May News from the Farm

Greetings from the farm,

Yesterday was a wild day at the farm.  We had new fencing going in by the Carriage Barn, 30 children from The Tower School learning all about compost, volunteers from EMARC weeding our garden beds, new signs being installed throughout the property and of course the preparations for The Trustees' 125th Anniversary Gala which will take place in the heart of the farm this Saturday.  We can't wait to experience the guests arriving to the farm by train car as the Appleton family did for years.  

In other news, the Jerseys are back out on fresh pasture and loving life in the lush green fields. Their first day out was on Mother's Day (a fitting way to treat our hard-working mamas with a special gift). We had over 200 people join us in traditional Swiss fashion to lead the cow parade to the new spring pasture.  It was a fabulous time and we want to thank all who were able to attend. 


Around the farm you will notice we have a new walking route from the Farm Store & CSA Barn to the Carriage Barn & Old House Visitor Center.  We are now directing visitors down the path through the field rather than down the road past the greenhouse and compost piles. Why? Our livestock and stewardship teams were unable to safely operate equipment with so many visitors walking through those areas of the operation. Shareholder pick-your-own will be entering from a new gate so make sure to come to our orientation day on June 4th to get the "lay of the 2016 land". We hope you will enjoy the new route when you are visiting or extending your share pick up with a walk to visit the animals or cheese kitchen.  

FROM THE CSA

Didn't snap a pic of the Jang but caught the farm team in action

After a crazy couple of weeks we are all caught up on transplanting.  The major spring crops are in the ground and looking reasonably happy.  Due to a couple of our tractors being in the shop we are way behind on seeding parsnips which might mean that we can’t harvest them until March of next year instead of this fall.  If that’s the case I might talk with Jenny and Bruce of Picadilly Farm about supplying us with some.  Our carrots and greens on the other hand have never looked better.  This is in part due to some changes we have made with our method of seeding and in caring for our direct seeded crops.   This winter we purchased a gently use Jang seeder from Andre Cantelmo of Heron Pond Farm.  He gave us a great deal and an excellent practical lesson on using this new tool.  The Jang is a little more sophisticated than our old Planet Jr seeder because it can be adjusted to separate and plant individual seeds at fairly exact spacing.  It also has the ability to seed 5 rows per bed instead of just three with the Planet Jr.   Growing greens at 5 rows per bed instead of 3 will, hopefully, lead to more refined and smaller sized “baby greens” without sacrificing yields.  We also switched from using un-sized carrot seeds to using pelletized carrot seeds.  Pelletized seeds are coated in a layer of clay to give them a uniform size and to prime them for germination.  So what are all these changes suppose to accomplish?  Better seed spacing and stronger germination means stronger stands of carrots with less man-power required for thinning and weeding.  Poor germination and hundreds of man hours spent on thinning have been the largest barriers to producing the volume of carrots that many of our CSA members wish to see.  This year we are still experimenting with our new tools and techniques but long term this could be a revolution in direct seeding for us. 

Don't forget to sign up for a spot at this season's welcome and orientation event on June 4th: sign up here

-Ryan, Leah and crew

FROM THE FARM STORE


A wonderful company from Cambridge, Honeycomb Creamery, is now making small batch ice cream with our Jersey cream.  You can find the new ice cream flavors like Brown Sugar Vanilla Bean, Maple Coffee, Chocolate Tasted Coconut, and Earl Grey Lemon in the farm store.   

You can also taste it at our upcoming Father's Day Bluegrass BBQ on Sunday, June 19th at 4PM

UPCOMING EVENTS AND PROGRAMS

Flavors of the Farm Culinary Event,  Saturday, June 4^th |  5PM- 8PM

This once-a-year event provides an opportunity for guests to experience a behind-the-scenes farm tour of Appleton’s cheese making, dairy barn, and farm fields followed by a fabulous culinary demonstration and tasting by professional farm chef Carolyn Grieco. Using the farms’ products, Chef Grieco will pair each recipe with tastings of wine from Willow Spring Vineyards in Haverhill, Mill River Winery in Rowley, and Russell Orchards in Ipswich. Participants will learn new tips and techniques so that you can easily capture the season’s fresh flavors in your own kitchen. All guests will be given generous tasting of each seasonal dish and wine to compliment. Printed recipes and a take home gift included. Seasonal menu will include items such as Savory Herb & Cheese Custards, Radish Salad, Orecchiette with Farmstead Beef Sausage, Green Garlic, & Field Greens & Honey-Roasted Strawberry & Rhubarb Tarts with Jersey Cream.

Trustees Member Adults: $80 Nonmember Adults:$100

Wild About Greens Culinary Workshop |  Wednesday, June 8th 6PM

Vibrant edible greens are popping up on the farm and will be the star of this seasonal menu. Learn how to work with chard, collards, kale, and more as we create a complete menu including amazing starters, entrees, salads, and sides. Dishes such as Swiss Chard & Feta Stuffed Portobellas, Roasted Kale & Potato Salad, and Grass-Fed Beef & Black Bean Collard Enchiladas…….fantastic recipes for keeping it healthy and ‘green’ all season long! Chef Carolyn Grieco will lead this hands-on workshop including instruction, printed recipe booklet and a full meal. BYOB beer and wine are allowed. Members: $72. Nonmembers: $90

Father's Day Bluegrass BBQ  | Sunday, June 19th  4PM

Beer, bluegrass, and BBQ; the perfect recipe for Father's Day!  Bring a picnic blanket and load up the kids for a summer evening on the farm. We’ll have Heritage Truck Catering, CopperDome Crust, and Gabi's Smoke Shack providing tasty food for dinner from their food trucks, our friends from Ipswich Ale Brewery and live music by local favorite Old Cold Tater. To top it off, ice cream from Honeycomb Creamery made with our own Jersey cream. A recipe for a super time!

Your family ticket pays for parking, lawn games, cheese samples, a visit with the farm animals, and live music from 5pm-7pm. Dinner from the food trucks and beer and wine, sold on site, are not included in your family ticket price.  Make sure to pre-register, these tickets will go quickly. Food and beverages are purchased directly from our vendors. Any proceeds help support our farm education programs. Trustees Members: $24 per family. Nonmembers: $30 per family.

Rise and Shine Little Farmers  |  Saturday mornings, 9am

Have you ever collected warm eggs from the chicken coop or seen how fast pigs will run for their morning helping of veggie scraps? This Saturday morning program brings families behind the scenes of our working farm. You’ll meet our cows, goats, sheep & chickens when you help with the morning chores (don’t worry, we will go easy on you!) We learn as we go and take advantage of whatever lesson the day has to offer. We conclude our farm adventure with a seasonal farm story. Registration online at www.thetrustees.org. 

Lastly, our Appleton Farm Camp is filling up quickly!  We are still looking for energetic and fun camp counselors (age 19 and up).  Please share with your friends and neighbors. Job description and application information can be found on The Trustees website.


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