CSA Week 12 and Farm Stand Updates

The lovely weather last week allowed us to tackle a lot of different projects. Among other things, we thinned and weeded 3 beds of carrots, finished trellising all of our high tunnel peppers, finished trellising all of our field tomatoes, and started planting next year’s strawberries. Of course with the drought there was a lot of irrigating as well (while the one rainy evening was nice, the puddles evaporated pretty quickly). This week we expect to weed our last bed of carrots, which always feels like a huge milestone. Somehow it feels like everything is (mostly!) under control once that massive project is finished. We are also looking forward to bringing in more of our winter squash harvest this week. We no longer have the quantities of watermelon out in the field for harvesting into a bulk crate on a tractor, but we will get to enjoy that fun type of harvest with our winter squash this week!

In the CSA this week:

• Garlic - The garlic we are distributing this week has been curing for about a month and should be stored in a dry place like a pantry or kitchen counter (not a refrigerator).

• Celery - While we have been irrigating the celery, we are in the midst of a drought, so the celery is smaller and the flavor is stronger and less watery than what you get in the grocery store.

• Spaghetti Squash - Only available in the Regular CSA.

• Asian Eggplant - From Silverwood Farm in Sherborn, MA. Certified Organic.

• Colored peppers

• Green Peppers

• Tomatoes

• Slicing Cucumbers or Zucchini - Even though it’s only August, these classic summer veggies slow way down in production, so this is likely the last week either will be available in the CSA.

• Watermelon

• Scallions

• Lettuce

• Endive - The endive variety we grow has curlier leaves than Belgian endive and we don’t blanche the heads, so they actually look much more like frisee.

• Mustard Greens

• Arugula

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Cherry tomatoes - Varieties available include Black Cherry and Midnight Pear (purplish with green shoulders), Pink Champagne (pink grape), Yellow Mini and Apple Yellow (yellow), White Cherry and Moonbeam (pale yellow), Citrine, Nova, Clementine and Sungold (orange), Jasper, Cherry Bomb, Red Pearl and Mountain Magic (red), and Indigo Cherry Drops (purple/black shoulders with rosy red undersides - this variety is high in antioxidants!)

• Hot peppers - choose from Jalapeño, Aji Rico, Cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and Fresno peppers. The cayenne and Hungarian hot wax are at the back of the hot pepper bed and there are lots to choose from! We also have some habañero ripening, which is what we’ll use to make hot sauce again this year!

• Herbs: parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, thyme, mint, and basil.

• Sunflowers - Likely Wednesday only (the Goldy Doubles may be past their prime by Saturday, but we may not yet have a new variety ready by then).

In addition, Regular memberships may choose 2 of the following, and Small memberships may choose 1 of the following:

• Husk cherries - These small fruit in papery husks are related to tomatoes and tomatillos and have a somewhat tropical flavor.

• Shishito peppers - These mini green peppers are great for searing and then sprinkling with a little salt - a very tasty snack or appetizer! Please note that while they’re mostly mild, you will come across the occasional spicy one.

• Tomatillos - They should be picked when the fruit fills our the green husk around it.

• Green beans

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. We plan to have:

• The following items that are also in the CSA: Asian eggplant from Silverwood Farm (starting Wednesday), colored peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, zucchini, slicing cucumbers, garlic, scallions, lettuce, endive, herbs, hot peppers and tomatillos.

• Summer squash

• Pickling and thin-skinned cucumbers

• Beets - from Picadilly Farm in Winchest, NH or Clark Farm in Carlisle. Both are Organic.

• Flowers - sunflowers, wrapped mixed bouquets and snapdragons.

• Peaches (starting Tuesday afternoon)- From Carver Hill in Stow, MA (not organic). They are harvested firm ripe, so they can keep refrigerated for a week and taken out to soften on your counter a day or two before you want to eat them.

• Sweet corn from Verrill Farm (not organic)

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic

• Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. Not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower. There are also some sunflowers starting to bloom in the PYO Flower field!

White Bean, Feta and Quick-Pickled Celery Salad 

by Hetty Lui McKinnon, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Yield:4 to 6 servings

• 4 celery stalks, trimmed and thinly sliced (our celery can be more compact than the grocery store, so you may need more than 4 stalks)

• ½ small red onion, thinly sliced

• ¼ cup white or red wine vinegar

• 1 tablespoon sugar

• 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (optional) 

• Salt and pepper

• 2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, rinsed

• 7 to 8 ounces crumbled feta

• 1 cup chopped tender herbs, such as mint, parsley, cilantro, dill or a mix 

• ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil

Preparation

1. Place the celery and red onion in a large bowl. Add the vinegar, sugar, cumin seeds (if using) and about ½ teaspoon of salt. Toss well to combine, then set aside to pickle for 15 minutes.

2. Add the cannellini beans, feta and herbs to the celery and red onion. Drizzle with the olive oil, season well with salt and pepper and toss well to combine. Serve at room temperature. (The salad can be prepared and refrigerated up to 1 day in advance.)

Gochujang-Glazed Eggplant With Fried Scallions

by Eric Kim, from NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 pound Asian eggplant (about 3), halved lengthwise and cut into 4- to 5-inch segments

• 1 teaspoon kosher salt

• 2 tablespoons gochujang

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 2 packed teaspoons dark brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

• 2 garlic cloves, finely grated

• ½ cup olive oil

• 4 scallions, trimmed, cut into 3-inch segments, then very thinly sliced lengthwise, white and green parts separated

Preparation

1. Place the eggplant in a colander set inside a large bowl or the sink. Sprinkle with the salt, toss to combine and let sit for 30 minutes to remove excess moisture.

2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, add the gochujang, soy sauce, brown sugar, sesame oil and garlic. Whisk to combine, then set aside.

3. To a large nonstick skillet, add the olive oil and the white parts of the scallions. Turn the heat to medium and fry the scallions, stirring often, until crispy and evenly browned, about 8 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the fried scallions onto a paper towel.

4. Reserve a small handful of raw scallion greens for garnish, then fry the remaining scallion greens in the oil until crispy and lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer fried scallion greens onto a paper towel.

5. Remove the skillet from the heat and carefully pour the hot scallion oil into a glass container or measuring cup.

6. After the 30 minutes of salting, dry the eggplant segments with a paper towel. Place the skillet over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons of the reserved scallion oil.

7. When the oil starts to shimmer and you see a wisp of smoke, add half the eggplant, cut sides down, and fry until browned and starting to soften, 2 to 3 minutes. Flip once and cook another minute on the other side. Transfer to a plate, add 2 more tablespoons of scallion oil back to the pan, and repeat to fry the second batch of eggplants. (If you are lucky enough to have any scallion oil left, use it to fry eggs or to dress a salad.)

8. Finally, sauce the eggplants: Add the first batch of eggplants back to the pan alongside the second batch. Reduce the heat to medium-low and pour the reserved gochujang sauce over the eggplants. Toss until evenly coated and the gochujang starts to caramelize, about 1 minute.

9. Plate the eggplants on a large platter and garnish with the fried scallions and the reserved raw scallion greens. Serve immediately. (To store for later, transfer to a resealable container and keep in the refrigerator for 3 to 5 days. This dish tastes great cold, straight out of the fridge, or at room temperature.)

CSA Week 11 and Farm Stand Updates

Last week we worked on a bunch of high tunnel trellising and pruning. Tomato plants in particular grow fast in our high tunnel and require weekly trellising and pruning of new growth to maximize space usage and productivity. They are so tall now that we frequently require a step stool to clip the new growth to the trellising twine! The high tunnels are always warmer than out in the field, so with all the heat waves we tend to stay out of the tunnels after 10am. The crew are tough and well-acclimated to the heat, but 100+ degrees is a bit much for all of us! The heat poses a challenge to us keeping up with high tunnel maintenance, as we also have to get in much of the harvest before 10am in order to prevent wilting. The weather this week, however, looks great for getting into the high tunnels!

We’ve also been busy with weeding carrots and setting up and running irrigation. Fall carrots are a favorite, so taking care of them is a top priority. And irrigation is probably the most important priority - without water we wouldn’t have any crops this fall. Melissa and Maddie have been saving us during this drought, so if you see them around the farm, thank them for keeping everything well-hydrated!

In the CSA this week:

• Spaghetti Squash - As it’s name indicates, the flesh of this squash is like spaghetti. Like all winter squash, it should not go in the refrigerator. This type of squash generally keeps for several weeks (so not as long as other varieties of winter squash). See below for directions for how to cook spaghetti squash squash, as well as a yummy recipe!

• Asian Eggplant - We no longer grow eggplant ourselves, so these are from Silverwood Farm in Sherborn, MA. Certified Organic.

• Colored peppers - We grow yellow, orange and red bell peppers, as well red Italian peppers in our high tunnel. The Italian peppers have thinner walls than the bell peppers and are sweet like colored bell peppers.

• Green Peppers

• Tomatoes - Mostly slicing tomatoes, but there may be some heirlooms mixed in as well.

• Cucumbers - Our field slicing cucumbers are starting to produce more! We only plant field slicing cukes for late summer harvest because usually our high tunnel slicing cucumbers are plentiful through early August. However this year those high tunnel cukes got taken down by pests and disease quite early, so we’ve had to wait a little longer for larger quantities of cukes.

• Watermelon - We are harvesting Mini Love and Blacktail Mountain varieties. Both are red with seeds. These will be available to both Small and Regular memberships.

• Beets - These are grown by our friends Jenny and Bruce at Picadilly Farm in Winchester, NH and are certified organic.

• Scallions

• Lettuce

• Endive and Frisée - We will mostly have endive, as we are nearing the end of out frisée plantings. The endive variety we grow has curlier leaves than Belgian endive and we don’t blanche the heads, so they actually look much more like frisee. Both are types of chicory and have similar flavors.

• Mustard Greens or Arugula

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Herbs: Members will have a choice of parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, thyme, mint, and basil.

• Hot peppers - choose from Jalapeño, Aji Rico, Cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and Fresno peppers. The cayenne and Hungarian hot wax are at the back of the hot pepper bed and there are lots to choose from! We also have some habañero ripening, which is what we’ll use to make hot sauce again this year!

• Sunflowers- These are the fun Goldy Double variety. See the bottom of the post for a picture!

In addition, Regular memberships may choose 2 of the following, and Small memberships may choose 1 of the following:

• Cherry Tomatoes - All varieties are ripening, but Cherry Bomb and Jasper (both red varieties) are particularly plentiful. The Sungolds got slammed by potato beetles early in the season, so we lost some plants and therefore don’t have as many available as usual. However we do have another orange variety called Citrine that is also delicious!

• Tomatillos - They should be picked when the fruit fills our the green husk around it.

• Dragon tongue beans - These have provided a longer than the green bean varieties we grow, but it will probably be the last week. As the dragon tongue beans get bigger start to turn yellow they can be shelled for cooking.

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. We plan to have:

• The following items that are also in the CSA: spaghetti squash, Asian eggplant from Silverwood Farm (starting Wednesday), colored peppers, green peppers, tomatoes, cucumbers, watermelon, scallions, lettuce, frisee, endive, herbs, hot peppers and tomatillos

• Zucchini

• Summer squash

• Pickling cucumbers

• Garlic

• Potatoes

• Shishito peppers

• Flowers - sunflowers, wrapped mixed bouquets and snapdragons.

• Peaches (starting Tuesday afternoon)- These will mostly be from Carver Hill in Stow, MA (not organic). They are harvested firm ripe, so they can keep refrigerated for a week and taken out to soften on your counter a day or two before you want to eat them.

• Sweet corn from Verrill Farm (not organic) - This will only be available for the beginning of the week, but it should be back next week!

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic

• Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. Not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower. There are also some sunflowers starting to bloom in the PYO Flower field!

How to Cook Spaghetti Squash

from Love and Lemons

Ingredients

• 1 spaghetti squash

• extra-virgin olive oil

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.

2. Slice the spaghetti squash in half lengthwise and scoop out the seeds and ribbing. Drizzle the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

3. Place the spaghetti squash cut side down on the baking sheet and use a fork to poke holes. Roast for 30 to 40 minutes or until lightly browned on the outside, fork tender, but still a little bit firm. The time will vary depending on the size of your squash. I also find that the timing can vary from squash to squash.

These are just basic instructions for how you can cook the squash. Once you have cooked it you can scoop out the spaghetti-like innards and add any toppings you might like with regular spaghetti! See below for an example of what you might do once it’s cooked.

Fresh Tomato Spaghetti Squash Pasta

By Erin Alvarez

Ingredients 

• 1 medium spaghetti squash

• 1/4 cup olive oil, divided

• 2 garlic cloves, sliced

• 1 cup grape tomatoes

• 2 cups marinara sauce

• 1/4 tsp oregano

• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, or more

• 4-5 fresh basil leaves

• 1 ball burrata cheese

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Slice squash in half length-wise and brush both sides with 2 tbsp olive oil. Place squash cut side down on a baking sheet and roast in the oven for 45 minutes.

3. After 30 minutes of the squash roasting, prepare the rest of the meal. Heat the remaining 2 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat and add the tomatoes. Cook tomatoes for a few minutes, then add the garlic and stir. Continue cooking until tomatoes are blistered on both sides.

4. Pour sauce into the same skillet and heat it up until it's at your desired temperature. Stir in the oregano and red pepper flakes.

5. Once squash is done cooking, use your fork to pull back a few spaghetti strands, then divide the garlic, tomatoes and tomato sauce mixture between both sides of spaghetti squash. Add the burrata cheese on top, then add more red pepper flakes if desired.

Via Carota’s Insalata Verde

Adapted from Samin Nosrat, NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

Yield: 6 to 8 servings

• 2 - 3 heads lettuce

• 1 large endive

• 1 small head frisée

For the Dressing

• 1 large shallot, minced

• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon aged sherry vinegar, plus additional, as needed

• 1 tablespoon warm water

• 1 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 1½ teaspoons whole-grain mustard

• 1½ teaspoons honey (optional)

• 2 sprigs thyme, washed and stripped

• 1 large clove garlic, finely grated

• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

1. Wash the greens: Fill a sink or large basin with tepid water. Remove any wilted or damaged leaves from the lettuce and endive. Trim each head at the root to release whole leaves. Halve large leaves of lettuce and endive on the bias, then drop into water. Trim and discard dark green outer leaves and tops from frisée until only light green and white parts remain. Trim at the root to release leaves, and drop into water. Swirl greens in water, then drain. Wash twice more in cool, then cold, water, then transfer to a salad spinner to dry. Gently wrap in clean dish towels, and set aside.

2. Place the shallot in a fine-mesh strainer, and quickly rinse with cold water. Allow to drain, then place in a medium bowl, and add vinegar and warm water. Allow to sit for 2 minutes, then whisk in oil, mustards, honey (if using), thyme, garlic and a large pinch of salt. Taste, and adjust salt and vinegar as needed.

3. To serve, gently pile a generous handful of greens into a serving bowl, then sprinkle with salt, pepper and a generous drizzle of dressing. Continue with another handful of salad and more seasoning and dressing, repeating until you have a glorious, gravity-defying mound of salad. Top with a final drizzle of dressing, and serve immediately.

4. Wrap remaining greens in an airtight container or plastic bag and refrigerate for up to 3 days. Cover and refrigerate remaining dressing for up to 3 days.

A butterfly and bee anjoy some nectar from a Goldy Double sunflower.

CSA Week 10 and Farm Stand Updates

It’s been almost 2 weeks since our last rain, so as you might imagine, irrigation continues to be on our agenda this week! Although the last rain storm on July 31st was intense, that moisture doesn’t stick around for long, especially not when it’s hot and the soil is sandy. Many of our crops do well with 1” of rain per week, but that doesn’t mean that 1” of rain all at once is what we need. Severe downpours can in fact sometimes be more damaging than drought. Heavy and intense rain can wash away soil, cause flooding in the fields, flatten and shred greens, and crack tomatoes. Consistent and moderate rainfall is best - ideally overnight a few days a week so that we can have dry conditions for working and plenty of sunshine for our veggies, if that’s not too much to ask!

In the CSA this week:

• Colored peppers - We grow both sweet bell and sweet Italian peppers in our high tunnel (out in the field it takes longer for peppers to turn from green to colored, and they also seem to be more susceptible to pests as well).

• Potatoes - Peter Wilcox variety (purple skin with yellow flesh). This variety is high in vitamin C and antioxidants!

• Scallions

• Beets - These are grown by our friends Jenny and Bruce at Picadilly Farm in Winchester, NH and are certified organic.

• Watermelon - We are harvesting Juicebox, Mini Love, and Blacktail Mountain varieties. All are red with seeds. These will be available to both Small and Regular memberships this week.

• Tomatoes

• Green Peppers

• Zucchini or summer squash

• Cucumbers

• Garlic - Right now we are distributing smaller heads as uncured garlic and curing the larger heads for later. Some of the cured garlic will be in the CSA and farm store this fall and some of it will be used for planting next year’s crop.

• Lettuce

• Frisée and Endive- These are types of chicory and have similar flavor and texture.

• Mustard Greens

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Tomatillos, Dragon tongue beans or Shishito peppers- Tomatillos are an essential ingredient of salsa verde. They should be picked when the fruit fills our the green husk around it. Look low on the plants this week to find them. As the dragon tongue beans get bigger start to turn yellow they can be shelled for cooking. Shishito peppers are generally mild and sweet but 1 in 10 is a.hot pepper.

• Herbs: Members will have a choice of parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, thyme, mint, cilantro and basil.

• Hot peppers - choose from jalapeno, aji rico, cayenne, Hungarian hot wax and fresno peppers

• Sunflowers

A note about cherry tomatoes: They are closed this week, but if you came on Saturday and were unable to get cherry tomatoes last week, we took down your name and you will be able to pick some this week if you’d like.

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Fresh onions

• Carrots

• Flowers - sunflowers, wrapped mixed bouquets and snapdragons.

• Peaches from Westward Orchard (not organic) - Available starting Wednesday

• Sweet corn from Verrill Farm (not organic).

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic

• Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. Not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower.

Classic Shopska Salata

adapted from Food52.com

Ingredients

• 1 cucumber

• 1/2 large red onion (or try using a few scallions for a slightly milder punch!)

• 1/2 large green bell pepper

• 2 tomatoes

• 2 tablespoon red wine vinegar (optional)

• 4 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

• Salt and pepper, to taste

• 1/2 cup finely crumbled Bulgarian feta cheese (sirene), or just Greek feta.

Directions

1. Half peel the cucumber by paring every 1/4 inch or so to create a striped pattern and then slice it into 1/2 inch rounds. Toss them into a medium mixing bowl.

2. Chop the onion/scallions, bell pepper and tomatoes and add them to the bowl.

3. Whisk the oil and vinegar together and add it to the mix. Toss the vegetables until they are coated with the dressing. Taste and add salt and pepper as needed.

4. Crumble feta on top of the salad and serve.

CSA Week 9 and Farm Stand Updates

Our agenda this week includes lots of weeding, especially of our fall carrots and beets. We’ve already plowed through more than two beds of fall carrots, but we still have 5 more to go. This season we vowed to use our flame weeder more because when we get the timing just right the payoff is big! We have a backpack flame weeder (which I like to call a flamethrower so my kids think I’m cool!), which we use to burn weeds one row at a time walking very slowly down the bed. The goal is to use the flame weeder after a lot of weeds have germinated, but just before carrots emerge. It’s a short window of time that seems to frequently fall on our day off, but the two beds that we managed to hit during the sweet spot this summer are significantly less weedy than the others. We’ll still have to hand weed and thin those beds eventually, but the flame weeder bought us a little extra time, which is precious to us this time of year!

In the CSA this week:

• Carrots - They’re back this week, but then will likely be on hiatus again until the summer-sown varieties size up.

• Watermelon - We are harvesting Juicebox and Mini Love, as well as the first of the Blacktail Mountain variety. All are red with seeds. This week they may only be in the Regular size CSA, but if we have enough we will try to include them in the Small CSA again.

• Tomatoes - These will again be a mixture of slicing tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes. They’re mostly from our high tunnel, but we are starting to harvest some varieties from the fields as well.

• Green Peppers

• Zucchini

• Pickling cucumbers

• Slicing or thin-skinned cucumbers - our field slicing cucumbers are starting to produce

• Garlic - Right now we are distributing smaller heads as uncured garlic and curing the larger heads for later. Some of the cured garlic will be in the CSA and farm store this fall and some of it will be used for planting next year’s crop.

• Fresh onions - These should be kept in the fridge. This is the last week for fresh onions, but we have our storage onions all harvested and curing in our greenhouse, and we will be distributing them later in the season!

• Lettuce

• Kale - This may be the last week that we have kale until our fall planting matures. These older plants aren’t producing very tender leaves anymore, but they still work well for kale chips!

• Frisée and Endive- These are types of chicory and have similar flavor and texture.

• Mustard Greens

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Cherry tomatoes - Varieties that are ripening now include Cherry Bomb and Jasper (red), Sungold and Citrine (orange), Moonbeam (dark purple) and Moonbeam (pale yellow). This week cherry tomatoes are only available for Regular size CSA memberships, but they will be an option for Small memberships soon!

• Tomatillos or Dragon tongue beans - Tomatillos are an essential ingredient of salsa verde. They should be picked when the fruit fills our the green husk around it. Look low on the plants this week to find them.Sunflowers

• Herbs: Members will have a choice of parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, thyme, mint, cilantro and basil.

• Hot peppers - choose from jalapeno, aji rico, red ember, Hungarian hot wax and fresno peppers

Some herb harvesting information:

• Parsley: Pick only outer stems and leave the center stalks to continue to grow.

• Basil: please pinch the tops of the plants.

• Dill, Sage, Mint and Thyme: harvest stems at branching points

• Please do not clear cut herb plants or harvest from beds that are not yet open.

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Summer squash

• Colored peppers - These peppers are just starting to ripen in the high tunnel, so we will only start with limited quantities this week.

• Flowers - mini bouquets (option to purchase with or without the pint jar), sunflowers, wrapped mixed bouquets and snapdragons.

• Sweet corn from Verrill Farm (not organic).

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic

• Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. Not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower.

Quick Pickled Cucumber Tomato Salad

adapted from fakefoodfree.com

Ingredients: 

2 cups water
1 cup white distilled vinegar
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
1-2 onions, thinly sliced (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 to 3 pickling cucumbers, thinly sliced (about 3 cups)
1 1/2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill
1 teaspoon peppercorns

Directions:

Add the water, vinegar, sugar, and salt to a large saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and simmer for 30 seconds, until the sugar dissolves. Set aside to cool. 

Using 2 quart jars or 1 large two-quart jar, layer the onions in the bottom of the jar(s). Add the cucumber slices and then the tomatoes. Sprinkle in the dill and then the peppercorns. 

Pour the liquid into the jar. Seal the jar and shake to mix the vegetables with the liquid. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, shaking once or twice as it rests, before serving. The salad is best eaten within 2 to 3 days of preparation. 

Mushroom White Bean Toasts with Frisée

from elliekrieger.com

Ingredients

4 large or 8 medium ½-inch thick slices crusty whole grain bread (8 ounces total)
5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 teaspoons sherry vinegar, divided
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
¾ teaspoon salt, divided
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
3 cups lightly packed, torn frisée (1 large head)
1 small clove garlic, minced
One 15-ounce can low-sodium white beans, such as cannellini, drained and rinsed
12 ounces mixed sliced mushrooms (such as shitake, cremini, oyster, button)
¼ cup chopped shallot (or try using a Red Long onion)
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

Directions

Toast the bread in a toaster or toaster oven. In a medium bowl whisk 2 tablespoons of the olive oil with 2 teaspoons of the sherry vinegar, mustard, ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon pepper.  Add the frisée and toss to coat.

Place the minced garlic on a cutting board and sprinkle with ¼ teaspoon of the salt; using the broad side of a knife blade, mash together the garlic and salt to form a paste. Transfer the paste into a medium bowl with the beans and 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and mash with a fork until most of it is smooth but there are still some beans intact.

Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over a medium high heat. Add the mushrooms and shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms have released their water and begin to brown, 4-5 minutes. Add the thyme and remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and cook for 1 minute more. Then stir in the remaining 2 teaspoons of vinegar.

To serve, spread each toast generously with the mashed beans; top each with the mushrooms and then a mound of the frisée salad.

The bean mixture, and the sautéed mushrooms may be made ahead and kept separately in airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.

CSA Week 8 and Farm Stand Updates

Watermelon harvest is the big event of the week! We check each melon for a brown tendril attached which indicates ripeness, then we line them all up in a row. Usually we pick them all up into a big squash bin but the tractor with the forks needs a new battery so we are hauling them out of the field and onto the truck this week! We will do less dramatic harvests this week as well, like cutting arugula and mustard greens. Our non-harvest focus this week is caring for our field tomatoes (slicing, heirloom and cherry tomatoes) which are behind this year. We will finish staking and trellising them, irrigate all beds, and hopefully we will seeing the first field tomatoes ripening for next week!

In the CSA this week:

• Potatoes- Dark Red Norland or Yukon Gold

• Watermelon - The first of the season! This week we are harvesting juicebox and mini love varieties, both are red with seeds. They are super sweet with thin rinds so they have lots of flesh per melon. While some weeks watermelon will be available for Regular Size CSAs only, however this week we will try to harvest enough for Small Size CSA members as well. There won’t be watermelon in the store this week but we will have it for sale in the future.

• Garlic - Right now we are distributing uncured garlic. We are distributing our smaller heads as fresh garlic and curing larger heads. Some of the cured garlic will be in the CSA and farm store this fall and some of it will be used for planting!

• Frisée - A type of chicory related to endive and raddichio.

• Pepper - Mostly green bell peppers with a few purple

• Tomatoes - These will again be a mixture of slicing tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes, all from our high tunnel.

• Fresh onions - These should be kept in the fridge.

• Zucchini

• Summer squash

• Pickling cucumbers - still limited quantities this week but more field cucumbers are coming on soon.

• Green Cabbage - This week or next will be the last cabbage harvest for the summer, we will have cabbage again in the fall (we are just planting our fall cabbage now!).

• Lettuce - This time of year due to the heat we grow exclusively summer crisp varieties of lettuce. Over the years we have been trialing many different varieties and planting times to have lettuce in the heat of mid summer.

• Arugula

• Mustard Greens

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sunflowers - a new bed is now blooming!

• Green beans or Dragon tongue beans - Dragon Tongue beans are plentiful right now and easy to find. The green bean beds are weedy so require more searching but the beans are very nice!

• Herbs: Members will have a choice of parsley, dill, dill flowers, sage, thyme, mint and basil.

• Hot peppers - choose from jalapeno, aji rico, red ember, hungarian hot wax and fresno peppers

Cherry tomatoes are coming soon - our plants are a bit behind this year so they are not yet producing. Cilantro should also be available next week.

Some herb harvesting information:

• Parsley: Pick only outer stems and leave the center stalks to continue to grow.

• Basil and Mint: please pinch the tops of the plants. We need the mint to last all season (and hopefully for many seasons beyond!) so please use care and do not cut long stems.

• Dill, Sage, and Thyme: harvest stems at branching points

• Please do not clear cut herb plants or harvest from beds that are not yet open.

In the farm store:

Farm store hours are Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have:

• Flowers - mini bouquets (option to purchase with or without the pint jar), sunflowers, wrapped mixed bouquets and snapdragons.

• Sweet corn from Verrill Farm (not organic).

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

• Double B Honey - From hives on the property! Not certified organic

• Applesauce from Long Run Produce in Boxborough, MA. Certified Organic.

• Baer’s Best Beans: 1 pound bags. Grown in South Berwick, Maine. Certified Organic varieties available include: Cannellini, Black Turtle, Italian Cranberry and Light Red Kidney. Not organic: bumblebee, marfax, and flageolet.

PYO Flower Field

The flower field is open to both PYO Flower CSA members and the general public for picking by the jar. Please check in at the farm stand before picking. Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower.

Mustard Green and Sausage Orecchiette Recipe

By Rachel Hartly

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• 8 ounces orecchiette pasta

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided

• 12 ounces sweet Italian sausage

• ½ onion, peeled and thinly sliced

• 2 garlic cloves, minced (garlic lovers might want to use more when using fresh garlic)

• ½ cup chicken or vegetable broth

• 8 ounces mustard greens

• Parmesan, pecorino, or mizithra (a semi-hard Greek cheese), grated, for serving

Instructions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook orecchiette according to package instructions. Drain, reserving ¾ cup starchy cooking water, and set pasta aside until ready to use.

2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add sausage, crumbling with the back of a spatula, and cook until browned. Carefully remove cooked sausage from skillet and transfer to a paper towel lined plate.

3. Heat remaining olive oil in the same skillet on medium heat. Add onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Stir in garlic cloves and cook for a minute. Add broth to the pan, scraping up any browned bits at the bottom to deglaze. Cook until liquid is mostly absorbed.

4. Add mustard greens to the skillet along with ¼ cup of water. Stir, cover and cook 6 minutes until greens are tender and wilted. Uncover, add sausage, and continue to cook until most of the water is absorbed.

5. Stir in cooked pasta and enough starchy cooking liquid to make a sauce. Serve garnished with grated cheese.