Afnaan from Clarke U and I were sitting on the grass eating lunch Friday and discussing his parents’ country of origin – India, and agreeing that India is a kaleidoscope of colors, and noises, and people, landscapes, mammoth cities, and vehicles, etc. I feel this past week has been the same here on the farm: beautiful and orange pesky chickens, galloping pigs, striking carrots, and falling leaves, apples everywhere, unstoppable numbers of pears from our Bartlett tree, Swiss chard packed into the walk-in against the frost, 2 groups from Clarke working assiduously on the farm, piles of food being processed in the kitchen, CSA bags still too difficult to pack because of the mammoth vegetables, people coming in and out all day, and turkeys so happy to see us each day. All this with a backdrop of beautiful sunny and breezy weather, outdoor lunches, lawn mowers making their last cutting for the season, row cover off (it was too hot at the beginning of the week) and on again against the frosty weekend, food being moved out of the barn second floor and into the basement for safe keeping. And don’t forget the WPI students who are coming 3 days per week to run their hydration tests with their drones. The Julie of 40 years ago would be so pleased to witness that vibrancy of every day here – a dream come true.

Special Gratitude this week

Bob and Gayle adopted a bunch of kids about 40 years ago, and Ian was profoundly physically challenged. Now he lives still with his parents and comes out with dad to pick up their share each Monday. We have printed his bag tag very large so he can pick it out on the shelf in the walk-in, much to his delight. Bob stopped in on Monday to read to Jack a children’s book about a mother who throughout the life of her child, told him, “I will love you forever and I will like you forever.” The boy kept that tradition going with his children.
Then the conversation ranged from unconditional love of one’s children to Bob’s revelation that Ian, now in his 40’s still sometimes sits on his dad’s lap for bedtime stories. Bob has taken a special interest in Jack’s recovery from knee surgery. A long-time friend, he and Gayle inspire me in their living of their Christian doctrine, each day with their very special son, and also as they interface with the world.

What is in your CSA Share this week?

Share week of October 21

This is the final week of the CSA!
Please bring back all of your bags to your pick-up location this week. If you can take your food home in another container and leave your bag(s) behind, you won’t have to worry another moment about returns. If you forget, you can return your bags to your pick-up location over the next couple of weeks. These bags are expensive and we like to keep costs down by reusing them year to year. Thanks for helping us in this way.

Best guess for week of October 2

Asian green
Beets
Carrots
Arugula
Collards
Kale
Broccoli
Apples
Pears
Tomatoes
Turnips or radishes
Peppers

Now is a good time to sign up for the fall share.
Sign up here – https://mhof.net/pick-up-locations-and-times/

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Leslie is deeply grateful to Jill Pupkar who helped her unload the Holden bags each Wednesday.

The Lowly Paw Paw Enters Center Stage

by Jack Kittredge

Observant folks around the farm the last week have seen us harvesting fruit which has dropped, finally ripe, from two small trees in our orchard. These fruits, about the size and color of cucumbers, are largely unknown to most Americans, despite being the largest fruit native to North America.
They flashed into history when the Lewis and Clark Expedition, sent by president Thomas Jefferson to explore the Louisiana Purchase which we had just acquired from France, ran low on food. The mostly white male colonists knew little about this vast new territory and hired Native Americans to help them learn more. One, Sacagawea, a Shoshone teenager, was the only woman on the trip and from 1804-06 taught the men about the wonders of the New World, including large amounts of this unknown fruit which the explorers found quite delicious. In September 1806, William Clark wrote in his diary that the expedition was “entirely out of provisions” but “they can live very well on the pappaws”.

Among my goals in starting this farm was to learn more about, grow, and eat fruits and nuts that are not commonly available to consumers. When I found out about paw paws, and especially how delicious they are, I planted a few. Now they are producing in quantity for us and every night we enjoy the creamy, custardy pulp in which are embedded its big black seeds. A spoon is all you need to eat one, discarding the 8 to 12 seeds and scraping the sweet custard from the skin before devouring it.

We had a couple of dozen Clark students here today and not a single one had ever seen a paw paw. All agreed, however, after tasting a spoonful or two, that they were delicious and they want to eat more. The fruit does not lend itself well to commercialization because it has a very short ripeness window and can’t provide the time necessary to pick and ship it to market needed in today’s supermarket economy. It does, however, withstand freezing well.

Thus our newest venture: frozen paw paw custard. We scrape out the pulp from ripe paw paws and freeze it in half cup containers. They are available at $5 each. Try one and see if you don’t agree it is one of the pleasantest tastes you have ever experienced. It can be eaten directly for a great snack, or mixed in a smoothie, with yogurt, or vanilla ice cream to enjoy its unique flavor – which has been described as part mango, part pineapple, part banana, and part ambrosia!

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Volunteering at MHOF

Thanks to the Clarke students of Morgan Ruelle and Heather Silber-Mohaned, and to these two wonderful professors. If you are a professor at a local college or high school, be in touch about coming out and learning about organic regenerative farming.

AquaBounty Shuts Down Biotech Salmon Factory

by Jack Kittredge

Just four years after its first “harvest” of genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon in Canada, the U.S. biotechnology company AquaBounty is selling its on-land GM fish factory at Rollo Bay, Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada. The Canadian facility was one of two sites run by AquaBounty. Both are now closed. The second, in Indiana, was sold earlier this year to the company Superior Fresh, which only uses non-GM fish and non-GM fish food.

AquaBounty Technologies’ latest financial results indicate the company lost $27.5 million in FY 2023, higher than the $22.1 million it lost in 2022. “We never wanted GM salmon and we’re relieved the company has shut down production,” said Sharon Labchuk of Earth Action PEI. “Millions of our public money was wasted to support this worthless, dangerous genetically modified fish,” said Leo Broderick of The Council of Canadians-PEI Chapter which is also a member of the coalition GMO-Free PEI that fought to stop the GM salmon in PEI. Federal and provincial governments invested over $8 million in the company through grants and loans.

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Sausage Stuffed Peppers with Eggplant

Ingredients:

6 medium Peppers, tops cut off and deseeded
3 ripe Tomatoes, diced
2 medium Eggplants, peeled and diced
1.5 pounds of Italian Sausage
1 cup cooked Basmati Rice
3 Eggs
1 quart of Tomato Sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a large bowl, mix well the sausage, rice and eggs.
Stuff peppers with sausage mixture adding tops back on and put in large casserole dish.
Add to dish the tomatoes, eggplant, and tomato sauce.
Cook until peppers are tender and sausage is thoroughly cooked through. About 45 minutes.

Making Collard paste for the freezer

Food available for sale for preserving – be in touch to order

Kale – $3/lb.
Collards – $3/lb

We are also selling the following preserved foods

frozen applesauce – nothing added – $7/quart.
Frozen pear sauce – nothing added – $7/quart – this one is especially good for your gall bladder
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
NEW ITEM – cooked, pureed, frozen beets in pints – $6 – good for almost everything – https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8565237/; we plan to use it in soups and add it to our super drink everyday
Cider this week – $15/gallon

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Rhizophagy

The rhizophagy cycle is the process in which plants absorb living microbes through their root tips–basically swallowing bacterial cells whole. The plant then strips the membranes off the bacterial cells. Some of these bacterial cells are basically “eaten” through endocytosis, and are fully absorbed by the plant’s cells. Others are re-emitted by the plant through its root hairs. These microbes become “messengers,” advertising the plant’s nutritional needs throughout the soil microbiome. The plants farm the microbiome in much the same way that we farm livestock.

Essentially plant digestive systems are similar to our own, or to the rumens of ruminant mammals–they are driven by the microbiome contained within.

The discovery of the rhizophagy cycle is a really big deal. It means that plants do not derive their nutrition from simple ions, as the mainstream chemical approach to agriculture has presupposed, but that they rely on whole microbes for a substantial part of their nutrition.

Rhizophagy has been studied extensively by Dr. James White of Rutgers University, who I interviewed on the Regenerative Agriculture podcast. I’d recommend listening to that episode to learn more.”

Dan has some items for sale

Potatoes and tomatoes, each at $3/lb. And new this week – winter squash at $2/lb. Contact him at 978-257-2627 or dan@bionutrient.org.

Fresh Squeezed Cider Available Monday, October 28

We will press cider on Sunday the 27th and it will be for sale at $15/gallon. You can place your order and come and pick it up Sunday afternoon, the 27^th through the next Friday at the farm. If you are a Monday, Wednesday or Friday shareholder and would like to either pick it up here or have it travel to your site, we can arrange that. First come, first served – we will probably have around 10 gallons for sale. It goes fast and is only getting better and the frosts hit the apples. Contact me at julie@mhof.net or 978-257-1192

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The calm before the cider storm

Time to order your turkey

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Details and to order your Turkey

Farm Doins

Luke and the Stetson folks taking up the tarps where the garlic will be planted

Jim mowed the entire farm Monday morning!

Wednesday, we tore through the CSA and then hosted 20 Clarke students and their teacher Morgan Ruelle

Planting the garlic and stepping it in

After planting the garlic, we spread 100 bags of kelp on the two beds

And then we mulched it

Other students collected many apples

Friday Clarke students helped us put down row cover, pick and pack the CSA, move all our veggies from the second floor of the barn to the basement and pick up yet more apples