CSA Week 8

This past Saturday represented a Barrett's Mill Farm first: Melissa and I were both off the farm for most of the day and the crew ran the show on their own! Our Assistant Growers Wyatt and Ethan, along with the help of crew members Kathleen, Micah and Erica did an awesome job ensuring things went smoothly.

This week we need to finish thinning and weeding our fall carrots and beets, hoe the fall brassicas, weed eggplant and pepper pathways, plant celery, basil and lettuce, mow in some crops that have finished producing, fence in our watermelon to keep out coyotes, and of course, continue irrigating everything! This year's drought has been serious enough to warrant several Boston Globe articles so far this season. According to the United States Drought Monitor's classification, Concord (and much of Middlesex county) is experiencing "severe drought" conditions. Though this isn't really news to us (or anyone with a lawn), it does provide us some comfort to know that it's being widely recognized as a problem for many farmers!

In the Vegetable CSA:

• Red Long of Tropea Onions - these fresh onions are sweeter than most storage onions. Unlike storage onions, these should be kept in the refrigerator.
• Green or Purple Peppers
• Eggplant - The larger Italian eggplant varieties are starting to fill out, so we'll see some of these in the CSA distribution area this week.
• Cucumbers
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Dark Red Norland potatoes - these are a red-skinned, white fleshed variety. The potatoes are small due to drought and Colorado potato beetle pressure, but they are tasty!
• Cabbage
• Kale
• Chard
• Lettuce

CSA PYO:

• Cherry tomatoes - Some of the varieties ready for picking include Sungold, Jasper, Red Pearl (grape), Yellow Mini, Cherry Bomb, Sunpeach, Black Cherry and Bumblebee.
• Hot peppers - Jalapeno and Serrano.
• Sunflowers - Two new plantings are starting to bloom this week. These ones had drip irrigation on them, so they are in much better shape than the first sunflower planting.
• Green beans
• Purple beans
• Basil - there are 3 varieties - Thai, lemon and Italian. The basil looks beautiful, so it's a good time to make pesto!
• Dill

Pick-your-own Flowers: All of our flower varieties are now blooming - it's a great time to pick!

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we'll have the first of our red slicing tomatoes, beets, eggs from Pete and Jen's, and sweet corn from Verrill Farm.

Blistered Green Beans With Tomato-Almond Pesto

By Chris Morocco, Bon Appétit November 2015

Ingredients

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 1/4 cup unsalted, roasted almonds
• 1 garlic clove, grated
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons Sherry vinegar or red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• Pinch of cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt, freshly ground pepper
• 3 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 pounds haricots verts or green beans, trimmed

Preheat oven to 450°F. Roast tomatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, turning once, until blistered and lightly charred, 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly. Finely chop almonds in a food processor. Add garlic, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, cayenne, and half of tomatoes; pulse to a coarse pesto consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Heat 11/2 tsp. vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add half of beans; cook, undisturbed, until beginning to blister, about 2 minutes. Toss and continue to cook, tossing occasionally, until tender, 7–9 minutes; season with salt and pepper. Spread beans out on a platter; let cool. Repeat with remaining vegetable oil and beans.

Toss beans with pesto; season with salt and pepper if needed. Add remaining tomatoes and transfer to a platter.

Do ahead

Dish can be made 3 hours ahead. Store tightly wrapped at room temperature. Toss and adjust seasoning just before serving.

Greenhouse project update and CSA Week 7

Many of you know that we have spent a good chunk of time on constructing a new greenhouse this season. The majority of the work was completed a month ago, but we have been so busy the past few weeks trying to keep crops alive in this drought, that we nearly forgot to celebrate the accomplishment! We finished building the structure and covering it with plastic ourselves in early June, while the electrical and propane were installed by contractors in late June. There were a few finishing touches completed on Monday to get the heating system up and running, but now we have a fully functional greenhouse! We won't need to grow seedlings in the greenhouse this season, but it will be a crucial tool for seedling production next season as we continue to grow the business. It will also be a much-needed space to cure our onions and winter squash this fall!

In other news, we began harvesting our garlic last week! Most of the garlic is now hanging in the farm stand and should be done curing around mid September. We are happy with the harvest, especially considering that we were never able to irrigate it this season. The heads are on the smaller side due to the drought, but will no doubt be packed with flavor!

In the Vegetable CSA:

• Green or Purple Peppers - These are just starting to produce so will be limited. More to come soon!
• Eggplant - The eggplant is just starting to come in, so it will be limited and mostly our earliest variety, which is an Asian eggplant called Orient Express.
• Cucumbers - both pickling and slicing cucumbers are still plentiful! We have a lot of great cucumber recipes available in the farm stand, most of them suggested by CSA members!
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Potatoes - either Red Gold or Dark Red Norland will be available
• Nelson carrots
• Cabbage - the red cabbage has mostly been picked over, but there is still green mini and Caraflex. The Caraflex is the pointy cabbage variety and has a tender texture and sweet flavor.
• Kale
• Chard
• Lettuce
• Arugula

CSA PYO:

• Sunflowers - The first planting is finally ready! This planting has looked like it was on the verge of blooming for the past two weeks. These were never irrigated and so the stems are short (we kept thinking they were about to bloom and therefore it didn't make sense to go through the trouble of setting up irrigation on them!)
• Green beans - The original planting is still producing well. We may have a second succession of green beans (and maybe some purple beans too) ready by the end of the week.
• Basil - there are 3 varieties - Thai, lemon and Italian.
• Dill

Pick-your-own Flowers: New flower varieties available for picking this week include amaranth, craspedia, Mexican sunflower and scabiosa. We also continue to have zinnias, bachelor's button, ageratum, gomphrena, statice, strawflower, celosia, orlaya, and snapdragons.

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we'll have sweet corn from Verrill Farm, mushrooms, and eggs. Blueberries will continue to make intermittent appearances. We have been putting a lot of work into rehabilitating our blueberry patch, but the lack of rain has led to low yields this season (we're beginning to sound like a broken record!).

The following recipe was shared with us by a CSA member last year and it is delicious!

Homemade Refrigerator Dill Pickles
By Jennifer Segal

• 1-1/4 cups distilled white vinegar (5% acidity)
• 3 tablespoons kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups cold water
• 1-3/4 to 2 pounds pickling cucumbers (about 6), cut into halves or spears
• 2 tablespoons coriander seeds
• 6 large garlic cloves, peeled and halved
• 1 teaspoon mustard seeds
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 16 dill sprigs

Combine the vinegar, salt and sugar in a small non-reactive saucepan (such as stainless steel, glass, ceramic or teflon) over high heat. Whisk until the salt and sugar are dissolved. Transfer the liquid into a bowl and whisk in the cold water. Refrigerate brine until ready to use.

Stuff the cucumbers into two clean 1-quart jars. Add the coriander seeds, garlic cloves, mustard seeds, red pepper flakes, dill sprigs, and chilled brine into jars, dividing evenly. If necessary, add a bit of cold water to the jars until the brine covers the cucumbers. Cover and refrigerate about 24 hours, then serve. Cucumbers will keep in the refrigerator for up to one month.

PYO Flower garden in full bloom and CSA Week 6

We are starting to sound like a broken record: it is hot and dry so we are irrigating as much as we can to keep things growing! Mist has hit the farm but not a significant amount of rainfall so we have our pump running daily to keep up with both maintaining mature plants as well as getting water to newly planted and seeded fields. One big milestone of every summer is getting the fall plantings in the ground. This past week we planted and irrigated some of our fall brassicas such as fall broccoli and cauliflower. More to come this week! As we've been planting you've probably seen our bright new addition to the farm this season, two large yellow water tanks that attach to the back of the tractor. This is our transplanter which has wheels with spikes that mark the spacing of our crops. As we drive the bed before planting, water from the yellow tanks flows out to put water down in the hole created by the spike. We come behind and hand plant a seedling in each water-filled spot. This upgrade (thanks to the help of a Mass Department of Agriculture grant) has been a critical addition this season, as the added water at planting time has improved our transplant seedling health and resulted in faster growing plants.  

In the Vegetable CSA:

• Red Gold Potatoes- This red skinned and yellow flesh variety of potatoes is a big hit every year! This year our yields are low as a result of pest pressure and dry weather but we hope you all enjoy them while they last!
• Cucumbers - both pickling and slicing varieties available! 
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Purple Haze carrots
• Nelson carrots
• Red Ace Beets
• Mini cabbage - purple, green and Caraflex. 
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Arugula
• Baby bok choi

CSA Pick-your-own: The green beans are ready and are looking great! Picking is easy and the resulting beans are tasty! This variety is one of my favorites called Provider. There is also a new planting of basil, cilantro, and dill ready for picking. 

Pick-your-own Flowers: The flower field is in full bloom this week, it is a great time to pick lots of zinnias, bachelor button, ageratum, gomphrena, statice, straw flower, celosia, snap dragons and more. The field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the public, so stop by the farm stand to grab a jar to pick!

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we'll have mushrooms, eggs, the first green peppers of the season, and possibly some blueberries again by the end of the week.

Middle Eastern Green Beans

Thanks to a CSA Member who wrote down this recipe for us on Saturday when she came by the farm!

1 onion minced

1 lb green beans ends snipped and cut in half

2 Tbsp olive oil

1 small can tomato sauce

1. Saute onions in olive oil over medium high heat

2. When just yellow add grean beans, saute turning frequently until beans are soft 10-15 minutes depending on size of bean.

3. Add tomato sauce and serve. Great at room temperature!

Happy July 4th and CSA Week 5

We hope you are all enjoying your Independence Day holiday! Hopefully there is squash grilling and salad eating involved!

This week the cucumbers, summer squash and zucchini are cranking out beautiful fruit. Our pick-your-own flower field is in bloom, and beans and sunflowers appear to be on the verge of producing an abundant crop. Tomatoes are ready for another line of trellising and are showing some very promising looking green fruits, and our green pepper plants are producing peppers that are close to harvestable size! Though the hot dry weather continues to present very challenging conditions for many of our crops (like greens, lettuce, fresh onions and potatoes), we are overall feeling optimistic about what the rest of our summer will bring!

In the Vegetable CSA:

• Cucumbers - both pickling and slicing varieties available!
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Purple Haze carrots - these tasty carrots have a purple skin and orange interior. They make a colorful addition to salads or crudites.
• Nelson carrots - we continue to have traditional orange spring carrots available this week as well.
• Garlic Scapes
• Mini cabbage - purple, green and Caraflex.
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Arugula - this planting has more holes in it than the previous planting. We had covered earlier arugula plantings with row cover to keep out flea beetles, but it has been too hot for covering recent greens plantings, hence the flea beetles have created some hole-y greens this week. They still taste good though!
• Yukina savoy
• Baby bok choi

CSA Pick-your-own: We continue to be in an awkward in-between stage. For Tuesday we have just herbs for picking, but by the end of the week we may have green beans and sunflowers available!

Gooseberries

Pick-your-own Flowers: The flower field is blooming and this week we have snapdragons, bachelors buttons, orlaya, gomphrena, strawflower, statice, ageratum and small amounts of zinnias, salvia and cosmos. The field is open to both Flower CSA members and the public, so stop by and grab a jar to pick!

In the store: Everything available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition, we'll have mushrooms, eggs, and a small amount of gooseberries and mustard greens.

 

Cucumber-Lime Paletas (popsicles)

from Bon Apetit, June 2014

• 1 peeled large cucumber (10–12 ounces)
• 1 cup simple syrup
• 1/2 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger

Puree 1 peeled large cucumber (10–12 ounces) with 1 cup simple syrup, 1/2 cup fresh lime juice, and 1 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger until smooth.

Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a large measuring cup, divide among ice-pop molds, insert sticks, and freeze until solid, at least 6 hours.

To make homemade simple syrup, combine equal parts sugar and water (so for instance, 1 cup sugar and 1 cup water) in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and stir a minute or two, until the sugar dissolves. Take off heat and cool to room temperature. Store in a very clean jar; any solid particles may cause crystals to form. Refrigerate, tightly covered, up to a month.

Irrigation Frenzy and CSA Week 4

Our soils are naturally quite sandy, but the recent lack of rain combined with the heat has made our fields sometimes feel like a beach rather than a vegetable farm! With the last substantial rain of the season occurring on June 5th, setting up and running irrigation has been one of the primary tasks on the farm for the past 3 weeks (aside from the usual harvesting, planting and weeding that occupy our time every June!).

Our systems for irrigation vary by crop, depending on factors like how long the crop is in the ground before harvesting, the length of harvest window, how the irrigation system fits in with the weed control methods used on the crop, and also how the nearby crops get irrigated. Many of our heat-loving summer crops, like tomatoes, squash, eggplant and peppers, are planted into black plastic mulch with a drip irrigation line running underneath. These crops have been holding up the best during the hot dry weather, as the plastic mulch helps hold moisture and nutrients in the soil around the plants.

Not everything can be planted into a nice moist plastic-covered environment, however. Some crops like carrots, beets, potatoes and greens are seeded directly into the bare ground. Many transplanted crops, like lettuce, are in the ground for too short a time to justify the effort of laying plastic and drip lines (lettuce also doesn't appreciate the extra heat in the soil generated by black plastic). For these crops, we often set up low-volume overhead sprinklers to keep the soil moist while seeds are germinating or transplants are settling in to life outside the greenhouse.

In spite of our vigorous irrigation efforts, we haven't had enough time to give all of our crops the water that they need, and a few crops have suffered as a result. Strawberries and peas saw a slightly earlier-than-usual demise due to the dry heat. Some of our lettuce plantings have also struggled this past week. Overall, though, we are happy that we've managed to sustain most of our crops, and the future is looking bright for our summer and fall crops!

In the Vegetable CSA:

• Summer squash
• Zucchini
• Carrots
• Beets
• Scallions
• Garlic Scapes
• Kohlrabi
• Kale
• Chard
• Lettuce
• Salanova
• Arugula
• Red Russian Kale
• Baby Bok Choi

CSA Pick-your-own: Strawberries and peas were finished off by the drought, and beans and sunflowers are still a week or two away, so this week the picking is the following herbs:

• Basil
• Cilantro
• Dill
• Sage
• Thyme
• Parsley

In the store: All of the crops available in the CSA will also be available in the store. In addition we will have eggs, mushrooms and possibly radishes.

Vegetable Summer Rolls

Gourmet | May 2001

Peanut sauce

• 3 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1 small garlic clove (or one garlic scape), minced
• 3/4 teaspoon dried hot red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
• 3 tablespoons water
• 1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• 3/4 teaspoon sugar

Summer rolls

• 1 ounce bean thread noodles (cellophane noodles)
• 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
• 4 (8-inch) rice-paper rounds
• 2 lettuce leaves, ribs cut out and discarded and leaves halved
• 1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced baby bok choi
• 1/3 cup coarsely shredded carrot (1 medium)
• You can also add scallions or shredded kohlrabi

Make sauce:

Cook onion, garlic, and red pepper flakes in oil in a small heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, until pale golden, about 4 minutes. Whisk in remaining sauce ingredients. Simmer, whisking, 1 minute, then cool.

Make summer rolls:

Cover noodles with boiling-hot water and soak 15 minutes, then drain well in a sieve. Pat dry between paper towels and toss with vinegar and salt to taste. Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water. Soak 1 rice-paper round (make sure there are no holes) in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then transfer to paper towels. Arrange 1 piece of lettuce on bottom half of soaked rice paper, folding or tearing to fit and leaving a 1-inch border along edge. Spread one fourth of peanut sauce over lettuce and top with one fourth each of mint, basil, cabbage, and noodles. Roll up rice paper tightly around filling and, after rolling halfway, arrange one fourth of cilantro and carrot along crease. Then fold in sides and continue rolling. Transfer summer roll to a plate and cover with dampened paper towels. Make 3 more rolls in same manner. Serve rolls halved on the diagonal.