Although as I get older, I am likely to take no, or at least limited credit than I used to, for things that turn out just right on the farm, I wanted to share this wonderful mid-September, all systems running perfectly experience with our mid-July planting of early wonder tall top beets.

As our Saturday cider-making crew extolled the taste of these wonderful beets that we eat steamed with their greens and served with butter and Celtic sea salt, I swelled with pride. Beets used to be a problem with spotty leaves, beet leaf miner leaves, and gnarly often small roots that tended toward bitter-tasting. Forget eating the greens because they were also bitter. These beets we ate on Saturday had perfect roots, leaves and even succulent stems.

For the farmers among you, and also the curious consumers, I would like to take you down a little history of their 2024 journey to our plates (and yours this upcoming week of the CSA).

The first crop of the season was onion sets, which we planted with the help of Clark students in April, and with whom we mulched very heavily the next week that they came. We always put down some North Country Organics fertilizer, then use our AEA plant/transplant drench.

Importantly, this area of the garden was corn last year (2023). We go all out with our corn because we can. It is very tall, so we can intersow cover crops, and/or mulch it very heavily. Last fall this area of the garden received special attention from our laying hens whose chicken tractors passed over the area after we harvested the corn and mowed it down – lots and lots of organic matter, scratching from chickens and nutritional stimulation. Early in the spring we sprayed soil primer, then tarped the area, taking off the tarps after all crop residue was digested.

After we removed the onions in early July (2024) we replanted four rows of beet seed – a little thickly, using more Pro-Gro, and more transplant drench. The folks from Gardening the Community came for the day in late July and that day we carefully weeded the cotyledon leaves of beets and spread some of our kelp between the rows. Meanwhile, we weekly sprayed our vegetative foliar. We thinned the beets for a couple of weeks and served the thinnings in bunches to the CSA. This week we will have the full grown beets and greens.

As I understand it, beets need some strong nutrition, including calcium, boron, potassium and manganese, among the other minerals. We have on a few occasions increased manganese and potassium if our leaves start to go south, and are pretty full tank on calcium due to very targeted use of calcium lime, rock phosphate, gypsum, and carbonatite rock dust in the mid to late 2000’s.
And then there is the heavy mulch, the cover crops, the chicken manure in fall, the tarps, and of course all of those people who have trod the land here over the years, and particularly in 2024.

Don’t forget the other factors that are out of our control – solar flares, yearly fluctuations in climate and who knows what else. Bottom line, I am going to savor this crop that we got just right this year.

Almost spotless leaves with the oily sheen of full health

I have published the AEA recipes before, but if you want them again, feel free to reach out.

Special Gratitude this week

It’s Pete, who showed up on Wednesday for a full day of work (followed by an extra hour at the end of the day for more conversation and gape destemming). I love welcoming MHOF alumni back to the farm. It brings the whole community experience full-circle. Pete is so self-effacing, hardworking and a joy to be around.

And then there was the Friday pig outage and subsequent chasing of pigs around the farm for about 2 hours. Thanks to Matt who ran the pig moving affair, Luke, Jennifer, Leslie, and Amanda, our new staff member, for finally getting everyone on the right side of the electric fence and enjoying their new pig yard.

Jennifer attempts to videotape while chasing

Watch on Facebook

Leslie showed great panache as a pig hustler

Yes, that pig is on Sheldon Road

Amanda, left, allowed as how that was one of the most delightful experiences she had enjoyed, for Luke, right, not so much

What is in your CSA Share this week?

Best guess for week of September 16

• Peppermint
• Lettuce
• Chard
• Beets
• Arugula
• Kale
• Brussels sprouts tops – they look like collards and are prepared similarly. We take off the tops to encourage the sprouts to grow bigger
• Tomatoes
• Apples – Grimes golden this week; don’t be surprised if you see some pears; CSA peaches are done. We hope you enjoyed the season.
• Marjoram
• Radishes
• Summer squash
• Peppers
• Potatoes for Wednesday – I know you didn’t get them last week either – Wednesdays have been overwhelming with large numbers of shares and low numbers of staff – we will try again this week
• flowers for flower shares

We are still taking new shareholders – here is where you can sign up  — https://mhof.net/csa-order-form/

Volunteering at MHOF

Our newest volunteer, Sophie, is seen here enjoying some pig time on Saturday morning while Alexandria looks on.

We particularly would be happy with a Wednesday working shareholder this fall, if the 8-12 timing fits your schedule.

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Autumn Root Soup

Tis the season for soups and stews.  I’ve begun to make lots of chicken bone broth.  Root vegetables are particularly balancing in autumn and winter as they are grounding and nourishing.  With the cold, dry, windy season, we can easily find ourselves out of balance.  This will sure to warm you up, hydrate, and provide stability.

Ingredients:

• 3 T Ghee or Butter
• Chicken Bone broth – click here for bone broth recipe
• 5 large Potatoes, diced
• 3 large Carrots, chopped
• 1 large Onion, diced
• 5 small Purple top turnips
• 1/2 head of Cabbage, shredded
• 1 large bunch of Chard, chopped

Directions:

1. In a large pot, melt ghee, add onions and any additional spices you might desire and saute for 3 minutes.
2. Add all of your other vegetables and broth.
3. Simmer until vegetables are tender, about 45 minutes.
4. Serve hot with a splash of lemon juice and a dash of nutritional yeast.

Items that you can buy for your own food preservation

• Swiss chard – $3/lb.
• Kale – $3/lb.
• Collards – $3/lb.
• Peppers – $4/lb.
• Tomatoes – $3/lb.

We are also selling the following preserved foods

• Frozen applesauce – nothing added – $7/quart.
• Frozen peaches – $6 per pound in bags of around 2-3 bs.
• Canned tomatoes – $10/quart.
• Canned tomato juice – $10/quart
• Canned apple juice – $10/quart

Dan has some items for sale

Potatoes and tomatoes, each at $3/lb. Contact him at 978-257-2627 or dan@bionutrient.org.

Farm Doins

We made great strides in the food preservation department this week. We are currently up to date on tomatoes, we finished the grape harvest and canning of grape juice, peaches are up to date and waning. Saturday Megan, Dan, Joss, Sebbi, and Rose helped me with our first cider-making extravaganza making 19 gallons. This will continue weekly for the next 7 or so weeks and soon we will have fresh cider for sale – but not quite yet. Keep an eye out.

Picking up prima apple drops on Friday

Rose, Joss and Sebbi grinding apples

Dan and Megan pressing

Jack and I canned up a total of 51 quarts of tomatoes, grape juice and mostly apple juice, finishing by 9 pm on Saturday night while enjoying “Meet john Doe” and “The Trip to Bountiful”.
All the way back to Monday, Paula, Marissa, Danny, Jennifer and I picked the remainder of the corn, knocked it down and preserved 4 big crates of frozen corn. They all left at 3, and Jack and I did peaches and corn until 8 that night. The bugaboo with corn is the incredible sticky mess that it makes on all the dishes, the floor and the table!

Paula and Julie knock down the corn- it will be mowed, sprayed with soil primer and tarped this week

Husking the corn on a beautiful afternoon

We didn’t do much weeding this week as pigs, short staffing and heat cut into our weeding while picking for the CSA time. But Luke, Amanda, Paula and I were able to plant Asians, lettuce, cabbage and fennel on Tuesday. Pete and Matt squeezed in some hay making on Wednesday afternoon while Leslie and Paula and I gathered 12 more gallons of grapes from the arbor.

When I look back on the week, it is a blur of hard work, friendly banter, lots of laughs, very interesting conversations around the kitchen table, late summer meals of whatever is in the garden and a great sense of community and accomplishment. Oh, and I went to see Karen Way and she loaded me up with a bunch of magnets on Friday afternoon and I feel great. You should check it out. She is on the internet (and also hosts the Wednesday CSA drop off at Elan Vital).

Julie

The collards had gone way south last month with a lot of insect damage, but all is well that ends well!

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Link to buy J and J’s book – Many Hands Make a Farm-
https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/many-hands-make-a-farm/