Recess – Many Hands Organic Farm

January 13, 2025

Working on the farm is like going out for recess all day long
Julie Rawson

I couldn’t help myself on Friday. The weather was perfect. It got up to 40 degrees, the sun was out, and the company was sublime. It was Randy and Holly’s last day for another year. We were all up in the Summer Sweet Banana doing major surgery on this massive apple tree. Matt was expertly cutting branches with his extension saw, Randy and Holly were kibbitzing on how to prune their side of the tree, I was sawing away from the top of the 8’ ladder, Amanda was dragging off all the branches to the burn pile, and the kids were helping with clipping and dragging. Mira ran off to collect a chicken that had followed us out too far and gotten lost on the edge of the woods. Flash forward to lunch and roast chicken, mashed potatoes and rutabaga, frozen corn and cabbage- steamed, buttered and salted, multi-fruit pie with whipped cream, and the south windows opened up to keep us from getting too hot in our passive solar home – the sun pouring in. It was another phenomenal farm lunch. At the end of the day after various tasks that we attended to, Holly and I raced out to split the latest pile of cut firewood, and while we usually keep four people busy splitting and loading the back of the truck, the two of us were doing our best to keep splitting two pieces at a time while keeping the splitter going at full throttle. I commented that we were definitely two birds of a feather; although she is almost exactly ½ my age. Randy finished up the sawbuck reconstruction, Amanda finished up the tri-fold brochure and Holly gave me an oil massage. How could life get any better?

Expressing Gratitude this Week

It has to go to Randy and Holly and kids this week. They were here a short three days this year and it ended all too soon. They are such role models for what a family with well-placed priorities can mean in today’s society. Homesteaders and community activists who live off the land, give back to the land and the community, are, in my estimation, what this country needs most right now. Grounding in agricultural self-reliance provides blessings for the entire culture. There is never any time wasted in wondering about purpose. Jack and I are blessed to be friends with such sound members of the human family. As we spent time with them over the past two weeks, I was struck by the similarities in our two families – 4 kids, both parents working from home, alternative lifestyle, to name a few. I also mused, as I watched them, about how we had raised our kids 35 years ago. I am pretty happy with the daily decisions that we made regarding their upbringing, but I also saw in this younger couple a few things, as Eeyore the Winnie the Pooh donkey would say, that were better in places.

Vina, almost 3, eating her favorite food – homemade lacto-fermented sauerkraut

2025 MHOF CSA

A way back, Christy Bassett started a page on the website that was slated to list all of our crops that are passed out in the CSA, so that newbies could go from our list in the newsletter to this link to find a picture and get some ideas for how to use it. Leslie has taken over this project and will be slowly populating it for shareholders’ support and edification. Take a look now while it is still on the ground floor: CSA Produce.

We are taking shares right now. Here is the form: 2025 CSA Order Form

We have our comprehensive Farm 8 ½” by 11” tri-fold completed – thanks to a lot of effort by Amanda. Please be in touch if you would like us to send you some to pass out, or if you can get by with a pdf to reprint on your own.

Download the 2025 CSA Order Form

Volunteering at MHOF

For now, we are only working Mondays and Fridays, but by April we will be working M, T, W, F, with a 2 ½ hour stint on Saturdays for those who can’t come during the week. Now is a good time to sign up for a season at the farm. Right now we are pruning apple trees, fixing bird houses and cutting, splitting and stacking firewood.

Fridges Update

Hi Julie,

I love reading your newsletter on Monday mornings.

It’s really good to hear about your start for the Worcester Frig’s. We have one in Shrewsbury, and it is quite busy. I stopped frequently and over the summer I brought some of my share such as some pears (what a season) some butternut and also when Emily was away, and I picked up 2 shares. The fridge is quite clean but the amount of traffic it gets was surprising. It definitely drives home the point of need. Thank you for all you do!

I hope you notice quite beautiful moments today!

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Thanks for this info, Donnamarie. What a good idea to take stuff that you have too much of to the Fridges!

Julie

We will be fundraising to bring in about $10,000 more to support our share deliveries to the Woo Community Fridges in Worcester. Perhaps you live too far away to buy a CSA share for yourself, but would like to support a summer share – $500, or a fall share – $170. Or you can afford a modest contribution. You can donate here

Donate Here

This Week’s Recipe from Jennifer: Soft-Boiled Eggs with Sautéed Veggies & Avocado

Soft-boiled eggs provide gentle protein, while ghee-sautéed onion, asparagus, and spinach ground Vata and counteract Kapha heaviness. Cooling turmeric soothes inflammation, and sour accents like lemon and balsamic, used sparingly, enhance flavor without overwhelming Pitta. For strong Pitta types, reduce sourness or use cooling herbs. This harmonious blend supports balanced doshas, digestive fire, and holistic wellness.

Get the Recipe on Jen Zen Living

Now Available at the Farm

Frozen Foods

Bacon
Lard
Applesauce
Pear sauce
Peaches
Cooked beet puree
Paw paw puree
3 23 lb. turkeys
Pork Stock
Chicken stock new to the list!
Turkey stock new to the list!
Winter squash new to the list!
We have 6 pork roasts, recently freed from their too large size – each is 3-4 lbs

Fresh

Eggs

Shelf Stable

Dried Peaches
Canned tomato juice
Canned apple juice

Tinctures

Bitters combo
Holy basil

Personal care

Comfrey salve
Calendula salve
Hemp salve
Lavender soap
Peppermint soap

Available at the Farm

Pruning

We haven’t yet started on our peach pruning, but soon will. If we learned one thing last year it was that we didn’t prune heavily enough in the winter, nor did we thin adequately in June. Here are some great peach pruning videos picked out for you by Jack.

How to Prune a Peach Tree in 4 Simple Steps!

How to Prune Peach Trees

Pruning Peaches

Farm Doin’s

We are still making stocks – we did an entire pig head on Monday, and a 5-gallon pot of pork bones and a small turkey on Friday.

Jim and Marcia bought us a new tractor seat for Christmas and Jim installed it on Monday,

Meanwhile Marcia was upstairs in the barn making it look like an hospitable studio apartment. Randy and Matt cut down a bunch of raggedy trees, tore down and cut up grape vines, cut back brush, and made enough pieces of firewood available to keep our splitters – Paula, Jennife, Amanda, Holly and me in work.

We have had some early challenges with wood stacking, having started with some twisted fruitwood. The pile has successfully fallen down twice in two weeks – but we will endeavor with renewed vigor to improve our technique and get it righted!

The tarps have been playing with us and with the fierce winds this week, some of the north field tarped area again got exposed. Luke will be back on Monday, so I suspect we will get it under control. Danny and Stu have been taking apart old bird houses, with help from the Stetson folks, and will now start reconstruction after a trip to Rough Cut Lumber in New Salem.