CSA Week 6, July 10-14

July 8, 2018

CSA Week 6 – July 10, 12, 14

Dear friends,

After a brutally hot week this past week, and just me and Mario here on Wednesday to do the chores, we gloried in Friday’s rainstorm and cooler weather. All week I fell prey to my sometimes wonderment that at 65 I need to beat myself up all day long every day in the field, but it all came together during that rainstorm. Myai, my Vietnamese friend and sometimes working shareholder, came and brought Thuy, another Vietnamese, and Poppy, originally from Greece. When you add in Mario, our stalwart Stetson farmworker of now two summers and many week ends who is from Cape Verde, we had 4 immigrants on our farm. God bless an American that sports such amazing diversity. And we also had a wonderful assortment of our paid staff, Brent, Clare, and now Max, new this week, and three Stetson volunteers.  I came to the realization again, that I like lots of people around, working hard and having a good time.

 

 

 

I want to give a special shout out to Thuy this week who was a “boat person”. She left Vietnam with her sister and brother in law after 9 failed attempts, some of which landed them in jail in Vietnam, in 1987. It took her 2 ½ years of traveling to Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand to finally arrive in Boston. Thuy is now a nurse in Worcester. She spoke to me (while we were preparing a carrot bed for planting) of the horrors of the refugee camps, after, of course the horrors of Saigon when she was a child during the Vietnam War. We talked about how it is hard for her to get a good night’s sleep from the still recurring nightmares. A farm can be a truly healing medium for all sorts of trauma that people have experienced. I am grateful to know Thuy and to learn from her about what courage can truly encompass.

Thuy, on left, Myai , and Poppy weed a broccoli bed, saving the healthy dandelion grrens to harvest later

The cows pushed it far this past week and got out one time too many and ate a few too many brassica plants while working their way around the farm. Yes, Jack and I finally agreed that the late night, early morning, and even on the 4th of July heat, cow roundups are to come to an end. Cassidy, Sundance and Foamy will meet their maker on this upcoming Sunday. And yes, we will have beef for sale! Alas – the realism of the farm.

 

Food this week

  • Lettuce – 6/3
  • Radishes – this week only, now that we have more staff to do more than keep our heads above water, we will be more diligent about getting things like cilantro, radishes and turnips planted on a regular basis so you can enjoy these treats more often
  • 1 kohlrabi – this is a close out this week. I met Derek Parks in the driveway and he really enjoyed his kohlrabi, and you can see notes from Loree Griffin Burns below. Maybe we will start some more for a fall crop!
  • Chard – I think we are over the slug hump on the chard (and there are very few in the lettuce now too), so hopefully there will be less holes in your otherwise very tasty Swiss chard
  • Kale – this is a standard
  • Collards – a favorite in African American cuisine, I chop these plants fine and lightly steam them in soup or stir fry
  • Sugar snaps – there should be abundance
  • Shell peas – and I am hoping all will receive these this week too. Be sure to eat the sugar snaps whole and shell out these peas. If you mistakenly bite into a shell pea your teeth will tell you that you should have shelled them out. Jack and I have been enjoying watching movies at night and shelling these for the freezer – blanched 3 minutes in boiling water, cooled and then packaged for the freezer
  • Chives –back again this week – your allium component
  • Summer squash/zucchini – larges only – hopefully enough for all the larges this week – they are coming slowly
  • Looking forward to cucumbers soon, and beets for sure next week, also cilantro

looking forward to abundant summer squash

Would you like a dozen eggs in your share each week? They cost $7/dozen – are certified organic, free range and the very best. Right now they are getting their organic grain soaked in whey. Let me know and we will set you up with weekly eggs. The price for getting eggs starting this week is $119

We can use your recycled plastic grocer y size bags

Yes, just leave them in your share bag – don’t forget to return it this week, and we will use them for packing vegetables. We can reuse the rubber bands too!

 Still taking members

Every week the price will go down each week (by $30 for larges and $20 for mediums), and it will be updated on the website – https://mhof.net/2018-csa-share-options/.

Comments from you

            It has been a complete joy to have let the garden rest this spring and summer (and let me rest, too) and still have a bounty of nutritious, organic produce. I feel so lucky to live where I do, and to have found MHOF. Thank you for the bounty, and for all the hard work you and your crew put into producing it and getting it out to all of us. 

 One of the crops I never put to good enough use is rhubarb. Every year I make a crumble, a couple pies, and that’s about it. With a little more time and energy this year, I experimented with the recipe linked below, and really love it. I make a few quart-sized jars of pickled rhubarb at a time, and pull one out every few days to make this yummy salad. This year I used my rhubarb and yours!  This week I will continue to experiment with kohlrabi. Stay tuned. 

 Last thing: I met Raina this weekend! In a small world moment, she showed up at my house to buy the 30-year-old ambulance that my son Ben converted into a camper and drove across the country last summer. He is ready to move on to a more traditional vehicle that will get him through northern winters (he goes to school in Vermont), and she was ready for some unorthodox travel adventures. It was a treat to meet her, and to see my different worlds meet up in the driveway. 

 Always,

Loree

 

Check out our Facebook at this address https://www.facebook.com/manyhandsorganicfarm… You can like us, refer us and also write a review if you enjoy what you are receiving. That all helps get the word out for our farm. Thanks for what many of you have already done to help us get the word out.

We are also on Instagram at Many Hands Organic Farm. Clare and Lisa post pictures there all of the time.

NOFA Summer Conference

Check out this wonderful weekend for those who love to eat, grow, or advocate around organic food and farming, and environmental health Check it out here – http://nofasummerconference.org/. Jack and I organized this conference for 24 years and raised our kids on it. You will meet like minded and truly positive spirited change-makers and practical people at this event.

Julie