CSA Week 16 and Farm Stand Updates

A season like this one really highlights how critical a component high tunnels are to our operation, particularly in a changing climate. With the cooler temperatures and higher precipitation this year we have seen slow growth, rot and stunted plants out in the fields. The high tunnels provide extra warmth for more quickly maturing plants and fruits, while offering some protection from excessive rain. Rain storms can bring plant diseases from elsewhere and the splatter from rain drops spreads diseases within plantings.

Our soggy field tomato plants are a slimy and rotten mess, but we are still harvesting enough from the high tunnel for our farm store. Likewise, the last of our field cucumber plants stopped producing and died several weeks ago, but our high tunnel cucumbers were still producing (albeit more slowly) last week and would likely still be producing longer if we didn’t need to rip the plants out of the ground to make way for late-season Salanova. The pepper plants sheltered in our high tunnel are far lusher than in the field and have much larger fruit.

Most of our crops are still exclusively grown out in the field, but it would be very hard to reliably grow tomatoes, cucumbers and peppers every year without the high tunnels. Given how valuable the high tunnels are to us, we were certainly relieved that we escaped damage during the surprisingly violent storm on the 8th and the much milder tropical storm on Saturday!

In the CSA this week:

• Pie Pumpkins - These are for eating rather than decorating. See the recipes below for directions on how to make pumpkin puree from you pie pumpkins and for an idea of what to do with your puree (other than pumpkin pie).

• Winter squash - We’ll have a bin with a mix of delicata, acorn and “Starry Night” to choose from.

• Leeks

• Tendersweet cabbage - This cabbage is a fan favorite! Sweeter and not quite as crunchy as late season cabbage varieties.

• Green peppers

• Eggplant or Colored Peppers - These crops have finally begun to ramp up in production a little. Pepper maggot pressure has noticeably decreased (previously we were discarding about 75% of colored peppers due damage), which has helped us out a lot! The Carmen peppers (a red Corno di Torro type) are doing particularly well.

• Garlic

• Cucumbers or Carrots - We’ve moved onto the second bed of fall carrots now, but they are still a bit small so we will either have carrots or the last of the cucumbers in the CSA this week.

• Kale

• Baby bok choi - These are tender enough to eat raw, but they can also be steamed and then stir fried!

• Salanova

• Lettuce

• Radishes

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Cherry tomatoes - They wind down naturally this time of year, but the plants are looking especially sad from excessive rains. We still have them this week, but they are on their way out!

• Sunflowers

• Shishito peppers, husk cherries or tomatillos

• Hot peppers

• Herbs - Sage, thyme, oregano, chives, mint, parsley, cilantro and basil

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have potatoes, broccoli, green beans, scallions and tomatoes in the store. We will also have sweet corn from Verrill Farm, honey from Double B (from hives on the property), mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and eggs from Pete and Jen’s.

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 and Friday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering currently opens at 6pm on Tuesday for Wednesday pick-up and 6pm on Thursday for Friday pick-up.

PYO Flower CSA

The flower field is open to both Flower CSA members and the public for picking by the jar. TVarieties currently available for picking include zinnias, bachelor button, marigolds, gomphrena, strawflower, celosia, statice, ammi, rudbeckia, scabiosa, cosmos and amaranth. Please pick flowers above branching points. Picking hours are during any farm store hours: Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. We recommend bringing your own pruners or scissors as well as water for transporting your flowers home.

Mushroom CSA:

It is the first week of the 8-week Fall Mushroom CSA! You may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. This week is a Farmer’s Mix of 3-4 varieties, likely with Blue Oyster, Black Pearl Oyster, Yellow Oyster, Chestnut, and/or Lions Mane

Homemade Pumpkin Puree

from The Pioneer Woman

1. Select a couple of small sized pumpkins. Cut the pumpkin in half. Using a spoon or a scoop, scrape out the seeds and pulp from the center. You don't have to be too thorough with this.

2. Reserve all of the seeds in a separate bowl. Repeat until all the pumpkin pieces are largely free of seeds and pulp.

3. Place the pumpkin pieces on a baking sheet (face up or face down; I've done both) and roast in a 350°F oven until the pumpkin is fork-tender, 45 minutes. They should be nice and light golden brown when done.

4. Peel off the skin from the pumpkin pieces until you have a big pile of the stuff. If you have a food processor, throw in a few chunks at a time. A blender will work, too, if you add a little water. Or you can simply mash it up with a potato masher, or move it through a potato ricer, or process it through a food mill.

5. Pulse the pumpkin until smooth. If it looks too dry, add in a few tablespoons of water during the pulsing to give it the needed moisture. (Note, if the puree is overly watery, you should strain it over cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer to get rid of some of the liquid.)

6. Dump the pureed goodness into a bowl, and continue pureeing until all the pumpkin is done.

7. You can either use this immediately in whatever pumpkin recipe you'd like or store it in the freezer for later use.

8. To store in the freezer, spoon about 1 cupful of pumpkin into each plastic storage bag. Seal the bag with just a tiny bit of an opening remaining, then use your hands to flatten out the pumpkin inside the bag and push out the air. Store them in the freezer until you need them.

Fluffy Pumpkin Pancakes

by Yossy Arefi from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Yield: 12 to 14 (3½-inch) pancakes

• 1½cups or 192 grams all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons sugar

• 1½teaspoons baking powder

• ¾teaspoon baking soda

• ¾teaspoon kosher salt

• 1½teaspoons ground cinnamon

• 1 teaspoon ground ginger

• ⅛ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

• 1½cups buttermilk

• ¾cup pumpkin purée

• 2 eggs

• 3 tablespoons melted butter, plus more for greasing the skillet

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation

1. In a large bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and spices together until well combined.

2. In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, pumpkin purée, eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract until well combined.

3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently fold with a rubber spatula until just combined. (A few small lumps are O.K.)

4. Heat a lightly greased griddle or nonstick skillet over medium-low heat. Drop the pancakes into the pan by the ¼ cup, making sure to leave plenty of room in between for the batter to expand.

5. Cook for a minute or two, until the batter bubbles at the edges and browns on the bottom, then carefully flip. Cook another minute or two, until the batter is completely cooked through and the pancakes are puffy and deep golden brown. Repeat until all of the batter is used. Serve the pancakes as you make them or keep the pancakes warm as you cook them by setting them on a baking sheet in a 250-degree oven.