. salt and toss to coat in marinade. Arrange, skin side up, on a parchment-lined rimmed baking sheet; let sit at room temperature while you prepare the vegetables.

2. Toss fennel wedges and scallions with remaining 3 Tbsp. grapeseed oil on another rimmed baking sheet. Season with salt, then arrange in a single layer. Roast vegetables on top rack and chicken on middle rack, tossing vegetables halfway through, until vegetables are softened and chicken is browned and cooked through, 35–45 minutes.

3. Divide scallions, two-thirds of the fennel, and 4 chicken thighs between plates. Drizzle with sesame oil and squeeze a lemon half over. Transfer remaining chicken thighs along with any juices from baking sheet to an airtight container; let cool, then cover and chill. Place remaining fennel and lemon half in a separate airtight container; let cool, then cover and chill.

Do Ahead: Chicken and vegetables can be roasted 3 days ahead. Keep chilled.