January

Reminders of a more colorful season can be hard to come by in January, but thanks to artist (and Barrett's Bucks Member!) Allie Kussin, we are able to enjoy the bright hues of summer this month! The painting is currently on display at the town building 141 Keyes Rd. as part of the Art and Ag project run by the Umbrella Arts Association and the Concord Agriculture Committee.  Here's what Allie wrote about her experience on the farm this summer:

"At Barrett's Mill Farm this past summer I wandered around with my camera for just the "right shot" to take. I was surprised when this image of coneflowers close up showed an entire landscape. I chose to paint with a pallet knife only, a different technique that gives a lot of energy to a canvas because of the heavy use and generous application of paint."

It's time to think of summer for another reason- membership sign-ups! January 15th is the deadline for the largest discount on CSA and Barrett's Bucks memberships for 2016. It's not too late to send in your forms! We will consider anything postmarked this week in time for the early sign-up discount.

December

December has been a busy month! We attended the New England Vegetable and Fruit Conference, spoke to the Rotary Club and the Concord Women's Breakfast Club, and met with folks from the MA Department of Agriculture to work on a grant and farm business planning. Between events we were busy typing away in the office!  This month we created our field maps for the 2016 season, planning carefully where each crop will go in the fields. After sketching the layout we took to the computer and started our crop plan - an excel spreadsheet where we outline each variety including a planting date, number of feet to be planted, and spacing within the field. We make our decisions based on previous years experience, chatting with other farmers, and the alluring descriptions offered by the seed companies. Once we've calculated what we need, we submit our orders to several local seed companies and the seeds are sent our way! The first seeds arrived on Christmas Eve, so we will head into the new year with some of 2016's supply in hand.  They will be stored in our office, organized by type so that each variety can easily be found when it's time to start planting in the greenhouse in early March!

November farm updates

The store is now closed for the season, but work on the farm continues!

Farm clean-up is a race against time, and thanks to the warmer temperatures the past couple of weeks I think we can safely say that we are winning! We have covered our strawberry and garlic plantings with straw, taken down all of our irrigation and fencing, and mowed crop debris and field edges. It has also been perfect weather for scrubbing down our wash area and walk-in cooler, cleaning out and organizing the barn, and working on equipment maintenance. There is still more work to be done before we are ready for winter but we are getting there! 

In addition to our remaining outdoor tasks with a deadline, we are also busy in the office catching up on accounting, signing up CSA and Bucks members, scheduling meetings and talks, and writing reports for the town and grant providers. The crop planning for next year will begin in earnest after our list of more time sensitive tasks has been completed and our seed catalogs arrive!

One more week in the store!

Things are winding down a little at the farm, but we still have a few projects to tackle before we are done in the fields for the season. At the end of last week we finished planting next year's garlic. Today we weeded next year's strawberries and laid mulch down on the strawberry and garlic beds for the winter. Soon we will divide our rhubarb, remove invasive plants from our blueberry patch, and get serious about field clean up! Over the next couple of weeks we will pick up our remaining irrigation lines, take down deer fencing, and mow and disk wherever needed.

We also still have some vegetables to harvest before it gets really cold! The store will be open for one more week during our regular hours on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. You can also still order bulk quantities of fall veggies for pick-up this coming Saturday or on Thursday, November 5th. If you'd like to place an order, please do so at least 24 hours before your intended pick-up. You can get an order form in the farm stand, or you can download one by clicking here.

In the store this week:

• Lettuce
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Romanesco cauliflower
• Carrots
• Beets
• Potatoes - Katahdin (white fleshed storage) and All Blue (purple skin and purple flesh!)
• Leeks
• Scallions
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Collards
• Winter squash - butternut, buttercup, Hubba hubba, Gold Nugget, Delicata
• Pie Pumpkins
• Celeriac
• Rutabaga
• Turnip
• Watermelon radishes
• Daikon radishes
• Dried flowers
• Eggs from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds

Week 20

No season is complete without a standout weather event and Sunday night was it for us - a mid October hard freeze.  The predicted temperatures for Sunday night dropped to 23 degrees, prompting us to roll out the row cover and blankets Sunday afternoon to protect some of our crops from freezing. The blankets were used for the squash, which we tucked in for the night by covering their bulk bins in the barn to keep in their natural heat and prevent freezing damage. Out in the fields we used row cover to prevent damage to the top of our carrot roots which split and change texture if frozen.  It wasn't practical to cover the whole farm so most of our hardy crops were left out to fend for themselves. Plants are surprisingly resilient and even after this hard freeze crops like broccoli and lettuce were thawed and ready for harvest by midday so we have a great selection of fall crops this week which were made even sweeter by the frost!

This is the last week for CSA pick-ups for the season and our farm store will be open for one more week. We will also have a bulk order for additional vegetables available for pick up October 31st or November 6th (see the form in the farm stand and on our website for details). It has been a fantastic second season on the farm for us! While there was a challenging lack of rain this summer other aspects of our field work fell into place thanks to factors such as starting the season with the necessary equipment, having help in the fields and farm store, and increased knowledge of the land.  However, it's not enough for us to just grow the vegetables, it's our CSA members and customers who complete the picture and have made our farm plans and dreams a reality. Thank you!

In the CSA this week:

• Romanesco cauliflower- This green cauliflower (pictured right) has a great nutty flavor.
• Turnips and rutabaga- make a great addition to mixed roasted vegetables.
• Shallots or cipollini onions
• Elba and Katahdin potatoes - Both these potatoes have white flesh and store well.
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Lettuce
• Celeriac
• Watermelon radish
• Daikon radish
• Cabbage - red and green storage
• Leeks
• Carrots
• Beets- Red Ace and Chioggia
• Butternut squash- Stock up! Butternut squash is great to store and use later in the winter- just keep in them in a cool place that will not freeze.
• Buttercup squash
• Bin of mixed squash varieties- choose from remaining squash such as gold nugget and hubba hubba.
• Kale

CSA PYO:

Pick-your-own is winding down for the season, but there is still parsley and sage.

In the store:

In addition to the crops listed above, we'll have Delicata and Gold nugget squash, pie pumpkins, spinach, collards, scallions, orange peppers, napa cabbage and jack-o-lanterns from Kenney Farm in Concord!

Roasted Butternut Squash with Penne Pasta
From the Whole Foods Market Cookbook by Steve Petusevsky and Whole Foods Market Team Members

1 medium butternut squash
1 ½ cups diced onion
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 ½ teaspoons)
½ teaspoon crushed red chili flakes
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 teaspoons salt

1 pound penne pasta

½ cup minced parley
½ cup Parmesan cheese
Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 375F

Peel the butternut squash (a vegetable peeler works best). Using a heavy knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the seeds, and discard them. Dice the squash into 1 inch cubes (you should have about 4 cups). Place the squash cubes into a large mixing bowl, and add the onion, garlic, red chili flakes, olive oil, lemon juice and 2 teaspoons salt. Toss the ingredients to mix well.

Place the mixture in a large roasting pan, and roast for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally. The squash should be firm-tender, not mushy.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the pasta, and cook for 10 to 12 minutes, until it is al dente. Darin the pasta, and place it in a large serving bow. Mix in the cooked squash mixture, parsley, Parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper.