Weekly newsletters

Thanksgiving

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November 20, 2023
Thanksgiving

Folks often have a favorite holiday. The top of the charts for me is Thanksgiving. This is the holiday after which the farm takes a radical turn. The crops are all harvested except a few hoophouse items that we will share with the voles over the early winter, the pigs are gone, the turkeys debuted on many family’s tables, the laying hens have moved into the winter house, the last of the pear sauce has been processed, and the winter rye has been scattered over the last carrot, rutabaga, and beet beds, whose occupants are now sleeping peacefully in sand in the root cellar.

For more than 4 decades the Kittredge clan has descended on our house en masse to celebrate our extended family. There will be 32 of us this year, the first big Thanksgiving dinner since the pandemic. I like lots of people in my life, and despite the longest work week coming up of the year, I utterly enjoy this family connection, which will be one more long day, but a fortunate one to be part of.

On this Thanksgiving I am grateful for the long list of blessings in my life, while trying to hold and be cognizant of all the pain, suffering, terror and death that continues to swirl around us on the international stage. May this day of thanks and gratitude somehow spill out to the world around us.

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Expressing Gratitude this Week

Jennifer has taken me on as a new yoga student. In my rather focused work to stay supple for the long haul (my present goal is to be an active farmer at age 90), I have encountered another of Jennifer’s gifts – that as a truly brilliant yoga instructor. This week saw our first class – 9 minutes per week of yoga in exchange for a dozen eggs. And more supple I am getting, with increased Qi flow to my sometimes intransigent hips and legs and feet. She has classes at her studio in case you want to sign up – https://www.jenzenliving.com/. Thank you, Jennifer, for this, your many other gifts (yes, she is the one who is now featuring a recipe each week) and for coming over the day before Thanksgiving to help get this farm house cleaned up for the Kittredge masses!

Videos from this Week

Elderberry move

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Yojairo birthday

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Post pounding in bean trellises

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Sorry for cutting off your head, Jonathan

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Rutabagas into root cellar

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Chickens into house

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Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years

Carl Sandburg

I got this on audilbe and it took me 6 months at least to finish it, but finish it this week I did. This is a profoundly intimate biography of one of the world’s most renowned leaders. Carl Sandburg seemingly didn’t miss a detail of Lincoln’s life from before birth up until he was laid to rest in Springfield, IL in May of 1865. I come from Illinois as does Sandburg, by the way, and we native Illinoisans are really proud to come from the same state as both of these men. Sandburg won a Pulitzer Prize for this book, which was written in 6 volumes.

As I travel through my relatively mundane life, I regularly like to check in with distinguished leaders from history to gain their insights on how to truly lead people. Sandburg gives us the whole man, seen through countless writings and observances of others, and through Lincoln’s speeches. So incredibly weighted down by the task he had of keeping the Union together, he did always make time for humor from Petroleum V Nasby and other contemporary satirists, which took him away from his grueling responsibilities for short periods of time. And perhaps it kept alive in him, his incredible talent for story-telling.
I wept through the entire assassination section of the book, in part because of Sandburg’s incredible ability to take the reader right there and see the whole thing as an eye witness.
In case you think that we live in turbulent times, experience this masterwork and learn firsthand the times when our country was truly tearing itself apart.

Meat for Sale at MHOF

Looks like we are essentially sold out We might have more pork after we get it back from the slaughterhouse. Stay tuned.

We will have 2024 offerings on the website by January 1 at the latest.

Many Hands Make a Farm

We now have copies available for sale of, Many Hands Make a Farm. The price is $25 each and if you buy one from us, the $12.50 that we clear will go directly to the Many Hands Sustainability Center. And if you would like us to sign your copy, we can do that too! We’ll ship one to you also. Enquire. Finally, we will be having a local book signing party in January. Watch for details.

Email Julie at julie@mhof.net to buy directly from us or see the link at the bottom of the newsletter to buy online.

      “The advantages of a shed are many. First off, you don’t need to procure a building permit or pour a foundation. Simply throw up some posts, put a roof over them (walls and doors are optional) and you’re done. You can do it yourself (although a spouse or a kid eight years or older can be a real help), tools are minimal (shovel, measuring tape, saw, hammer, nails, and ladder), and materials (posts, planks, and roofing shingles) are cheap. Best of all you can put off the big barn decisions until later, when you have more time and money and a clearer idea of what you need and where it should be situated. Barns are permanent, sheds are not.” Pages 138 and 139

From Bryan O’Hara, fellow farmer (and one of the best that we know) who wrote No Till Intensive Vegetable Culture

“Many Hands Make a Farm is an inspirational and engaging read by two of organic agriculture’s most respected leaders. Jack and Julie are steadfast champions of freedom and love. Their open-minded questioning has lead them to a life full of nature’s insights, as well as the fortitude to say what needs to be said”

Fall CSA News – Week 4

Remember, everyone, that this CSA runs for 4 weeks. The fourth and final week will all be picked and distributed on Monday, November 20 – today, even for the folks who will be picking up on Wednesday and Friday on the three previous weeks.
CSA Week 4 – Our best guess

  • Two things from the hoop house – hopefully a lettuce and an Asian green
  • A turnip or rutabaga gleaned from the field
  • Carrots – the end
  • Kale
  • Parsley – from the walk in
  • Potatoes – the end
  • Squash or an onion– the end
  • Onion – the end
  • Hopefully radishes from the field

The fields, the basement, and the root cellar are pretty empty, as well it should be, I guess. Let’s get together again in another half year.

Health tips

Nice article on bitters from Food Health Revolution Network – https://foodrevolution.org/blog/bitter-is-better-why-bitter-foods-can-be-good-for-your-health/?utm_source=sfmc&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=blo-2023&utm_content=bitter-foods-v2&j=247331&sfmc_sub=113111897&l=137_HTML&u=3662265&mid=514008241&jb=173

Volunteering at MHOF

Starting November 27, we go down to 3 days per week – Monday, Tuesday and Friday. You are always welcome on those days. “Payment” for your 4-hour stint will include a dozen eggs and some greens from the hoophouse until they run out.

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Savory Roasted Turnip Hummus

Ingredients:

  • 2 small to medium Purple Top Turnips
  • 3 cloves of Garlic, halved
  • 1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried Sage
  • 2 tablespoons of Ghee
  • 16 oz of cooked Chickpeas
  • Pink Himalayan salt and Pepper, to tast
  • 3 juiced Lemons
  • 1/3 cup Tahini

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a cast iron pan, add turnip, garlic, salt, spices, and ghee.
  3. Cook until turnip is tender. About 25 minutes.
  4. In a blender, add cooked turnip with the remainder of the ingredients.  Blend well.
  5. Enjoy with fresh vegetables or homemade almond crackers.

Farm Doin’s

Walk in – It is functioning well and we are very appreciative – so much usable space!

Chicken house –  All hands on deck this week produced a completed chicken house minus egg boxes and a front set of stairs. But we moved all 72 hens and 1 Leghorn rooster into the house Friday afternoon. Hooray to Jonathan, Stu, John, Danny and Matt. Scott has taken on the auspicious role of farm electrician and will wire the place this Tuesday.

Root cellar – we moved all of the CSA food out, and moved in our farm supply of carrots, beets (the deer left us a few small ones sans tops) and left over rutabagas. With the onions and potatoes, we should be set for our big soups and stews this winter.

Fertility spray – Bella reminded me that we need to get this spray out on the farm. Thanks to Jonathan and Carlos for getting us at least half done this week.

Bed Prep Soil Primer
Mix the below with at least 20 gallons of water per acre and spray onto the soil surface and crop residue after harvest. Light incorporation is ideal. Apply after each succession or cover crop.
Rate per acre Product Special Instructions:

  • 2 Gallon Rejuvenate
  • 2 Gallon SeaShield
  • 1 Quart HumaCarb
  • 1 Pint ReBound Moly
  • 25 Gram Spectrum
  • 25 Gram MycoGenesis

Pig harvest – Paula, Clare, Leslie, Carlos and I sent the pigs to their final journey on Wednesday. What wonderful pigs they were – all the way to the last.

Goodbye pigs

Start seeds – And we started some lettuce, chard and kale for January planting in the hoophouses.
Hoses away – this is a big job, actually, unscrewing them, rolling them and storing them. With the underground water system turned off, we did a lot of hauling of water in 5-gallon pails this week
More salves – we made another batch each of calendula, hemp and comfrey salve this week to get us prepared for the Thanksgiving sale on Tuesday and Wednesday

Organize freezers – our grounds crew – Clare, Leslie, Paula, Carlos and I moved everything around, separated out a bunch of frozen beans for sale this week, realized that we are out of frozen chickens and generally tidied up and reorganized our 8 freezers and made room for the pork – arriving the week of November 27.

Gravel – thanks, Matt, for spending several hours moving gravel piles around and into the rutted path between the north and south fields

Bean trellises – Scott and Doug helped us put more posts into our sagging bean trellises in the west field. They are good to go for another bumper crop in 2024.

We moved last elderberry and ran the chickens through there. Looking forward to good crops in the garden next year.

Thanks to Yojairo, Josh and Brandon who split and stacked all the wood that was lying around in the driveway. The place is neatening up!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Julie

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

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

The Big Pick

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November 13, 2023
The Big Pick

There is one day each year where we have to double down and accomplish the “big pick.” This is the date after which it was too late to pick the remaining field crops if we want to pass them out in the CSA. And it was this past Friday. While the guys were madly putting the roof on the chicken house, the ladies were working assiduously in the field before the inevitable drop in temperature of Friday night, colder on Saturday night, and then coldest on Sunday night.

As we worked our way through spinach, parsley, turnips, rutabaga, arugula and kale, and added double layers of row cover in the hoophouses (where we have lettuce and Asians) and on the field radishes, I drifted into the past, and revisited flashes from all the years over the past forty where groups of smaller or larger numbers of folks extracted the last of nature’s annual bounty before the long rest of winter. There is a particular excitement about this day, coupled with cold fingers and the feeling of satisfaction that we made it through another year of farming with not a bad harvest to show for it. The one incident I will remember from this year was a simple one. Kelton was in the back of the truck with his walky talky and Marissa was in the driver’s seat about 3 feet away with hers in hand. Kelton, “We have reached the greenhouse. Roger”. Marissa – “Roger that.” Our crew on Friday included two kids with Maggie the youngest at 6 and Jack on the upper end at 79. I think we have reached nirvana.

Hard at kohlrabi harvest

Expressing Gratitude this Week

I know that there are a lot of really remarkable college students out there. We have had the honor of being found by Paige Agostini, a chemical engineer student at WPI who someday wants to be working on the right side of toxic chemical exposure to the environment. She started a garden at WPI and a garden club and on Wednesday brought members of the club to visit Jack and me and learn about carbon sequestration. After a quick tour that included chicken, turkey and pig chores, the students settled in for one of professor Jack’s talks. What a great time. Nigel was quoted as saying, “This place is vibey!” Thank you, Paige, for being a leader of your generation for environmental sanity.

Videos from this Week

Tom turkeys establishing dominance – they are all sold out, by the way

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Showing off our mycorrhizal fungi on celery

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Meat for Sale at MHOF

All we have left now are some great roaster chickens in the freezer – $8.50/lb. and they weigh approximately 7 lbs. each.

Many Hands Make a Farm

We now have copies available for sale of, Many Hands Make a Farm. The price is $25 each and if you buy one from us, the $12.50 that we clear will go directly to the Many Hands Sustainability Center. And if you would like us to sign your copy, we can do that too! We’ll ship one to you also. Enquire.

“One of my best memories of helping people connect with their inner child was a morning in early September when many of us were sitting around the kitchen table doing soybeans. It was hot and we were bored. Dan, who was in his early twenties at the time, started throwing soybean shells up into the ceiling fan above us that was turning at a quick clip. Fearing mutiny, I told everyone that as soon as we finished, we could throw all of the shells up into the fan. So we did. And I still remember the glee with which two of my more proper working shareholders, Nina and Leslie, went about whipping soybean hulls into the fan, which ricocheted them wildly all around the kitchen – childish, naughty delight, no doubt!”

From Tim LaSalle, co-founder, Center for Regenerative Agriculture and Resilient Systems
“In this uplifting memoir, Jack Kittredge and Julie Rawson describe how they carved out a life of their dreams solidly based on the clarity of their values. Their ability to incorporate new understandings, such as the importance of not tilling their soil, placed them at the cutting edge of innovation. They are visionary early leaders in the movement toward a more regenerative agriculture.”

Fall CSA News – Week 3

Remember, everyone, that this CSA runs for 4 weeks. The fourth and final week will all be picked and distributed on Monday, November 20, even for the folks who will be picking up on Wednesday and Friday on the three previous weeks.

We did a lot of scurrying on Friday to prepare us for the final two weeks of the CSA. Now, all the crops that would have been damaged by the freeze over this past weekend are harvested, except for some late planted radishes. We have our fingers crossed that they will be big enough by next Monday, November 20, the last day of distribution. And the beautiful lettuces and Asian greens in the hoophouses weathered the freeze very nicely under their double blankets.

CSA

  • Spinach – from the walk in – nice stuff
  • Lettuce or Asian from hoophouses –a head count on Monday morning (today) will determine whether we can give each shareholder two plants
  • Turnips – from the walk in
  • Arugula – also in the walk in
  • Carrots – the one crop that we will harvest from the field this week – these beauties are a little on the small side, but have exceptional taste and will only get sweeter with the cold
  • Kale – now from the walk in

Here we are stripping the kale plants.

  • Parsley – from the walk in
  • Rutabagas – from the walk in; these have what I would call a creamier flavor that turnips and they go well cooked with potatoes and then mashed. You might want to peel them.

  • Celery – we started these plants late and they are small, but will be good to add their exceptional celery flavor to your soup or turkey stuffing
  • Kohlrabi – use the leaves and the bulb – they are quite variable in size, but all have that great brassica flavor
  • Potatoes
  • Garlic – last week for this
  • Squash – probably the last week for this
  • Onions

Volunteering at MHOF

Starting November 27, we go down to 3 days per week – Monday, Tuesday and Friday. You are always welcome on those days. “Payment” for your 4 hour stint will include a dozen eggs and some greens from the hoophouse until they run out.

The Middle East

Who isn’t distraught over what is happening in the Middle East right now. Here are two angles for engagement, both by 43 year old heroes of mine, Leah Penniman, and Ellen Kittredge that you might want to know about.

From Leah –
LIFE IS PRECIOUS. LIFE IS SACRED.
So many of us are mortified, grieving, terrified, heartbroken, angry, and overwhelmed in the face of catastrophic violence, collective punishment, and war crimes in Palestine-Israel. For BIPOC Farmers and Land Stewards, it can be challenging to find the time and resources to take part in solidarity and human rights actions. Soul Fire Farm has established a travel fund to help defray costs of participation. APPLY HERE. bit.ly/SoulFireFund
Over 10,000 Palestinians and 1,400 Israelis have been killed this month. Over 4,500 Palestinians are detained and 245+ Israelis kidnapped. There are 1.5 million internally displaced people in Gaza. Islamophobia, Anti-semitism, doxxing, hate crimes are impacting our loved ones for existing and for speaking. Civilians, especially children and women, are the most impacted. The body of the Earth is overwhelmed with the blood of her children and crying for the weapons to be still.
As a collective that centers nonviolence, abolition, demilitarization, and land sovereignty, we at Soul Fire Farm call for:

**An immediate ceasefire in Gaza
**An end to apartheid and occupation in Israel-Palestine
**An end to Islamophobia, casteism, and dehumanization of Palestinian people
**An end to Anti-Semitism and the conflation of Jewish people with the Israeli state
**Freedom for all political prisoners and hostages
**Environmental justice in Gaza – clean water, food security, tree protection, and land justice
**A global commitment to using skillful, nuanced, informed, nonviolent means to solve our problems

Humanity’s way forward will be rooted in peace, compassion, and love not in military might, punishment, revenge, or violence. Each of us deserve safety and freedom. Each child deserves to grow up. We will stay rooted in our humanity and our values.

Thank you to those who are standing up for human rights. APPLY HERE FOR TRAVEL FUNDS. bit.ly/SoulFireFund
[You may also donate to the fund at www.soulfirefarm.org/support, indicate “solidarity” in the memo]
@nefoclandtrust
@blackfarmerfund
@blackfoodjustice
@healfoodalliance
@farmschool_nyc

From Ellen –
“People say walking on water is a miracle, but to me walking in peace on the earth is the real miracle” Thich Naht Hanh
The Israeli and Palestinian Peace Intention Experiment
https://news.lynnemctaggart.com/landing/the-Israeli-and-Palestinian-peace-intention-experiment?fbclid=IwAR2H6ePSXpqoUSl1MdsizVwR2Tjn6C01cyuMP8qtwxiwxszBxw6A4u-P280

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Rosemary Sage Rutabaga Homefries

Ingredients:

  • 3 T Lard
  • 1 large Leek, sliced
  • 2 cloves, Garlic
  • 1 Large Rutabaga, cut in bite size pieces
  • 1 teaspoon dried Rosemary
  • 1 teaspoon dried Sage
  • Pink Himalayan Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a cast iron skillet on medium heat, melt lard on stovetop.
  3. Add leeks, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
  4. Add Rutabaga, herbs and stir to coat all vegetables with seasoning.
  5. Transfer skillet to the oven and cook for 40-45 minutes.
  6. Serve hot and enjoy!

SERVED WITH SPINACH AND GOAT CHEESE SCRAMBLE

Emails from subscribers 

Need to let you know how much I LOVE your newsletter.  Thank YOU.

The new NOFA paper is much diminished…miss your husband’s style also!!

Sincerely,
Doris

https://youtu.be/Y_2c_E_c-U0?si=tGEeRA7O1qvnEVEM

Hi Julie, I look forward to your newsletter every Monday. Your creative wordplay is a delight to read as well as being so informative. The article on digging holes reminded me of this tune from 25 years ago. The only thing in common is it’s title, “Holes” which are “dug by little moles”. The music is ethereal, as if composed in another galaxy and the lyrics are equally esoteric, purported to be about loneliness, the quest for connection and the vagaries of the human condition. While your holes serve a fundamental purpose, these holes of emptiness are longing for fulfillment.

I brine your turkey, I anoint your turkey, I stuff your turkey and I roast your turkey.
I don’t eat your turkey. But I derive immense pleasure from watching everyone else at the table devour your turkey. They are special people in my life and they deserve the finest turkey that only MHOF can provide. Thank you.

Love to you, Jack & the extended MHOF family.  Frankadelic

I appreciate you sharing the comments you received about RFK Jr. Although I don’t agree with all of his ideas (particularly his support of the Israeli gov.) when has ANY presidential candidate had a round-table on regenerative agriculture? Surely this is newsworthy for this community.

Cheers,
Linda

Son Dan has potatoes

$3/lb. – North Brookfield – contact him at 978-257-2627; dan@bionutrient.org

Farm Doin’s

Food preservation – pear sauce
Our “giving pear tree” featured last year for its 40 years of hard work  in our orchard, was the only tree, except a pawpaw which gave us about 10 fruits, to produce fruit this year. We were able to put away 24 quarts of pear sauce this week. Normally we do up about 400 quarts of apple and pear sauce, so this year it will be treated like gold.

Clare, Maggie and Ann cutting up the last batch

Chicken house

Our chicken house crew made fast tracks last week, finishing the sides and back, doing prep work on the roof and then actualizing it. Just the rest of the front left, the door, the roosts and the egg boxes. The birds plan to move in before Thanksgiving!

Cooler update –

Marcia, Paula and Jennifer somewhat gleefully clean up the barn floor to make ready for the cooler to show up and be installed on Tuesday

Jack checking on the new cooler. Thanks again, Jack, for having the foresight to deal with what turned out to be a failure of our old one, get the grant and then prod the right folks to get it installed. Many thanks to Gillette Restaurant Equipment in North Brookfield for a quick and professional installation

Here we are at the end of the day on Friday, having picked everything and packed it into our functioning walk in cooler

Second Fall share – on all days we were dancing around the cooler installation, with an almost train wreck on Friday when the electrician showed up just as we were delivering crate after crate of produce into the barn. But now it is and functioning and life will be so easy!

Maggie still hard at work, this time cutting cilantro. Too bad she is moving to VT!

Elderberries and rhubarb – On Tuesday we were able to move 3 elderberries to the back of the south field, one more on Wednesday, and we will make the final move this week of bush number 5. They were very big! The rhubarb holes, all 62 of them, are filled at the back of then north.

Julie

The farm on a cold Monday morning as we prepare to cut spinach for the week

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

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

 

Digging Holes with Friends

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I am not sure how many holes we have dug here at MHOF over the past 41 years. From fence posts (these have to be very deep), to making rows for row cropped seeds, or holes for potatoes, fruit trees, berries, graves for dogs and cats that have passed, or holes dug in order to extricate large rocks, we have surely made them in the thousands. Thursday, during our weekly “play date” when it is just us on the farm, Clare and I dug 62 holes for rhubarb plants that we are transferring from the high real estate area close to the house to the back of the north field. Cognizant that the deer might just come back again next year, we are planning all of our growing maps for 2024 with those beautiful and hungry animals in mind.

Perhaps it was the beauty of the late fall day with the sun and the breeze, or the knowledge that our time together does have a finite end in sight, or the beautiful feel of the chocolate cake texture of the soil that we were digging in that made the whole experience rise to the top of my week’s memory of good times on the farm. As I thought back on how many holes we have made on the farm, mostly Jack and I at first and then a long stream of other shovelers, I gloried in this simple practice that I can share with many generations of farmers the world over.

Expressing Gratitude this Week

Matt is definitely the winner this week. With Jonathan leaving at the end of December, I am scurrying to find some folks to take over and manage his responsibilities with equal care, diligence and aptitude. Matt agreed on Friday to take over as our “machine guy” and is starting his training on Monday. Matt will be doing this while he holds down a full-time job as a Worcester firefighter. Matt, we love you.

Videos from this Week

Danny and James’ birthdays

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Food preservation

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Jonathan explains the chickenhouse progress

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Meat for Sale at MHOF

At this writing we have 7 tom turkeys unspoken for and the last 5 of those will go on “provisional” status until we deliver them to the slaughterhouse on Sunday, November 19 and we are sure that we have the magic 97 number.

Many Hands Make a Farm

We now have copies available for sale of, Many Hands Make a Farm. The price is $25 each and if you buy one from us, the $12.50 that we clear will go directly to the Many Hands Sustainability Center. And if you would like us to sign your copy, we can do that too!

            “When Julie and I told each other years aga that our children were our most important work, I don’t think we had a clear idea of what that meant. I know I was unprepared for the quite unique characters who emerged from our union. Yes, they are your children, but often, particularly as they grow older, you wonder where they could possibly have come from. This means that to be a good parent you need not only to love but more and more listen and to adapt, even when it is uncomfortable. My best advice is the recognize that and get used to how little your thoughts and words will matter, compared to your example. – pages 86 & 87
From Lucian Kim, our first apprentice, who is now a well-known journalist –

“A quintessential American story of pioneering, innovating, and bucking conventional wisdom. It is also a testimony to the simple, good life, with practical tips on everything from how to build a farm to how to raise a family.”

Summer CSA wrap up

Julie and I asked what you thought, we got an earful.

Of our 150 CSA families, we heard from 27, or 18%. 8 picked up at the farm in Barre, 5 in Holden, 4 in Worcester, 3 in Gardner, the rest in Shrewsbury, Warwick, Gardner or Athol. Asked for an overall evaluation on a scale of 1 to 10, the CSA was rated at 9.0. Quality of produce, on the same scale, earned 9.2%. Among the respondents 68% felt their share size was just right, 24% felt it was too much, and 8% (one each with small and medium shares) wanted more. Slightly more than half the respondents were first year shareholders.

General comments were mostly favorable, such as:
“I loved the diversity of veggies! And so delicious too!”
“MHOF veggies are the key to my health, in body, mind, and spirit. The flavors, colors, and textures are a sensual delight! The flavors are strong, surprising, and real! Store bought veggies are so boring and bland in comparison.
“I can’t find produce as fresh or varied in Worcester compared to MHOF!”
“Lush, green green, vibrant, healthy,”

Dropped in with the compliments, however, were occasional comments about our mention of Robert F Kennedy Jr. 3 members expressed mild disagreement with us: “[He is] harmless, and you are entitled to your opinions in your newsletter”, “We don’t all have to agree to do good work together”, and “Disliked the veer into politics, i.e. RFK Jr, though I appreciated the open discourse.” 3 were stronger, however: “I was VERY disappointed to see the promotion of an antivaxxer”, “I don’t want to read about your misguided politics in the newsletter”, and “I want to hear about the farm and I want to support your efforts. I’m happy to hear about local legislation that will help you…[But] I don’t want to know your views about political candidates.”

We are sorry that some members feel this way. It seems to us that one of the problems with public life in America right now is the ‘echo chamber’ – that so many of us listen only to those who already share our views. I guess it is easier to discredit someone whom you haven’t heard. We focus this newsletter on topics related to our farm. We mostly talk about food quality, farming practices, and local people and happenings. When we veer into larger issues, as will undoubtedly happen occasionally, we will try to keep it related to our work. If this is too uncomfortable for you, it is certainly your right to unsubscribe or not belong.

If, however, you want to engage us with questions or alternative ideas we are happy to do that. We’ll publish emails and respond respectfully to what you write. We certainly don’t think we have all the answers and do believe that time invested exploring public policies is well spent.
— Jack

If you haven’t yet filled out the survey, please take a minute to fill out the survey linked here. https://forms.gle/bfGAkiyUPEWbtcVP8. We will hold open the survey until the end of the month. –Julie

Fall CSA News – Week 2

Remember, everyone, that this CSA runs for 4 weeks. The fourth and final week will all be picked and distributed on Monday, November 20, even for the folks who will be picking up on Wednesday and Friday on the three previous weeks.
We hope to have a great selection for our first week –

CSA

  • Spinach – it is growing nicely under row cover
  • Cilantro/dill – the cold wasn’t as deep as promised last week and it looks like we can do some nice bunches of these herbs
  • Lettuce or Asian from hoophouses – I am really enthusiastic about these plants

  • Turnips – big purple tops from the field
  • Arugula – large but extremely tasty leaves
  • Carrots – we started into our last crop of these on Wednesday. Though the deer have trimmed a lot of the tops, the roots below were able to grow enough before the deer came in. I am super excited about these.
  • Kale
  • Collards
  • Leeks – our second and perhaps final week of this scarce vegetable in 2024 – I will blame this insufficiency mostly on the excess rain this year
  • Potatoes – still strong, holding in the root cellar
  • Garlic – winding down, maybe one more week after this
  • Squash – many of these squashes are starting to go in spots, so we just keep cutting them up and processing them for the freezer. Be sure to eat your squashes sooner rather than later. If any rotten spots show up, just cut them out.
  • Onions – in good shape in the basement

Volunteering at MHOF

Two folks came to volunteer this past week. Petra is a now and again volunteer who excelled in cabbage cutting this week.

And Doug, a friend of Scott’s, just retired and is checking us out for some sort of commitment to the farm. His claim to fame this week was fence construction for our newly moved black raspberry trellis.

Good Health Info

Daughter Ellen and her collaborator, Sheila Guarnagia do a zoom about the gut biome and explicitly about bitters. Enjoy this talk and if you want to reach out to either of them, here they are
Ellen – ellen_kittredge@yahoo.com
Sheila – sghealingarts@gmail.com
https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/ZgaYgqWfV_CPZjNLPUbC31HQ4udKw4ot7VLALsOjrHcV7Vey3Npa6nHFbSn3E1BK.d9ngj9H39Xtq46Iv

If once you have listened to this and you feel you can’t live without bitters in your life, remember that you can buy them from us. $20/4oz. bottle, plus shipping. Enquire.

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Vegetable Frittata with Bok Choi and Spinach

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 cups chopped Bok Choi
  • 3 cups Spinach
  • 1 small Onion, sliced
  • 4-5 Eggs 
  • 1/3 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes (fresh could be used too)
  • 1/4 cup Goat Cheese
  • 4 Tablespoons Butter

Directions:

  1. Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a cast iron skillet, melt butter on stovetop.
  3. Add onions, cooking for 3 minutes.
  4. Add bok choi and cook another 4 minutes.
  5. Lay spinach on top of the onion/bok choi mixture and pour eggs over the vegetables.
  6. Top with sundried tomatoes and goat cheese.
  7. Put in oven and cook for 5 minutes.
  8. Change oven from bake to high broil for about 2-4 minutes, checking frequently to make sure it does not burn.
  9. Serve hot and enjoy!

Serving suggestions:

  1. Sliced Avocado would be a nice addition here.

Son Dan has potatoes

$3/lb. – North Brookfield – contact him at 978-257-2627; dan@bionutrient.org

Farm Doin’s

Food preservation – We made 40 quarts of sauerkraut this week, which is presently sitting in the bathtub, and two more big pots of winter squash

Cooler update – The folks who are installing our new walk in will be here on Tuesday. Hopefully we will be back on line for Wednesday’s CSA. Exciting.

Chicken house update – windows are in and 1 ½ sides are sided!

First Fall share – we picked everything on Monday because the forecast was pretty dire and then stored the leftovers in the root cellar against the cold

Maggie impressed by the size of the Brussels sprouts

Finishing up moving blueberries and black raspberries –

Black raspberries all moved into their new home. And we moved over another 7 blueberries from the annex too. The hill below the house is now 100% full of its residents – a trellis each of blackberries and black raspberries, and 49 blueberries.

Jackson negotiating with Doug about who will be wearing the ear protectors when pounding posts!

Tractor school – we are working slowly to pass on Clare’s tractor skills to next year’s crew. Leslie was the student this week – and although short and having a hard time reaching the peddles, Clare says she is good!

Hoop house management – we weeded all three hoophouses this week, then spread ashes around them to help with the slugs that particularly enjoy the Asian greens, and then covered them with remay. As you can see, they are beautiful!

 

Frost management

We did cover a bunch of stuff with remay, but the promised super cold temperatures didn’t materialize.

Julie

Life can be challenging if you are a pig

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

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

“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.”– Deepak Chopra

/in /by

October 30, 2023
“Every time you are tempted to react in the same old way, ask if you want to be a prisoner of the past or a pioneer of the future.”– Deepak Chopra

Jonathan sent me a link to a Rich Roll podcast titled “Master of Change: Brad Stulberg on Rugged Flexibility and the Neuroscience of Expectations – https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/master-of-change-brad-stulberg-on-rugged-flexibility/id582272991?i=1000625912789. I particularly liked Brad’s discussion of the raging pathway vs. the seeking pathway, and how we can turn off that rage by focusing on seeking and wondering.

On this topic, this summit below came up on my email – just in time to sign up for Monday.
The Art and Science of Cultivating Coherence with Christine Schaffner and Rollin McCarty – October 30 – November 5
https://cultivatingcoherence.byhealthmeans.com/?idev_id=30993&inf_contact_key=e01e3ba0f426c2e68d3bf303d5606b1c34bc1cc172df786974c5dfeac18f0bfe
I appreciate these free summits that one can sign up for and then listen to as many talks as time permits over the period of the week. Then at the end they often rerun some of them. Christine promises a bunch of neat topics regarding “heart hygiene” – using gratitude practice, breathwork, meditation, light, sound, and many more techniques.

I so like the idea of changing reaction to response, and how it can completely transform my most difficult relationships.

Expressing Gratitude this Week

Each week on the farm is filled with special and memorable moments. With the backdrop of amazing October weather, this week seemed almost magical.

Friday, I went out at 5 am in my bare feet to turn off the water to the one of the hoophouses. Listening to my Carl Sandburg book on Abraham Lincoln on my iPhone and using the phone’s flashlight, I started checking on lettuce plants and Asian greens that live in the now very safe haven of the interior of the houses away from the marauding deer. The light kept flashing on these beautiful almost ready lettuce plants that we will soon be able to share with the fall CSA. As I marveled at these beautiful plants while listening to an intimate biography of one of the world’s greatest people, I felt such gratitude for the life that I am so lucky to live surrounded by the daily miracle of nature.

Videos from this Week

Praise for arugula

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Salve making

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Marissa making frozen Asian greens

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Meat for Sale at MHOF

We do have some Thanksgiving turkeys still available, but they are going fast. Word to the wise.

Many Hands Make a Farm

We just received a bound final copy of our book, Many Hands Make a Farm, on Friday. Here is an excerpt from the chapter, Moving to the Country:

“Learning how to drive was terrifying, but Jack was very patient. And I was very motivated. I remember the day I took the driver’s test. I was 8 ½ months pregnant with Charlie, our youngest, and of course Jack and all the rest of the kids came along. It was easy for me. I simply turned all my attention to being calm for the sake of the driving instructor, who seemed to want to jump out of the car!”

We were grateful to receive this review of the book from Joel Salatin –
“Many Hands Make a Farm might be the most delightful book I’ve read in a long time. Rare in its raw, practical, from-the-heart stories, every challenging lesson is cloaked in respect and humor, and every page blossoms with wisdom and can-do spirit. I can’t imagine a better way to present a small-farm life lived exuberantly. Julie and Jack are pioneer icons of the ecological food and farming movement.”

Summer CSA wrap up

On our last day of the CSA the weather topped 70 degrees. It was a wonderful end of the season for us!

Please take a minute to fill out the survey linked here. It helps us plan for next year. I speak for all of us who work on the farm when I express my appreciation that your financial support for our farm makes the difference for us to be able to keep doing what we all love so much to do. https://forms.gle/bfGAkiyUPEWbtcVP8.

Fall CSA News – Week 1

We ended up with 83 shareholders for the fall share. Remember, everyone that this CSA runs for 4 weeks.
The fourth and final week will all be picked and distributed on Monday, November 20, even for the folks who will be picking up on Wednesday and Friday on the three previous weeks.
We hope to have a great selection for our first week –

  • Leeks
  • Brussels sprouts
  • Kale
  • Spinach
  • Carrots
  • Turnips
  • Arugula
  • Green and yellow beans – we will harvest these one last time ahead of the frost that will come for at least three nights
  • Onions
  • Potatoes
  • Winter squash

Volunteering at MHOF

Saturday, I met another wonderful person who came with Shantel and Alexandria to help with bird and hog chores. Now out in the rough fields, the 14 bird houses are no joke to move. Ahynia was a delightful and sharp addition to our team. Volunteers continue to be essential to our ability to accomplish the hundreds of tasks that we move through each week.

Ahnyia is a bad ass at moving bird houses

Cover cropping tip from Greencover Seeds – https://greencover.com/

How we build cover crop mixes for fall planting

Fall is the most common time to plant a cover crop but as the season changes, the ideal planting time for each plant species is going to shift as well. These planting time frames will determine how diverse or how simple a mix can be. Green Cover has a huge variety of species to choose from when making cover crop mixes and our team of sales representatives have the cumulative knowledge and experience to help walk you through the process of choosing the right mix for your planting window and your soil health goals.
Here are some basic guidelines for cover crop species planting windows based on the middle of the country, USDA plant hardiness zone 5a. These dates should be adjusted as you move north (subtract 1.5 – 2 weeks) or south (add 1.5 – 2 weeks).

August 1st – August 15th – The perfect time for maximum diversity as the majority of cover crop species found on our website can be used. There is enough summer heat to get good growth out of most of the warm season species yet the weather will cool down soon so partial rates of cool season species make sense as well. Full seeding rates of winter annuals like cereal rye and vetch should wait another couple weeks for best results.
August 15th – Sept. 15th – This time window is great for all cool season species. A few warm season species like buckwheat, sunflowers, safflower, grazing corn can still work but it is best to focus on cool season species as the calendar rolls into September. Excellent growth can be achieved by spring annuals like oats, peas, radish and turnips, but winter annuals can easily be added as well.
Sept. 15th – October 10th – No warm season species are recommended and spring annuals can be used but with the understanding that full growth potential may not be realized with an early winter. Excellent time for winter cereals along with peas and vetch. Cold hardy brassicas like rapeseed and camelina can still be used as well
October 10th – November 1 – Winter cereals like cereal rye and triticale work well along with hairy vetch.  Winter peas could work on the early end of this window if they are planted deep to keep the growing point protected.
After November 1st – Cereal rye is by far the best option for this late planting as it will germinate in 34 degree soils and can photosynthesize in temperatures as low as 38 degrees.  For these reasons, cereal rye can be planted even into early December in some years. Triticale and hairy vetch can be used in early November but fall growth will be very minimal and spring growth will be slower than what an earlier planting would afford.
Keep in mind that these are general guidelines and that these windows will vary from year to year with fall temperature and moisture. Please reach out to any of the Green Cover Sales Team if you have any questions or would like help in building the mix possible for your situation.

Good Health Info

Longevity: Do This To Build MUSCLE & LIVE Longer! | Dr. Gabrielle Lyon

https://theenergyblueprint.com/forever-strong/?inf_contact_key=e5aad1c82fee425ab53f83bf752a44a775ed3b9f1880b1bad6530b4fabbb2716
She has an interesting book out titled Forever Strong that focuses in on skeletal muscle health – sounds like a good read.
Dr. Isaac Eliaz – The Surprising Truth About Chronic Pain

https://dreliaz.org/the-surprising-truth-about-chronic-pain/?utm_source=campaign&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=eliaz_oct23_nl_chronicpain&_kx=VHHjDK2XwIHehL2cydis51jg0Z7GwAqMO0uiUaYlYI0%3D.Syeesf This one is worth the read.

Jennifer’s recipe for the week

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients:

  • 1 large Butternut squash, peeled and chopped into bite size pieces
  • 1 large Onion, diced
  • 2 cups Celery, diced
  • 4 large Carrots, chopped in bite size pieces
  • 1/2 gallon of Chicken Feet stock or any broth of your choosing
  • 1 Tablespoon of Cumin or Hingvastak
  • Pink Himalayan Salt and Black Pepper to taste
  • 5 Tablespoons of Ghee, butter or lard
  • Optional ingredients
    • Avocado
    • Nutritional yeast

Directions:

  1. In large pot, melt ghee and sauté onions and celery with salt, pepper and spice for 3-5 minutes.
  2. Add carrots, butternut squash and soup stock and simmer until all vegetables are soft.  Cook long enough for the butternut squash to break down a little bit making the soup a little thick.
  3. Serving hot!

Serving suggestions:

  1. Top each bowl with half of an avocado and nutritional yeast.
  2. Serve with fresh baked bread if desired or tortilla chips.

Son Dan has potatoes

$3/lb. – North Brookfield – contact him at 978-257-2627; dan@bionutrient.org

Farm Doin’s

Food preservation – Monday we knocked off a massive sauerkraut batch and some more squash for freezing.

Cooler update – We are getting used to putting together the CSA without a cooler. We have a lot more room in the barn, and can get around nicely. We heard this week that the new cooler is being shipped today to the company that is putting it in. They should be coming out to install it the week of November 6. Meanwhile Barre shareholders can find your shares somewhere obvious inside the barn.

Chicken house update – the chicken house team finished the soffits and faceboards and now have all the nailers in place for the side walls.

Jack, the man behind the scenes with maps and drawings for the chicken house.

End of summer CSA – It was with a sigh of relief that we finished up the summer CSA. Luckily there was only an insignificant frost, because we certainly are getting more and more deer damage.

Jackson enjoys some blueberry pie

North field trellises – we put those to bed on Tuesday with copious wood chip mulch.

Beginning of fall CSA- Alas, it looks as if there will be no fall beets, and the deer are now mowing off the carrot tops and gobbling up the parsley. As soon as we get the new walk in installed we will likely harvest as much as we can to keep it safe. The kale is now a favored crop for our nighttime friends.

Blueberry move – we have moved around a bunch of blueberry bushes from across the street in the annex as we never seem to take care of them as well as we should. The hill below the house is now well-organized with 42 bushes. Over the next weeks we will heavily woodchip around the berries.

Cleaning out the strip – There was a strip of short trellises below the garage that was a little too wet that we have discontinued. We will move some of the black raspberries over to the hill below the house and let that area go back to our comfrey plantation. I am feeling very good about this downsizing of our small fruit holdings.

More Clark students – We received another visit from a Clark University class on Friday. We enjoyed their help putting together the last CSA, working on the chicken house and pulling our old bean plants from the trellises in the west field.

We cut the last of the chives, weeded them, and mulched them heavily with wood chips

Packing the CSA

Jack talked to the students about food policy while the rest of us fed our faces.

Julie

Skippy is always nearby while we work, keeping an eye on our progress

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

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

Two Old Horses

/in /by

Friday was a trip down memory lane. About 35 years ago Jack and I and all four kids, probably aged 7 to 11 or so, crammed into our stake body truck and drove to the soon to go defunct Mission Hill Food Coop in the Back Bay to pick up the walk-in cooler that they were donating to us. We had been members of the coop, from 1977 – 1982, and they thought of us when they closed up shop. I actually don’t remember much about the dismantling of the 7’ x 7’ cooler, but mostly remember the fact that we were all crammed into the cab of the truck, because the 1 ½ hour trip each way was somewhat physically painful! But we got it home and stored it in our garage for about 4 years until we built our barn in 1982, which Jack actually designed around the specs of the walk-in. Any of you who have been customers of ours in the past 31 years will remember the walk-in, as it has temporarily housed tons of food over the years. Yesterday the HVAC people took it down for us as the first step toward the construction of a new walk-in, which I am sure will be lighter inside (this one had dark wood paneling), roomier and more energy efficient, but will also be rather sterile feeling. The front door alone of our old cooler is worth the price of admission.

The heartwarming news about this walk-in is that son Dan picked it up and took it to his farm where he hopes to give it a new life.

After putting together the CSA in the back yard, crawling over workmen to get the potatoes, onions, garlic and winter squash out of the barn second floor, setting up the Barre CSA distribution on the front porch, and cleaning up from our busy day of activity, Jack and I did what we do best. We did a work project. The wood stove was way overdue for a cleaning of the ash that had filled in around the oven and all inside the back of the stove. Okay, so we should have cleaned it a year ago . . . . . . Once completed the stove-cleaning task at around 4:30 pm, I had such a sense of satisfaction and purpose that I was still creating, maintaining and transforming with my life partner. Our relationship started off with us making our living room couch and coffee table that you will see when you walk into the house. And from there we built a family, a house, a farm, NOFA, and a few other things along the way.

As the walk-in moves into the next phase of its life, we continue to design and implement the next phase of our lives. Change is a reality. Jonathan confirmed what I already knew to be true, that he will leave us at the end of December. Another door closing for the farm. Yet Wednesday Jack, Clare, Carlos, Leslie and Paula and I hosted, worked and educated 38 students from Clark University. There are always new folks coming up, and life continues to flow. Through all of this I am grateful to be hitched to the yoke with my horse mate, the person with whom I can manifest miracles.

Expressing Gratitude this Week

This week’s gratitude goes to Stetson School. For some number of years that I no longer can count, a staff member and two students from Stetson School come to volunteer on the farm on Mondays from about 9-1. It is a great opportunity for these young guys who will be moving into the “real world” soon to get some life work experience, and for us to avail the help from their young strong bodies to help with the never-ending work that keeps the farm moving forward. Right now with sore heels, I just can’t manage taking heavy boxes of vegetables down the steep barn stairs from the second floor, but James was right there Monday, and more than excited to haul for me. And Jacob jumped right in to pick vegetables, even when he didn’t know exactly what he was picking. I appreciate the boys’ youthful energy that brings a special flavor to the farm each Monday.

Videos from this Week

Turkey outages

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Meat for Sale at MHOF

“I can’t tell you how amazing my first roasted chicken was.  Everything about your chicken is wonderful and different than any other chicken I have ever cooked (organic from the store). The taste is delicious but also the consistency, the bones, the color and….I don’t know, everything!!
I cook for one so I had a soup and different meals from one chicken. I even froze one of the breasts and wasn’t sure how it would be freezing after cooking but it was also, wonderful

Thank you Julie,
Donnamarie (Donna)”

We do have roaster chickens in the freezer right now, until they run out. Plan a visit to buy some.

The pork is officially sold out, but you can place a waiting list order if you would like. This year’s pigs are as beautifully healthy as any pigs we have raised over the past 38 years.

Turkeys are going fast, though not sold out. Order soon to avoid disappointment. They are great, obviously, for Thanksgiving, but also freeze well, for a festive meal down the line and lots of turkey and stock for soups and great dishes from the freezer.

Old layers are sold out and will be going to meet their maker on Sunday, October 29.

CSA News Week 22 – This is our last week!

Returning your bags – please, please, please, return your bags this week. If you don’t mind bringing a bag of your own to your pickup site and loading the produce into it, while leaving that and any other bags you have, at your site, we would be immensely grateful. The bags are expensive and we can save money not having to buy new ones when we can reuse them.

Here is the line up for this week.
Best guess on what will be in your share bags this week

  • CSA
    • Kale
    • An Asian
    • Arugula
    • Celery for Friday (sorry, we forgot it in the shuffle on Friday)
    • Some green beans for Monday shares
    • Parsley
    • Chives
    • Peppers or Eggplants
    • Winter squash
    • Onions
    • Garlic

Volunteering at MHOF

Volunteers make it possible for us to pay reasonable salaries to our paid staff and they also provide the necessary hands needed to plant, tend and pick the vegetables and move the birds each day. We are always welcoming volunteers – year round for a morning of work and a nice lunch at noon. Starting November 27, we will be working on M, T and F.

Good Health Info

Here is a recipe from Jennifer.

Cast Iron Halved Baked Potatoes with Summer Squash & Onions

This is something I make in my home weekly during the cold seasons for a nourishing and grounding meal that is simple to make.  MHOF has had a beautiful crop this year of potatoes, squash and onions.  It’s been such a treat to make this with the best vegetables on Earth.  Enjoy!  ~Jennifer

Ingredients:

  • 1 – 4 halved Potatoes (number can be adjusted to how many you are cooking for.)
  • Pink Himalayan Salt
  • Black Pepper
  • Turmeric
  • 2 small summer squash
  • 1 small onion
  • 5 or 6 Tablespoons of Ghee (butter may be used as a substitute)
  • 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

  1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
  2. In a 10″ cast iron pan, melt ghee or butter.
  3. Cut potatoes in half and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and turmeric.
  4. Place potatoes with cut side down in cast iron pan.
  5. Brush more ghee and salt the skins of the potatoes.
  6. Place in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes.  Then flip the potatoes in the pan and cook for another 20 minutes or until tender.
  7. In the last 20 minutes of the potatoes cooking, heat a skillet on the stovetop.
  8. Add ghee, onions, salt and pepper and cook for 5-8 minutes.
  9. Add summer squash and cook until tender.
  10. The last 5 minutes of the potatoes, turn your broiler on high, sprinkle cheese on top and cook under broiler under golden brown.
  11. Serve with sour cream or more ghee.
  12. Enjoy!

Beautiful Kale – This week’s fertility tip

Clare met with Bella from AEA last week and asked her about cabbage loopers and aphids. Bella suggested these upgrades to our sprays for the fall – 4 quarts of photomag per acre, 2 quarts of seastim and 1 pint of molybdenum (all AEA liquids that we use). Danny and Jonathan sprayed on Monday and by Friday we had the most beautiful dark green kale that I have ever seen.

Danny, our top notch Monday sprayer guy

Son Dan has potatoes

$3/lb. – North Brookfield – contact him at 978-257-2627; dan@bionutrient.org

Farm Doin’s

We had a big focus on getting ready for the folks to take away the walk-in, making plans for how to run the CSA on Friday without being in the barn, taking down shelves in the barn and generally cleaning up before and after. Big thanks to Jack for managing the project and to Dan for taking away the parts of the cooler.

Partway through the cooler dismantling

Doing the CSA on the lawn was kind of fun, actually

Leslie proudly displays her tatsoi

Our chicken house crew made huge progress this week, getting the roof boards on and face boards and soffits.

Unable to tolerate Stu’s lip, Jonathan bops him on the head

Though we had almost finished our red raspberry project last week, we put the finishing touches on it Friday, rewiring where necessary

Bowing to practicality, we have decided to take out some of our short small fruit trellises and consolidate our small fruit. We are half done with this job of taking down trellises and in some cases moving fruit canes into new locations.

With 1/3 of the Clark students on Wednesday we were able to plant about 1000 square feet with garlic seed, cover it and mulch it.

Prepping for garlic planting on Monday – sadly we missed the boat on Clark photos

Another batch of Clark students helped us weed, hoe, debindweed and heavily mulch with wood chips 6 100 foot trellises that normally go back to grass (which is really hard to extract in the spring). Hopefully the woodchips will attract in lots of earthworms for easy planting next spring.

The third Clark group helped us dig up some soil from the garden and plant three big planter boxes with lettuce for us to enjoy this winter.

All the students – broken into 2 batches got to spend some time with Jack learning about the American food system and intelligent building design. It was a very productive 2 hours!

Friday, in a proactive moment we covered our fall spinach, the rest of the Asian greens and a new planting of radishes. Frost will come.

We were able to freeze some broccoli, more squash, and dry more tulsi for winter tea.

The pigs are now on a bi-weekly move and they are presently residing in the back of the pond field orchard having a great time. Thanks to our Tuesday crew which is getting rather adept at this job.

Pigs in their new home

We spent a lot of time this week counting and sorting squashes and onions and moving them from the barn to the basement ahead of the frost which is likely imminent. Big sigh of relief as we consider how to manage produce for our 80 fall shares. This is a dicey time of year and the stakes are high. We know that at least the onions, garlic, squash and potatoes are all safe and accounted for.

Julie

Chickens fertilizing the garden and south field while the turkeys play hopscotch in the pond field as we look for areas that aren’t in standing water!

Quick Links

Buy meat
CSA pick up information
Contact Julie
Products available right now at the farm
Become a working shareholder
Donate to the MHSC
Links Workshops

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