CSA Week 6 and Farm Stand Updates

We are bracing for another hot and humid week out in the fields, though hopefully by Thursday we’ll get a little relief. Harvest is taking up a large chunk of our days right now. Crops like summer squash, zucchini, cucumbers, and now tomatoes, need to be harvested on an every-other-day schedule so that fruit don’t get too big or overly ripe. That means if Wednesday is a zucchini harvest day, whether we’ve got space in our cooler or not we have to harvest it! We are constantly rearranging our cooler to fit freshly harvested crops, and we are also constantly washing harvest buckets. While lugging around full buckets of cucumbers in hot and humid temps is a challenge, the upside is that cooler rearranging and washing all the empty harvest buckets afterwards are comparatively pleasant tasks!

In addition to some exciting new crops (including peppers, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet corn), the PYO Flower field will open to PYO Flower CSA members this week. We anticipate opening the field to the general public next week!

In the CSA this week:

• Tomato - As always, at the beginning of tomato harvesting season quantities are very limited in the CSA, but yields should pick up in the next week or two!

• Green/purple pepper - Like tomatoes, they will be limited for now, but we expect to have larger quantities soon.

• Potatoes - Dark Red Norland variety (red skin, white flesh).

• Fresh Onions - We grow a white variety (Ailsa Craig) and a red variety (Red Long of Tropea). These fresh onions are milder than cured onions, and they should be kept in the fridge. Our onion plants have suffered more than some of our other crops in the hot, low precipitation weather. We have had far more onion thrip pressure this season than typical for us, so the green tops look twisted and the bulbs are smaller than usual. They should still taste nice though!

• Frisée/Endive- These are slightly bitter leafy greens that can add nice crunch to salads. They can also stand up to some wilting or sautéeing if you want to mellow the flavor.

• Carrots

• Slicing cucumbers

• Thin-skinned seedless cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Summer Squash

• Mini Cabbage

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This is likely the last week of salanova until the fall. Lettuce in general doesn’t do well in the heat of the summer, so we take a mid season break from planting salanova.

Coming soon: celery, uncured garlic, new arugula plantings

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Green Beans

• Herbs: basil, dill, parsley, mint, oregano, chives and sage

Coming soon: cherry tomatoes and more sunflowers

In the farm store:

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

• Sweet Corn from Verrill Farm. Not organic.

• Beets

• Pickling Cucumbers

• Garlic scapes

• Scallions

• Flowers

• 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.

PYO Flower CSA

This week the flower field will be open to PYO Flower CSA members only, but we plan to open it to members of the general public. We still have a few PYO Flower CSA memberships available - visit http://www.barrettsmillfarm.com/online-store/pyo-flower-csa if you would like to sign up!

Flowers available for picking this week include: zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, ageratum, celosia, ammi, rudbeckia, verbena, amaranth, cosmos, decorative grasses, decorative basil and strawflower.

Sarah harvests some flowers for the farm store.

ZUCCHINI GRIDDLECAKES

By Adam Ried from The Boston Globe, August 19, 2007

MAKES ABOUT 24
2 1/2- TO 3-INCH CAKES

See below for several variations!

• 2 1/2 pounds (about 8) small to medium zucchini

• 1 medium onion

• 1 tablespoon plus

• 2 teaspoons salt

• 4 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

• 2 large eggs, beaten lightly

• 1/2 cup milk or half-and-half

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1 1/2 teaspoons pepper, or to taste

• 1 cup minus 2 tablespoons flour

• Corn, vegetable, or canola oil (for cooking)

Using the shredding disk in a food processor or the large holes on a box grater, shred or grate the zucchini (you should have about 8 cups) and the onion. Place the vegetables in a colander, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon salt, and mix. Place the colander over a bowl and let stand 30 minutes until mixture exudes about 1 cup of liquid. Rinse under cold water. Spread a clean dish towel on a work surface, place the mixture in the center, gather the corners of the towel, and twist to wring out as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a large bowl, and break up clumps with a wooden spoon.

Stir parsley, eggs, milk or half-and-half, baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper into the zucchini and blend. Add the flour, and, using a rubber spatula, fold it into the zucchini mixture.

Set the oven rack to the center position and heat to 250 degrees. In a large, nonstick skillet, heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil over medium-high heat. Measure 2 or 3 tablespoons zucchini batter and pour into the pan to form a disk 2 1/2 to 3 inches in diameter. Repeat until the pan is filled, leaving about 1 inch between cakes. Cook cakes without moving (adjusting heat if pan becomes too hot) until the bottoms are golden brown, about 3 1/2 minutes. Using a spatula, flip the cakes and cook until the second side is golden brown, about 3 1/2 minutes more. Remove to a plate lined with paper towels and set in the warm oven. Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm.

VARIATIONS

Herb and Parmesan Substitute 6 tablespoons mixed chopped fresh herbs such as parsley, mint, chives, tarragon, basil, and chervil for the parsley and add 3/4 cup grated Parmesan with the flour.

Mint and feta Substitute 6 tablespoons chopped fresh mint for the parsley and add 3/4 cup of crumbled feta with the flour.

Thyme and corn Remove kernels from 2 ears of corn, about 2 cups. (See Fresh Corn Griddlecakes for instructions.) Follow the Zucchini Griddlecakes recipe using 4 zucchini instead of 8. Add the corn and 3/4 teaspoon of chopped fresh thyme to the squeezed zucchini along with the parsley, eggs, milk or half-and-half, baking powder, 2 teaspoons salt, and the pepper.

CSA Week 5 and Farm Stand Updates

We got to check off some pretty significant items on our task list last week in spite of taking a half day on July 4th. One of the items that has been weighing on our minds is trellising and pruning in our high tunnels. High tunnels are in-ground growing structures with a clear plastic “roof”, and as you might imagine it gets pretty hot in there on sunny summer days. This makes it a challenge to get high tunnel trellising work done in June and July! The morning is really the only tolerable time to be in there on a hot day, but that is also the time when we have to harvest vegetables so that they don’t wilt. Trellising is important for keeping plants off the ground and supporting them so that vines and branches don’t snap. Pruning the plants not only helps prevent branches and vines snapping, but it increases productivity, makes harvesting easier, and prevents disease because of better airflow.

The first round of trellising always takes the longest. We have to hang hundreds of new strings from the cross bars in the high tunnels, in addition to clipping plants to the strings and pruning them. Usually by the time we get to the last beds in the high tunnels the plants require extra pruning and gentle handling. Even once that is done, we still have to come back frequently throughout the summer (the plants grow rapidly in the high tunnels) to continue pruning and clipping plants to the trellising lines, but it generally moves quicker than that first round. Last week we finished our third or fourth round of cucumber trellising and we got most of the way through the first round of trellising our peppers. We thankfully got a little relief from the heat on Saturday, which allowed us to make some significant progress on the peppers.

It looks like we’ve got another hot and humid week out in the fields ahead of us, but we will still find time to get in the high tunnels. We are close to finishing the peppers…. for now! Next we desperately need to tackle the next round of high tunnel tomato trellising!

In the CSA this week:

• Frisée - This is a slightly bitter leafy green that can add nice crunch to salads. It can also stand up to some wilting or sautéeing if you want to mellow the flavor.

• Purple Carrots - The skins are both purple and orange, with orange interiors. They taste great and look pretty!

• Slicing cucumbers

• Thin-skinned seedless cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Summer Squash

• Garlic Scapes

• Kale

• Mini Cabbage

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer!

• Arugula 0r Mustard greens

Coming soon: potatoes, fresh onions, fennel and celery.

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Green Beans

• Sunflowers

• Herbs: basil, dill, parsley, mint, oregano, chives and sage

In the farm store:

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

• Beets

• Pickling Cucumbers

• Seedlings

• Flowers

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - In addition to the regular Farmer’s Mix and Shiitake, we will have a few Lion’s Mane! Certified organic.

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

Warm Frisée and Mushroom Salad

from Tried & True

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons plant-based or dairy butter plus more if needed

• 1 pound mixed mushrooms torn or sliced depending on the variety

• 3 shallots peeled and quartered lengthwise

• 2 tablespoons maple syrup

• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

• 2 teaspoons white wine vinegar

• 1 head of frisée torn

• Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Cook the mushrooms:

• Melt the butter in a wide pot or skillet over medium-high heat. Add half the mushrooms in an even layer and cook for 8–12 minutes until well-browned—season with salt and pepper and transfer to a bowl.

• If the skillet is dry, add another tablespoon of butter. Once melted, add the remaining mushrooms and cook for 8–12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and transfer to the bowl of mushrooms.

Cook the shallot:

• Add the shallot to the pot and cook for 3–4 minutes, stirring often. Next, add all mushrooms to the pot and cook for 1–2 minutes.

Prepare the sauce:

• Whisk together the maple syrup, Dijon mustard, and white wine vinegar in a bowl.

Cook the frisée:

• Turn the heat on the mushrooms to high. Pour in the sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and add the torn frisée. Cook for 5 minutes until wilted—season to taste with salt and pepper. Turn off the heat.

To serve:

• Serve with cooked rice or noodles or alongside your favorite meat or plant-based protein. Enjoy!

CSA Week 4, Farm Stand Updates and July 4th

In spite of some time-consuming cucumber and zucchini harvests, we accomplished a lot last week! We cultivated just about the entire farm with our tractors. We put down landscape fabric in between tomato, celery, watermelon, kale and sweet potato beds. We trellised most of our field tomatoes. We pruned plants and released beneficial insects in our cucumber high tunnel. We also finally were able to put up a deer fence around the pick-your-own field to the east of the farm stand. This field has our PYO green beans in it, which the deer delight in picking their own (or rather chomping off the tops of the plants). We had covered our beans with netting for over a month to protect them until we could get a fence up, but we needed to uncover the plants for the pollinators and so the plants didn’t get crushed and deformed. I don’t want to jinx ourselves, but the fence seems to be holding up for now. The bean plants have not yet been nibbled since we took the cover off, and I saw a buck walking along the outside perimeter of the fence last night seemingly not attempting to get in. Last season was such a struggle with the deer, so we are keeping a close eye looking for signs of deer incursion!

On another note, the farm stand will be closed Thursday, July 4th for the holiday. We’ll be open our regular hours for the rest of the week, so stop by for your Fourth of July grilling and salad supplies! The CSA schedule remains the same as usual (Wednesday/Saturday pick-ups).

In the CSA this week:

• Mini Cabbage - We are growing 3 types of green cabbage this spring - a regular round head, a cone shaped variety, and a savoy leaf variety.

• Pickling Cucumbers

• Thin-skinned seedless cucumbers

• Slicing cucumbers

• Zucchini

• Summer Squash

• Carrots

• Beets

• Garlic Scapes

• Kale

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer!

• Arugula

• Mustard greens - This planting we have a mix of 3 different types of mustard together

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Sunflowers - Our first sunflowers just started blooming! We’ll have multiple successions over the course of the summer.

• Herbs: dill, parsley, mint, oregano and sage

In the farm store:

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

• Scallions

• Seedlings

• Flowers

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

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

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

• Eggs from Codman Farm - Not organic.

Cabbage Cucumber Salad

from theyummybowl.com

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb young green cabbage, shredded

• 2-3 small (pickling) cucumber or ¾ of english cucumber, peeled, cut into half moon

• ½ cup fresh dill

• 1 ½ tablespoon olive oil

• 1 teaspoon salt or to taste

• ¼ black cracked pepper

• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar 6% or white cider vinegar 5%

PREPARATION

1. Slice the cabbage thinly, preferably with a large and sharp knife. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Using your hands stir and massage the cabbage to soften it and to make sure that all the seasoning is incorporated.

3. Cut the cucumbers into half moon circles. Prepare dill and add to the bowl with sliced cabbage.

4. Drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Mix well and serve immediately or leave in the fridge for 15-30 minutes to chill and flavors to combine even more. 

CSA Week 3 and Farm Stand Updates

We survived the heat last week and after devoting most of our non-harvest time to irrigation, we got some very timely rains at the end of the week! We sent our crew home early on the hottest days for everyone’s safety. It’s a tough time of year to not be able to get out in the fields with a big group, so this week we will be playing some catch-up on weeding, fencing, putting down landscape fabric, trellising tomatoes and trellising and pruning cukes, tomatoes and peppers in the high tunnels. We also now have some time-consuming and heavy squash, zucchini and cucumber harvests to contend with, but that’s a good kind of problem!

For our CSA members, we wanted to just give a few gentle reminders about filling your CSA bag and PYO containers. The bags and PYO containers that we provide are the measuring tools for your CSA share. Bags can be filled up to the top of the bag, but should not go above that (the exception would be some of our taller items - it is okay if carrot tops come out the top of the bag as long as the carrots themselves are completely inside the bag). With PYO, we have examples of what bunches or filled pints and quarts should look like. Following these guidelines will help ensure that members who come at the end of the day or week can still have a pleasant picking experience. Memberships are sized for one household, so if you are sharing a CSA membership with another household and would like more produce, shopping in the store is a great way to support the farm!

In the CSA this week:

• Zucchini

• Summer Squash

• Thin-skinned seedless cucumbers

• Slicing cucumbers

• Carrots

• Garlic Scapes

• Radishes

• Salad turnips

• Mini daikon radish

• Kale

• Swiss chard

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer!

• Arugula

• Mustard greens

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, mint, oregano and sage

In the farm store:

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

• Beets

• Pickling Cucumbers

• Scallions

• Seedlings

• Flowers

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

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

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

• Eggs from Codman Farm - Not organic.

Mushroom CSA:

It is the last week of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA. Stay tuned for information on how to sign up for the fall edition!

Cucumber Salad

By Ali Slagle, NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 1 pound cucumbers

• Salt

• 3 tablespoons vinegar (red or white wine, rice or Sherry)

• 1½teaspoons honey or granulated sugar

• ½small red onion, thinly sliced and rinsed under cold water

• 2 tablespoons chopped dill

• Black pepper

Preparation

1. Peel the cucumbers in alternating strips and trim ends. If desired, halve lengthwise and scoop out the seeds. Thinly slice, then transfer to a colander set in the sink. Toss with 1 teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt or ½ teaspoon fine sea salt and set aside to drain at least 5 minutes or up to 30.

2. In a medium bowl, stir together the vinegar and honey until the honey is dissolved. Shake the cucumbers in the colander to get rid of any moisture, then transfer the cucumbers, red onion and dill to the bowl. Stir to combine, then season to taste with salt and pepper.

CSA Week 2 and schedule adjustments due to the holiday and heat!

With the Juneteenth holiday on Wednesday and the extreme heat forecast for this week, we are making some adjustments to our hours. On Wednesday, the CSA and store will be open 9am - 3pm for the Juneteenth holiday. In addition, because of the extreme heat forecast, we may decide to close the PYO field in the afternoon. If you are able, we encourage you to come before noon! On Thursday, June 20th the farm stand will be closed due to the heat. While we are working on a way to keep our open air farm stand a little cooler, we don’t feel prepared yet to safely operate in potentially 100 degree temps. Please do come back to visit us on Friday and Saturday, though - we’ve got some lovely vegetables this week!

In the CSA this week:

• Carrots - We will be enjoying some nice orange early carrots this week. They will be bunched with the tops on, but if you would like to store them for more than a few days in your refrigerator, take off the green tops and keep the carrots in a plastic bag in your crisper drawer to prevent them from getting rubbery.

• Cucumbers - They really took off in our high tunnel at the end of last week, so we should be enjoying a good supply going forward!

• Garlic Scapes - These are essentially garlic flower buds. We snap them off to force the plant to put more energy into growing the bulbs bigger, but a side benefit is that scapes taste delicious too. They are s little milder than regular garlic.

• Kohlrabi

• Radishes - this week we have lovely purple variety!

• Salad turnips

• Mini daikon radish

• Bok choi

• Kale

• Swiss chard

• Lettuce

• Salanova lettuce mix - This cut leaf mix is a little crisper than a mesclun mix and therefore keeps well for longer!

• Arugula

• Mustard greens - A spicy green that is great for cooking.

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, basil, mint, oregano and sage

In the farm store:

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

• Thin-skinned and seedless cucumbers

• Beets

• Fennel

• Scallions

• Seedlings - herbs, cucumbers, zucchini

• Flowers - We’ll have the last of the stock, but we’ll be adding some new snapdragon colors at the end of the week.

• Mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm - Certified organic

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

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

• Eggs from Codman Farm - Not organic.

We accept credit card, cash, check and EBT in the farm store. Regular farm store hours are Tuesday - Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. Please note that this week we will be open 9am - 3pm on Wednesday for Juneteenth, and we will be closed Thursday June 20th due to the heat.

Mushroom CSA:

Now that the farm store is staffed you may come to pick up your mushrooms anytime the farm store is open (Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm). Your mushrooms will be kept in the cooler and retrieved by the shopkeeper when you arrive at the store. It is week 7 of the 8-week Spring Mushroom CSA.

White Bean and Garlic Scapes Dip

by Melissa Clark, NY Times Cooking

We’ve shared this recipe before. It is a perfect dip for the carrots and cukes we’re enjoying this week, and does not require turning on the stove! We found that where it says “more to taste”, we definitely prefer it with more! (We also add more garlic scapes than suggested).

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup sliced garlic scapes (3 to 4)

• 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, more to taste

• ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt, more to taste

• Ground black pepper to taste

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

• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil, more for drizzling

Preparation

1. In a food processor, process garlic scapes with lemon juice, salt and pepper until finely chopped. Add cannellini beans and process to a rough purée.

2. With motor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through feed tube and process until fairly smooth. Pulse in 2 or 3 tablespoons water, or more, until mixture is the consistency of a dip. Add more salt, pepper and/or lemon juice, if desired.

3. Spread out dip on a plate, drizzle with olive oil, and sprinkle with more salt.

Garlicky Swiss Chard

By Melissa Clark, NY Times Cooking

Ingredients

• 2 bunches Swiss chard, stems removed

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or scapes!)

• Large pinch crushed red pepper flakes

• Salt

Preparation

1. Stack chard leaves on top of one another (you can make several piles) and slice them into ¼-inch strips.

2. Heat oil in a very large skillet (or use a soup pot). Add garlic and red pepper flakes and sauté for 30 seconds, until garlic is fragrant. Stir in the chard, coating it in oil. Cover pan and let cook for about 2 minutes, until chard is wilted. Uncover, stir and cook for 2 minutes longer. Season with salt.