CSA Week 16 and Farm Stand Updates

With the fall equinox over the weekend, we are fully into fall, both in the astronomical and meteorological senses! The rains on Saturday could not have come soon enough, and the cooler temperatures they brought seem to be sticking around. We spent a lot of time last week setting up irrigation across the street to save our fall brassicas, but sometimes that is all that’s needed to end a drought. Because it is a big effort to set up irrigation lines across the street, and because we had made it until September without badly needing it, we held off longer than we would have if it was June or July. The forecast did not make it look like rain was a certainty, so we did get to run irrigation several times before Saturday. When the soil is already at such a moisture deficit, it takes a lot of precipitation for anything to soak in and make a difference, so it was definitely not a wasted effort. I can’t tell you how exciting it was to look outside this weekend and see puddles forming, though!

Though days are shortening and temperatures have recently dropped, we still have some tomatoes to mix in with the more classically fall vegetables (sweet corn, however, is done for the season). It’s a really great time to enjoy some leafy vegetables too, as we have a nice mix of hardier and tender greens for cooking and fresh eating!

In the CSA this week:

• Rainbow carrots - Beautiful orange, red (or pink depending on your perspective!), purple and yellow carrots mixed together in a bunch.

• Acorn squash

• Garlic - Should be stored in a cool dry place.

• Scallions

• Slicing tomatoes

• Colored peppers

• Radishes or Salad Turnips - Salad turnips are a milder cousin of radishes. They are sweet and tender and are nice in salads or roasted.

• Tendersweet cabbage

• Kale

• Baby Bok Choi - Can be prepared cut in half or whole.

• Spinach

• Escarole

• Salanova Lettuce Mix.

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Hot peppers

• Cherry Tomatoes: varieties include Sungold, Jasper, Cherry Bomb, Yellow Mini, Chocolate Sprinkles, Pink Champagne, Citrine, Black Cherry, Moonbeam, Moonshadow, Nova, Valentine, Red Pearl, Apple Yellow, Clementine and Mountain Magic.

• Green Beans - Saturday’s rain is helping us to stretch green bean harvest into one more week!

• Husk Cherries, Shishito or Tomatillos

• Herbs: basil, chives, dill flower, parsley, sage, thyme. Basil is going downhill, so this may be the last week after quite the year for it on the farm!

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Honeycrisp Apples from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA. Not Organic.

• Arugula

• Lettuce

• Flowers, including mini and full-sized dahlia bouquets!

• Honey from Double B (from hives on the property). Not organic.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Farmer’s Mix and Shiitake. Certified organic.

• Raspberry vinegar, jam, and occasionally fresh raspberries from Silferleaf Farm in Concord. Certified Organic.

• Eggs from Codman Farm in Lincoln. Not Organic.

Mushroom CSA:

It is the fourth week of the 8-week Fall Mushroom CSA. This week is Lion’s Mane!

PYO Flowers

If you have a PYO Flower CSA and have bouquets left to pick, come now - there are plenty out there, but every passing day they lose a little bit of their summer glory!

Acorn Squash Stuffed with Tomatoes, Spinach and Goat Cheese

from The Mediterranean Dish

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pine nuts

• 1 medium acorn squash, quartered and seeds removed

• 1 large orange, yellow or red bell pepper, diced

• 1 large red onion, diced

• 1 pint grape tomatoes

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

• 1 1/4 teaspoons dried oregano

• 1 teaspoon dried basil

• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 3 big handfuls spinach (about 2 packed cups)

• 2 ounces goat cheese (chevre)

Instructions

• Heat the oven and toast the pine nuts. Set the oven to 400°F and let it warm up while you toast the pine nuts. Set a small dry skillet over medium high heat. Add the pine nuts. Stir and toss the pine nuts continuously for 3 to 5 minutes until they turn golden brown and fragrant. Remove from the heat.

• Roast the vegetables. Place the quartered squash flesh side up on one side of the baking sheet. Add the diced pepper, diced onions, and grape tomatoes to the other side. Drizzle all of the vegetables with olive oil and season with oregano, basil, thyme, salt, and pepper. Make sure you really rub the seasoning into the flesh of the squash. Use your hands to mix the tomatoes, onions, and peppers together. Spread everything out onto a single layer on the sheet pan and flip the squash quarters over so some of the flesh is touching the sheet pan. Place in the oven for 40 minutes, tossing halfway through and flipping the squash to the other flesh side.

• Test the squash. Pull the sheet pan out of the oven. Insert a fork into the flesh of the squash to make sure it's tender and cooked through before moving onto the next step.

• Wilt the spinach. Add the spinach to the tomato and onion mixture and use your spatula to fold it together as much as you can. You want to make sure the spinach is coated in the oil and vegetable juices (leave the squash alone). The spinach should wilt under the heat of the vegetables, but if it doesn't return the pan to the oven for about 5 minutes. Remove from oven, give the spinach a good stir with the tomato-onion mixture one or two more times.

• Serve. Remove from the oven. Place the squash quarters on individual plates or on one large platter. Toss the vegetables on the sheet pan once again. Taste and add a little more salt and pepper if needed, then spoon the roasted vegetables over the squash quarters. Top with crumbled goat cheese and toasted pine nuts.

Glazed Shiitakes With Bok Choy

by David Tanis, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Yield:6 to 8 servings

• 2 pounds baby bok choy

• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

• 3 small dry red Chinese hot peppers

• 1 pound shiitake mushrooms (about 4 dozen), stems removed

• Salt and pepper

• 4 garlic cloves, minced

• 1 tablespoon grated ginger

• 1 tablespoons sugar

• 1 teaspoon sesame oil

• 3 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce

• 6 scallions, sliced diagonally, for garnish

• 1 tablespoon roasted sesame seeds for garnish (optional)

Preparation

1. Bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil. Cut off and discard stem ends of bok choy. Separate leaves, rinse and drain. Drop leaves into boiling water and cook for 1 to 2 minutes, until barely cooked. Immediately remove, rinse with cool water, drain and pat dry. Arrange leaves in one layer on an ovenproof earthenware platter, then set aside.

2. Put a large wok or cast-iron skillet over high heat. Add oil and heat until nearly smoking, then add hot peppers and shiitake caps, stirring to coat. Season lightly with salt and pepper. Stir-fry for 2 minutes. Reduce heat slightly and add garlic, ginger, sugar, sesame oil and tamari. Stir-fry for 1 minute more.

3. Spoon shiitake and pan juices over reserved cooked bok choy. Serve at room temperature, or if you prefer, reheat covered with foil for 10 to 15 minutes in a hot oven. Garnish with scallions and sesame seeds, if using.

CSA Week 15, Back to School CSA and Farm Stand Updates

This week marks the start of the 10-week Back-to-School CSA! Back-to-School members should have gotten an email today with details, but please reach out to Melissa or Lise if you didn’t receive it. If you were planning on joining but forgot to sign up, we can still take new sign-ups this week here: http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/online-store/2024-back-to-school

It has been so dry in the past 3 weeks that for the first time, we set up irrigation on the farm specifically for germinating cover crop seed! We’ve gotten barely any rain in the past 3 weeks (the last precipitation we had was on September 7th), but we had a bunch of field pea and oat seed that we needed to get in the ground by the 15th. This is because seeding later in the month will not be enough time for the peas and oats to establish before a killing freeze. Other types of cover crops are more cold hardy, but we hadn’t ordered as much of that seed because peas and oats our favorite option and we knew we’d have a lot of ground prepared for cover crop before the 15th. Some peas and oats that we seeded on September 6th have finally come up, but it is growing very slowly in our dust bowl conditions (as are the clover and annual ryegrass we seeded in mid August). The cooler temperatures predicted for the end of the week will certainly provide some relief to the plants, but we’re hoping it comes with a little rain as well!

As many of you are probably aware, Concord is now in the high risk category for EEE. In order to maintain our organic certification, we have to opt out of all mosquito spraying operations. While we have not noticed mosquitos in the fields this year (in part because it has been so dry), we strongly recommend caution, and urge you to do your CSA and Flower PYO before dusk. If you do plan to pick towards the end of the day, please wear long sleeves and pants and use bug spray!

In the CSA this week:

• Rainbow carrots - Beautiful orange, red (or pink depending on your perspective!), purple and yellow carrots mixed together in a bunch.

• Delicata squash - The skin is thin and edible so they are easy to prepare and they have a sweet, slightly nutty flavor.

• Garlic - Should be stored in a cool dry place.

• Slicing tomatoes

• Colored peppers

• Celery

• Radishes

• Tendersweet cabbage - A sweet cabbage that, yes, is also softer and more tender than storage cabbage!

• Kale

• Baby Bok Choi - Can be prepared cut in half or whole.

• Escarole - Looks a bit like lettuce, but it is not intended to be eaten raw, as it has a bitter flavor. Cooking takes out some of the bite, and it is tasty in white bean soup or sauteed with garlic (among other preparations!).

• Salanova - This popular lettuce mix keeps better in the fridge than mesclun mix.

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Hot peppers

• Cherry Tomatoes: varieties include Sungold, Jasper, Cherry Bomb, Yellow Mini, Chocolate Sprinkles, Pink Champagne, Citrine, Black Cherry, Moonbeam, Moonshadow, Nova, Valentine, Red Pearl, Apple Yellow, Clementine and Mountain Magic.

• Green Beans

• Husk Cherries or Tomatillos

• Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill/dill flower, parsley, sage, thyme.

• Sunflowers - It’s the last bed of the season and they are a bit uneven size-wise for unknown reasons (lack of water? weird part of the field? some of them just decided they’d had enough?)

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Sweet Corn from Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic.

• Honeycrisp Apples from Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA. We’ll have them starting on Wednesday. Not Organic.

• Arugula

• Spinach

• Green peppers

• Beets

• Potatoes

• Flowers, including mini dahlia bouquets!

• Honey from Double B (from hives on the property). Not organic.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Farmer’s Mix and Shiitake. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - We are down to the last bags until he is done processing this year’s crop in November. Black Turtle variety is organic, the other varieties are not.

• Raspberry vinegar, jam, and if you’re lucky and you catch it at the right time, fresh raspberries from Silferleaf Farm in Concord. Certified Organic.

• Eggs from Codman Farm in Lincoln. Not Organic.

Mushroom CSA:

It is the third week of the 8-week Fall Mushroom CSA. This week’s variety is shiitake.

Garlicky Sautéed Escarole

from thekitchn.com

Ingredients

• About 1 1/2 pounds escarole (2 medium or 1 large head)

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1/2 small lemon

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)

• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed

Instructions

1. Remove and discard any very tough outer dark green or browned leaves from about 1 1/2 pounds escarole. Tear the remaining leaves into rough 2-inch pieces. Rinse the leaves well in a colander. Drain well, but do not dry. Thinly slice 4 garlic cloves. Juice 1/2 small lemon until you have 1 tablespoon.

2. Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large, high-sided sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes if desired, and sauté until the garlic is softened and fragrant (do not let the garlic brown), about 30 seconds.

3. Add the escarole a few handfuls at a time, stirring after each addition so that they start to wilt, 1 to 2 minutes. Add 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt and toss to combine. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the escarole is just tender, 2 to 4 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Add the lemon juice and stir to combine. Taste and season with more kosher salt as needed.

Sautéed Baby Bok Choy

by Sam Sifton, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil, like canola

• 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

• 1½-inch piece ginger root, peeled and minced

• ¼ teaspoon red-pepper flakes, or to taste

• 4 bunches of baby bok choy, approximately 1½ pounds, cleaned, with the ends trimmed

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 tablespoon chicken stock or water

• Toasted sesame oil for drizzling

Preparation

1. In a large sauté pan with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer. Add garlic, ginger and red-pepper flakes and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 45 seconds.

2. Add bok choy and stir carefully to cover with oil, then cook for approximately 2 minutes. Add soy sauce, stock or water, then cover pan and cook for approximately 2 minutes more, until steam begins to escape from beneath the lid of the pan.

3. Uncover and continue to cook until liquid is close to evaporated and stalks are soft to the touch, approximately 3 minutes more.

4. Remove to a warmed platter and drizzle with sesame oil.

Escarole and Bean Soup

by Giada DiLaurentis from The Food Network

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 2 garlic clove

• 1 pound escarole, chopped

• Salt

• 4 cups low-salt chicken broth

• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

• 1 (1-ounce) piece Parmesan

• Freshly ground black pepper

• 6 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

• Serving suggestion: crusty bread

Directions:

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the garlic and saute until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add the escarole and saute until wilted, about 2 minutes. Add a pinch of salt. Add the chicken broth, beans, and Parmesan cheese. Cover and simmer until the beans are heated through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.

2. Ladle the soup into 6 bowls. Drizzle 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil over each. Serve with crusty bread.

CSA Week 14 and Farm Stand Updates

Thanks to everyone who came by Ag Day to visit us, as well as the other farms in town! It was a beautiful day and the market was well-attended. Unsurprisingly, Sarah’s flower arrangements were one of our first items to sell out at the market. We’ll continue to have some of those beautiful flower arrangements in the farm stand this week, including some more mini dahlia bouquets. The PYO Field continues produce some beautiful blooms, but production is slowing down as days shorten and nights get cooler. Now is a great time to enjoy the flower field, and if you think you’ll be missing locally-grown flowers this winter, we’d recommend picking yourself some gomphrena, celosia and strawflowe as they all dry very well!

While we have been enjoying some beautiful mild and sunny days on the farm, we would love for one or two nights of soaking rains, as our fields are getting quite dusty. The forecast did show a chance of rain for Saturday night after Ag Day, so we crossed our fingers and threw some cover crop seed in the ground on Friday. We did get a little rain on Saturday night, and we’re hoping it was just enough for that seed to germinate because it doesn’t look like more rain is on the way soon!

In the CSA this week:

• Delicata squash - These colorful squash were popular at Ag Day for turning into race cars for the Veggie Race Track, but their appeal is more than just their aerodynamic shape! The skin is thin and edible so they are easy to prepare and they have a sweet, slightly nutty flavor.

• Spinach - We used a new method to transplant spinach in August, so we have it ready earlier than we have in the past!

• Salanova - It’s back!

• Scallions

• Garlic - We have moved on to cured garlic now. These should be stored in a cool dry place.

• Slicing tomatoes

• Green and purple peppers

• Colored peppers

• Celery

• Radishes

• Kale

• Arugula

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Hot peppers

• Cherry Tomatoes: varieties include Sungold, Jasper, Cherry Bomb, Yellow Mini, Chocolate Sprinkles, Pink Champagne, Citrine, Black Cherry, Moonbeam, Moonshadow, Nova, Valentine, Red Pearl, Apple Yellow, Clementine and Mountain Magic.

• Green Beans

• Husk Cherries, Shishito or Tomatillos

• Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, sage, thyme.

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Sweet Corn from Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic.

• Honeycrisp Apples from Westward Orchards in Harvard. We’re trying out offering apples for the first time in our farm stand! We are picking up a small quantity on Wednesday, and if it’s popular we may start getting other varieties next week as well. Not Organic.

• Heirloom tomatoes

• Carrots

• Beets

• Potatoes

• Flowers, including some more mini dahlia bouquets!

• Honey from Double B (from hives on the property). Not organic.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Farmer’s Mix and Shiitake. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle variety is organic, the other varieties are not.

• Raspberry vinegar from Silferleaf Farm in Concord. Certified Organic.

• Eggs from Codman Farm in Lincoln. Not Organic.

Mushroom CSA:

It is the second week of the 8-week Fall Mushroom CSA. This week is a Farmer’s Mix!

Roasted Delicata Squash with Apples

from Love and Lemons

Ingredients

• 2 delicata squash, halved lengthwise and seeded, cut into ½-inch half moon pieces

• ½ cup pearl onions, halved

• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

• 2 tablespoons pepitas and/or pine nuts

• 2 cups torn kale, 2 to 3 leaves

• 6 sage leaves, chopped

• Leaves from 3 fresh thyme sprigs

• 1 small apple, diced

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

• ½ garlic clove, minced

• ¼ teaspoon Dijon mustard

• ⅛ teaspoon maple syrup

• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

2. Place the squash and onions on the baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and arrange on the sheet so that they’re not touching. Roast until the squash is golden brown on all sides and until the onions are soft and browned, 25 to 30 minutes.

3. Make the dressing: In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, apple cider vinegar, garlic, mustard, maple syrup, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

4. In a small pan over medium-low heat, toss the pepitas with a pinch of salt and cook until toasted, stirring frequently, for about 2 minutes. Set aside.

5. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the kale, sage, and thyme. Add the warm roasted squash and onions, the apples, half the pepitas, and half the dressing. Toss to coat. Transfer to an oven-safe serving dish. (If you’re making this dish in advance stop here and follow the saving/reheating instructions in the notes below).

6. Place the serving dish into the oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the apples and kale are warm and the kale is just wilted. Just before serving, drizzle with the remaining dressing, and top with the remaining pepitas.

Stuffed Delicata Squash With Lentils and Cashew Raita

Adapted by Tara Parker-Pope from Hannah Kaminsky, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Cashew Raita

• 1 cup raw cashew pieces

• 2 tablespoons fresh mint leaves, roughly chopped

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• ¼ cup water

• ½ teaspoon salt

• 2– 3 Persian cucumbers, finely diced

• 2 medium delicata squash (About 1 pound each)

Lentil Stuffing

• 2 tablespoons olive oil

• 3 shallots, finely diced

• 1 Jalapeno, seeded and finely diced

• 1½ teaspoons whole cumin seeds

• 1½ teaspoons whole mustard seeds

• 1 cup dry beluga lentils

• 2 cups vegetable broth

• ⅔ cup full-fat coconut milk

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

• ¾– 1 teaspoon salt

• ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Place the cashew pieces in a bowl and cover with cool water. Cover and place in the fridge to soak for four hours.

2. Thoroughly drain the soaked cashews and combine with the chopped mint, lemon juice, water and salt in a blender. Purée, pausing to scrape down the sides of the canister with a spatula as needed, until completely silky-smooth. This process may take longer if you use a lower-powered blender, but stick with it; that creamy texture is important. Stir in the cucumber pieces by hand. Store in an air-tight container and keep refrigerated prior to serving.

3. For the filling, heat olive oil in a medium pot over medium heat before adding the shallots and jalapeno. Cook until translucent, then add the cumin and mustard seeds. Cook until the entire mixture is highly aromatic, about a minute. Add the lentils and broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat to a simmer and cover. Cook for about 30 minutes, until the liquid has absorbed and lentils are tender. Add the coconut milk and vinegar and season with salt and pepper. Keep the pot partially covered and simmer for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, until the liquid has been absorbed. Cover and keep warm.

4. As the lentils cook, preheat oven to 375 degrees. Cut both squash in half lengthwise and scoop out (but reserve) seeds. Place each half with the cut sides down on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for about 30 minutes, or until a fork easily pierces the flesh. Remove from oven and let cool for at least 5 minutes before handling.

5. Reduce oven to 250 degrees and toss the reserved seeds with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and a pinch of salt and roast for 10 to 20 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent them from burning. Once golden and crisp, remove from oven and allow to cool.

6. Flip the roasted delicata squashes up to turn them into boats and spoon the warm lentils inside. Serve the cashew raita alongside for guests to top their squashes as desired and finish with a sprinkle of roasted seeds.

Ag Day Saturday!

Come support local farms this Saturday, September 7th, 10am - 2pm in Concord Center for the Annual Ag Day Farmer’s Market! We’ll have a stall there, along with Scimone Farm, Colonial Gardens, Hutchins Farm, Walden Woods Farm, Marshall Farm, Verrill Farm, Arena Farm and Saltbox Farm. Everything at the market is grown or raised in Concord. Also, the famous veggie race track is back!

Our farm stand and CSA will also be open regular hours (9am - 3pm) on Saturday, so you can visit us at both locations if you choose!

CSA Week 13, Farm Stand Updates and Ag Day!

We put a lot of winter squash in the barn to cure last week, and the delicata, acorn, and pie pumpkins all looked spectacular! Unfortunately, the previous week we had virtually no spaghetti squash and kabocha, but last week’s harvest really made up for that disappointment. Not only were yields good, but the whole squash harvest process is like a game. After we clip all of the squash off the plants, we pair up and toss squash to each other to put in a bulk crate on the front of our tractor. We’ve got a couple of volleyball players on our crew who are particular squash harvest specialists!

We still have Autumn Frost, Tetsukabuto and Butternut left to harvest this week. Autumn Frost and Tetsukabuto look great, but the butternut was next to the kabocha and spaghetti squash and appears to be low yielding. It’s all a bit of a mystery why those 3 types did so poorly, but it appears that deer trampled a lot of the plants in this section of field, and woodchucks were feasting on the few giant squash that the trampled plants produced. We had already been planning to purchase in local organic butternut this fall anyway (growing winter squash is space intensive, and bulk butternut is far easier to get from local farms than other types), so luckily it won’t impact what is available in the later fall!

The Mushroom CSA from Fat Moon begins this week! This week’s variety is Combs Tooth. If you would still like to participate, we now have a pro-rated option available for 7 weeks, starting September 10th. You can also still sign up for our Back-To-School CSA, which starts September 18th.

To sign-up visit:

https://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/online-store

In the CSA this week:

• Radishes

• Potatoes - Peter Wilcox variety (purple skin, white flesh), as well as possibly some Dark Red Norland.

• Scallions

• Garlic - We have moved on to cured garlic now. These should be stored in a cool dry place rather than the refrigerator.

• Beets or Carrots

• Slicing tomatoes

• Green and purple peppers

• Colored peppers

• Celery

• Kale

• Arugula

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sunflowers

• Hot peppers

• Cherry Tomatoes: varieties include Sungold, Jasper, Cherry Bomb, Yellow Mini, Chocolate Sprinkles, Pink Champagne, Citrine, Black Cherry, Moonbeam, Moonshadow, Nova, Valentine, Red Pearl, Apple Yellow, Clementine and Mountain Magic.

• Green Beans

• Husk Cherries, Shishito or Tomatillos

• Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, sage.

Please note for the CSA, when we write “or” in our list of items, this does not necessarily mean that all options will be available to choose from at each pick-up. While that is sometimes the case, it is also sometimes the case that we’ll have just one of those items at each pick-up. When quantities of certain items are tight, it can be hard to predict on Monday exactly what each day will look like. We leave it a little open as we don’t want to disappoint folks by promising an item and then not having it!

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Sweet Corn from Verrill Farm in Concord. Not organic.

• Heirloom tomatoes

• Leeks

• Flowers, including some more mini dahlia bouquets!

• Honey from Double B (from hives on the property). Not organic.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Farmer’s Mix and Shiitake. Certified organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans - Black Turtle variety is organic, the other varieties are not.

• Raspberry vinegar from Silferleaf Farm in Concord. Certified Organic.

• Eggs from Codman Farm in Lincoln. Not Organic.

• By the end of the week we’re hoping to have some spinach and salanova!

Kale Tabbouleh

by Melissa Clark, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• ⅔ cup fine bulgur

• 3 tablespoons lemon juice

• 1 shallot, finely chopped

• 2 teaspoons ground cumin

• 1¼ teaspoons fine sea salt, more as needed

• ½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, more as needed

• 1 bunch kale, stems removed, leaves finely chopped (5 cups)

• 2 large ripe tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)

• ½ cup torn mint leaves

• ½ cup diced radish

• Black pepper, as needed

Preparation

1. Cook bulgur according to package instructions. Cool.

2. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, shallot, cumin and salt. Whisk in olive oil.

3. In a large bowl, toss together bulgur, kale, tomatoes, mint and radish. Toss in dressing. Season with black pepper and more salt if you like, and drizzle with additional oil if desired.

Lemon-Garlic Kale Salad

by Julia Moskin, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 cups sliced almonds

• ⅓ cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (from 2 to 4 lemons)

• Kosher salt

• 1½ cups extra-virgin olive oil

• 4 cloves garlic, crushed with the flat side of a knife, peeled and left whole

• 10 to 12 ounces washed and dried kale leaves, thick stems removed (weight after trimming)

• 1½ cups freshly grated Parmesan (optional)

Preparation

1. In a toaster oven or skillet, toast almonds until golden brown and fragrant. Set aside to cool.

2. In a bowl, combine lemon juice and 1 heaping teaspoon salt. Slowly whisk in olive oil. Add garlic cloves and set aside to steep.

3. Working in batches, cut the kale into thin ribbons: gather a large handful of leaves, bunch together tightly, and use the other hand to slice into ¼-inch-thick pieces. This need not be done very precisely or neatly; the idea is to end up with a kind of slaw. (Recipe can be made up to this point 1 day ahead. Keep kale and dressing refrigerated separately.)

4. Place chopped kale in a very large bowl. Sprinkle surface with almonds and then with cheese, if using. Remove and discard garlic cloves from dressing. Pour half the dressing over the salad and toss. Taste for dressing and salt and add more as needed, tossing to coat thoroughly. Serve within 1 hour.