While the cooler temps and modest amount of rain on Monday were a bit of a reprieve for us, it is still very dry in the fields. We are looking ahead to some more hot and dry weather for the remainder of the week, so continuing to set up irrigation on all of our fields will be a priority. We need to extend irrigation lines from our well to our one field east of the farmstead that contains all of our spring brassicas. Our weekly field walk on Monday revealed that the spring cabbage in that field had not matured at all since our last walk (based on our walk last week we had expected to be harvesting it this week!). Getting water onto those plants should be fairly smooth and should resolve that problem pretty quickly.
Less straightforward is getting irrigation to our fall crops (winter squash, brassicas, carrots and beets) across the street. Because of the distance from the well we would lose too much pressure to be able to effectively irrigate over there. We also simply wouldn’t have enough time in the week to irrigate all the fields that needed water, as we have a limited number of irrigation lines we can run at once. Therefore, we use a separate source for crops across the street - the Assabet River. This involves getting a pump, filter and intake line set up at the river, as well as threading an irrigation line under the road. Once we can get water over there, getting our drip lines hooked up and our overhead lines laid out is the same process as what we do with crops irrigated from our well. However, this set-up is time consuming and comes at a time when we are already extremely busy with weed control and harvesting (not to mention we still have more planting and seeding, as well as potato beetle control and trellising in the fields and high tunnels)! It feels like a critical week - if we aren’t able to keep up with irrigation and weed control we could see the effects later this summer. We are maintaining optimism, though - it’s been a strong start in terms of harvests, and we are determined to keep that streak going for the rest of the season!
In the CSA this week:
Summer squash - The summer squash and zucchini plants started cranking at the end of last week, so they will be featured heavily this week!
Zucchini
Cucumbers - More slicing cucumbers from the high tunnels, but hopefully soon we’ll have large enough quantities of pickling cukes for the CSA as well!
Carrots
Beets - This week we’ll be enjoying golden beets, which have an even sweeter flavor than red beets.
Garlic scapes
Scallions
Fennel
Lettuce
Salanova
Baby bok choi
Mustard greens - A spicy green that is delicious sauteed and added to pasta or other grains!
CSA Pick-Your-Own:
PYO peas are done for the season, but the beans and sunflowers are coming along nicely and should be available for picking in the coming weeks!
Herbs - choose from: Parsley, dill, dill flowers or basil
In the farm store:
In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will also have the first pickling cukes of the season, as well as European style cucumbers. We will also have mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and eggs from Codman Farm.
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. 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.
Mushroom CSA Week 10: It is the last week of our 10-week spring Mushroom CSA from Fat Moon Farm and for the final week we will be enjoying a farmer’s mix! Stay tuned for information on a fall CSA offering! You may pick up anytime the farm store is open: Tuesday- Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. Just check in with the Shopkeeper at the farm stand when you arrive and they will retrieve them for you! We do still suggest a Tuesday or Wednesday pick-up for the freshest possible mushrooms.
Zucchini Muffins
from Love & Lemons
This recipe is a favorite in Lise’s household with one modification - mini chocolate chips instead of walnuts!
Ingredients
¾ cup + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
¾ cup whole wheat flour, spooned and leveled
½ cup + 2 tablespoons almond flour, spooned and leveled
1 tablespoon aluminum-free baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
½ teaspoon sea salt
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil or neutral oil
2 large eggs
½ cup cane sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups shredded zucchini, no need to squeeze out excess water
½ cup chopped walnuts (or replace with chocolate chips!)
Mustardy Grilled Cheese
by: CrepesofWrath from Food 52
Ingredients
For the mustard greens
1 bunch mustard greens, cleaned and roughly chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pinch salt and pepper, to taste
For the sandwiches
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
8 slices thick-cut bread (I prefer brioche)
6 tablespoons stoneground mustard
24 to 28 slices sharp cheddar cheese
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
Directions
First, cook your mustard greens. Clean and trim the leaves, then heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Add in the greens and stir until wilted, about 5 minutes or so. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then remove from the pan and set aside. Wipe out the inside of the pan with a paper towel.
Butter both sides of each slice of bread, then reduce the pan’s heat to medium and add in 4 slices of bread at a time (or however many slices your pan can hold) and toast one side. Flip two of the slices of bread (so that the toasted side is up) and add 1 1/2 tablespoons of mustard, followed by 3 to 4 slices of cheese, 1/4 of the mustard greens, a few slices of red onion, and an additional 3 to 4 slices of cheese. Top these two pieces with the other two slices of bread, placing them toasted side-down onto the cheese. Use a spatula to press down on the sandwiches, then cover the pan lightly and cook for 3 to 4 minutes.
Remove the cover, flip the sandwiches, and cook for another 3 to 4 minutes, pressing down again with a spatula. Remove the sandwiches from the pan when the cheese is gooey and melted, then finish with the remaining sandwich ingredients (you can keep the sandwiches warm in a 250° F oven). Serve warm.