September was an astonishingly beautiful month, despite so little rain. And October is more of the same, usually, with a threat of winter here and there, usually followed by some more gorgeous days. At the table we are eating more roots, and have been gorging on sweet potatoes all week. In the field we can get away with some drive-by weeding followed by quick applications of any stray old piles of hay to tuck the cabbages in. Though there is still much work to accomplish, the urgency just isn’t there anymore, and settling in to just enjoying the most fortunate autumn weather of Massachusetts is highest on the list of any day’s potential accomplishments. As I watch the cover crop seeds emerging as young seedlings to clothe the soil for the winter and keep the microbes fed, make yet one more pot of tomato sauce, and start to gather pears, I appreciate once again, a life of being in tune with the natural processes.
Gratitude this week
When I start keeping my eye out for outstanding folks who spark my gratitude, it becomes hard to choose each week the one who rises to the top. This week, however it goes to our daughter Ellen. She has been around off and on since September 14, almost 3 weeks. I am always reminded of her strong character, her purposeful striding through life, and her passion for helping others achieve good health and happiness. Friday, right before she had to leave on a plane to return to England she was consulting with staffers Leslie, Marj and Justin. And from Tuesday through Friday, she was helping support me through a bad cold I picked up when I went away. All week she was on the phone with clients from all over the states working with their unique health challenges. On the way to the airport, she was finishing up some socks for a dear friend of hers to ship off, and completed tying off a sweater she made for her niece Rose. As Jack and I get older I see her watching over us health-wise as an angel would. I feel very fortunate that Ellen was born into our family. I am very thankful for her visit.
2025 MHOF CSA
Monday was a heady day as we packed probably the largest share of the season. I hope that you are finding ways to preserve the extra bounty of this time of year with blanching and freezing of greens, drying and or freezing of herbs, while eating tons of vegetables to prepare your body for winter. The food will be slowing down, but not yet. We had another small frost on Wednesday night, but even the green beans are putting on little ones which might just make it to harvest by the week of October 13. I can’t walk by the Asian greens – mustard, tatsoi, and bok choi without drooling. The vibrancy of their green invites them to be consumed to become building blocks for our health.
October 3 CSA
This week you can expect the following
- Lettuce – looking really good and presently being protected by all of our lights and noisemaking devices
Chard for all – also a deer favorite which is under protection of our latest tech - Cilantro – still strong
- Parsley – kick your blood health up a notch
- Broccoli/cabbage/cauliflower for the larges and mediums
- A beautiful Asian of one sort or another for all
- Arugula
- Kale this week
- Summer squash while it lasts for at least the larges
- Tomatoes have decided to finally come in – a little late, but appreciated none-the-less. The yellow garden peaches are really strong right now. Enjoy that beautiful color
- Radishes for smalls
- Turnip greens
- Tulsi
- Marjoram
- Sweet potatoes – one more strong week
- Fennel for at least Monday and Wednesday. If we run out, Friday will get celeriac – use this in soups, or grated in salad.
Sign up for the fall share now
Sign up here – we are amassing a large selection in the field fresh and in the barn and root cellar of already harvested storage crops
Order yours today
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Results so far of our appeal for help
From 40 folks we have received almost $11,000. Wow. It is starting to really feel like a community farm. We appreciate that you understand how hard it is to stay solvent doing this work and feel more obliged than ever before to share the many levels of bounty that community support brings to a farm with all of you and the greater world. Jack and I will be sitting down soon to put pencil to paper to start the process of spending it wisely. More updates to follow.
Did we Evolve Through a ‘Bottleneck”?
Jack Kittredge
A study published in Science in August 2023 by Chinese paleoanthropologists Haipeng Li and Yi-Hsuan Pan suggests a fascinating theory which may help explain why we humans are the way we are. They use an innovative new statistical method called FitCoal to infer past population sizes by looking at how gene lineages coalesce over time. It might be compared to how linguists derive facts about ancient peoples from modern language and word use.
According to their study, early human ancestors experienced a sharp, prolonged loss of population for the period between 930,000 and 813,000 years ago. We are talking a near extinction, losing 99% of their numbers and dropping to not much more than a thousand breeding individuals, spread out over the continent of Africa in bands of roughly 20 members. The exact causes of this crash are unclear but thought to be due to the climatic shifts which occurred in that era: dropping temperature accompanied by glaciations and drought. The effects of such a long ‘evolutionary bottleneck’ would be severe: vastly reduced biodiversity (the authors estimate 65% of pre-human genetic diversity was lost) and intense selective pressure to adapt to new conditions.
Eventually the climate changed, the remaining population rebounded, waves of our ancestors left Africa and populated the earth. But we are still paying the price of that bottleneck. One of the lingering impacts most interesting to me is upon our immune systems.
Autoimmune conditions: A gene can take many forms or ‘alleles’. In a small population allele distribution can fluctuate randomly as to whether it is beneficial or harmful. This lack of diversity can lead to the loss of alleles conferring tolerance to the body’s own tissues, risking more prevalent autoimmune responses.
Epidemic and cancer vulnerability: A healthy immune system detects cells infected by a virus, cancer, or other disease and marks them for destruction with non-self peptides. A less diverse set of genes for these histocompatibility markers will not always recognize harmful invaders and can let such unnoticed diseases spread.
Other impacts beyond weakened immune systems would of course result from the genetic diversity collapse of such a catastrophic near-extinction, and this theory is already provoking much new thinking along those lines. I am intrigued so far and can’t wait to see how exploring the idea of our “bottleneck” origins stands up to the scientific challenges sure to come.
Jennifer’s Recipe of the Week
Hi Julie,
Here is the recipe of the week that includes your amazing monster beets and sweet potatoes. It was so exciting to get such a beautiful sweet potato after last year’s mishap. I’ve never before eaten such a delicious one.
Enjoy!
Love,
Jennifer
Editor’s note – ‘last year’s mishap’ is in the category of “what happens at the farm stays on the farm. . . .” I have to agree with Jennifer that the sweets are damn good this year!
Ojas Harvest Roast
Ojas Harvest Roast weaves Ayurvedic wisdom and modern nutrition into one vibrant dish. Beets and sweet potatoes, with their sweet and earthy qualities, calm Vata and build ojas (vital essence), while also delivering fiber, beta-carotene, and circulation-boosting nitrates that support liver health and steady energy. For Kapha, the warming spices and lightness of broccoli help counter heaviness and stagnation, offering balance and vitality. Leeks provide gentle stimulation for agni (digestive fire) without overheating Pitta, while their prebiotic fibers nurture gut flora and strengthen immunity. Steamed broccoli brings pranic vitality and balance to the heavier roots, while contributing vitamin C, vitamin K, and sulforaphane—compounds known to aid detoxification and disease prevention. Roasting in ghee enhances flavor, soothes the nervous system, and improves absorption of fat-soluble nutrients. The spice trio of cardamom, fennel, and pippali awakens digestion, eases bloating, and provides both anti-inflammatory and respiratory benefits. Together, these elements create a dish that is tridoshic and harmonizing—supporting digestion, circulation, and resilience while offering both comfort and vitality.
7 DAY METABOLIC CLEANSE AND RESET with ELLEN
https://ellenkittredge.com/metabolic-reset.php
Farm Doins
It is always exciting when we finally reach that week of the CSA where all the crops look stupendous and we need 2 people to pack a bag. That was this past week.
Tuesday, we got a start on our fall planting (Clare and blue house and two more beds in the garden that will be covered with row cover). Nick, Marissa and Justin cleaned out the Clare and got beds made. Later in the week we managed some progress on the blue. We are hoping to have it all completed by the end of this Tuesday if we hustle.
Bed prep on Saturday
Food preservation of peaches and tomatoes took some time, and harvesting sweet potatoes,
though most of the week seemed to center around the CSA. Danny and Jack picked up the repaired hoop for the hoophouse, and we hope to have that back on line by the end of Monday.
The turkeys and chickens turned a corner in the pond field and are now heading south, away from the house. We have crossed fingers that our time without predation will continue!
Paula and I finished the seed saving of the tomatoes that we started last week. Justin mowed down some more old crops readying them for more cover crop seeding.
Julie
The presence of this 16” daikon in the sweet potato neighborhood of the garden speaks volumes about the soil quality in this field that houses the monster beets, a lot of cilantro, parsley, tulsi, beautiful lettuce, Asian greens, and the summer squash that ran for 4 months. I am endeavoring the bring up the fertility of our other fields to match this one that has been at it for 44 years running.
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