Brazilian
Collard Greens
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From Gourmet, September 2007.
1 1/4 pound collard greens, stems and center ribs discarded
and leaves halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves
1 T olive oil
1. Stack half of collard leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise
into very thin strips (1/16 inch wide). Repeat with remainder.
2. Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a
12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook
garlic, stirring, 30 seconds. Add collards with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and
cook, tossing, until just tender and bright green, 3 to 4 minutes.
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Cabbage with Indian Spices
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This is wonderful served with any Indian curry dish or with basmati rice. From Farmer John - adapted from The Great Curries of India). Serves 4
3 T vegetable oil or ghee
2 cups minced onion (about 4 medium onions)
1 1/2 t minced ginger
1 green hot chile pepper, cut in half lengthwise
1 pound cabbage (about 1 small head), shredded
1 t ground coriander
1/4 t cayenne pepper
pinch turmeric
3 T water
1 large fresh tomato, peeled, chopped
(about 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 t salt
1. Heat the oil or ghee in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, ginger, and chile pepper; sauté, stirring often, until the onion is browned, 15 to 20 minutes.
2. Stir in the cabbage. Add the coriander, cayenne, and turmeric and mix well. Add the water, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomato and salt; stir to combine. Cover and cook until tender, 5 to 10 minutes. Remove the hot chile pepper before serving.
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Third Sunday Gatherings
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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.
October 21st - ***TBD*** November 18th
- Harvest Potluck - Details to follow.
December 16th
- Winter Solstice - Details to follow. January 20th, 2008 - CFO Annual Meeting - details to follow.
For more information...
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| Welcome to the 2007 Harvest Season! |
Share pickups at the farm are:
- Tuesday, September 25, 3-7:30 PM
- Thursday, September 27, 3-7:30 PM
- Sunday, September 30, 3-7:30 PM
Share pickups in Somerville are Tuesday September 25 from 5-7 PM. Have you noticed that Sunday pickups at the farm are very busy? Would you like a quieter, more intimate farm experience? Try out our Tuesday and Thursday pickups if you can!
The final pickups of the season will be October 23, 25 and 28 at the farm and October 23 in Davis Square.  If you have a fruit share (from Autumn Hills Orchard) please remember to pick yours up at your regular vegetable distribution.
Bring your own household compost if you don't mind the walk to the compost piles. Thanks to everyone who has brought compost!
Bring bags for pickup if you have them.
Many thanks to Eric Wlodyka who has contributed many of the newsletter photos this week. |
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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.
 Acorn and Butternut Squash- Sweet Potatoes
- Salad Greens (may include spinach, arugula, or green mix)
- Choice of collards, kale, or Swiss chard
- Peppers
- Savoy or Napa cabbage
- Garlic
Have
you checked out our Produce and Recipe pages?
Feel
free to submit recipes and cooking ideas to us via email to waltham.csa.news@gmail.com. We'd love to include your family's favorite recipes! |
Pick your own crops this week
- Cherry tomatoes
 - Hot peppers
- Basil
- Parsley
- Dill
- Cilantro
- 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 officially fall -- the most wonderful time of the year for farmers in New England. The hard work of the season is passing away, and the harvest is in the fields, and we are grateful for it and for a year of four seasons in which one could be called "rest, cook, eat and fix all the equipment that broke this season."
 Seriously, though, many farmers I know believe that the real "eating season" does not begin until the fall equinox. OK, maybe it's because we're too exhausted to cook in June, July and August, but I think it definitely has something to do with the fact that some of the best ingredients wait until this time of the year to make an appearance. Yes, I'm talking about collard greens touched by the first frosts of the season, which we had last week to change their starches in to sugars. Type in "kale" or "collard greens" in the recipe search box at epicurious or check out the recipe page on our website for some mouth-watering and simple recipes for these vastly underappreciated greens. I'm talking about sweet potatoes and leeks and arugula, napa cabbage slaw and turnip soup served with a kale-and-leek topped grilled cheese sandwich on a chilly night. I spend most of the afternoons on harvest days dreaming of what we're going to have for dinner that night.
 After this week, we have four weeks of autumn distributions remaining. Highlights will include the return of our delicious fall carrots, kohlrabi, turnips, broccoli and cauliflower, radicchio, escarole and endive, another round of sweet potatoes, more winter squash and potatoes from Picadilly Farm, lettuce, a tortoise's dream of more salad and cooking greens (that's them on the right), crisp multi-colored radishes, more tender leeks, and the most beautiful crop of parsnips and celeriac we've ever grown. Yes, the heavy hitters of the summer harvest have faded -- the tomatoes, corn, and cucumbers are gone for another season. But here's where eating in season gets deeply satisfying -- and really tasty, too. Enjoy the fall harvest! |
Comings
and goings on the farm
 Just as our wonderful summer interns headed back to school (where Josh is studying in India, Anna Wei is now the garden manager at Mt. Holyoke College, Sara still stops by to help us out on Sunday mornings, and Vinny... well, who really knows about Vinny) we have been lucky to have Hannah Ramer with us on the farm for the fall harvests.
Hannah, a native of St. Paul, Minnesota, is a student at Brandeis University, where she is majoring in Environmental Studies and minoring in Spanish and Latino and Latin American studies.
She spent her summer in Ecuador and is excited to be doing an internship at Waltham Fields, where she will spend time both in the fields and completing a survey of hunger and access to food in Waltham.
Welcome to the farm, Hannah!
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Chestnut Farms Meat Shares Available at Waltham Fields!
As many of you know, this season we've been exploring the potential of connecting our CSA shareholders with products from other farms. We already do this through our fruit share, a partnership with Autumn Hills Orchard in Groton, and this year we are proud to announce the beginning of a new partnership with Chestnut Farms in Hardwick. Chestnut Farms is a family farm owned and operated by Kim and Rich Denney on the site of a former dairy farm, close to the banks of the Quabbin Reservoir. The family raises pigs, cows, chickens, and lamb (along with some delicious eggs!) and is dedicated to humane and sustainable farming methods.
Chestnut Farms already offers their monthly meat shares at several farmers' markets and one vegetable CSA, and some members of our farm community have already become shareholders and have enjoyed the experience tremendously.
We are excited to help connect our shareholders with Kim and Rich and their farm.
Meat share pickups at Waltham Fields Community Farm will begin in January of 2007. Kim told us that she has room for a maximum of 40 shares on her truck, and that she needs a minimum of 25 shares to create a new pickup spot in Waltham. Current Waltham Fields shareholders will have one month of exclusive opportunity during October to sign up for a meat share before Kim opens up the Waltham pickup to her own waiting list.
For more details about the farm, the meat, or to sign up for the meat CSA, visit Chestnut Farms' website. Be sure to let Kim know that you are a Waltham Fields shareholder!
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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
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