CSA Week 20 and Farm stand updates

On a foggy morning last week we harvested over 700 pounds of cabbage for making sauerkraut. It was such a large quantity that we’ll have to rent a van to drive it to Kenneth at Eastern Mass Provisions. Once in Kenneth’s hands, it will ferment for about 6 weeks, so we’ll hopefully have it ready in time for a December sale. We’re also sending him a another batch of hot peppers for round two of hot sauce (we sent him hot sauce and salsa verde ingredients earlier this fall).

It feels very apt to be preserving veggies for the winter as we just had another frost on Saturday night. This time the freeze was hard enough that we lost our high tunnel tomatoes and unfortunately we didn’t harvest green tomatoes beforehand. Sometimes we clear out the high tunnels prematurely when we could have held off and enjoyed tomatoes for another week. This time we tried to play it cool, but it turned out we played it too cool and over-corrected. Fortunately the peppers in the high tunnel fared a little better, so we’ll have those for one more week!

In the CSA this week:

• Butternut squash - This in-demand squash should store well through the winter (as should one of it’s sister varieties - Autumn Frost, which we’ll have soon!).

• Pie pumpkins - Great for pie, muffins, soup and more!

• Garlic

• Yellow onions - These are cured (unlike the fresh onions we had in the summer) and should be stored in a cool and dry place

• Escarole or Fennel

• Broccoli

• Carrots - Orange or Rainbow

• Green peppers

• Colored peppers - It got cold enough that our high tunnel pepper plants got nipped at the tops, but we still had enough lower hanging fruit for the CSA this week.

• Scallions

• Potatoes - Gold variety from MX Morningstar in Hudson, NY. Certified Organic.

• Cabbage - Savoy variety.

• Curly Kale

• Salad turnips - These sweet and tender mini turnips can be eaten raw or cooked!

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Herbs: Parsley, sage, mint, thyme, chives

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. Our farm store will be open regular hours until October 31st. In addition to most of the items listed in the CSA above, we will have:

• Winter squash: Autumn Frost (new this week!), Butternut, Acorn, Spaghetti, pie pumpkins.

• Salanova

• Fresh Organic Cranberries - From Fresh Meadows Farm in Carver, MA. Certified Organic.

• Mushrooms - Seasonal Medley Mushrooms and Shiitake. From Mycoterra Farm in Deerfield, MA. Certified organic.

• Pears - Shinko, Korean Giant, Potomac and Magness varieties. From Ed at Long Run produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Heirloom Apples - Lamb Abbey Pearmain (hint of tropical flavor with good balance of sweet and tart, great for fresh eating), Ananas Reinette (a crisp and juicy fruit with a hint of pineapple flavor, great fresh or baked), Orleans Reinette (complex flavors of nutmeg spice and citrus, great for baking, fresh eating and cider) from Scott Farm in Dummerston, VT. Eco-certified.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry, and Cannellini are Certified Organic. Bumblebee and Black Coco are not organic. Grown by Charley Baer in South Berwick, ME.

• Raspberry Vinegar Infusion and Raspberry Jam from Silferleaf Farm in Concord, MA. Certified Organic.

PYO Flower Field

We had a hard frost on Saturday, so the PYO flower field is officially closed for 2026.

Sesame Scallion Buns

By Genevieve Ko, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

FOR THE BUNS

• ½ cup/130 grams whole milk

• 3 tablespoons sugar

• 1 (¼-ounce) packet active dry yeast (7 grams; 2 ¼ teaspoons)

• 2 ⅓ cups/303 grams all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

• 3 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes, plus more for the bowl

• 1 large egg

• White sesame seeds, for sprinkling

FOR THE SCALLIONS

• ¼ cup/60 grams grapeseed or canola oil

• 2 bunches scallions, trimmed, thick ones halved lengthwise, very thinly sliced

• 1 teaspoon fine salt

Preparation

1. Make the buns: Heat the milk until lukewarm to the touch (over low heat in a saucepan or for 30 seconds in the microwave). Stir in the sugar to dissolve, then stir in the yeast. Let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer. Add butter and beat on low with the paddle until crumbs form. Make a well in the center and add the foamy milk and the egg. Beat with the paddle on low until a shaggy dough forms. Switch to the dough hook and knead on low speed until the dough is smooth and elastic, 10 to 15 minutes, scraping the bowl and hook occasionally. The dough will be a bit sticky.

3. Butter a large bowl and scrape the dough into it. Cover with a clean kitchen towel and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 ½ hours.

4. Meanwhile, prepare the scallions: Heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium-high until shimmering and almost smoking, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, then add the scallions and salt carefully (they’ll splatter). Stir well. Let stand while the dough rises.

5. Roll the dough: Gently press down on the dough in the bowl to deflate it. Turn it out onto a lightly floured surface. Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll it into a rectangle 20 inches wide and 12 inches long, with the wide side facing you. It will be a scant ¼ inch thick. Use a spoon to scoop the scallions onto the dough, reserving any excess oil. Spread the scallions to the bottom and side edges and leave an inch rim at the top. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.

6. Shape the dough: Starting from the edge closest to you, roll the dough up in a loose spiral. Pinch the long seam to seal. Using a serrated knife, cut the roll with a sawing motion into 12 even pieces. Place them cut side up on the prepared sheet, spacing evenly apart.

7. Using your fingertips, gently pull the dough layers apart a bit and if the end is coming unraveled, tuck it under the spiral. Sprinkle the rolls generously with sesame seeds. Cover loosely with the clean kitchen towel and let stand in a warm place for 20 minutes or cover the pan with greased plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

8. Heat oven to 375 degrees while the spirals proof. (If the buns have been refrigerated overnight, let them sit at room temperature until they’re room temperature and puffed.)

9. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Immediately after they come out of the oven, brush them with the reserved scallion oil. Serve hot or warm.