Lamb Sale this Thursday

Quick note to let you know our annual Lamb Sale is this Thursday, November 19th from 1-5pm at the Yellow House. Our lambs are raised entirely on the farm and have access to pasture every day. We never feed them antibiotics. We also have some ground beef and a few other beef cuts available. If you have questions about the lamb, please call down to the red barn at 781.740.7233.

Lamb Cuts and Prices

Ground lamb 9.00/lb
Stew 10.00/lb
Loin chops 18.00/lb
Shanks 9.00/lb
Shoulder chops 12.00/lb
Rack or rib chops 16.00/lb
1/2 leg of lamb 11.00/lb

Got Pork?

Our pigs are ready for market and this year we're going to be selling them a little differently. Instead of selling individual cuts, we're selling half animals. This means you get a variety of cuts of pork and the price per pound works out to about $3.50/lb.

We've been raising these Berkshire/Tamworth mixes here on the farm since they were 8 weeks old, after buying them from Farmer Chuck over at Freedom Food Farm in Raynham. They've eaten a diet of veggie scraps from the CSA, grain, and forage from their field and wooded pastures. We NEVER feed them antibiotics!

We expect our pigs to each yield around 250 lb of meat (125 lb per half pig) and the cost per half pig is $430. The exact poundage of meat and type of cuts will vary by each animal, but here's an approximate list of what a half pig generally breaks down into:

20-25 pork chops
2 roasts
1 ham
8 lb of bacon (!!)
3 lb of spare ribs
9 lb of ground pork or your choice of breakfast, hot Italian or sweet Italian sausage

To reserve your half pig, or ask any questions, email me at rodwyer@thetrustees.com.  We only have a limited number available, so they are on a first come first serve basis. Payment can be made when your pork is picked up from the Yellow House 3-4 weeks from now--we'll give you an exact date once we know it.

In related news, it looks like the lamb sale will be next week. I'll put out an announcement with the date and time in a few days.

Beef sale this Thursday and Friday

Even though the CSA is over for the season, you can still come hang out at the Yellow House this Thursday--and pick up some tasty steaks as well! We will be selling our Belted Galloway beef on Thursday, October 29th, from 2–6PM and again on Friday, October 30th, from 1PM–4PM. We have a full selection of steak cuts available, as well as packages of ground beef and hamburger patties.

Please park in the parking lot across the street from the Yellow House and come in through the front door. We accept cash, checks, and credit cards. If you have questions, call us at 781.740.7233.

If you're wondering about our pork and lamb, they will be available in November, exact date TBA.

See you at the farm!

The Last Hurrah

With mixed emotions, I hereby announce the Last Week of CSA for 2015! Though I'm sad to see the fields slowly emptying out and the farm crew and many volunteers making winter plans that don't involve long days on the farm, I'm happy to have another bountiful season at our backs. This season wouldn't have been possible without contributions of all kinds from so many. Starting from the ground up - our vital soil microbial community; the never-ending pollination work of our honey bees and many native pollinator species; our insect attack force of predatory nematodes and parasitic wasps; our hearty, stalwart crops; the tireless efforts and diverse talents of our field crew--Sophie, Casey, Chris & Isaiah; the dedication and passion of our CSA members who help make this farm a community; and lastly our INCREDIBLE hive of volunteers/pitchers-in/farm angels: Jenn, Dave, Katya, the kickass Thursday volunteer harvest crew: Bonnie, Abby, Brittney, Linda, Suzanne, Susan & Larry; Julian, Aisha, Emma & Graham, the BU Freshman crew, Dan & Jack, Marialena, the Blue Cross Volunteer  Farm Army, our big-hearted food pantry crew of Ed, Carpenter Ed, Bobby & Bill; the rain-or-shine crew of Kris, Dick, Ralph & Ann; and last but definitely not least the ever-and-always-delightful Lindsay & Maureen. Every piece of this ecological puzzle is essential to the Little Farm on the Big Hill that is Weir River Farm. BIG thanks to all!

On to more mundane, housekeeping matters: during pickup this week I'll have an email verification sheet out. This is for notification to renew your share for next year, which I'll send out this winter. Please add any additional email addresses you'd like me to send the notification to.

Don't forget to RSVP to our fabulous end-of-season Harvest Dinner next Tuesday, October 27th at 6pm.  There's optional yoga at 5pm, then the potluck dinner, which is BYOB, and then rumor has it there'll be games and prizes as well...

Tuesday is the penultimate Farm Fresh Yoga for this season--see you at 5:30 at the Yellow
House. We're still looking for recipe submissions for the Weir River cookbook--send us your favorites and we'll make you famous*.

During CSA pickup this week we will have some beef from our Belted Galloway herd available for sale. Ground beef and select steak cuts will be offered. Our Beef Sale next week will feature the full range of steak cuts that we usually have available. The Beef Sale day and time are TBA--I'll post it here when it is announced. The Pork Sale and Lamb Sale will not be until later in the season and haven't been scheduled yet. We accept cash, check and credit cards.

In your final share this week: lettuce (leaf lettuce and some mini romaine heads), leeks, beets (a mix

leeks in the field

of beets grown here at Weir River, at Freedom Food Farm in Raynham, and at Langwater Farm in North Easton), Brussels sprouts (whoopwhoop!), garlic, kohlrabi (see recipe section below), gorgeous red mustard greens, a choice of butternut squash (from Freedom Food Farm in Raynham) or kabocha squash, onions, bok choy, chard, kale, a pumpkin (from Ward's Berry Farm in Sharon--conventionally grown), and more PYO herbs to last you through the (hopefully mild) winter.

Recipes of the Week

What's kohlrabi? It's the bright purple, ugly duckling, oft-ignored stepchild of the cabbage family. It looks like a vegetable from outer space and tastes like broccoli stems. How do you eat it? Martha has a great collection of recipes here, but I think it's best peeled and cut into matchsticks and dipped in yummy dressing. Simple and fool-proof.

Red mustard greens are gorgeous but intimidating. But don't worry, you can do this! I like them sauteed with a buddy (chard or spinach works great) in olive oil and garlic. Kale will work too, but that combo packs more of a punch.

Kabocha? Is that a red pumpkin? Kinda. It's a Japanese winter squash and it's my favorite kind. Dense and sweet, it's flavor is earthier than your traditional butternut or your candy-pop acorn squash. I use it in any recipe that calls for butternut or pumpkin and then take lots of compliments on how good my butternut/pumpkin what-have-you is. My favorite recipe is below and it's what I'm planning to make for the Harvest Dinner next week.

Kabocha Chili
adapted from thekitchn.com's Pumpkin Chili recipe

3 lb kabocha, cut into 1" pieces
2 medium rutabaga, Macomber turnips, or regular turnips, approx 3/4 lb
1/2 c. unsalted butter
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. finely ground cornmeal
2 red bell peppers, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
6 garlic cloves, minced and rested for 10 minutes
2 Tbs tomato paste
4 c. vegetable broth (or you can substitute 2 cups of broth for 2 cups of beer..yum!)
2 10 oz cans diced tomatoes with green chiles (Muir Glen makes the best, I think)
2 16 oz cans chili beans, rinsed and drained
2 c. frozen roasted corn
1/2 Tbs chili powder (or more to taste)
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp cumin
several dashes Worcestershire sauce
salt and pepper to taste
balsamic vinegar to taste
chopped scallions for garnish (optional)
shredded cheese to serve
sour cream to serve

Cut turnips and kabocha into 1" pieces. In a large soup pot heat the butter and olive oil over medium heat. When melted, whisk in the cornmeal until smooth, then add the onions and garlic and saute.
Add the tomato paste, spices and Worcestershire sauce and stir in well. Add salt and pepper and balsamic and stir well.
Add the kabocha, turnip and red pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for about 10 minutes.
Add the broth(/beer?), diced tomatoes, beans and corn and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat and cook for 1 hour, or until the pumpkin and turnip are tender. It gets better if simmered longer--several hours at least.
Before serving, season to taste with salt and pepper and extra balsamic and Worcestershire if desired. Serve hot with scallions, shredded cheese and sour cream.

*CSA cookbook fame will apply only within the boundaries of Weir River Farm.

The CSA season is winding down, but we still have a field full of greens and other goodies. Our lettuce crop is finally ready and looking great. We planted it out into the field on the late side and then spent weeks in August worrying that the month-long heat wave would kill it. But it survived! And now it's ready to make some seriously tasty salads.

If you're planning to come to our fabulous end-of-season Harvest Dinner on Tuesday, October 27th, please RSVP here so we know how many people to expect. It's potluck, BYOB, and delicious! Rumor has it there'll be games and prizes as well...

Freedom Red Ranger chickens

This week we are happy to offer our CSA members first dibs on another batch of Weir River Farm meat chickens. Our chickens (Freedom Red Ranger breed) have been humanely raised here on pasture in their traveling chicken coop since they were chicks. They were processed at a USDA-inspected facility in Rhode Island and will be available for purchase on your share day at the Yellow House. We are selling whole birds, ranging from 4 to 6 lbs each, for $5.00 per lb. You can pay by cash or check.

Our garlic dried in the Red Barn
for almost 2 months

After the rain-out for the Fall Festival, we've rescheduled for this Saturday, Oct. 17th from 10am - 2pm. There will be live music, yummy food trucks, craft demonstrations and craft activities, and lots of wholesome farm fun. See you there!

Tuesday is Farm Fresh Yoga day for the rest of the season. Come to the Yellow House on Tuesdays at 5:30pm for your weekly yoga fix. Free for CSA members and sliding scale donation to our Food Access Fund for friends and neighbors and coworkers.

Thank you to all the members who have already so generously contributed favorite recipes for our upcoming CSA cookbook--keep 'em coming! Email me or bring a copy to CSA pickup--thanks!

In your share this week: long-awaited lettuce!, chard, kale, garlic, bok choy, onions, leeks, hakureis, and PYO herbs.


Recipes of the Week

Creamy Barley Soup with Mushrooms and Leeks
from Deborah Madison's Vegetable Literacy

The Soup
6 Tbs barley, rinsed
2 Tbs sunflower seed oil
1 Tbs butter
1 large or 2 medium onions, diced
1 tsp dried oregano, or 1 Tbs fresh, chopped (fresh is available in the herb garden this week!)
1 large leek, white and light green parts only, diced (about 4 ounces)
1 large carrot, scrubbed and grated
1 large clove garlic, chopped and rested for 10 minutes
Sea salt
6-8 cups water or mushroom stock
1 cup sour cream or thick yogurt
Freshly ground pepper

Finishing Touches
1/3 cup barley, rinsed
Sea salt
1 leek, white and light green parts only, halved crosswise then slivered lengthwise into pieces 3 inches long
1 Tbs grapeseed oil
1 Tbs butter
6 mushrooms (shiitake, trumpet, or other favorite), sliced
Freshly ground pepper

To make the soup, cover the barley with water and set it aside white you prepare the rest of the ingredients.
Heat the oil and butter in a soup pot over medium heat. When the butter foams, add the onion and oregano, give a stir, and cook for 5 minutes. Next add the leek, carrot and garlic and cook 10 minutes more, or until a glaze forms on the bottom of the pan. Season with 1.5 teaspoons salt.
Drain the barley and add it to the pot, along with 6 cups of the water. Simmer until the barley is soft, about 30 minutes, and remove it from the heat. Puree in a blender with the sour cream until smooth. Return the soup to the pot, taste for salt, and season with pepper. If the soup is too thick, thin with more of the water.
While the soup is cooking, prepare the finishing touches. Put the barley in a sauce pan, add water to cover generously, and a pinch of salt, and simmer until tender, about 30 minutes. Drain and keep warm.
Put the leek in a small saucepan with water to cover. Add a few pinches of salt and simmer until tender, about 8 minutes, then drain.
Heat the oil and butter in a small skillet over high heat. Add the mushrooms and a pinch or two of salt. Saute until golden. If the pan becomes dry, as it can with shiitake mushrooms, add 1/2 cup water and cook until the liquid is absorbed and the mushrooms are brown.
To serve, ladle the soup in to shallow bowls. Add a portion of the cooked barley to each, then pile the leeks and mushrooms on top. Add a twist of pepper and serve.

Golden Onion Soup
from Diana Shaw's The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook

1 Tbs canola or vegetable oil
4 large onions, thinly sliced
pinch sugar
1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
4 cups vegetable broth
4 thick slices day-old French or sourdough bread, crusts removed
1/2 cup grated Gruyere or Parmesan cheese

Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. When it is hot, add the onions. Reduce the heat to medium and saute, stirring often, until the onions are very soft and limp, about 30 minutes. Add the sugar and balsamic vinegar, and continue sauteing, stirring often, until the onions turn caramel brown, about 10 minutes more.
Pour the broth into the saucepan, and bring the mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer gently to allow the broth to absorb the flavor of the onions, about 20 minutes.
Heat the broiler. While the soup is simmering, toast the bread. When the soup is done, spoon it into 4 oven-proof soup bowls. Top each serving with a slice of toast and sprinkle evenly with grated cheese. Place the bowls on a baking sheet and carefully place them under the broiler, watching constantly until the cheese is bubbly, about 1-2 minutes. Serve right away.

Enjoy your veggies this week!

Putting the fields to bed for the winter.

Jurassic Kale

Arugula looking robust
photo: Chris Hendershot

Some new crops this week, and some we haven't seen since the spring. Making its seasonal debut this week is arugula--big, spicy leaves that are perfect for a classic Italian pasta dish (see recipe) or a chopped salad if you can handle the heat!

Gleaming white hakureis are back again--those Japanese radish relatives that are a little sweet, a little spicy, and very crunchy. I always eat mine raw--sliced with a sprinkling of salt, but they're also good roasted or sauteed. The green tops are delicious too--add them to your greens sautee. They pair well with kale, chard, collards, or bok choy. And speaking of bok choy, I planted a new variety this year and it's ready for harvest this week. It's a red variety that tastes very similar to the standard green variety I've grown for years. Let me know what you think... maybe I'll grow it again next year if it's popular.

Lacinata or dino kale
photo: Chris Hendershot

My favorite kale variety is also looking robust these days and we're going to harvest a lot of it this week for the kale/chard choice. Lacinata or dinosaur kale is a deep dark green color with a blistered leaf. This is a traditional variety from Italy and can be described as the dark, mysterious and brooding member of the kale family. Its strong kale flavor holds its ground in a garlic-lemon-EVOO saute and it's delicious!

Farm reminders:

Our Fall Festival was a wash out on Saturday, so we've rescheduled for Saturday, October 17th, still 10am - 2pm. See you there!

Tuesday is Farm Fresh Yoga day for the rest of the season! Come to the Yellow House on Tuesdays at 5:30pm for your weekly yoga fix! Free for CSA members and sliding scale donation to our Food Access Fund for friends and neighbors and coworkers.

Thank you to all the members who have already so generously contributed favorite recipes for our upcoming CSA cookbook! We're still looking for more recipes, so if you have a recipe you love and you'd like to share, please email me or bring a copy to CSA pickup any time. We're looking for delicious, seasonally-inspired, relatively simple, and fool-proof recipes.

And don't forget, our end-of-season harvest celebration will be Tuesday, October 27th, starting at 6pm. Potluck and BYOB, it's a fun and DELICIOUS evening--mark your calendar!

Bok choy forest
photo: Chris Hendershot

In your share this week: onions, bunched arugula, hakureis, a choice of kale or chard, bok choy, a choice of radishes or collards, the very last of the hot peppers and the bell/frying peppers (I mean it this time!), leaf lettuce mix (yay, salad!), more beets from Freedom Food Farm in Raynham, and Pick Your Own herbs from the field.






Recipes of the Week

Wondering what to do with your bounty of beets? Two oldies but goodies from the archives:
Susie Middleton's Quick Roasted Beet Slices
Lindsay Grimes' Beet Humus

If you've never tried collards before, now is your chance. If you have and they didn't wow you, try this recipe--super fast and seriously yummy. It's another good one from Susie Middleton's Fast, Fresh & Green that also looks delightful on the plate.

Quick Collard Greens, Confetti-style

1/2 of a large bunch of collard greens
2 Tbs EVOO
1-2 tsp of garlic, minced and rested for 10 minutes
1 big pinch of crushed Red Pepper Flakes (I crush them with a mortar and pestle, but you could run them through a spice grinder too)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sherry vinegar
1/2 tsp honey
8-10 curls Parmigiano-Reggiano (optional)

Strip the stems from the collard leaves and tear the leaf in half lengthwise. Rinse them, dry them, and stack them up on top of each other. Roll the stack up tightly and slice them very thinly into ribbons about 1/8th inch wide.

In a large non-stick skillet, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring often, until fragrant and just starting to turn brown, about 1 minute. Add the crushed red pepper flakes and incorporate. Add the ribboned greens and the salt and cook, stirring well, until the greens turn bright green and then darker green and somewhat wilted, about 1 minute. If you cook them for longer, they will start to toughen.

Combine the vinegar and honey in a small bowl (heating slightly in the microwave if you need to). Drizzle over the greens and toss to combine. Alternatively, skip the honey-vinegar dressing and top the greens with a few Parmigiano curls.


Hot and Sour Bok Choy with Mussels
from Mark Bittman's How to Cook Everything Fast

2 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded; discard any that don't close when you press the halves together
2-3 heads bok choy (about 1.5 lb), leaves separated from stems
1 inch fresh ginger, skin peeled and minced
1 fresh hot green chile, minced
Several sprigs fresh cilantro, chopped
1 Tbs sesame oil
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1 Tbs rice vinegar
2 Tbs soy sauce

Slice the bok choy stems into 1" pieces and cut the leafy parts into thin ribbons. In a medium pot over medium-high heat, add the sesame oil and vegetable oil, then the bok choy stems, then the leaves, and finally the mussels. Add the ginger and chile, the rice vinegar and soy sauce, and about 1/4 cup of water. Cover the pot and cook until all the mussels are open, about 5-10 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve.


From my culinary crush, Deborah Madison, and her excellent tome, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Arugula, Walnuts, and Ricotta Salata

1 lb whole wheat spaghetti
salt
4 Tbs olive oil, plus more to finish
3 cloves garlic, minced and rested for 10 minutes
2 small dried red chiles, broken in half, or several pinches red pepper flakes
6 or more cups large arugula leaves, large stems removed and leaves coarsely chopped
1/2 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
Ricotta salata, thinly shaved

Drop the pasta into plenty of salted boiling water and cook until al dente.
In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the garlic and chile and cook over medium heat until the garlic started to brown very slightly. Add the arugula and a few pinches of salt and saute until wilted. Turn off the heat. When the pasta is done, add it directly to the skillet along with the walnuts. Toss well, sprinkle with shaved ricotta salata, drizzle with a little olive oil and serve.

Big sky
photo: Chris Hendershot

Fall Festival This Saturday!

Everyone on the farm crew is delighted that broccoli's back again this week, as well as some new appearances by leeks, arugula, and bok choy. It's always fun to harvest new crops! The beautiful and colorful beets in this week's share are coming to us from Freedom Food Farm in Raynham, courtesy of Farmer Chuck.

Our fabulous Fall Festival is on for this Saturday! Join us for some pumpkin painting, farm animal visiting, good music, delicious food & fun games--see you there!

Farm reminders: Tuesday is Farm Fresh Yoga day for the rest of the season! Come to the Yellow House on Tuesdays at 5:30pm for your weekly yoga fix! Free for CSA members and sliding scale donation to our Food Access Fund for friends and neighbors and coworkers.

This winter we'll be putting together a Weir River Farm CSA cookbook with recipes for all the veggies of the season. If you have a recipe you love and you'd like to share, please email me or bring a copy to CSA pickup any time. We're looking for delicious, seasonally-inspired, relatively simple, and fool-proof recipes. Thanks!

Broccoli in the early morning
photo: Chris Hendershot

And lastly, our end-of-season harvest celebration will be Tuesday, October 27th, starting at 6pm. Potluck and BYOB, it's a fun and DELICIOUS evening--mark your calendar!

In your share this week: Leeks, broccoli, radishes, onions, kale, bok choy, chard, hot peppers, arugula, beets from Freedom Food Farm in Raynham, and PYO herbs sage/thyme/chives.

Recipe of the Week

Simple Stir-fried Bok Choy

1 Tbs coconut oil
1 tsp sesame oil
2-3 tsp garlic, finely minced and rested for 10 minutes
1 tsp grated ginger
1 lb baby bok choy
1 Tbs fish sauce

Heat the two oils in a large skillet (or wok) over medium-high heat. Add the garlic and ginger and brown, about 1-2 minutes. Trim the thick, white end of the bok choy stalks and chop heads in half lengthwise. Add the bok choy to the skillet and cook, stirring frequently for 3-5 minutes. Add the fish sauce and cover to steam the bok choy, about 2-3 minutes. When the leaves are wilted and the stalks are semi-soft, it's done!

Old Colony Montessori School stopped by the fields last week for a tour and were impressively veggie-literate!
photo: Janet Walsmith

Most of the onions are finally out of the greenhouse!
photo: Chris Hendershot

One of my favorite crops. Thanks to Lynn Anderson for the pretty herb & flower signs!
photo: Chris Hendershot

The Greens of Fall

Gorgeous broccoli!

Fall is my favorite time to be a farmer. Fall crops are my favorites to have for dinner and the cooler weather is lovely to work in. With the bulk of the season at our backs, it feels like we're running downhill. This week is shaping up to be a great eating week--I love the overlap of the last of the summer crops and the delights of fall crops--as well as a great weather week.

Joining us this past week is a new crew member, Chris Hendershot. Formerly an apprentice at our sister farm, Appleton, in Ipswitch, Chris has several years' experience on different veggie farms all over New England. He just finished up work on a degree in Ecological Design at the Conway School, which included a fascinating project creating a farm plan for 10 acres of perennial food crops, among other interesting projects. In addition to being a hard worker with lots of farming experience, he's delightful to chat with!

New guy Chris

Our fourth annual Farm to Table dinner on Saturday night was a great success. With a beautiful, breezy evening, delicious food and drink from JAM Gourmet and Tosca, and lots of good company, we toasted the farm as the sun went down. BIG thanks to our awesome team of volunteers and community partners for all their good work in pulling this challenging event off!

Reminders this week: Tuesday is Farm Fresh Yoga day for the rest of the season! Come to the Yellow House on Tuesdays at 5:30pm for your weekly yoga fix! Free for CSA members and sliding scale donation to our Food Access Fund for friends and neighbors and coworkers.

This winter we'll be putting together a Weir River Farm CSA cookbook with recipes for all the

Red onions ready for your kitchen.

veggies of the season. If you have a recipe you love and you'd like to share, please email me or bring a copy to CSA pickup any time. We're looking for delicious, seasonally-inspired, relatively simple, and fool-proof recipes. Thanks!

And lastly, our end-of-season harvest celebration will be Tuesday, October 27th this year, starting at 6pm. Potluck and BYOB, it's a fun and DELICIOUS evening--mark your calendar!

In your share this week: Red onions, hot peppers, one last bell pepper, a few tomatoes, radishes, a choice of collard greens or chard, broccoli(!), kale, sustainably-grown carrots from Powisset Farm, Certified Organic potatoes from Langwater Farm, PYO flowers and PYO herbs. Mmmm-mmm I love September harvests!

Recipes of the Week

Both recipes this week come from the Diana Shaw treasure The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook, and both are for greens. As a bonus, this collard greens recipe has many of these week's share veggies in it too! Alternatively, the kale would work well as a sub for the collards.

Peanut Curry with Sweet Potato and Collard Greens
serves 4

2 tsp canola or vegetable oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 2" piece fresh ginger, peeled and grated
4 garlic cloves, minced and rested for 10 minutes
1/2 c. loosely packed minced cilantro
1 red bell pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 jalapeno pepper, roasted, peeled and chopped
1 Tbs ground cumin
2 tsp whole mustard seeds
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, or more to taste
2 large tomatoes, peeled, seeded and chopped
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and chopped
1 lb potatoes, preferably Yukon Gold, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1/4 c. coconut milk
2 Tbs smooth peanut butter (with no added oil, sugar, or salt)
1 lb collard greens, stemmed and coarsely chopped
2 c. cooked beans, such as chickpeas, rattlesnake, or tongue of fire, drained and rinsed

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. When hot, add the onion, ginger, garlic and cilantro. Reduce the heat to medium and saute, stirring often until the onion is soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Add the bell pepper, jalapeno, cumin, mustard seeds, coriander, turmeric, paprika, and cayenne. Stir to blend. Stir in the tomatoes, sweet potato, and potato. Cover and let simmer over medium-low heat until the potatoes have cooked through, about 15 minutes. Combine the coconut milk and peanut butter and stir until smooth. Add them to the skillet along with the collards and beans. Cook until the collards turn bright green, about 4 minutes. Cover and let the curry sit for 20 minutes before serving.

Swiss Chard-Ricotta Gnocchi
serves 4

1 c. ricotta
1 c. unbleached all-purpose flour, plus additional for dusting
4 c. Chard, thoroughly cleaned and chopped
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 Tbs grated Parmesan cheese
Pinch ground nutmeg
1 lemon

In a large mixing bowl, in a land far, far away, there were two magical ponies named Spylight Twarkle and Porkie Pie Princess the Party Planner...whoops, wrong book -- I've been spending too much time with my niece. In a large mixing bowl, combine the ricotta, flour, chard, egg, Parmesan, and nutmeg. Grate 1 tsp of zest from the lemon and stir it into the mixture. Squeeze the juice from the lemon and set aside. Flour your hands and roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the gnocchi, about 5-8 at a time, and boil until they rise to the surface, about 3 minutes. Let them boil for one minute longer, then scoop them out with a slotted spoon and transfer to paper towels to drain. Repeat this process until all the gnocchi are cooked. Sprinkle with the reserved lemon juice and serve.

Slipping into fall

After a couple additional weeks of 85+ degree days that made it still feel like summer on the farm, lately the weather has been shifting towards fall. The crops, following the weather, are also shifting--summer crops tapering off as fall crops start to come into harvest. Traditional fall crops like garlic and the kitchen herbs thyme, sage, and chives, kick off this week, and we will continue the harvest on kale and storage onions.

The Onion of the Week this week is the beautiful cipollini, a traditional Italian variety with an eye-

Red and yellow cipollinis

catching flattened shape. My culinary guru Deborah Madison has some good general advice on the topic of cipollinis that I posted last year:

"While you can do all those things with cipollini onions you do with your basic storage onion, they're an onion to be featured whole [because of their unique shape], not just used as an ingredient. It makes sense to cook them in a way that showcases their form, such as braised with rosemary and sage, pan roasted, oven roasted, or grilled. They make a special treat to offer friends and family. The only challenge to cipollini is in peeling them. I find it works best to drop them into a pan of boiling water for a half minute or so, then carefully pull back the skins and cut them off along with part of the root. Or you can pour boiling water over them, then slip off the outer skins after taking away a thin slice at the base."
---Deborah Madison, Vegetable Literacy

Along with our own fall crops this week, we also have some treats from local farms. Since potatoes don't do well in our soil here (reasons like soil pH, high organic matter from use of animal-based compost, and the farm-wide presence of the soil-borne potato plant pathogen Streptomyces scabies), we don't grow them. However, on my family's farm in Easton, they grow quite well. So for the second year, we're buying our potatoes in from there. In addition to the lovely red and yellow potatoes, we'll also have delicious and crunchy carrots from Second Nature Farm in Norton--you might know them from the Hingham Farmers Market, where they sell on Saturdays. 

Reminders of the Week

Tuesday is Farm Fresh Yoga day for the rest of the season! Come to the Yellow House on Tuesdays at 5:30pm for your weekly yoga fix! Free for CSA members and sliding scale donation to our Food Access Fund for friends and neighbors and coworkers.

This is the last week for ugly tomatoes--time to get your sauce on! Email me to reserve a box--20lb for $20.

Our end-of-season harvest celebration will be Tuesday, October 27th this year, starting at 6pm. Potluck and BYOB, it's a fun and DELICIOUS evening--mark your calendar!

Garlic drying in the Red Barn loft

Looking ahead to the winter, we're thinking of putting together a Weir River Farm CSA cookbook with recipes for all the veggies of the season. If you have a recipe you love and you'd like to share, please email me or bring a copy to CSA pickup any time. We're looking for delicious, seasonally-inspired, relatively simple, and fool-proof recipes. Thanks!

In your share this week: the last of the tomatoes and tomatillos, peppers, garlic, cipollini onions, hot peppers, kale, Langwater Farm certified organic potatoes, and Second Nature Farm certified naturally grown carrots. Pick Your Own this week is flowers and thyme, chives, or sage.


Recipe of the Week

Sweet-and-Sour Cipollini, Small Red Onions, and Shallots with Raisins
Deborah Madison in Vegetable Literacy

Deborah's note: Choose large shallots, small onions, and cipollini in whatever size you can find them. Add a few pearl onions as well, if you have them. All the different sizes and variations in shape are handsome together. Balsamic vinegar is a fine choice here because its sugars will contribute to the glaze. Serve the onions warm or at room temperature as a side dish or as part of a meze plate.

Rory's note: We'll have shallots and onions (including small ones) in the share in upcoming weeks, once those kinds are finished drying in the greenhouse. If you want to hang on to your cipollinis until you have all the ingredients, they will last in a cool, dry, dark place for months.

1 lb mixed onions (see headnote)
1 Tbs butter or olive oil
1 thyme sprig
1 bay leaf
4 sage leaves, or 1 tsp minced rosemary
4 large shallots, the sections separated
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1/3 c. port (can be Zinfandel port)
1/4 c. balsamic vinegar
1 Tsp honey or brown sugar
1/3 c. golden or dark raisins, or a mixture of raisins and dried currants
1 c. light chicken stock or water, plus more if needed

Peel the onions and leave them whole except for the small red onions. Cut those in half lengthwise through the root, unless, of course, they're very small. Chances are the layer beneath the papery skin will be stringy and inedible. It will also detach itself from the rest of the onion when it cooks. If you take off that first layer as well as the skin, the stain and flavor of the port will penetrate better.
Select a pan just large enough to hold everything in a single layer and melt the butter with the thyme, bay, and sage over medium-high heat. Add the onions and shallots, jerk the pan back and forth to coat them with the butter, then season with a few pinches of salt and pepper. Add the port, vinegar, honey and raisins, then pour in the stock. When everything has begun to simmer, lower the heat, cover the pan, and cook for 10 minutes. Give the onions and shallots a turn and re-cover the pan. Continue cooking in this fashion until the liquids have thickened to a syrupy glaze, about 20 minutes in all, possibly shorter or longer depending on the size of the onions and shallots. Pierce a few of the larger pieces with the tip of a knife to make sure they are tender. If they don't seem soft enough, add a little more stock, re-cover the pan, and cook until reduced to a syrup. Do this as many times as needed.
Serve the onions warm or at room temperature.

Super spicy Caparino hot peppers!

The Cucurbits Last Stand

With the first full week of September we're going to start turning the corner into fall crops. Up this week: kale and onions. This fall's kale crop has been unexpectedly precocious, surprising me with how quickly it's grown to harvest-ability. But since we haven't had leafy greens in the share for ages, why not enjoy it?

After many hours and lots of effort from the farm crew and our fabulous volunteer crew, we have all of the onion crop in from the field and drying on tables inside the greenhouse. This year's crop is looking like a knockout and we'll be enjoying a plethora of red onions and yellow onions starting in a week or two.  Most of the varieties still need more drying time to be fully cured, but the sweet white variety, Sierra Blanca, is ready to go this week. I didn't plant a lot of this early white variety, so we'll start out onion season slowly, with the bulk of the crop coming later in the month and into October.
Don't worry about the end of summer crops yet, though--we still have a couple weeks to continue savoring tomatoes and peppers and husk cherries!

Farm Fresh Yoga is happening this week! Join us Tuesday at 5:30 at the Yellow House for an engaging class with our yoga-teacher-in-residence, Maureen St. Croix. Bring your mat if you have one and get ready to enjoy a breezy evening class as the sun sets.

We still have LOTS of weeks of veggies ahead of us in the CSA share this year, but I want to make sure you mark your calendars for our end of season Harvest Dinner on Tuesday 10/27 at 6pm. More info coming in the weeks ahead!

Still have some tomato canning you want to get in before tomatoes take a bow? We'll have a limited number of 20 lb boxes of ugly tomatoes available this week for $20. Email me to reserve yours.

In your share this week: the aforementioned kale and white onions, small eggplants, the last of the squash and cucumbers for this year, green peppers, hot peppers, husk cherries, tomatoes, and Pick Your Own flowers.

Congratulations to Farmer Ed & the livestock crew on the newest member of the herd, a boy born on Sunday. Mama and baby are both doing well.

photo: Connor Young

Summer Sizzles On

Rosa Bianca eggplant
photo: Sophie Shillue

Rolling into September, we're still enjoying summer weather and summer crops all week. We've squeezed in the last plantings of fall crops over the past few weeks--lettuce, radishes, arugula, bok choy. While we wait for those to grow big enough to harvest, we'll keep busy pulling in fat red tomatoes, spicy hot peppers, juicy melons, hefty zucchinis and cucumbers, and candy-sweet husk cherries to stretch out summer as long as we can.

Don't forget--Farm Fresh Yoga is back next week on Tuesday at 5:30 at the Yellow House. Bring your mat and enjoy Maureen St. Croix's excellent class while the sun sets.

Rudbeckia
photo: Meg Wilson

In your share this week: tomatoes, green peppers, the last of the eggplant (probably), hot peppers, squash, cucumbers, another melon--watermelon or cantaloupe, husk cherries, PYO cherry tomatoes, flowers, and tomatillos. We're not there yet, but the day is coming when the last zucchini of 2015 will be harvested. Don't lose your chance to make  fresh, local Blueberry Zucchini Cake with Lemon Buttercream frosting. You might regret it all winter.

Seeing red

photo: Sophie Shillue

As we're nearing the end of August, I'm happy to say our summer crops are still going strong! We've had some luck this year with some of the boogey-men of summer--plant diseases and hungry bugs can quickly ruin crops in bad years. This year however, so far, so good!

This week we're lucky to have CSA member Steve Folino and his fellow musicians of MGB Band playing at our Thursday CSA pickup! MGB plays eclectic  Americana--a mix of pop, country & acoustic jazz. They'll be on the back lawn of the Yellow House from 4-6pm for your listening (and dancing??) pleasure. See you there!

photo: Sophie Shillue

If you've been thinking that 5 lb of tomatoes each week isn't quite enough to supply your tomato sauce needs through the winter, you're in luck! We'll have a limited number of 20 lb boxes of ugly tomatoes (small, misshapen, scarred) so you can fill your pantry shelves with rows and rows of summer goodness. Email me at rodwyer@ttor.org to reserve a box at pickup.

In your share this week: MORE tomatoes! a melon, a hot pepper, green peppers, eggplant, cucumbers and squash, PYO cherry tomatoes, tomatillos, and flowers. We need any and all pint, half pint, quart containers back! We're running low and we still have a few weeks of Pick Your Crops, so if they've been kicking around your kitchen, bring them back and we'll put them to work!

A little advance notice on the next Farm Fresh Yoga at Weir River: Maureen will be teaching the next class on Tuesday, Sept. 8th at 5pm. Bring your mat and get ready for an awesome class--I'm already looking forward to it!

The sad news of the week is that farmer Sophie is headed to school and this is her last week on the

photo: Sophie Shillue; hand model: Casey Amster

farm. Sophie started here in April of 2014 and it feels like she's always been here--in fact, it's hard to imagine how the farm will feel without her. She knows the veggie operation here backwards and forwards and she's worked so hard week in and week out in the field, in the greenhouse, and in the share room. We'll miss her warm energy and snappy wit, her love of spicy arugula and pretty cloud-scapes, and her artists' eye for the curl of a cucumber tendril or the sheen on an eggplant. Good luck, Sophie, we'll miss you!

Cucumber tendril getting ready to unfurl and explore the world.
photo: Sophie Shillue

Tomato rainbow

The farm is hopping and we're hardly staying on top of the harvest these days! There's so much good stuff coming in from the field as well as new crops being planted for the fall. The best part of the last few days has definitely been this latest eye candy from Sophie, our farm crew photographer extraordinaire--

In your share this week: lots more tomatoes of every stripe, color & size! eggplant, cucumbers, husk cherries (they're delicious--you'll love them!), green peppers, a hot pepper, squash, another big bunch of PYO flowers, and of course PYO cherry tomatoes. Enjoy!

PYO Bonanza!

After a whirlwind of deconstruction and reconstruction activity last week, our greenhouse has landed in its new home on top of Turkey Hill.While the structural work is done there, over the coming months we'll be adjusting the grade inside the house and trenching in water and power. The first order of new business in there will be drying and curing our storage onion crop for the fall. We'll start

Newest baby Beltie!
photo: Ann Antonellis

harvesting that later this week, now that our garlic crop is fully harvested and up in the loft of the Red Barn drying and curing. Another baby cow was born last week and I'm happy to report that all three sets of mamas and babies are doing well.

One of our CSA partners this year is the fabulous Blue Barn Farm Share Program, a home-grown Hingham non-profit. Blue Barn is working locally on the South Shore to connect families and small farmers, addressing food access issues and strengthening our community. Blue Barn raises money to provide families with a farm food budget at a local farm, which can be used at the farm stand or to purchase a CSA share. The farms receive market rate compensation for the food that they grow and everybody wins. Support Blue Barn or find out more here.

We have a limited number of 20lb boxes of ugly tomatoes available this week. Uglies are prefect for

photo: Sophie Shillue

making sauce, canning, or freezing. A 20lb box is $20. Please reserve your box by emailing me at rodwyer@ttor.org. I'll also have ugly tomatoes available over the next few weeks if this isn't an auspicious week for you to be making sauce!

In your share this week: lots of tomatoes! green peppers, eggplant, a hot pepper, the last of the fresh onions this season (storage onions are headed to the greenhouse for drying very soon!), our good friends squash and cucumber, and a bonanza of Pick Your Own crops: cherry tomatoes, green beans, tomatillos, and a large bouquet of flowers.

A note to Tuesday shares about the PYO this week: rain/thunderstorms are predicted for Tuesday afternoon (we'll see if that actually happens.. the weatherpeople don't have a good track record of precipitation prediction on Turkey Hill). If it does indeed rain/thunder, feel free to come back on Thursday afternoon for the PYO portion of your share!

Zinnia in full bloom
photo: Sophie Shillue

Summer lovin'

This sunflower's for you, Johanna!
photo: Sophie Shillue

Our summer veggies are loving these long hot days we've been having the last two weeks! The eggplant crop is truly bumptuous and the tomatoes are finally ripening faster than the groundhog mafia can eat them. The flower patch is a riot of color and we're at a full sprint trying to keep on top of our squash and cucumber harvests. Yup, it's definitely summer.

On top of all the harvesting and weeding this week, we are seeding beets and carrots (a touch late!) and, at long last, we're moving the greenhouse. It's going from its old home next to the red barn up to the top of the hill next to main field. We can finally put and an end to much of our non-stop trips up and down the hill! Water and power will follow in the weeks to come. A big, HUGE Weir River Farm shout out to Johanna Ross for her incredibly generous gift that paid for this significant undertaking! Johanna is one of the farm's original and proudest benefactors - buying our first belted Galloway cows back when we started our herd. Thank you Johanna!!!

Farm crew Sophie's been taking some amazing pictures out in the field this past week--enjoy the eye candy!

Mmmm looks like a BLT waiting to happen.
photo: Sophie Shillue

In your share this week: red slicing and heirloom tomatoes, more fresh onions, green peppers, eggplant, squash and cucumbers, PYO cherry tomatoes and PYO flowers.

Enjoy your veggies!

Green pepper hiding under the canopy of leaves.
photo: Sophie Shillue

Fiery calendula in front and pink cosmos floating in the background.
photo: Sophie Shillue

Beautiful Italian eggplants!
photo: Sophie Shillue

Busy week on the farm

Newest member of the farm family!
photo: Ann Antonellis

Lots of farm news to share this week, but I'll start with the most exciting--our first calf of 2015 was born over the weekend! A little girl with a perfect "belt" (the white stripe around their bellies), she was a pretty quick delivery late Friday night. Have a good suggestion for a name? We'll have a poster up in the CSA room, so think up some good names that begin with 'C' and we'll pick the best one.

Over the next couple weeks we're expecting 8 more calves, including 2 that will probably be born within the day. For Tuesday pickups, you can visit the cows and see the new baby (babies??) up the hill by the top parking lot. By Thursday they'll be moved down to new pasture closer to the Yellow House and easy to see as you come pick up your share.

The Farm to Table Dinner date was officially announced this week--Saturday, September 19th. Tickets will go on sale online on August 3rd at 9am and they sell very quickly. Last year's tickets sold out in 15 minutes! To find out more, go to thetrustees.org/farmtotable. I hope to see you there!

This week we are excited to be offering our CSA members first dibs on the first batch of Weir River Farm meat chickens. Our chickens have been humanely raised on pasture in our mobile coop since they were chicks. They were processed at a USDA-inspected facility in Rhode Island today and will be available for pick-up on your share day at the Yellow House. We are selling whole birds, ranging from 4 to 6 lbs each, for $5.00 per lb. You can pay by cash, check or credit card. Please send an email to Ed at epitcavage@ttor.org to reserve your chicken today.

Native bee exploring a pink cosmo
photo: Sophie Shillue

Pick Your Own flowers are finally ready for picking! The flower beds are full of colorful calendula, cosmos, zinnias, snapdragons, gomphrena, Queen Anne's lace, cleome, celosia, and ageratum. We will have elastics and scissors for you to use in the PYO basket out in the field. Please remember to return the scissors to the basket after you're done with them. And please watch your step on our pathways, which can be rocky and uneven, and around our irrigation lines. If you would like to bring a small container to transport your flowers home in, they would appreciate it. A large yogurt container works great and you can fill up with tap water from the Yellow House.

In your share this week: the first of the summer tomatoes! plus more cherry tomatoes, fresh onions, eggplant, green peppers, a hot pepper, cucumbers, squash, and a small Pick Your Own flower bouquet.

Enjoy your share this week!

Hot weather pays off in delicious dinners

Long, hot summer days and warm, thick summer nights can always be trusted to bring on the farm

Ripening cherry tomatoes
photo: Sophie Shillue

bounty. This week we have several much-loved summer crops making appearances for the first time this season: our long-awaited cherry tomatoes, luscious eggplant, crunchy green peppers, and slightly sweet bunching onions. We're all excited for the change up in the harvest routine and the new veggies waiting for us at lunchtime and dinnertime.

This year, like last year, we're growing several varieties of eggplant and some of them look very different. The classic, dark, glossy purple variety is a mainstay; the long and slightly curved Asian eggplants work great in sautees or stir fries; the roundish, pastel violet ones are Italian heirlooms with extra creamy flesh that I love in eggplant parm; and the not-yet-ready-but-coming-soon white ones just look really cool.

Class of 2014 baby Belties

While we're out in the field harvesting and hoeing, we're also keeping one eye on our Belted Galloway cows, who are due to start calving over the next few weeks. I'll keep you updated on their progress and post cute baby cow pics as soon as I have them. For now, here's two of last year's calves chatting out in the field about a year ago.

In your share this week: the aforementioned eggplant, a green pepper, bunching onions, cherry tomatoes (yay!), plus more field and greenhouse cucumbers, squash and zucchini, beets, the very last of the peas, and PYO chives/sage/oregano.



Recipes of the Week

Eggplant is one of my favorite summer veggies, in part because it grills up so well and I don't have to make my house hot. To grill eggplant rounds for use as a pizza topping, for example, slice them 1/3" thick, brush both sides with olive oil, salt to taste, and grill, turning occasionally until they're tender and nicely colored.

Another eggplant favorite is Baba Ghanoush. Deborah Madison's Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone has a recipe that you can do either on the grill or in the oven. But first she has advice on the question of salting or not salting your eggplant.
     "Eggplant that's freshly picked, harvested before it's full of seeds, and eaten within a few days is naturally sweet and doesn't need salting; nor do the slender Asian varieties. Salting can, however, leach out bitterness from eggplants that have been stored too long or those that are overmature, and moisture for when it is to be fried, since a long salting keeps it from absorbing as much oil. I know some cooks who always salt their eggplants and other who never do, reflecting perhaps their own sensitivity--or lack thereof--to eggplant.
     Sprinkle eggplant slices or cubes lightly with whatever salt you normally use. Let it stand in a colander for at least 30 minutes to reduce bitterness, an hour or more to lessen oil absorption. Blot the juices that bead on the surface or quickly rinse the eggplant and blot dry. When seasoning the eggplant during cooking, taste it before adding more salt to a dish."
--Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

Baba Ghanoush
Deborah Madison, Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone

1 large or 2 medium eggplants, about 1 1/4 pounds, roasted (see roasting instructions below)
3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1/4 c. tahini
Juice of one large lemon
Salt to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Chopped parsley

Roast the eggplant via one of the two methods described below, letting the skin harden and char in places to give the dish a smoky flavor. Peel the eggplant, then puree it in a blender or food processor with the garlic and tahini. Season with lemon juice and salt to taste. Mound the puree in a bowl and make a depression in the top with the back of a spoon. Pour olive oil into the hollow and sprinkle with parsley.

Whole Roasted Eggplant
If using an oven, preheat to 425F; if grilling, preheat the grill. Slash the eggplant skin in several places so it won't explode. Place in a pan/set on the grill racks and roast until it's soft to the point of collapsing, 30-40 minutes in the oven, or as quickly as 20 minutes on a hot grill. You can also wrap it in foil and place it directly on the coals. Let cool 15 minutes or so. Discard any bitter juices that may collect.

~ ~ ~

Our bunching onions are a summer treat that I usually enjoy grilled, but they're very versatile. You can use them in any recipe that calls for onions--they're really just a young onion with a funny shape. They're a fresh-eating type of onion, so you want to refrigerate them and enjoy them within two weeks. My grilling "recipe" is simple. Slice them the long way, in 2-4 slices, leaving the greens attached. Brush them with olive oil on both sides and salt and pepper them to taste. Place them directly on the grill grate, or an aluminum foil square, and grill until they are soft (and lightly charred if grilling them directly). Add more salt and pepper if desired and enjoy them as a side dish or on a burger.

Early summer beauty

Red Ace beets
photo: Meg Wilson

Summer has truly arrived here at the farm. Hot days and warm nights are bringing out the squash and finally, the first of the field cucumbers.We're happy to be picking all three of our beet varieties now: the heirloom Chioggia with the red stems, the attention-grabbing purple-stemmed Red Ace, and the lovely sunset-colored Golden Beets. I enjoy each of those varieties for different reasons--let me know which one is your favorite.

Heirloom Chioggia beets
photo: Meg Wilson

Colorful chard bunches
photo: Sophie Shillue

In your share this week: more of our bumpin' squash crop, a mix of greenhouse and field cucumbers (finally!), beets, a basil pot, chard or kale, peas, a choice of cabbage/fennel/escarole, and popcorn.
Our cucumbers are fresh-picked and never waxed, so you don't have to peel them like grocery store cucumbers--plus most of the nutrition is in the skin!

Recipes of the Week

Since this week isn't going to be super hot like the weekend was, it's a great opportunity to bake some delicious zucchini bread. My recipe is spice cake-type based on Jane Brody's, from her Good Food Book. It's easy and fragrant and melt-in-your-mouth yummy. When I make it, I more than double the amount of zucchini she calls for (and you could even go higher I think), plus I increase the signature spices (nutmeg and ground cloves) in line with that. I also double the nuts, which are optional. The lower end of the ranges below are as written in the recipe and the higher end is how I make it.

3/4 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 c. white flour
1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 - 1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 - 1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 - 1/2 tsp ground cloves
1 egg white
1 whole egg
6 Tbs vegetable oil
1 1/4 - 3 c. packed, finely grated, unpeeled zucchini
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 - 1 c. finely chopped nuts, optional (I use walnuts or pecans).

Mix dry ingredients. Mix wet ingredients. Combine, add nuts. Pour into a greased 9x5x3 inch pan. Bake at 350F for 50-60 minutes.

~ ~ ~

These beet slices are almost like a beet chip, so you can snack on them like that, or serve them as a side to a main dish. Susie Middleton's genius tip is to put a piece of parchment paper or brown butcher paper on your cutting board before slicing the beets to prevent it from getting stained. Or you could use the Golden variety of beets and they won't stain your cutting board OR your fingers :)
Try to keep all your beet slices to a consistent thickness so they all cook evenly.

Quick Roasted Beet Slices
from Susie Middleton's Fast, Fresh & Green
serves 2

1 bunch beets, trimmed, scrubbed (but not peeled) and very thinly sliced (between 1/8 and 3/16 inches)
1 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 tsp coarsely chopped fresh thyme (you can grab some out of the PYO herbs if you don't have any at home...the thyme is just finished flowering, so it looks a little raggy, but it's fine to eat)
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 475F. Line a large (18x13x1) heavy duty rimmed sheet pan with a piece of parchment paper. Put the beet slices in a mixing bowl and toss thoroughly with the olive oil, thyme, and salt. Arrange the slices, evenly spaced, on the sheet pan (it's OK if they touch a little).
Roast until the beets are tender, shrunken, wrinkled, glistening, about 16-18 minutes. You can flip them over halfway through if you like them equally browned on both sides. When done, the smallest slices will be black around the edges. Let cool for a few minutes before serving.

~ ~ ~

Enjoy your veggies this week!

Beautiful shot of last week's share!
photo: Lindsay Grimes

War on weeds!

Our weedy battles continue this week with an upcoming tactical strike to the pathways between our many rows of tomatoes--red slicers, cherry tomatoes, and the precious heirloom tomatoes. Staked with 5 foot tall oak stakes, these tomato rows unwittingly shelter diabolical weeds from the long arm of the cultivating tractor. I wish I had a 12 foot tall tractor that could clear these rows of stakes and cultivate out those sneaky weeds, but sadly one hasn't been invented yet. We'll be hunting down weeds the old fashioned way--with our trusty hoes.

The field cucumbers are running a little behind the summer squash and zucchini this year, so we'll have to make do with another greenhouse cucumber this week. The Weir River colony of groundhogs have been feasting liberally on our cucumber plants for the last month and the plants are struggling just to stay alive, never mind produce the avalanche of tasty cukes we've been waiting for. With luck, we might have some for next week...fingers crossed.

In your share this week: beets, summer squash and zucchini, peas, chard or kale, a greenhouse cucumber, cabbage, fennel, escarole or mizuna,
Don't forget your reusable grocery bags this week!

Recipes of the Week

Escarole is the beautiful but bitter cousin to lettuce, pale yellow at the heart, with feathery green leaves that almost look like petals. Martha Stewart has an excellent collection of 22 recipes for this wallflower green, but the quick and dirty way is to saute with garlic in olive oil. Tried and true wins every time. Mizuna is the milder cousin to bok choy and distant relation of arugula, but not from the peppery, spicy side of the family. Chopped and added to a raw salad it's delicious, but you can also do a quick saute in garlic (what else??) and ginger, with a splash of tamari at the end.

Wondering what to do with another head of cabbage this week? If you're not yet addicted to last week's Peanut, Carrot & Cabbage Slaw, I have a new super simple recipe for you to try. From one of my favorite food blogs, simplyrecipes.com.

Buttered Cabbage with Caraway & Celery Seeds
Elise at simplyrecipes.com

One head of cabbage (green works best--those lovely red cabbages just turn into a purple mess with this recipe)
4 Tbs salted butter
1 tsp caraway seeds
1/2 tsp celery seeds
Salt to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper

Bring a large (8-quart) pot of well-salted water to a rolling boil. Trim the cabbage stem, remove the outer leaves (aka the "wrapper" leaves), and quarter the cabbage. Discard the core and roughly chop the leaves into large pieces. Add the cabbage leaves to the pot and cook for 90 seconds. Drain the pot into a colander and then put the blanched cabbage leaves back in the pot with the 4 Tbs of salted butter. Stir thoroughly to melt the butter and coat all the leaves. Add the caraway and celery seeds and toss to combine. Add the salt and pepper to taste, toss again and serve warm.

~ ~ ~

I love this beet hummus so much I'm posting it again for all the new members this year. CSA member and blogger Lindsay Grimes made this for me last year and it was soooo good (and sooo pink!).

Beet Hummus
Lindsay Grimes at iwillfeedyou.com (follow the link for Lindsay's beautiful photos!)

4 large beets, stems and greens removed
2 – 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained, and rinsed, peeled if so desired
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup quality olive oil
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon tahini
sea salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425, wrap each beet in tin foil with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Bake for 40 – 45 minutes until tender. In the mean time, drain and rinse chickpeas. Remove the external layer of skin from chickpeas if you deem you have time. This step will yield a creamier texture.

Once the beets are out of the oven, let them cool to room temperature. At this point it should be easy to peel away the skins with your fingers. Once skinned, roughly chop the beets. In the bowl of a food processor blend the chickpeas, beets and any roasting juices, garlic clove, olive oil, lemon zest + juice, and tahini until well combined. Taste for seasonings and adjust. Check for any lumpy bits of beet that may have missed the blade. Garnish well with good Olive Oil.

Serve this eye catching dip with toasted pita chips or crisp vegetable crudité.  Beet Hummus will keep well in the fridge for 3-5 days and freezes beautifully if you want to save it for another day. Just be sure to give it another good whip once it thaws as it may separate a bit.

Late spring lovelies

Encouraged by the nicely-timed rains of the past few weeks, the onslaught of weeds has seemed unstoppable lately. But the farm crew has been out valiantly battling them every day, trying to beat them back with everything we've got. A walk through the fields this morning left with me the feeling that we're about to turn a corner, thankfully.  With good effort--and a new crop of volunteers slated to start this week--I think we can gain the upper hand, and hopefully keep it for the rest of the season.

Cabbage seedling in the greenhouse.
photo: Sophie Shillue

Our new crops this week--beets, fennel, and cabbage--have been a long time coming. Late spring crops like these take lots of patience. It feels like forever ago that we seeded them in the greenhouse, while we still had a blanket of snow covering the fields. Months have gone by--we planted, hoed, irrigated, hoed them again--and now they're finally ready. Enjoy!

In your share this week: chard, spring cabbage, the last of the garlic scapes for this year, fennel, beets, kale, a greenhouse cucumber, and a basil pot. Pick Your Own is your choice of sage, oregano, or dill, or a mixy bunch of the three.

Wondering what to do with the PYO herbs? If you don't have a use for them this week, they're so easy to dry and save for use later. You can use the oregano in August to make a tomato sauce, sage pairs well with winter squash in October (or make sage honey, sage butter, or sage maple syrup!), and dill with the new potatoes we'll have in a few weeks. This article has a full list of options for drying your herbs, but here's the quickest way. Find someplace warm and dry (like your pantry or broom closet), wrap your herb bunch very loosely with cheesecloth, or put into a paper bag and cinch the bunch and the top of the bag closed with a rubber band or twist tie. Hang upside down and come back and check it in a few days. When the leaves are brittle, it's done! Crumble the dried leaves with your fingers and store in a labeled jar.

Recipes of the Week 

This week we have some new veggies--some that aren't American staples like corn and potatoes. These three easy recipes are guaranteed to make you fall in love with these ugly duckling veggies.

Basic Roasted Beets
Never had beets and liked them? When you roast them they sweeten up and become really tender and delicious. It's easy and it's my favorite kind of cooking--set it and forget it.

1 bunch beets
1 Tbs of olive oil
Pinch of salt

Preheat the oven to 425. Trim the greens off the beets, leaving about an inch of the stems on (save the greens to saute with your chard!), and trim off their roots. Scrub them well with a veggie scrub brush. Make 2 foil packets, put the beets in, drizzle with a splash of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Put the packets on a baking sheet and roast for 45-60 minutes, until the beets can be easily pierced with a fork. Let the beets cool in their packets. Since a lot of the nutrition in beets is in the skin and in the layer right under the skin, it's best to eat them with the skins on. Slice them into wedges and serve as a side.

~~

Peanut, Carrot & Cabbage Slaw
from one of my favorite food blogs, thekitchn.com

For the dressing:
3 tablespoons peanut butter
3 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons freshly-squeezed lemon juice

For the salad:
3 cups cabbage, shredded (from one head of a cabbage)
4 large carrots, grated
4 green onions, sliced thinly
4 large radishes, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, to top
1/4 cup chopped peanuts, to top

To make the dressing, combine all of the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk vigorously to combine.

In a large salad bowl, combine cabbage, carrot, green onions and radishes. Toss with dressing. Top with sesame seeds and peanuts. Serve immediately or chill before serving. This salad is best the day it's prepared although it's just fine the next day if covered and refrigerated.

~~

Fennel Citrus Salad 
Giada de Laurentiis on the Food Network

This is favorite in my family. We save some of the wispy tops of the fennel bulbs, chop them small and sprinkle them as a garnish over the finished dish. The important thing with the fennel is to slice it super thin--if you have a mandolin, that works great. Otherwise use the large slots on a box grater, just watch your fingers!
Giada has a quick video of the recipe on the Food Network page.

1 large orange, peeled and ends trimmed
1 grapefruit, peeled and ends trimmed
1 large fennel bulb, very thinly sliced; reserve tops for garnish
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup packed fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped (I've subbed in an 1/8th of a cup of mint, finely chopped and that worked too.. but you can use the basil in your share here!)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (hazelnuts work great a substitution here too!)
2-4 Tbs finely chopped fennel fronds for garnish

Place a sieve over a medium bowl. Hold the orange over the bowl, and using a paring knife, cut along the membrane on both sides of each segment. Free the segments and let them fall into the sieve. Repeat with the grapefruit. Squeeze the membranes over the bowl to extract as much juice as possible, reserving the juices in the bottom of the bowl. Don't squeeze the fruit segments you just created. Place the fruit segments and fennel in a salad bowl.

In a blender or the bowl of a small food processor, blend together the oil, basil and 3 tablespoons of the reserved juice until smooth. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Pour over the fruit and fennel. Add the chopped walnuts (or hazelnuts) and toss until all the ingredients are coated. Garnish with the chopped fronds.

On our way to the Weymouth Food Pantry with our first Food Access Fund delivery of the year.
Left to right: Isaiah, Casey, volunteer Katya, and Rory.
Photo: Sophie Shillue