September 17, 2012
CSA Distribution Week #15
  asters and sunflowers 

Waltham Fields Community Farm

 

CSA Newsletter

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Important Farm Day PYO Update for Shareholders!

Waltham Farm Day, this Saturday, September 22 from 2-5 PM, is a great time to enjoy the farm with members of the public!  There will be carrots to pick, tractors to climb, apples to crush, music to listen to, and many family friendly activities throughout the day.  We hope to see many of you there with your families! 

Because of all the traffic on the farm, we will be removing the PYO map, white board, and field signs during Farm Day. 

pick your own signIf possible,please try to do your PYO this week anytime outside of Farm Day hours, 2-5 PM Saturday.  Picking during this time will be confusing for the general public, who may not know that they are not supposed to harvest from the PYO areas.  Remember, PYO is open anytime during daylight hours for your convenience.  If you do need to pick Saturday afternoon, get ready to explain the CSA to the public and to remember where things are located.  We'll make sure everything is back up Saturday evening. 

Questions?  Contact Amanda.

What's in the shares this week

This list is prepared before we harvest your share. Some guesswork is involved! We do our best to predict which crops will be ready to harvest, but sometimes crops are on the list that are not in the share, and sometimes crops will be in the share even  though they're not on the list.  

 

Mix-and-Match nine items this week from the following list: 

 
KaleKale should be around for most of the rest of the season.  Enjoy all three 'Red Russian', 'Winterbor' (curly) or 'Dinosaur' (Tuscan) varieties! 

Collard GreensTender and delicious, collards are an underappreciated member of the greens family.  Give them a try -- they'll be around for the rest of the season. 

Lettuce:  A mix of greens and reds
 
Eggplant Long, thin 'Orient Express', dark purple 'Italian' style globes, and tiny, beautiful 'Fairy Tale' eggplant are all tasty on the grill, in baba ganoush, or in ratatouille. All are on rotation on the stand this week.

Green peppersIt's perfect weather for warming chili or ratatouille; green peppers are essential in both! 

TomatoesStill coming, but these cool nights may mean this is their last hurrah.  Even though late blight took down many of our heirlooms early in the season, we can't complain -- what a tomato year it turned out to be!
 
Okra: Delicious on the grill, or in stews and gumbos on these cooler evenings!
 
Mustard Greens:  A spicy addition chopped into a salad, also great sauteed with some garlic, tomatoes and lemon juice!  Or tasty on grilled cheese sandwiches too.

Arugula:  A fall favorite, this crop of arugula looks lovely in the field.  We hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

Spinach:  Back for what might be its final appearance of the summer CSA.  Our fall spinach crop doesn't love the dry, warm weather the way some crops do, but it will be delicious in all your favorite spinach recipes.   
 
Cabbage:  More beautiful heads of fresh, tasty cabbage are ready to come out of the fields.  You can make cabbage rolls, a tasty grilled cabbage slaw, or an autumnal salad -- there are lots of options for these sweet, crisp beauties!

Napa Cabbage:  Kimchihot and sour soup, tasty summer rolls or sweet slaw are just a few ideas of great seasonal meals to make with napa. 

Kohlrabi:  Kohlrabi can be used in a curried couscous salad, a summery compote, or a tasty salad as well as just peeled, sliced, and dipped in your favorite spread or dressing. 

Broccoli:  We're right at the beginning of our final broccoli planting of the season, so you may see it in smaller amounts as we harvest the first early heads.  It should pick up again before the end of the season. 
 
Radishes

Salad Turnips:  These round white beauties are great raw, simply sliced on a crudite plate, or roasted in a hot oven until the outsides are brown and crispy and the insides are what Dan calls "molten sweet turnip candy".  That's right, turnips are delicious! 
   
Potatoes:  Keep the taste of summer going with a delicious potato salad, or just stock up on this staple!
  
And farmers' choice of a few surprises throughout the week! 
 
Pick-your-own crops this week:  Please note that when harvesting pick your own, you'll often find the easiest and most abundant picking at the middles and far ends of the beds.
  • Perennial garden herbs   
  • Basil
  • Dill
  • Parsley    
  • Green beans -- the final crop of the year is on! 
  • Hot peppers 
  • Tomatilloes 
  • Husk cherries
  • Cherry and plum tomatoes are winding down, but there are still some around!  
  • Flowers  
  • Raspberries: Spotted wing drosophila, the new scourge of the Northeast organic berry grower, is back.  This tiny fruit fly lays its eggs in ripening fruit.  You can soak berries in salty water to make larvae float to the top in order to use the berries in a recipe like raspberry freezer jam.  The larvae are not harmful to consume, but most people prefer to forgo the added protein.  

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Quick Links

 

WFCF CSA Info & Pickup Times 

 

Weekday shareholders:  Please remember to pick up on Tuesday or Thursday evenings!  This becomes even more critical during the fall months.  Email Amanda at the beginning of the week to request a one-time switch if you need to.   

 

WFCF Recipes

 

Events and Programs

 

Save The Date(s)

 

Waltham Farm Day
Sat., Sept. 22. 2-5pm. FREE event, no registration required. All are welcome!

 

Interested in Volunteering on Farm Day?  

Contact Kim Hunter (781) 899-2403 x2 

 

Seed Saving Workshop with WFCF member Brian Madsen. Sat., Oct. 20, 2-4pm. Registration required.

 

Eggplant, Peppers, and Tomatoes, oh my!

Shareholder Marian kindly sent in two recipes last week...

 

Eggplant & Peppers,
Szechuan-style
From The Eggplant Cookbook by Rosemary Moon. Serves three to four (with rice).

Peanut oil, for frying
1 large eggplant, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 garlic cloves, crushed
2-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and very finely chopped
1 onion, roughly chopped
2 green bell peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 red bell pepper, cored, seed, and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 hot red chile, seeded and finely shredded
½ cup well-flavored vegetable broth
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp rice or white wine vinegar
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp soy sauce

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of oil in a large frying pan or wok. Add the eggplant and stir-fry for 4 to 5 minutes, until lightly browned. Add more oil if necessary. Remove the eggplant with a slotted spoon and keep warm.
2. Add a little more oil to the pan or wok, and then add the garlic and ginger and fry for just a few seconds before adding the onions and bell peppers with the chile. Stir-fry for 2 to three minutes, and then return the eggplant to the pan or wok. Mix the remaining ingredients together and add to the pan or wok.
3. Continue to stir-fry until the sauce has boiled and thickened. Check the seasoning, adding a little more salt or soy sauce as necessary. Serve immediately.
 

Tomatoes Roasted with Rosemary and Lemon (Zest)
From Cooking Light, June 2004
Yields approximately 5 cups - serve over pasta or as a side dish.
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp grated lemon rind
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
4 pounds plum tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
3 garlic cloves, minced

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees. Place all ingredients in a large bowl and toss well to combine. Place tomato mixture in a 13 x 9-inch baking disk and back at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
2. Preheat broiler, then broil tomatoes for 10 minutes or until they begin to brown.
3. Remove from the oven and stir gently to combine.
 

Do you have a recipe you'd like to share? We'd love to include it in our next newsletter! Please send it in to Susan Cassidy. And thanks in advance! 
Notes from the Field:  Why We Farm Organically

 A recent Stanford University study made news by casting doubts upon whether organic food is, simply by being organic, healthier for us than non-organic food.  The news coverage of the story featured many people being surprised about the fact that organic farms do use pesticides and fertilizers (ones that are on a list approved by the Organic Materials Review Institute), and that organic food does not automatically provide more nutrition or health benefits to its consumers.  One radio report hinted at the fact that 'organic' might just be a ploy by some big companies to be able to charge unsuspecting customers more for healthier-sounding food.

napa cabbageI've been mulling over what troubles me about this the coverage of this study (actually a meta-study, which examined a large amount of data collected in experiments over the past couple of decades).  I've read Michael Pollan's response, as well as the argument from Marion Nestle (written prior to the Stanford study's publication) about the ongoing controversy over organic food, and I think I've figured out what it is: for many of us who farm organically, who are not associated with big companies or even big agriculture, organic is not just a consumer label.  In many ways, it has very little to do with how we market our products.  Organic farming is about how we grow, why we do what we do, and our desire to make a positive impact on the world.  I chose organic farming as a profession because I believe that organic production is a scientifically based attempt to create an agriculture that produces economically viable yields of beautiful, nutritious vegetables while remaining as beneficial to the environment, and to farmworkers, as possible.  While I often shorten it to "farmer" when I'm describing what I do, in my heart of hearts, I'm an organic farmer. 

onions To me, organic doesn't mean boutique farming or baby vegetables, or getting the highest price we possibly can for our crops.  The higher price for organic food is only justified because sometimes it costs more money to grow in a way that is more environmentally thoughtful; composted dairy manure, for example, costs more than synthetic petrochemical fertilizers but is less likely to create pollution if it is well-managed.  (In an ideal world, the cows that produce that manure would also live on the organic farm, but our agricultural world, especially in our urban area, is very much less than ideal.)  Organic farming, to me as a grower, means that I can almost always eat what I grow right out of the ground; it means that my children, and our shareholders, and the people who work on the farm day in and day out, can walk through the fields, pick their own food, and generally eat from the land in a way that minimizes the amount of pesticides they are exposed to.  It means making a conscious effort, day in and day out, to farm in a way that builds healthy soil that grows healthy food. 
 
plantings for fall harvest Organic farming isn't perfect.  It can be fuel intensive, input-heavy, labor intensive, expensive, and heartbreaking.  Growing three rows of fennel on a four-foot-wide, two-hundred-foot long bed is certainly not mimicking any natural system I've ever come across.  The pesticides that we are allowed to use under the standards approved by the USDA are not harmless, non-toxic plant compounds; some of them are deadly chemicals that happen to be naturally derived.  Not only that, they are not as effective as the deadly synthetic chemicals that conventional farmers are allowed to use.  There is much that is still unknown about the way soil functions naturally and how we can build a functioning soil ecosystem that grows nutritious organic vegetables.  And the truth is that not all organic farmers are good farmers; some of us, while well-intentioned, are still learning -- farming, after all, is an art as much as a science, and organic farming takes years of practice to learn well.  A wise, experienced conventional farmer may well grow food with more nutritional value than a sloppy, inexperienced, or negligent organic farmer.  A master farmer -- of any stripe -- is one who grows bountiful yields of highly nutritious vegetables from highly functioning soil; I just happen to believe that organic methods are the road I want to take to get to that level, if I ever do.

There are very few things that I'm willing to say I believe in as I get older.  Even the Red Sox are not what they used to be.  And 'big organic'  is definitely not what 'organic' used to be.  For better or for worse, organic farming has come a long way from the  days of back-to-the-landers with their bug-riddled zucchini and kale.  But the fundamental idea of trying to grow healthy food -- and lots of it --  in a way that is kinder to the earth and to those who work it is one that I do believe in and try to manifest every day.  Making that food available to everyone in our society is another idea I believe in.  And I am truly grateful that, day in and day out, I can practice something that I deeply believe, regardless of the study of the day or the food fad of the week.  That's why we grow organically at Waltham Fields. 

Hope you enjoy the harvest,

Amanda, for the farm crew

Waltham Fields Community Farm Year-Round Staff  

Claire Kozower, Executive Director

Kim Hunter, Education & Volunteer Coordinator

Amanda Cather, Farm Manger   

Andy Scherer, Gateways Field Manager

Dan Roberts, Field Manager

Erinn Roberts, Greenhouse & Field Manager

Marla Rhodes, Development Coordinator

Deb Guttormsen, Bookkeeper & Tech Coordinator

 

Assistant Growers

Sutton Kiplinger, Zannah Porter   

Field Crew

Alison Denn, Anna Linck, Katherine Murray, David Taberner 

Weed Crew  

Becca Carden, Kathryn Cole, Annabelle Ho, Meghan Seifert

Learning Garden Educators

Rebecca Byard, Alison Dagger, Ian Howes

 

Work Sharers

Graphic Design, Neva Corbo-Hudak

CSA Newsletter, Susan Cassidy

Learning Garden Maintenance, Rebekah Carter

Container Garden, Dede Dussault

Perennial Garden Maintenance, Sabine Gerbatsch and Amy Hendrickson

Farm Work, Naomi Shea

CSA Distribution Coordinators: Joy Grimes, Natasha Hawke, Deepika Madan, Eileen Rojas, and Aneiage Van Bean  

www.communityfarms.org          781-899-2403  

Waltham Fields Community Farm | 240 Beaver Street | Waltham | MA | 02452