Down on the Farm

Josh, Corny, Lex, garlic, and salsa

Our friends Cornelia, Josh, and their dog Lex came over today. We have been selling all the tomatoes we raise at market, but we find that we almost always have some tomato seconds lying around that are slightly bruised, misshapen, or somehow imperfect. So Corny and Maryellen took a bunch of tomato seconds and made salsa and ketchup today.

Here is Maryel at rest after a long day of preserving and canning.

Those of you who have worked here, or have visited in the last few months, will know what magazine she is reading. (I am not sure who will be in more trouble for this pic -- me for posting it, or Corny for taking it. Somehow, I suspect it will be me.)

Josh and I pulled some garlic and hung it in the shed to dry. Here is the first of it going up.

Lex took it easy most of the day.

Then we all went out to dinner at the Norwich Pub, which is down by Corny and Josh's house. Yum! Not a bad day at all.

CSA Week Seven

News from the field:

Well, summer keeps humming along. Honestly, I am not sure what to say about this week, except it is mid-season around here, all the veggies are busting out, and we are running around like chickens with our heads cut off.

The beans are finally here! The carrots are finally here! They are both a little late, due to the cool spring, but now they are here in abundance. Other new stuff in your basket is the kale, along with a bunch of your familiar favorites.

Enjoy the bounty!

In the Basket:

Augula - Aleda, one of our crew, recommends arugula dressed with lemon juice and olive oil. If you subscribe to Eating Well, a friend said that the warm arugula bread salad recipe in the June/July issue is good. In looking on the internet for that recipe (I didn’t find it), I noticed lots of suggestions to put something tart in arugula salad, like dried cranberries or strawberries.

Carrots - New this week. Crunch, crunch, crunch, mmmmm.

Beans - These are new this week too, so we gave you a pound of yellow and a pound of green. I like them steamed with butter, and they’re also great in potato or pasta salad.

Garlic - The Roman historian, Pliny, lists no less than sixty-one medicinal uses for garlic including curing a cold, improving circulation, easing high blood pressure, and, of course, chasing off vampires. It’s also yummy!

Kale - We like kale boiled, drained and then tossed with sesame oil and tamari. If you have some potatoes left from last week, kale goes especially well with potatoes either in soup or salad.

Peas - These are the sweet snap peas that you eat whole (take out the string) raw or lightly steamed.

Tomatoes - Lately we’ve been dressing up the tomatoes with a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.

Yellow squash and zucchini - CSAer Tracy Zschau gave us a beautiful recipe for zucchini and tomato galette which is printed out in your basket. Thanks Tracy!!

A blog is born

Speaking of Tamara (see last post), she now has a blog, mostly about critters and knitting. Take a peek.

First honey

Tamara helped me work the bees today. We inspected, and they seem to thriving. We took out a frame of honey because they have lots of honey already and the wood on the frame was starting to break from age. We harvested our first ever honey from the frame.

Above is the picture of the super while the old frame is out, before we put the new one in. The bees were very gently and kind to us. Below is Tam holding up the old frame full of honey.

A closeup of the capped (finished and sealed with wax) honey with some dripping. The wax is dark because it's so old. The honey is not dark.

Uncapping the honey and setting it to drain in a colander. After this, we strained it through cheesecloth.

The first jar of Old Shaw Farm honey.

We're still straining the rest. I think we'll get at least another jar that size, maybe two, from just that one frame. Tamara is a soapmaker who is going to use the wax to make soap.

Seeding fall carrots

Beans

Just coming up.

Leafing out.

First buds.

Baby beans.

The beans are coming along nicely. As of last Sunday, when I took these photos, the beans on the first plantings were about an inch long, so they should size up and be ready in a week or two. There are three more plantings behind them, to hopefully keep us in beans till frost.

Ode to CSAers

This one's been bouncing around in my head for a while, but I haven't known how to say it without gushing too much. The CSA is awesome.

The first CSAs were started as a way to build community, especially to build connections between farms and people living in urban areas. Since we are in a rural area, I figured that the community building part of the CSA would not be that important to our CSA. Mostly it would be a way to get people super fresh organic veggies. But it has turned into this wonderful community, at least for us.

CSAers are very supportive of the farm, us and say lots of nice things about the veggies, which is always nice to hear. And they are always volunteering help. When our truck broke down, one of our CSA families lent us theirs for ten days so we could get to our markets. Most of the new families in our CSA were recruited by other CSA members, and at least one regular customer specifically came by our farmstand recently on the recommendation of a CSA member. We're bartering for three of our CSA shares - for half a pig, landscaping help, and part of our new washroom. CSAers often get conscripted to watch the stand while I change a diaper, and or even to dance with Waverly at market. CSAers also share the most wonderful veggie recipes and one person in particular does great recipe research for us. Another CSAer gave us an old tub to use for washing veggies (including help moving it into the washroom!).

The CSA has been a way to build community even with people who aren't in the CSA. For example, all the people who donated to the Farm Share Program -- none of them were CSA members, yet they sent donations so someone else could afford to be (thank you!!). And there are a few people who did not sign up for the CSA, because they're going to be away too much this summer, but they're like honorary CSA members because they are so supportive -- in regular purchases and otherwise.

CSAers often pick up for each other. And when people are away, they send their friends or family to pick up for them, which involves even more people in the CSA. Spreading the veggie wealth.

Anyway, I'm gushing I know, but really its been wonderful. Thank you CSAers and CSA supporters.

CSA Week Six

News from the field:
Hot, hot, hot. While that is good news for most veggies, it is not so great for others. For example, you will notice your basket is missing mesclun and lettuce this week. The heat makes lettuce bitter, then pushes it to seed too fast, and then prevents the next generation of plants from germinating properly. I have even had calls from wholesale buyers who have other rock-solid, regular sources for local lettuce, wanting to know if we can fill in for a bit. We can’t. It seems to be a problem almost all the growers up here are having right now.

But the heat means we do have lots of other stuff for you. The cucumbers have arrived with a vengeance. We made our first batch of Old Shaw Farm bread and butter pickles this week, and if anyone out there is interested in making pickles, give us a call to arrange for a half bushel of cukes.

In the Basket:
Beets - CSAer Emma Forster loves beets, and we hope you do too. We harvest them small so they’re tender and flavorful. The greens are wicked good too.

Cucumbers - Cool and good eating in hot weather. We’ve given you a lot. I’ve attached a cucumber salad recipe. Other ideas: tabbouleh, cucumber salsa, cold cucumber soup. Cucumber sandwiches make any lunch an elegant tea party!

Garlic - This is hardneck variety that we harvest fresh. It’s got more flavor and less fire than supermarket garlic. It won’t keep as well though, so eat it relatively soon.

Sweet colored peppers - Sweet, crunchy, colorful. Spruce up a salad or just munch them. Or roast and peel them. Roasted ones freeze well too.
Gold rush potatoes - These are a yellow-skinned, white fleshed, delicate, early season russet. Great for roasting, baking, and mashing.

Red norland potatoes - These have a moist, firm flesh that makes them great for boiling. Leave the skins on for a pretty potato salad.

Tomatoes - Based on feedback that CSAers were really enjoying getting lots of tomatoes, we gave you lots again. Enjoy!

Yellow Squash - CSAer Zoë Gascon recently suggested a recipe we tried and loved! Layer sliced summer squash in a casserole dish with tomatoes, onion, a little garlic, some fresh herbs and chedder and parmasan cheese and then bake. Yum.

CSA Week Five

I forgot to post this one last week, but Peter already posted the melon hopes story anyway!

News from the field:
Peter picked a peck of peppers, and then some. The colored peppers in the greenhouse have come in big time, so it is time for some colorful salsa or salad or sautéed fajitas.

I am hesitant to tell this story - because I don’t want to jinx it - but the heat so far this year means that the melons are looking good right now. Melons are tricky up here because they like a long, hot, dry season. And most Vermont summers are not long, hot, or dry. But we try each year because we love melons, and one in particular. We grow a French charentais cantaloupe-type melon that is about the size of a softball, and is sweet, sweet, sweet.

Last year, because of the cold and wet “summer” we had, we basically lost our whole melon crop. (Almost all the melons succumbed to a fungal rust disease that usually doesn’t affects melons until the end of the season, but came mid-season last year due to the weather.) We were heartbroken.

Despite our best efforts not to count our chickens before they hatch, we are beginning to get cautiously optimistic that we will have melons this year. The heat has been great for them, and the melon fruits are already baseball sized and beautiful. If you have any fingers to spare, please cross them for melons!

In the Basket:

Arugula - Elegant and peppery. Try the pasta recipe that’s attached!

Broccoli - Crunchy. Try roasted, pureed into soup, or steamed with butter.

Lettuce - Cool and green. A CSA basket staple.

Sugar snap peas - Eat them whole (take out the string) and raw or slightly blanched.

Sweet colored peppers - One CSAer (jokingly) asked if we add sugar to our veggies. These peppers might be why – they are super sweet and full of flavor!!

Cayenne pepper - Red and hot. Eat now or hang from a cupboard to dry.

New potatoes - They’re bigger than last week but still tender and moist. I like them best tossed in olive oil and roasted on a cookie sheet.

Sun gold or cherry tomatoes - Waverly (our daughter) adores these. So do I. Eat like candy, add to salad, or try the pasta recipe.

Bee pollinating melon flower

Keeping it local

This seems to be an idea whose time is coming. Some regular customers of ours at the Waitsfield market we attend sent us a link to this article about how Brown University is making an effort to buy local food and produce to feed its students and staff. NOFA-VT also has a couple of programs that build connections and buying habits between schools, children, and local farms. In fact, before the school year ended back in June, Maryellen sat down with a board member from our local school in Peacham, and with the school food buyer, to discuss whether it made sense for the school to buy some of our produce this fall. We think it probably will make sense!

Don't count your melons before they ripen, but . . .

Well, the slow spring and a series of equipment problems left me a little bummed out about a month or so ago. But we have had heat, rain, heat, rain, since then, which is great for the veggies. And it is getting to be the time of year where everthing is just busting out.

One of the most encouraging developments this year is the melons. We grow a French charentais-type melon that is about the size of a softball and very sweet and tasty. And they are starting to size up already.

Normally, melons are very hard to grow this far north because they like a long, hot, dry season. And frankly, most Vermont summer are not long, hot, nor dry.

Last year was not kind to the melons. There is a fungal disease that often affects melons at the end of the season up here. But last year was so cold and wet the disease emerged mid-season rather than at the end of the year, and we basically lost our whole melon crop. We were all pretty heartbroken.

But this year, the melons are looking good, and we are starting to get cautiously optimistic that we will actually have some to market this year. We shouldn’t count our melons before they ripen (which will (hopefully) be in early-mid August) but it is hard not to get our hopes up at this point.

Cucumbers

Cucumbers are in!

Sad Arizona CSA news.

My brother and his family have been in a CSA out in Phoenix for almost a year now. Sadly, their farmers sold the farm. The farmers are moving to Maine, and the land is being subdivided for houses. Their CSA is/was huge, and so the CSA manager is hustling to find another farmer to take over. (The CSA is going on summer! break anyway for a few weeks.)

Anyway, it's sad. It did give me newfound appreciation for all the hard work that so many people and organizations do to support farms and try to prevent them getting broken up for development. Like the people who owned our farm before us, the Seidens, donated the development rights to the Vermont Land Trust. This means the land can never be subdivided, and it lowered the value of the parcel enough to make it possible for us to buy the farm.

Waverly helps out

Waverly and Cat washing mesclun. The extra pair of hands at the back belong to Aleda.

Summer squash

For your eating pleasure, presenting, summer squash!

Picking potatoes

The new potatoes are in!

We had a great visit with the Providence Griffins this past weekend, including some fun picking potatoes.

Even brand new baby Judy got in on the action, but she knew enough to say no to the papparazzi!

CSA Week Four

We were very excited to be able to arrange with another farms, Elizabeth Everts of Too Little Farm, to buy in some of her strawberries for this week's CSA. We don't grow strawberries, in part because hers are sooo good. We have plenty of veggies from our farm we could give CSAers, but we thought they would appreciate this special treat! Anyway, here's this week's flyer

News from the field:
The bounty begins. Tomatoes, potatoes, sweet peppers, strawberries, the colors and pleasures of summer eating are starting to really come in. Wahoo!!

The big news from the field has nothing to do with our field. Instead, the strawberries have arrived at our neighbor’s farm, Too Little Farm, in West Barnet. Too Little Farm is a diversified, certified organic farm, run by Elizabeth and Peter Everts, literally about a half a mile from our farm as the crow flies. They were kind enough to let us buy in some of their organic strawberries to distribute to our CSAers for some early to mid season variety. Enjoy!! And check out their pick your own strawberries while they last - 7:30 to 12 noon (or whenever they are picked out).

Otherwise, the summer heat continues to move things along, and as I type, some thunderstorms are bringing some much needed rain. The next warm weather field crop to arrive will probably be cucumbers in a week or two.

In the Basket:

Chard and beet greens - This braising mix provides colors and an earthy taste to pasta or stir fry, or, for the more adventurous, salad. I like it best as a side green gently wilted in pan with olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious and nutritious!

Mesclun - Based on feedback from some CSAers, we’re going to try alternating mesclun and lettuce every week. For some people, both each week was too much. Let us know what you think!

Sweet colored pepper - More treats from the greenhouse for you and your salad.

New potatoes - The first of the season. I love them best roasted in olive oil with salt and peppers, but others prefer them boiled. They are so tender and new, that some of their skin rubs off when you wash them. They don’t keep as well as big potatoes, so eat them in the next week or two.

Strawberries - From Too Little Farm. Eat today or tomorrow; they won’t keep.

Tomatoes - These ruby red slicers are straight from our greenhouse to your plate.

Yellow Squash/Zucchini - Last week Wednesday CSAers got zucchini and Saturday folks got yellow squash. This week it’s the other way round. Both I love brushed with olive oil, salt and pepper and grilled or broiled.

CSA Week Three

I realize I forgot to post this last week, and it's already time to post this weeks' info. Anyway, here's what CSAers got in their basket last week.

News from the field:
Hip, Hip, Hooray!! The tomatoes are here!! After a lot of work getting the greenhouse built and in order this winter, we’ve got tomatoes before the Fourth of July! Enjoy!!

The other good news (for now) is that the heat has pushed some other crops forward, and we also have some yummy zucchini for your holiday plate, as well as garlic scapes (more info on those babies in the scapes flyer).

Finally, we have lots of broccoli this week for everyone. Each week in May (more or less), we transplanted broccoli seedlings to the field, so that each week in June, we’d have broccoli to harvest. But in May, the cool weather prevented the broccoli from growing much - the transplants just sat in the field waiting for warmer weather, and when it came, they all started growing at once. So now, we have hit the broccoli jackpot!

Have a fun Fourth everyone!!

In the Basket:
Basil - We figured with all these tomatoes, people could use some more basil. Basil and tomato salad anyone?

Broccoli - Our neighbor Beth said that the fresh broccoli from our farm is like a whole different vegetable (in a good way!) from supermarket broccoli. We agree! We like it best lightly steamed with butter, but lots of people prefer it raw.

Garlic scapes - Green scallion-like curls with a bright, garlicky flavor. See the handout for more info.

Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers - Another thing we thought would go well with tomatoes. Salsa with tomatoes, peppers, and scapes maybe?

Lettuce - We think of lettuce as a staple for the CSA basket. Feel free to trade if you’re wanting something more adventurous.

Mesclun - Another CSA basket staple. Our mesclun is a mixture of several different baby lettuces and several different types of brassicas, such as mustard, tatsoi, and arugula.

Tomatoes - The big red juicy slicers are in!! Yay!! We gave you lots to celebrate the bounty!

Zucchini - Another summer treat. We harvest it small so it is tender and flavorful.

Garlic scapes flyer

Muchas gracias to all who sent and posted suggestions and ideas!! This is the flyer.

Garlic scapes

Our garlic scapes are in! They are a seasonal delicacy - green, scallion like curls with a bright, garlicky flavor. They are the top of the garlic plant. Here are a few ideas for them:

* I love scapes pureed with olive oil in the blender or food processor. I make it into a thick paste and put it in the fridge. I then thin the paste with olive oil and use it as a dipping sauce for crusty bread, like the way they do at fancy restauraunts. Yummy. Peter uses the paste as a salad dressing base, adding more oil and vinegar. You could add cheese and nuts for a yummy pesto. The paste would freeze well, too.

* Chopped fine and sprinkled in green or pasta or potato salad.

* Roasted with potatoes, cut up and drizzled with olive oil (in oven at 375 for half an hour or so, depending on the size of the potatoes).

* Cut about ½ to an inch long and sauteed, as a side dish.

* Brushed with oil and grilled in a veggie basket till crispy.