News from Waltham Fields Community Farm

Waltham Fields CSA <farmmanager@communityfarms.org>
Mon, Aug 13, 2007 at 10:06 AM
Reply-To: farmmanager@communityfarms.org
To: Shareholders
August 14 - 19
Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA Newsletter
Distribution Week #10

In This Issue
What's in the shares this week
Pick your own crops
Crop Updates
Comings and Goings on the Farm
We Are Looking For...
Quick Links
CSA Overview

Newsletter Archive

FAQs

Tips for Share Pickup

Harvest Schedule

Produce Info and Recipes
Third Sunday Gatherings

Third Sunday Gatherings are back this season! For those of you who are new to the farm or to Third Sunday Gatherings, they are a great opportunity to meet fellow shareholders and learn about various topics related to our mission. Each time, we will start with a farm-fresh potluck at five o'clock followed by a guest speaker.

August 19th - Putting Food By: An Introduction to Preservation Methods

September 16th - ***TBD*** Have Suggested Topics or Speakers? - send them to Alison Horton.

October 21st - Panel on WFCF Programs: Hunger Relief, Education, Volunteers

November 18th - Harvest Potluck - Details to follow.

December 16th - Winter Solstice - Details to follow.

For more information...

Roasted Tomato
Basil Pesto

This variation on pesto is so delightful it's amazing that it's not more common. The roasted tomato flavor is superbly highlighted by the sweet aromatic basil - but a very ripe regular tomato will work well too. Don't limit this pesto to just pasta; try it on pizzas and roasted potatoes, in an omelette, or over
grilled vegetables. You can make an equally delicious variation by using cilantro instead of basil. Serves 2

Ingredients

2 pre-roasted tomatoes or 1 large fresh tomato
2-3 cloves garlic, peeled, halved
3 T pine nuts
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 cup fresh whole basil leaves
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 T butter, softened
salt
freshly ground black pepper

1. Combine the tomatoes, garlic, pine nuts, and oil in a blender and process until just combined. Add a handful of basil and process again briefly; continue adding the basil in small amounts until all is combined.
2. Stir in the Parmesan cheese and butter and season with salt and
pepper to taste.

From Farmer John's Cookbook: The Real Dirt On Vegetables: Seasonal Recipes and Stories from a Community Supported Farm.
Welcome to the 2007 Harvest Season!

Share pickups at the farm are:

  • Tuesday, August 14, 3-7:30 PM
  • Thursday, August 16, 3-7:30 PM
  • Sunday, August 19, 3-7:30 PM

Share pickups in Somerville are Tuesday August 14 from 5-7 PM.

Bring bags for your pickup if you have them! We have enough bags at the farm for a while, thank you to all who have contributed.

Bring your own household compost if you don't mind the walk to the compost piles. Thanks to everyone who has brought compost!

Many thanks to Eric Wlodyka for the newsletter photos this week.
What's in the shares this week

Please note: this list is prepared the week before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved: some things may be in the share that are not on the list, and some listed things may not be in the share.

  • Notes from the FieldSweet Corn
  • Red Potatoes
  • Garlic
  • Eggplant
  • Bell Peppers or Sweet Red Peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Squash
  • Cucumbers
  • Lettuce
  • Kale
Have you checked out our ideas on our Produce Info and Recipes page? There are new recipes for tomatoes and bell peppers you might like. Feel free to submit recipes and cooking ideas to us at waltham.csa.news@gmail.com!
Pick your own crops this week
  • Basil (Thai, lemon, red, sweet)
  • Epazote
  • Parsley
  • Dill
  • Cilantro
  • Beans
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Plum Tomatoes
  • Hot Peppers
  • Tomatilloes
  • Husk Cherries
  • Flowers
  • Perennial Herbs


CSA shareholders can visit the farm to pick your own Sunday through Thursday during daylight hours. Visit the red pick-your-own kiosk in the fields for a list of available crops and picking supplies.

Crop Updates

It's tomato season! You've probably noticed the mPeppersany different varieties available at the farm and in the pick-your-own fields.

We hope this handy guide will help you identify what you're eating and what you'd like to try.We buy tomato seeds from five companies: J means Johnny's Selected Seeds and F means Fedco Seeds, both in Maine, T is Totally Tomatoes,  S is Seed Savers Exchange, and B is Baker Creek Seeds. Quotes are from their catalogs.

Red Varieties

New Girl J: Smaller early red tomatoes with a pointed bottom.

Moskvich J: "Fruits are early, deep red, and cold tolerant. Rich taste."

Red Sun J: "A flavorful Celebrity type with larger, prettier, deep red fruit and more crack resistance." This one does very well on our farm.

Rutgers F: Red tomato with "that great old-time flavor."

Paragon J: Large main crop variety with heavy fruit set.

Yellow Varieties

Taxi J: "Concentrated early set." This is the only early yellow tomato we grow. We only planted 2 rows. Can you tell how productive it is?

Golden Sunray S: "Golden-yellow fruits, full tomato flavor."

Other Varieties

Rose J: "Deep pink and smoother than Brandywine, Rose is every bit as large, meaty, and flavorful."

Rose de Berne F: "This French emigré is a superior medium-sized pink tomato that delivers the robust flavor of the bigger types. It has a rich sweetness the others can't match." One of our favorites.

Paul Robeson B : "This famous tomato has almost a cult following among tomato connoisseurs, who cannot get enough of this variety's amazing flavor that is so distinctive, rich and smoky.

Japanese Black Trifele B : "The flavor is absolutely sublime, having all the richness of fine chocolate." You decide.

Nebraska Wedding S: Meaty orange fruits with "well-balanced flavor."

Jubilee F: "The best medium-sized open-pollinated orange tomato, Jubilee ripens smooth-textured sweet mild meaty 8 oz. globes."

Green Zebra F: "A most unusual beast in the tomato menagerie, this zebra starts out green with dark green stripes, softening and blushing yellow when it ripens."

Tigerella T: Red, orange and yellow striped, medium-sized tomato.

Ruby Gold F: As aesthetically appealing as it is delicious, Ruby boasts prolific beautiful huge red-streaked yellow fruits with marbled interior flesh.

Cherry

Sun Gold F: "To quote one of our customers, 'Without these little babies, there's no summer.' The best cherry tomato ever developed, a perfect combination of deep sweetness with a hint of acid tartness. Splits readily after rain."

Sweet Baby Girl: Standard red cherry.

Plum

Juliet J : "Delicious, rich tomato taste for salads, great salsa, and fresh pasta sauce."

Blue Beech F: "This Roma type has been acclimated in Vermont for the last 50 years so it is much more adaptable to cold climates than Roma. It usually makes a richly textured sweet sauce that's just brimming with flavor."

Orange Banana F: "The proof is in the eating and Orange Banana has several times been the clear winner of our annual autumn paste taste. Comments from this year's tasters include, 'the best flavor and sweetness yet, wow!' and 'gourmet candlelight.' No wonder Banana has become a staple of famous tomato sauces. Its amazing sprightly sweet flavor, reminiscent of Sungold but with more depth and diverse tones, makes an ambrosial sauce by itself and adds a vivid fruity complexity to any sauce with other tomato varieties."

Striped Roman F: "Near the top in our 2005 sauce test for its rich tomatoey sweetness and good texture. An underground favorite of many seed savers, Roman is just beginning to find its way into commerce."




Comings and Goings on the Farm

This week is the end of the season for two of our four summer farm interns. We are very fortunate to have had Josh Levin and Sara Franklin with us this season, and we will miss them both deeply in very different ways.

Josh brought a sense of wonder, a Zen-like 'beginner's mind' and a hilarious sense of humor to the farm crew. If, in a day's work in the fields, I came across something beautiful, especially disgusting, or ecologically interesting, Josh was the first person I wanted to show; his exclamations and fascination helped remind me of what I love about the things I am constantly discovering on the farm. Josh's feet were often sopping wet and his brow dripping with sweat over the course of the season. His arms were covered with scratches and itchy spots from what he called "the cucurbit-tomato one-two punch," but the physical discomforts of farming never dampened his spirits. Josh kept us all laughing through dry spells and challenging weeding, fed us with his home-made creations at our weekly potlucks, diligently managed the pick-your-own crops and the Tuesday distribution setup, and assumed the role of 'tool guy' at a time in the season when it was sorely needed. We wish Josh many husk cherries on his journey to India this semester. May he eat well and meet Vandana Shiva.

Sara came to us following her semester in South Africa, bringing her devotion to small farming, highly developed organizational skills, and amazing cooking to the farm fields and kitchen this season. Sara never let us forget that the primary purpose of the farm is growing food for people to eat, reminding us week after week with her delicious fruit cobblers, summer puddings, and carrot spreads. She nourished our mindsPeppers close up as well, encouraging us to read and to question, even after our long days in the fields. Her strength and endurance inspired us through long garlic and onion harvests, and her joy in her time on the farm was evident to the shareholders at the Davis Square distribution site, where she brought the farm's face each week. We hope to see Sara on the farm from time to time this fall, when she will return to her studies at Tufts. We know that her compassion, spirit and no-nonsense appreciation of food, farming, and the beauty of the simple joys of life will serve her well this year and beyond. We hope that she continues to get her hands in the soil, no matter how far away from our little farm her path carries her.

On another note: thanks to volunteers from Harpoon Brewery and Boston Cares for their incredible work weeding our fall brassicas and planting cover crops on a hot day this past week!
We Are Looking For...

A few good local farms to partner with to offer additional products to our shareholders in upcoming seasons, including eggs, dairy products and meat. If any of you are associated with farms that might be able to connect with us, please let us know by contacting our farm manager, Amanda Cather, through the link below.
Warmly,

From all the staff at Waltham Fields Community Farm:
Meg Coward, Executive Director
Amanda Cather
, Farm Manager
Andy Scherer, Assistant Farm Manager
Kate Darakjy and Martin Lemos, Assistant Growers
Josh Levin, Vincent Errico, Anna Wei, and Sara Franklin, Interns
Mark Walter, Children's Learning Garden Coordinator
Waltham Fields Community Farm | 240 Beaver Street | Waltham | MA | 02452