Thank you for a great season!!

This goes out to all our members, family and friends and colleagues who helped us along the way.

Today we awoke excited and refreshed, wholly thanks to a fantastic pot-luck dinner celebration with our CSA members last night. We could not have done this without the incredible support and encouragement and engagement from everyone who came and brought food, interest, and enthusiasm to our farm. It is so easy to feel apathetic as citizens these days. And in some way a party like we had last night, in which multiple generations and wide-ranging professional backgrounds mingle affably over a meal, kindles our aspiration and affirms our belief that we can and are changing and creating a better world through our work.

We also want to acknowledge everyone who has followed our blog, because it too has been an important side of the farm. We have had doubts about our blog that have kindly been erased by all the positive feedback and interest in our story and web content. One of our members told us that he had recently read our entire blog beginning to end, and that he not only found good content but also personal connections and shared interests. We know there are many others who have been following all along, and we ourselves often forget how far we’ve come in so short a time. So, thank you for reminding us and keeping us going.

Ok, a bit of plugging: Next year we have high aspirations for building upon all we’ve achieved so far. We are planning to expand our CSA membership, which means expanding our fields and our offerings. We will also hopefully be updating our blog into a full-fledged website. Please stay tuned for updates, and spread the word!

Also, here’s a quick recap of some of the excellent dishes that we enjoyed at our first annual CSA pot-luck:

Kale salad with shaved parm and lemon vinaigrette; Navajo stew with red Hubbard squash, beans, and corn; Tuscan beans with bread crumbs; Bulgar with “everything”; red cabbage Asian slaw; cranberry bean pasta fagiole; rice with lentils, kale and peas; pickled mexican sour gherkins; herbed fromage blanc with olive sourdough, baguette, and herbed no-knead bread; stuffed acorn squash with pork; bacon and cheese Quiche; pork rillette; apple crisp, chocolate chip cookies, pie, and wine.

In short, thank you, thank you, thank you! We will be back again in style next season, and in the meantime our story goes on–WE’RE GETTING MARRIED!!!

Final CSA Share September 2013

Final CSA Pick Up

Last CSA Share

Last days of summer talk

Perfect out door conditions

Good conversation

Delicious Food

Final CSA Recipes

Roasted Red Kuri Squash

From Emma &Ben

 

1 Red Kuri Hubbard Squash

1 T. fresh sage, chopped, OR 2 t. dry sage

1 T. maple syrup

Olive Oil

Salt

Freshly ground pepper

Butter, to finish

Additional maple syrup, to finish

 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using a large, sharp knife, carefully cut squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Rub with olive oil, sprinkle with salt, pepper and chopped sage. Place skin side down on baking sheet and roast until tender, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once tender when pierced with a fork, remove from oven and cool slightly. Scoop out flesh and transfer to a serving bowl. Mix with about 2 tablespoons butter and additional maple syrup, if desired. Serve warm. This dish is great with braised greens.

 

 

Navajo Stew

Modified from Moosewood Restaurant’s “Simple Suppers”

We served this recipe last night at our final harvest potluck. Add sweet corn if you wish.

 

1 delicata, acorn, or small red kuri squash

3 green or poblano peppers

1 large onion

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 T. vegetable oil

1 T. ground cumin

1 t. salt

Freshly ground black pepper

3 C. fresh tomatoes, chopped, OR 1- 15 oz can tomatoes

1 T. canned chipotles in adobo sauce (one of our favorite grocery ingredients)

2 T. fresh green coriander seeds, OR ½ C. fresh cilantro

2 cups cooked pinto or black beans, OR 1- 15 oz can of beans, drained

Plain yogurt or sour cream, for serving

 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly oil a baking sheet.

 

Peel the squash and cut into 1-inch cubes. Stem and seed the peppers and cut into 1-inch pieces. Peel the onion and cit it stem end to root end into thin wedges. In a bowl, toss the vegetables with the garlic, cumin, oil, salt, and pepper. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. Stir and continue to roast for another 10 to 15 minutes, until the squash is tender but not mushy.

 

While the vegetables roast, puree the tomatoes, chipotle, and green coriander seeds in a blender or food processor until smooth, set aside. When the vegetables are tender, put them in a 2 to 3 quart baking dish, stir in the tomato-coriander sauce and the beans, and return to the oven until hot, about 10 minutes.

 

Top with yogurt or sour cream if desired and serve hot.

 

 

 

 

It feels like Fall

We have nearly made it through our first growing season. With only two more weeks of our CSA, we have been busy harvesting as much fall produce as possible for our members. Last week we harvested 900 lbs of winter squash, and we still have about twice that much in the fields! It was one of the most gratifying harvests we have had to date, for the squash are beautiful, tasty, and so prolific.

We also have been enjoying a late summer crop of Mexican Sour Gherkins. These neat little guys look like miniature watermelon, but taste like a sour cucumber when you bite into them. They are only the size of a large marble, but their small climbing vines have yielded enough for us to supply restaurants with this delicacy, and to share them with our CSA this week.

Mexican Sour Gherkins

Our multi-color carrots have been a real hit with our members and with restaurants. Until recently however, trimming and washing them was a real chore. But as an early wedding gift, our dear friend and CSA member Kris gave us a very cool new piece of equipment–an antique potato washer. What we now call the “carrot boat”, is a slatted wooden table of sorts, with two sides and a narrow front end. After they are topped, we put the carrots in this mesh-line boat and spray them down; all the dirt falls free and they come sparkling clean. It has been a real timesaver, as well as a fun way to put an old piece of equipment back into productive use.

Washing Carrots w/ antique potato washer

Despite concerns about flea beetles, blight, and too much rain, we have been delighted that our peppers and eggplant are producing enough fruit to go around. We even managed to get decent tomatoes out of our dying plants for the last three weeks.

But there’s no doubt that summer is coming to a close. We started our harvest today at the usual early time, yet found ourselves needing warm hats and extra jackets. The crisp air nipped our fingers and reminded us that soon we will be pushed inside by the cool weather.

Before that time comes however, we have a few remaining chores…one of the largest being the wedding harvest. During the first week of October, we will be harvesting all the vegetables for our wedding reception. Chef Dan Martello at Good Luck Restaurant has generously created a wedding menu based around what produce we will have available on the farm at that time. We will therefore have the opportunity to share our bounty with 100 of our closest friends and family. What an honor! Until then, as you can imagine, we are staying quite busy.