Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER 2017
Week 14 of 20
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In This Issue
CSA PICKUP DATES AND TIMES

COME ONCE EACH WEEK ON ANY OF THESE PICK UP DAYS
Wednesday, September 6th, 2-6:30pm
Thursday, September 7th, 2-6:30pm 
Saturday, September 9th, 9am-2pm 

Any shareholder is welcome to pick up on any of the above days! You don't have to let us know when you're coming. Feel free to switch back and forth from week to week if that works best for you, or choose a day and stick to it for most of the season. We'll be happy to see you whatever day you come to the farm.
WHAT'S IN THE SHARE - Our Best Guess
This is our best guess at this point. Actual crops may vary from what's listed here due to a variety of factors. 
  
In the Barn (Picked for You): 
Radicchio




beets
carrots
lettuce
kale
chard
collards
tomatoes
eggplant
green peppers
radishes
spinach
napa cabbage
delicata squash
kohlrabi
walla walla onions
arugula
radicchio
loose mustard greens
celery

Pick Your Own (PYO): 
cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, dill , cilantro, thai basil, parsley, tomatillo, husk cherry, chiles, herbs from the perennial garden


RECIPES
We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including many different suggestions for beets! Click here to check them out!
YOGA ON THE FARM
When: Saturday, September 16, 8:00-9:00am
Where: At the farm
WhatJoin Farmer & Yoga Instructor Anna Kelchlin for an hour-long Iyengar-based yoga class. Geared towards beginners, this class will focus on correct alignment and will incorporate various families of poses, to engage all ranges of motion. This class is open to people of all ability levels. Bring your own mat and towel! To register, click here.
FALL EDUCATION PROGRAMS ON THE FARM

Register now for multi-week Learning Garden programs for ages 2-6. Six hour-long sessions, Thursdays 10am-11am, or 11:30-12:30, or Fridays 11:30-12:30 beginning September 21 and ending October 27.
 
Fall is the perfect time to enjoy the great outdoors! From cooking delicious food, to harvesting our fall crops to caring for the Waltham Fields' chickens, there's so much to do! Our Learning Garden Programs enable hands-on nature exploration and introduce young children to the natural world. Children participate in a range of activities such as planting vegetables, exploring the compost pile, observing wildlife, playing games, and cooking. We focus on Farm-to-Table programming, providing opportunities for participants to make and try healthful, farm fresh snacks in the solar powered kitchen of our outdoor classroom. 
WALTHAM FIELDS WINTER SHARES FOR SALE
Winter shares consist of all your fall favorites, including winter greens, cabbage, onions, leeks, carrots, turnips, sweet potatoes, and other storage crops.  We also provide a selection of winter squash and potatoes from partnering local farms.  These shares are a delicious way to celebrate the late-season harvest and offer a bountiful Thanksgiving feast!  Winter CSA shares are distributed on the following three Saturday afternoons:

Saturday, November 4: 12pm-4pm
Saturday, November 18: 12pm-4pm
Saturday, December 2: 12pm-4pm
Make sure that you are able to pick up on the specified days before you sign up for a winter share! Due to seasonal conditions, our flexibility is limited and we cannot meet the demands for holding unclaimed shares.


Can't remember if you've purchased a winter share already? 
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Week Fourteen:
Transition
by: Stacey Daley, Field Crew

September has arrived and with it a swift transition. We have begun wearing an extra layer of clothing most mornings to keep warm and we suit up in our waterproof bib overalls and tall rubber boots to keep dry as we walk down the rows of kale, collards, and chard which are wet from the dew drops that have settled on their leaves overnight. Saturday morning, I heard and saw the first harsh sign of seasonal change; crunchy, frost coated grass and weeds along the edge of our community garden, just down the road a ways from the farm. Whoa. It stopped me in my tracks. I stared down at the lawn below my feet and shook my head in disbelief. The seasonal change feels bittersweet as I am a true summer woman and prefer the feeling of sweat on my body as opposed to harsh chilly winter winds. I take great delight in summer dinners composed of warm, ripe, juicy tomatoes and cool, crunchy cucumbers paired only with a salt shaker. But, I would be dishonest if I said I didn't look forward to Sunday drives in late September to pick apples at Autumn Hills Orchard or the aroma of winter squash roasting in the oven.  So, on this Labor Day, I resolve myself (once again) to seek out the pleasures of Fall, welcome change and resist less the lessening of summer delights.

Before I steam full speed into September, I feel the need to share a
delicious moment on the farm this past 
week. On Thursday, we gathered outside for lunch to celebrate our hardworking, devoted, resilient and caring Farm Manager, Erinn. We contributed our creativity and energy and cooked up some mighty fine dishes, all inspired by this week's harvest. We savored plates and bowls of sunshine carrot dip, swiss chard stem caponata, confit cherry tomato & mozzarella salad, grilled zucchini, peppers and eggplant, potato & leek torta, deviled eggs and many savory accompaniments. With great pleasure, we licked clean our forks and made room for a hearty slice of an extremely rich and dense chocolate birthday cake. Afterwards, we somehow managed to convince our minds and bodies to produce a full afternoon's work, although I am sure many of us were dreaming of a nap in the shade of the volunteer shed.

That evening, I skipped dinner (no wonder!) but began having cravings for mustard greens and bitter greens. The need for the digestive magic of these foods was strong! The next night for supper I seared our dandelion greens and mustard greens in my cast iron skillet and made a salad of radicchio, preserved lemon and toasted pistachios. What's that? Are you not on the bitter greens train? I know many are resistant to their flavor and some researchers even say some of us carry a taste receptor gene that makes us more sensitive to the bitter flavor. So, some of us just may have an excuse for not selecting these items as part of the weekly CSA pickup! If you do share company with this mindset, I wholeheartedly encourage you to give them one more try and discover ways to make them taste enjoyable. Pickled radicchio is an easy preparation and is wonderful draped on top of creamy fresh ricotta and crunchy grilled bread. And, the flavor of many mustard and bitter greens are tempered by cooking them with a little salt and fat as opposed to eating them raw in salads. The amazing palette of greens, purples, and reds in the Loose Greens (mustard) Mix always bring me joy during this time of our harvest. And, the names of these mustards... Scarlet Frills, Garnet Giant, Green Wave and Amara, how can we resist!

We brought in another bountiful tomato harvest this week, despite the chilly temperatures and drove a large harvest of Delicata squash back from the fields in Weston. Powdery mildew, sunscald, fruit rot and our hungry, nighttime-visiting animal neighbors are all applying pressure to this crop and on us. While we observe, discuss and apply strategy there is most certainly an element of chance when selecting the right moment to pick and to avoid surrendering any of these fruits over to nature and its creatures. We have now harvested the majority of this planting and are staying ahead of the game. I have been encouraged and motivated to keep an eye on this crop by the thought of sitting down to a meal of Farmer Naomi's famous Ceasar Salad with roasted Delicata Squash in the near future!

One final reflection from the fields this past week involves a moment which brought with it bitterness, in an emotional form. I and many others on the farm were affected by the actions of one particular human who on the eve of Labor Day weekend came to the farm and took without permission, a trunk load of tomatoes. An act of selfishness, greed, and indifference. As it was not the first time this individual has visited the farm and taken from its community, we collectively felt anger, frustration, and disappointment. But we also began creatively thinking about solutions and actions to eliminate this opportunity in the future. So, I say to myself to any anyone upset by this event: Let us not be bitter, but eat our bitter greens!

May you all have a week full of tastiness and time to savor the transition into a new season.  
WHAT'S IN THE BARN 

  
Try a 12oz bag of this Lexington based small-batch granola company and you'll be hooked! Made slow roasted by hand and with high quality ingredients, including Carlisle honey, Greek olive oil from Sophia's Greek Pantry and pure VT maple syrup, we guarantee you'll relish every bite of this treat. Support another great local food business!

All of our retail products are available for sale to the public. For our own produce offerings, we prioritize giving shareholders a good return on their investment and meeting our food assistance goals (20% of what we grow - which should amount to $80,000 of produce for low-income households this year)
.
Early in the season, crops for sale to the public will be those that we have an abundance of and later in the season, if production is going well, we hope to operate as a full-fledged farm store with a wide range of vegetables available to the public during our weekly CSA distribution hours.
 
Serves 6
Ingredients

Dressing
  • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/4 cup Greek yogurt
  • 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
Salad
  • 2 cups radicchio, finely sliced
  • 2 cups romaine, or romaine-like lettuce, finely sliced
  • 2 cups Lacinato kale, finely sliced (also called Tuscan, Dino or Black kale)
  • 4 Medjool dates, pitted and chopped
  • 1/2 cup walnuts, toasted and coarsely chopped
  • 6 thin slices prosciutto, cut into ribbons
  • shavings of gorgonzola cheese for garnish
Instructions
  1. Prepare the dressing first. Whisk together oil and vinegar and add yogurt, sea salt and pepper. Gently stir in gorgonzola. If the yogurt begins to separate, just whisk it again. Let stand while preparing salad or refrigerate if making ahead of time. For a creamier dressing, put all ingredients in a mini food processor and blend until smooth.
  2. Combine salad ingredients in a large bowl or on a serving platter. Toss with dressing just before serving.

Quick Links
Waltham Fields Community Farm Staff

Year-Round Staff:
Shannon Taylor, Executive Director
Marla Rhodes, Volunteer & Development Coordinator
Erinn Roberts, Farm Manager
Anna Kelchlin, Assistant Farm Manager
Alexandra Lennon-Simon, Education & Outreach Manager
Lauren Trotogott, Distribution Coordinator
Kamelia Aly, Bookkeeper & Office Coordinator

Seasonal Staff:
Assistant Grower: Janelle Plummer
Greenhouse Production Supervisor: Naomi Shea
Equipment Supervisor: Dan Roberts
Tractor Operator: Tim Cooke
Field Crew: Stacey Daley, Ebony Nava, Ivory Nava, Allison Ostrowski, Bekah Waller
Distribution & Outreach Assistant: Owen Weitzman
Learning Garden Educators: Autumn Cutting, Jack Leng, Zack Lennon-Simon, Lauren McDermott