News from the Farm and your 2016 CSA Crop List!

Greetings from Appleton,

This spring weather has us all a little frazzled over here at the farm.  65 degree days have us feeling like we should be much further ahead in our seed planting, spring clean-ups, farm camp preparations, and menu planning for our line up of summer farm dinners.  I think the 20 degree nights this weekend may actually be welcomed by the crew here at Appleton.  

We've wrapped up our maple sugaring and you can find the sweet and flavorful syrup in the farm store now. We also have plenty of milk, cheese and grass-fed beef stocked on the shelves so come on by and add a little local goodness to your weekend. 
  
FROM THE CSA: We thought it would be neat to include a list of all the different vegetable varieties that we plan to grow this season.  NOT included on this list are the veggies that we will be getting from our friends at Heron Pond (several varieties of storage potatoes), Picadilly (some fall carrots) and Marini's (the return of sweet corn).

Pictured: roughly $10,000 worth of seed purchases

There are a few new varieties that I am especially excited to try this year.  We added not one, not two, not three but FOUR kinds of Radicchio to the crop mix this year.  Each one is pretty unique but since this is a brand new crop for us we will be trying to determine which variety, if any, works best here at Appleton.  I can't wait to work these beautiful veggies into spring and fall salads at my house.  After a one year hiatus we are bringing back Oranos sweet peppers!  These pepper are extra early, extra sweet, extra reliable and even at over $0.40 per seed they are well worth the price.  For hot peppers we will be trying a new variety of habanero this season called Helios.  It is suppose to pack the same spicy sweet punch as regular habaneros but it actually ripens during our short New England summer.  Sugar dumpling winter squash are one of my favorite varieties but their short storage window made them a little fickle to grow.  We decided to swap this variety for Gold Nugget, a cute little single serving mini hubbard with pale orange skin.  We also added a variety of golden zucchini to our summer squash just for fun.  There are plenty more new varieties and old favorites on the list so check it out!  
-Ryan 

Basil varieties- Genovese, Napoletano, Eleonora, Mrs. Burns’ Lemon, Sweet Thai, and Sacred.

Bean varieties- Provider, Dragons tongue, Carson, Royal burgundy, Strike.

Beet varieties- Boldor, Chioggia gaurdsmark, Red ace, Avalanche, Cylindra

Bok choy varieties- Joi choi, Black summer

Broccoli varieties- Green Magic, Belstar, Arcadia, Fiesta, Bay meadows, Blue wind, Imperial.

Brussels’ sprouts varieties-Dagan, Nautic.

Cabbage varieties- Famosa, Ruby perfection, storage no. 4, tendersweet, Alcosa, Caraflex, Gonzales, Red  express, Omero.

Carrot varieties- Bolero, Nelson, Mokum

Cauliflower varieties- Denali

Celeriac variety-Mars

Celery variety- Tango

Chard varieties- Bright lights, Ruby red

Chicory varieties- Perseo, Bel fiore, Virtus, Dubuisson, Natacha, Indigo.

Collard  green variety- Flash

Popcorn variety- Robust Yellow

Cucumber varieties-Jackson classic, Marketmore, Olympian, SV4719CS.

Cilantro  variety- Santo

Dill variety- Bouquet

Eggplant varieties- Clara, Dancer, Nadia, Orient express.

Fennel varieties- Orion, Zefa fino, Preludio

Flower varieties-  Zinnia, Snapdragon, Rudbeckia, Cosmos, Dianthus, Celosia, Bachelors button, Procut gold, Procut orange, Procut lemon.

Garlic- German extra hardy, Music

Greens varieties – astro arugula, shanghai green pac choy, red Russian kale, spring raab, Siberian kale, tatsoi, arugula, southern giant mustard, red giant mustard, toscano, green wave, mizuna, sessatina grossa

Husk cherry variety- Goldie

Adult kale variety- Winterbor

Kohlrabi varieties-Kossack, Azur star, Kolibri, Quickstar, Winner

Leek varieties- King  Richard, Lexton blue-green, Megaton blue-green

Lettuce varieties- Green forest, Mirlo,  Panisse, Alkindus, Two star, Vulcan, Rouxai, Thurinus, Adriana, Salvius, New red fire, Skyphos, Starfighter, coastal star, Green star, Carioca, Cherokee, Concept, Muir, Nevada, Ruby sky, Winter density

Melon varieties- Sun jewel, Sarah’s choice

Napa cabbage variety- Rubicon

Onion varieties- Ailsa craig, Red long of tropea, Pontiac, Redwing,

Parsnip variety- Javelin

Fresh pea varieties- Premium, Sugar ann, Oregon

Pepper varieties- Ace, Carmen, Flavorburst, Oranos, Red knight ( sweet) Capperino, Devil serrano, el jefe, Hungarian hot wax, Red rocket, Helios, Tiburon, Thai hot ( hot)

Potato varieties- Red gold, Dark red norland, Anuschka

Radish varieties-Cherriette, White Icicle, Rover, Summer cross Daikon , D’avignon, Watermelon

Rutabaga variety- Helenor

Salad turnip varieties- Hakurei, Scarlet queen red stem.

Baby lettuce varieties- Foundation collection, Premier collection

Scallions- Guardsmen

Spinach varieties- Reflect, Gazelle, Space, Woodpecker

Strawberry varieties- Cabot, Earliglow, Jewel

Zucchini/summer squash varieties-Slik pik, Spineless perfection, Goldy, Gold star, Dunja

Sweet potato varieties-Beauregard, Covington

Tomato varieties ( non PYO)- Polbig, Defiant, Big Beef, Pink Beauty, Iron lady, Mountain Merit, Prudens Purple, Black Krim, Striped German, Plum Regal, Granadero,

Tomato varieties ( PYO)-Black cherry, Indigo cherry drops, Jasper, Mountain magic, Sungold, Sunpeach, Pink boar, Juliet

Turnip variety- Purple top white globe

Watermelon variety- Starlight

Winter squash varieties- Bonbon, Delicate, Jet acorn, New England Pie, Gold nugget, Pinnacle, Red Kuri, Winter sweet, Tip top PMR, Waltham Butternut

THE FARM WISH LIST- Have what we are looking for? Email appletonfarms@thetrustees.org and thank you!

• 2-3 healthy, child-friendly rabbits with hutches in good condition
• A "cooking with kids" expert who would be willing to advise our team on outfitting our teaching kitchen for kids
• Chainsaw artist who can create some veggie friends for our lonely but well-loved  wooden carrot outside the farm store
• Small chicken coop in good condition. We will pick up!

UPCOMING FAMILY PROGRAMS, CULINARY WORKSHOPS & FARM EVENTS:

Egg-cellent Easter Adventure: Saturday, March 26th
Say goodbye to the cold and celebrate the arrival of warmer weather here on the Farm! While we often associate eggs with the Easter Bunny, in many cultures eggs symbolize new life and are tied with the coming of spring. At this event, we celebrate spring, new life on the farm, and the bounty of fresh eggs produced by our hens. Go on the Egg-cellent Quest around the farm and learn about the journey from egg to chicken, collecting Easter eggs at each station to complete the Quest! Members: $20 per family.  Nonmembers: $30 per family. Registration and all the details at www.thetrustees.org

From Cultures to Rinds: Cheese Making Fundamentals: Saturday, April 9th 
Our cheese making classes are back! Spend the afternoon with Appleton’s new cheese maker, Kristian Holbrook for a hands-on cheese making class in our farm kitchen.  You’ll learn all the basics of making soft and hard cheese, make your own mozzarella and ricotta to take home, and get a behind-the-scenes tour of our dairy operation and cheese caves. Kristian will cover all the basics of cheesemaking and teach you exactly how to make delicious fresh cheese at home. Pre-registration required. Members: $100.  Nonmembers: $135. Registration and all the details at www.thetrustees.org

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