CSA Week 19 and Farm Stand Updates

Well, we have officially had two frosts on the farm and it looks like we’ll get a third one Tuesday morning! Fortunately, it they were light and well predicted frosts, so we were able to clear fruit off of the pepper plants in the field beforehand (it’s a few degrees warmer inside our high tunnels, so the protected pepper plants are still fine). Light frosts can kill off tomatoes, eggplant, beans, basil and flowers, but almost everything else still growing on the farm can tolerate a light frost. Some things like sweet potatoes and broccoli are even said to get sweeter after a light frost! We have some crops that we have not even begun to harvest like Brussels sprouts, rutabaga, and storage cabbage that are meant to be grown into late October, so will do just fine as long as we don’t have a hard freeze. We will start to harvest some of these late fall crops next week for the last week of the Main Season CSA and will continue into the Extended Season.

There is just one more week of the Main Season CSA after this week for a total of 20 weeks. If you aren’t sure what membership you have check with the shopkeeper when you pick up! The Flex and Extended Season CSAs continue until November 19th, however CSA pick-up days change to Thursdays and Saturdays only after October 22nd (there are no Tuesday pick-ups starting the week of October 25th). The last day of the Farm Store for the season is Saturday, October 29th. Barrett’s Bucks expire on October 29th.

In the CSA this week:

• Sweet potatoes! The first beds we harvested have been cured in the greenhouse and are ready to eat! They will store best at room temperature in a dry, dark space.

• Scallions- We saved some scallions in the field to pair with sweet potatoes this week - see the recipe below!

• Garlic

• Salanova Lettuce Mix

• Broccoli

• Potatoes - The variety is called King Harry and it has yellow skin and white flesh.

• Fennel

• Peppers - We cleared the plants out in the field on Saturday before the frost, so we have green and purple peppers this week. We will likely run through those peppers this week, but we may have limited amounts of high tunnel peppers in the future.

• Butternut squash

• Beets

• Arugula

• Savoy cabbage

• Mustard Greens

• Radishes - White and purple mini daikon varieties

Pick-Your-Own:

There may be a few cherry tomatoes and hot peppers early in the week if they survive tonight’s frost (they do seem to still be standing after frosts this weekend!) . We don’t anticipate them lasting all week.

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA we will have high tunnel tomatoes, acorn and delicata squash, lettuce, eggplant, carrots, corn stalks, and dried flowers in the farm store this week. We will also have Jack-o’-Lanterns from Verrill Farm, eggs from Codman Farm, Double B Honey from hives here on the property, mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm, raspberry jam and vinegar from Silferleaf Farm in Concord, and certified organic cranberries from Fresh Meadows Farm in Carver, MA.

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. The Farm Store will be open until Saturday, October 29th, 2022. 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.

Pick-Your-Own Flower CSA:

The PYO Flower CSA is finished for the season as the last plants were done in by the recent frosts.

Fall Mushroom CSA

It is the fifth week of the 10-week Fall Mushroom CSA. The variety this week’s bags are a mix of king trumpet and blue oyster! For more information about each variety Fat Moon Farm grows, check out the “Types We Grow” page of their website: https://fatmoonmushrooms.com/pages/types-we-grow! Pick-up for the Fall mushroom CSA is any time the farm store is open, Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm.

Sweet potato cakes

Adapted from Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi

• 2 ¼ lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks

• 2 tsp soy sauce

• ¾ cup flour

• 1 tsp salt

• ½ tsp sugar

• 3 tbsp scallion, chopped

• ½ tsp fresh chilli, finely chopped

• Lots of butter, for frying

For the sauce:

• 3 tbsp Greek yogurt

• 3 tbsp sour cream

• 2 tbsp olive oil

• 1 tbsp lemon juice

• Salt and pepper

• 1 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped

Steam the sweet potato until soft, then drain in a colander for up to an hour. Meanwhile, whisk the sauce ingredients until smooth and set aside. In a mixing bowl, work all the fritter ingredients by hand - it should be sticky, so if it's a little runny, add some flour. Melt some butter in a nonstick pan. Use a tablespoon to put mix in the frying pan and flatten slightly with the back of the spoon. and fry on moderate heat until you get a nice, brown crust, turning as necessary - about six minutes. Place between two sheets of paper towels to soak up the excess butter. Serve hot or warm, with the sauce on the side.

Sweet Potato Cranberry Casserole

from Aberdeen’s Kitchen, November 20th, 2020

Ingredients

For the casserole:

• 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch pieces

• 1 large Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced

• ½ cup fresh cranberries

• ½ cup pecans, roughly chopped

• 1 tablespoon orange zest

• ¼ cup orange juice

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ½ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• ½ teaspoon coarse salt

For the Topping

• 1 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• ¼ cup brown sugar

• 2 tablespoons orange juice

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg

• ⅛ teaspoon ground ginger

• ¼ cup pecans, roughly chopped

• ¼ cup pomegranate arils

• Fresh thyme leaves, for garnish

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease or butter a 9X13 casserole dish.

2. Combine all the ingredients for the casserole in a large bowl until thoroughly mixed. Add to greased casserole dish in an even layer.

3. Whisk together all the ingredients for the topping (except the pomegranate seeds and thyme) in a small bowl until completely mixed. Drizzle evenly over the casserole.

4. Place in the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes, until sweet potatoes are easily pierced with a fork. If the top starts to get too browned, cover with a piece of foil and continue to cook until fork tender.

5. Remove to a wire rack and let cool for 5 minutes. Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and serve.