Newsletter Week 18: October 10-14, 2005
Hello Shareholders!
Welcome to week 18 of our CSA. We enjoyed reading a great article about MHOF by Bradford Miner of the Worcester Telegram and Gazette last Thursday. Brad visited the farm a week ago or so and interviewed Julie about the organic goings-on here. A lovely photograph of Roshni in the upstairs of the barn, surrounded by squash and pumpkins and beneath hanging garlic, was included in the article, too - a lovely Autumn treat.
We have a few announcements for this week, our third-to-last pick up for the season:
Potatoes For Sale
Julie has red and yellow potatoes for sale at $1/lb. Call ahead or email to order, or find someone when you get here.
The Final Three Pick-Up Dates
Mark your calendars: The last three weeks of the CSA will be October 10-14, 17-21 and 24-28. And yes, even though it's a holiday, do come and get your shares on Monday, Oct. 10, Columbus Day.
Two Bags For Full Shares
It's true - while the frost is holding off, the farm is growing, growing, growing! We are thrilled to be able to continue harvesting veggies like kale, chard, collards, basil, lettuce and even summer squash, as they heartily enjoy this warm weather. For this reason, full shares will have two bags this week, and half shares will have their usual one. Don't forget your second bag!
Pick Your Own Raspberries and Flowers
Yes, it is true. These raspberries by the house are slowly coming in. Feel free to graze on them and pick some to take home. And the flower offer still holds as long as you can find some!
On the Farm: Julie Rawson
We returned home tonight (Sunday) in the dark and found our dear old Booch had died. We will have a proper funeral tomorrow. She was one chill pup. I hope I have such equanimity when I reach her age (about 100 in doggie years). I am sure she is already lolling around in dog heaven on a grassy slope somewhere, sunning herself.
I got an email from a friend in Wendell who said they got 8.5 inches there this weekend. Was it so bad here? I guess I will find out in the morning. At least no hurricane mudslides and earthquakes!
We harvested 7 bushels of sweet potatoes. You all will get a total of 2 lbs in your shares this week. We were quite excited about our hoop house experiment. Jack is off getting free recycled houses from other NOFA members this week so we can double our under plastic growing next year - maybe we will try for eggplants in 2006!
Frost will be here soon, though unless it frosts tonight we will set a new record for lateness this year.
This week we'll introduce you to two of our Wednesday working shareholders: Mary Blake and Joshua Tenpenny. Mary's been around three years while Joshua is brand new to the farm. Both share inspirational feelings about working at MHOF, so enjoy their sentiments as much as we enjoy working with them!
Working Shareholder Mary Blake has been involved at MHOF for three seasons, working each of those years for her share of fresh veggies. She commutes 45 minutes from Charlton Depot to get here, because she loves "getting dirt under my fingernails and between my toes, getting weekly 'therapy,' and being with other wonderful people to get my "system Rebooted," she said. "I also love being part of the food system that gets great food to people. It's lots of fun to go to Living Earth and see vegetables that I helped harvest."
Mary, who serves on the NOFA Board of Directors, works for a biotech company at their goat farm. "MHOF keeps me balanced," she said. When she's not working, she likes to watch movies, visit gardens and nature preserves, and go to NH to visit her family.
- Most Rewarding About Farm Work: Getting Recharged, feeling the earth, learning from Julie, and LUNCH.
- Most Challenging About Farm Work: The 45-minute drive to get there and cold mornings.
- Guilty Pleasure: Carrots that are too small to put in the bucket that go in my pocket for a snack later.
- Pet Peeve: Confusion while bagging shares.
- One of life's Greatest Pleasures: Organic dark chocolate.
- Favorite Veggie to Weed: The ones that don't need to be weeded because we mulched them "like crazy."
- Least Favorite Veggie to Weed: Leeks are tough because the leek is so delicate and the weeds are so prolific. But I don't mind weeding. It's a good chance to either get some quiet time, or to have all of us chatting.
- Favorite Veggie to Harvest: Kale: you don't need a knife, and I love making a Kale Bouquet. And it tastes real good too.
- Least Favorite Veggie to Harvest: Anything where we have to count out loud together, especially real early in the morning. It easily gets confused. Other than that maybe soybeans, because it seems to take forever.
Working Shareholder Joshua Tenpenny is new to MHOF this year. He discovered the farm while looking online for local CSAs. "I was very interested in getting a share, because we can rarely afford organic produce. I live just over in Hubbardston and I thought this would be a good way to meet other folks interested in organic farming and get more experience with growing veggies," said Joshua, who lives on a "little homestead farm with four other folks" and goats, sheep, chicken and ducks, along with "the occasional foster-chickens of our city friends." He also works part-time caretaker for mentally disabled adults at a small residence in Gardner.
He continues, "And well, this *is* what I do for fun! I certainly don't do it for the money. If I didn't love it, I would still be an engineer. But when I'm not doing farm work, housework, caretaking, or errands, I enjoy writing and singing and doing small crafts. I'm actually quite good at embroidery. Having a direct hand in producing more of the food that I eat and that I feed my family. We take care of most of our own animal products, but are terribly inconsistent gardeners!"
- Most Rewarding About Farm Work: Being part of the *real* world. I found a 9-5 computer job left me pretty numb to the experience of being alive and human and part of this amazing world. Working season-to-season, rather than the same thing day after day after day, fixes my life to a pace and rhythm that seems much healthier to me.
- Most Challenging About Farm Work: Doing it every day... even if you feel crummy, or were up late last night, or the weather is awful, or you pulled a muscle, or your old friend is in town, or whatever. Worse than having a kid, farm work chains you to your land. (Have you ever tried to find a good goat-sitter?)
- Guilty Pleasure: At MHOF? Getting an extra peanut-butter ball during break.
- Pet Peeve: Getting drenched when washing the veggies.
- Favorite Veggie to Weed: Favorite? Ah . . . nearly any veggie that is regularly spaced, firmly rooted, and bigger than the weeds surrounding it.
- Least Favorite Veggie to Weed: Lettuce, because it is so hard to not drop dirt on the lettuces.
- Favorite Veggie to Harvest: Any root veggies (besides beets), especially in nice weather when the dirt is soft and warm. Beets have to be bunched...
- Least Favorite Veggie to Harvest: Anything leafy that we're putting into bunches. Harvesting greens by the pound delights me, but I have a terrible time with figuring how big to make a share!
Sweet potatoes in all of their soft, orange glory, will debut in your shares this week. Harvested (appropriately!) from inside the orange hoop house you see out in the field when you pick up your share, these babies are delicious, nutritious and truly yummy in your tummy! Eat 'em up - boiled with butter, roasted with other root veggies tossed in olive oil, baked, mashed and/or with garlic like other potatoes, tossed on top of a salad, sliced into fries and any old which way! Here are a couple of ideas to get you started:
Sweet Potato Pot Pie - courtesy of One United Harvest, collected by Julie Sochacki
(Read carefully; there are three layers to this pie and each is prepared separately.)
Filling:
- 2 cups lentils
- 6 cups water
- 1 tablespoon grated ginger
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes or tomato puree
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
Bottom Layer:
- 3 cups water
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup polenta
Top layer:
- 6 yams (sweet potatoes) baked until soft
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
Boil the lentils in a saucepan. Add other filling ingredients and cook until the lentils are soft. Make the bottom layer by boiling water and adding oil and salt. Then add polenta slowly stirring until it thickens. Put in the bottom of your baking dish and let cool. For the top layer, peel and mash the yams and add the sea salt. When the lentils are done, pour them over the polenta and then smooth the yams on top. Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 15 minutes or until the dish is heated through. (Recipe written by Jonathan Kirschner of Holcomb Farm CSA in West Granby, CT.)
Sweet Potato Fries - also from One United Harvest, collected by Julie Sochacki
- Sweet potatoes, peeled and sliced
- Vegetable oil, enough to coat the bottom of a pan
- Salt to taste
Deep Frying Method:
Heat vegetable oil in deep fryer or deep frying pan. Add potatoes. Fries are done when they rise to the top; they will be crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Sprinkle with salt or seasoned salt, as desired.
Baking Method:
Boil the sweet potatoes until just nearly soft, not mushy. Cut into fries or wedges. Sprinkle with vegetable or olive oil. Place on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 degrees until crispy on the outside. Sprinkle with salt or seasoned salt as desired.
Note: this recipe is a favorite with children, who are always surprised at the sweetness inside!
(Recipe written by Asha Dobbs of Clagett Farm CSA in Upper Marlboro, Md.)
Have a wonderful week! Kathy