Down on the Farm

Henry at market

Henry is happily playing in the shade at market. You can see right behind him the stack of baskets for CSAers. Then behind that is the stand, with the handles on the side for moving, and on the other side, the legs of customers. On the left side behind Henry is a pink chair of cafe Wavo. Though we might have to come up with a new name for that since Waverly, for a few months now, has been quite persistent in saying she does want to be called Wavo. "I like Wavy or Waverly," she says.

Cornelia and OSF in the Boston Globe

Cornelia and Old Shaw Farm got their picture in the paper -- the Boston Globe no less!! If you subscribe to the Globe, you can view the article here.

The article, for those who don't subscribe, was a travel article about two guys biking around the Northeast Kingdom. They stopped and chatted one rainy market Wednesday. They were very nice and very upbeat, especially since I think it had rained for most of the trip. This is what they wrote about us

"At the weekly market in the center of Danville, Cornelia Hasenfuss waits beneath a sturdy umbrella to sell garlic scapes, radishes, and more from the Old Shaw Farm."

CSA Week Seven

News from the field:

The hail storm was definitely a bummer. The mesclun was flattened so no leafy greens this week or next. However, this comes at the best possible time in many ways. Lots of folks have salad in their gardens, and I expect other vendors at market will have lots of salad as well. And we are getting into the height of the season and so we have plenty of awesome veggies to make a great basket for you!!

The bounty of the season also helps to distract us from the losses from the storm. We have 180 pounds of tomatoes for Wednesday market. That is huge for us! And they are delicious, red, juicy, perfect tomatoes that will bring happiness to many tables tomorrow night!!

In the Basket:

New this week: Cabbage and green beans!

Seasonal visitors: Yukon gold potatoes, colored pepper, carrots, broccoli.

Basket staples: Cucumbers and tomatoes.

Good eating to you!!

Hail letter

This is the letter that Peter wrote and we have been giving out to folks over the past week. Everyone has been super nice and supportive, which we really appreciate!! And things are actually looking better even than when we wrote this, but, in the interest of chronicling the ups and downs of our efforts to get the farm going, I thought I'd post it.

Hello friends, neighbors, CSA members, and regular customers,

On Tuesday, July 18th, a severe storm passed through Peacham and Barnet, Vermont. Apparently, the Karme Choling Buddhist monastery had 80 mph winds, only a few miles from our farm.

The storm brought damaging winds and marble sized hail to our farm. The damage to our crops was substantial. As hard as we try to bring you the freshest and healthiest variety of vegetables, there is little we can do about the weather.

The hail damage means that for the next few weeks, we will probably not have any mesclun, arugula, spinach, head lettuce, or beets. We also suspect that we have lost our onion and leek crops for the season, and we are also expecting a significant reduction in our melon, corn, winter squash, and heirloom tomato crops.

We appreciate your support and wanted to explain in advance why we may trouble serving you in the near future. However, we anticipate getting back on our feet quickly, and we are already looking forward to a great fall.

Maryellen, Peter, Waverly and Henry

Henry is eight months old!!

Henry turned eight months on Sunday!! He is saying mama. Well its more like maamaamaamaamaamaa, but I love it!!

CSA Week Six

News from the field:

Hail. You probably heard that a tornado touched down in Barnet. We did not get that but we did get a big dose of hail. Things look pretty bad up there right now. We may lose a whole generation of mesclun, corn is flattened, winter squash and melons are in tough shape. Photos in post below if you want to see.

Kat (our lead employee and housemate) is more optimistic, she says a few days of sun and things will spring back up. (Kat rocks!) We will have to wait and see.

p.s. I am sneaking this in while Peter is not looking. Wednesday is his birthday!! Wish him happy birthday if you see him!!

In the Basket:

New this week: Dandelion greens! Dandelion greens are a tender cooking green which means you can treat them like spinach. There’s a good recipe on the back.

Seasonal visitors: Colored peppers, carrots, broccoli.

Basket staples: Mesclun, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

Good eating to you!!

Dandelion salad with warm hazelnut vinaigrette

I love dandelion greens, and this is one of my favorite ways to eat them. This is based on a recipe in an old Gourmet magazine.

1 large bunch dandelion greens
1/4 cup nuts (pecans or hazelnuts are good)
3 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Trim tough stems from greens and discard. Cut top 5 inches from greens and put in a large serving bowl. Cut rest of the greens into 3/4 inch slices and put in the bowl.

Coarsely chop nuts and finely chop garlic. In a small, heavy skillet, cook the garlic and nuts in oil over medium-low heat, stirring, until garlic is golden. Stir in vinegar and salt and pepper to taste.

Pour hot vinaigrette over greens, toss, and enjoy!

Yikes

Well, now there is something you don't see everyday in Vermont. We had a tornado touch down only a few miles from our farm.

And we had hail at our farm, on our veggies. Mean, veggie wrecking hail. Here are some pics.

Pepper plants loaded with immature fruit, snapped at the base by high winds.

Shredded eggplant leaves.

The onions aren't looking so hot.

The winter squash was blown upside down and shredded.

The melons are pretty ripped up too, and a lot of the corn is kind of blown over. The lima beans are beat up, and so is the current generation of beets and mesclun. Plus, we lost power for about 8 hours, which meant no refrigeration on our harvested crops for market tomorrow.

Needless to say, we are pretty bummed, and in a little shock. I mean, this is a big set back for our season, the question is just how big. I will try to let you know how it looks in the next few days. Hopefully some stuff will bounce back a little, but right now it isn't looking so good . . .

In the meantime, send good vibes. After the back surgery, the wettest VT spring ever, and now a tornado, we are due for something to break our way.

Tomato jungle

The sun golds have made their jungle out in the greenhouse. Waverly is in heaven.

Wavy's with her pal Kat.

New Old Farm

Sorry I have been so lame about posting, but it has been crazy busy around here as is apt to be in July.

Anyway, one thing I wish I did more was put up links to all the cool farm related stuff we find. For example, in this morning's inbox was an email from the folks at Old Webster Farm. They came up with their farm name the same way we got ours -- everyone still used the previous owners to refer to their place. I wonder if the Old Shaws ever travelled to Wisconsin to visit the Old Websters . . . .

CSA Week Five

News from the field:

Unbelievable. After the spring we have had, we need rain. I am serious. Not a lot of rain, but we do need some. Each week we plant out certain successions of things that we want to keep in constant supply, such as mesclun, lettuce, radishes, etc. So each week we need a little moisture to help these seeds germinate, or to help the transplants take. And this week we haven’t had any rain. In fact, when we planted out a bunch of transplants last Friday, we actually had to hook up the irrigation system for the first time this season in order to get the transplants through the hot and sunny weekend.

Honestly though, we aren’t complaining. We are still dealing with the consequences of all that rain in terms of reduced and inconsistent yields. So we welcome the chance to dry out a bit, and to pump up our plantings for fall.

Also, the farmstand at the farm is now open every day, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., serve yourself. It is always stocked with mesclun, cucumbers and juicy red tomatoes. There is usually other fun stuff in there as well. The farmstand is the little red shed in our yard, and the farm is right on the Peacham-Groton Road, in South Peacham, five houses south of now closed Bayley Hazen store. Look for the greenhouses and our sign!

In the Basket:

New this week: Baby carrots and broccoli!! Broccoli recipe on the back.

Seasonal visitors: Baby zucchinis and colored pepper.

Summertime standards: Mesclun, cucumbers, and vine ripened red tomatoes.

We welcome your feedback – and your recipes!! If you have recipes you like featuring CSA veggies, please send them along. If you have feedback – particular vegetables you like (or didn’t), or vegetables you’d like to see more (or less) of, please let us know

Fiery, Crispy Broccoli

From Chris Lehrich, CSAer and sometime employee . . .

Ingredients - 1 bunch broccoli
1 clove garlic, minced
1 pinch hot pepper flakes (optional)
1 healthy pinch salt
1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil

Cut up into broccoli florets. You can also include slices of stem if you want.
Heat a heavy pan (cast iron, wok or some such). Add the oil and heat until it smokes.
Throw in broccoli and toss or stir until the broccoli starts to scorch. A little bit of brown is not worrisome here.
Throw in minced garlic, hot pepper flakes, and a healthy pinch of salt.
Cover and turn heat down to medium low and cook for about 4 minutes until broccoli is tender.
Serve and enjoy!

Market

Well, we had a beautiful day at market today. Dry, not too hot, perfect. Plus, Nana Alice came to visit!

We sold everything we brought.

Which is good and bad. Good because we sold everything. Bad because we probably could have sold more if we had it -- and unfortunately some customers went home disappointed because they didn't get what they came for, which may make them less likely to come to the market again. But all this rain (and lack of sun) has really just put the vegetables way under and behind where they would normally be. And everyone else -- growers and home gardeners alike -- are pretty much in the same boat. So demand is up, supply is down, and we sell out.

Fourth of July

Photos of the Old Shaw Farm Summer's Bounty entry into the Danville Kid's Parade on the Fourth of July. Ethan, Emma and Waverly all wore their Old Shaw finery and straw farmer hats. They gave peas to lucky bystanders. It was awesome. Much thanks to the Kraus Forsters for putting it all together and inviting us to be a part of it!!

While the Old Shaw promotion team was hard at play on the Fourth, the Old Shaw production team was hard at work harvesting for market today. But next year the Fourth is on a Wednesday, and Waverly and Peter are already talking about driving the cub in the Peacham Tractor Parade. I can't wait!!

CSA Week Four

News from the field:

Although it has still been ridiculously wet, at least it is heating up some. The result is a more summery basket.

In the field, we are wrestling with our weeds, and trying to figure out how to get our weekly plantings in between the puddles and thunderstorms. But we are also having some fun as Waverly rode on the first (annual?) Old Shaw Farm float in the North Danville Kid’s Parade on the Fourth of July. Thanks to the Kraus-Forsters (CSA members!) for organizing the float!

In the Basket:

Mesclun, lettuce, radishes, cucumber, and sun golds - Great salads all week!!

New potatoes - These red skinned beauties are best steamed or boiled. Dense, moist flesh and great flavor. They are great for elegant recipes and for potato salad. But we like them best parboiled then roughly mashed up (skins and all) with butter and finely chopped garlic scapes. Parmesan cheese is also nice.

Colored peppers - Slice them up and toss into salad. Also great roasted. There are great instructions for roasting peppers in this month’s North Star. I do it on top of my gas burners. The article in the North Star makes clear that once they are mostly black all over, take them off the flame or you risk burning the flesh itself.

Zucchini - Still small and tender enough to eat raw, maybe dipped in something yummy. But big enough to be worth cooking – sauteed, steamed or roasted. Check out the Martha Stewart recipe on the back!

Grated zucchini

Adapted from a recipe in From Asparagus to Zucchini, a Guide to Farm Fresh Seasonal Produce, a book of recipes published by a coalition of CSAs in Madison Wisconsin. That book says the recipe comes from Martha Stewart Quick Cook.

Ingredients: 2 Tablespoons butter
1 garlic scape
3 medium zucchini
freshly grated nutmeg
salt and pepper

Chop the garlic scape fine. Use the garlic scape up to the point where it becomes floppy (and a pain to chop). Grate the unpeeled zucchini. Melt the butter in a large skillet and add the chopped garlic scapes and cook for 1-2 minutes. Do not brown. Toss the zucchini in hot garlic butter until tender, 2-3 minutes. Season with nutmeg, salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Garlic scape pesto

An article in the Boston Globe about the joys of garlic scape pesto. "Use this as you would any good pesto: on pizza,
in pasta dishes, or as a sauce spooned over grilled chicken." Recipe here. Thanks Mom!!

Photos

Our friend Mark took some photos on his most recent trip to our farm in May. These are old school -- with a camera and film and all that.