Waltham Fields Community Farm
CSA NEWSLETTER 2017
Week 17 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 27th, 2-6:30pm
Thursday, September 28th, 2-6:30pm 
Saturday, September 30th, 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): 



Arugula
Beets
Carrots
Green cabbage
Napa cabbage
Bok choy
Broccoli
Celery
Collards
Eggplant
Fennel
Loose mustard greens
Kale
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Bell peppers
Potatoes
Scallions
Shallots
Spinach
Swiss chard
Tomatoes
Delicata squash 
Acorn squash

Pick Your Own (PYO):
 
Tomatillos, chiles, dill, cilantro, parsley, Thai basil, herbs from the Perennial Garden & flowers from the Flower Share fields.

RECIPES
We have a ton of great recipes on our website, including many different suggestions for bell peppers! Click here to check them out!
WALTHAM FARM DAY
When: THIS Saturday, September 30th, 2-5pm, FREE
Where: At the farm
What:
Activities, games, demos for all ages, and the famous Pick-Your-Own carrot patch! Join us to celebrate local agriculture on your community farm. Live music by Royer's One Man Band and free shuttle service on the Tic Tock Trolley from Waltham Center.
*Please plan accordingly: The trolley will begin at 2pm from Waltham Common and shuttle back and forth to the farm. The last shuttle from the farm to Waltham Common will leave at 4pm.

Interested in volunteering at the event? Email Marla Rhodes, to learn more.
LAST WEDNESDAY PICNIC SUPPER
When: THIS Wednesday, September 27th, 5-7pm FREE
Where: At the farm
What: BYOBlanket and picnic supper and enjoy our farm and fields! All are welcome. Zdravets, your friendly neighborhood Bulgarian band, will provide music for this last Last Wednesday picnic of the season!
POST-RIDE FOR FOOD 2017
You Can Still Donate!
Some, but not all, riders, volunteers and fundraisers at the 2017 Ride For Food. 

Thank you to all who participated in this year's Ride for Food team. From bikers who rode & raised money to the volunteers that made the event happen, we thank you for making Waltham Fields' participation in the fundraiser a success. The Ride For Food website is still open: 
NOTES FROM THE FIELD
Week Seventeen: Bumps in the Road
by: Erinn Roberts, Farm Manager

The barn is overflowing these past couple weeks and we're beginning to settle more firmly into fall, with the last of the tomato harvest happening these next few days and more and more of the fields being mowed and spread with cover crop.  Reflecting on the season, it's been a satisfying one overall; despite lackluster cucumber yields, too much bolting lettuce left behind, and a late start to the tomato harvest, the CSA value is on track to be strong.  Because of those same factors, our donation numbers are a bit behind where we'd like them to be, so we'll be working on sending more veggies to our food access partners and to our own Outreach Market, which runs for 3 more weeks.

We farm on 3 sites-the home fields here at the Field Station, up the road at the Lyman Estate, and on 5 acres of privately owned historic farmland in Weston.  Each year, we juggle crop rotations between sites, with various factors determining what family or group of crops can go where.  Infrastructure, equipment, irrigation, cultivation needs, pest pressure, soil type and more all play a part in deciding what will go where.  Some of these factors are static and beyond our control, some are dynamic and beyond our control and some of them we can alter to suit our needs over time.  Sometimes we can be nimble in addressing inherent limitations of the site and sometimes we have to stick to a plan and strategy. For the past 5 years, we've had a somewhat similar array of crops at our Weston fields, but as pest pressure builds there, that puzzle is getting shifted around again.  We've been so pleased to harvest ripe bell peppers at the Weston farm, as we've been limited by a pervasive pest here at the home fields to achieving ripeness before rottenness with this crop.  Unfortunately, we've been found out, and the pepper maggot has found its way to our secret pepper hideout.  But a pepper trial at our Lyman fields implemented by Naomi shows promise that the pepper maggot maybe, just maybe, does not currently hold residence there.  We'll take these developments into account as we consider our plan for next year but for now bear with us if you take home a less than perfect bell or sweet pepper.

We had a banner broccoli harvest last week, but for reasons I'm still trying to figure out, it didn't hold well in our coolers at all.  Broccoli typically doesn't have a long storage life, but this round in particular deteriorated quickly, with whole bins turning yellow.  I've never seen broccoli turn so quickly, and it was a lowlight of the season to compost so much of it.  I hope the broccoli you took home was prepared quickly and enjoyed on your table.  We've got more broccoli and cauliflower coming in but the weather these past couple of weeks make for a tough go of it.  Both crops thrive to maturity in perfect fall conditions-crisp and sunny days, with steady day and nighttime temperatures.  Instead, we've had plenty of rain, which encourages all manner of fungal diseases, and then a mini-heat wave, which stresses the plants and causes the heads to mature at uneven rates.  A stretch of weather like this is enough to cause the 2 broccoli plantings, planted 3 weeks apart, to mature close to the same time.  As a result, our plan to have a nice 4 week stretch of broccoli may be condensed into a much shorter harvest window.  And although the cauliflower is heading up nicely, there is a fair amount of Alternaria black spotting due to the rain.  Taking all that into consideration, we will do our best to have as much broccoli and cauliflower on the stand as possible!

These bumps in the road are balanced by gorgeous greens, hearty leeks and onions and robust roots that will be on the stand for the rest of the season (only 3 weeks left after this one!).  Now is the time to consider stockpiling hard veggies like carrots and beets and blanching and freezing the abundant greens.  You will thank yourself in January!

Enjoy the harvest,
Erinn, for the farm crew
WHAT'S IN THE BARN

Waltham Fields Grown Ginger & Turmeric
Over the next few weeks, check out the fresh ginger & turmeric Farmer Anna has been growing for sale in our Farm Store. She ordered seed back in the early spring, and has been tending to these special crops all season long. You can find the ginger & turmeric at the cash register, while it lasts. 

Alex's Ugly Hot Sauce 
These varied hot sauces are made from Farmer Dave's, Brookwood Community Farm & The Food Project hot peppers. The peppers were gleaned from these farms' fields by the Boston Area Gleaners, a partner-organization of Waltham Fields that aims to provide healthy, fresh food to those in need. Alex's Ugly Hot Sauce is a Boston-based food producer that works out of The Commonwealth Kitchen. The Commonwealth Kitchen is an establishment located in Boston that provides a certified kitchen for growing food producers and entrepreneurs. Many great organizations involved in the making of this delicious product! 
Flavors include: Cuba-nero (Cubanelle, Habanero & Jalapeno peppers from Farmer Dave's), Firecracker (Cayenne & Habanero from Farmer Dave's), Czech It (Czech Black, Cayenne & Flaming Flare Fresno from Brookwood Community Farm) & Witch's Brew ("A little of this, a little of that, but no eye of newt!" from The Food Project). Get yours this week!

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).
JAMAICAN JERK EGGPLANT STEAKS
Adapted from DishingUpTheDirt.com

Makes 6 Steaks, Prep Time: 15 mins, Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients
Jerk Marinade 
  • 3 scallions, minced (white and light green parts only)
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 thinly sliced serrano or jalapeño pepper (scrape out most of the seeds but leave a few in for some kick)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon ground coriander
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
  • 1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (or 2 teaspoons dried thyme)
  • 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
  • 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
  • 3 tablespoons coconut aminos (or tamari or soy sauce)
  • 2 1/2 tablespoons honey or maple syrup
  • 2 tablespoons walnut oil (or another neutral tasting oil)
Eggplant
  • 2 medium sized globe eggplants, sliced vertically into 1/2 inch thick "steaks"
  • Olive oil for brushing the steaks
  • Minced parsley for serving
Instructions
  1. In a large bowl whisk together all the ingredients for the marinade until well combined. Taste for seasonings and adjust as needed. If the sauce needs more saltiness add more coconut aminos, if it needs more acidity add more lime juice, if it's not sweet enough add more sweetener.
  2. Preheat an outdoor grill (or grill pan) to medium-high heat. Lightly brush the eggplants with olive oil and then generously brush them with the marinade, reserving as much as you can for serving.
  3. Grill the eggplants for about 3-5 minutes per side or until lightly charred. Remove from the heat and serve with additional marinade and minced parsley.
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, Lauren McDermott