Welcome to Week 3

Good morning shareholders,

It has been a busy week of haying, harvesting, planting, and planning for farm camp.  We also hosted our annual Father's Day Bluegrass BBQ and welcomed 2nd graders from Lynn's Ford School and the Tower School for field trips.  We hope that you have enjoyed your first two weeks of the harvest- we think the season is off to a great start.

Last night we launched our Friday Farm Dinner series with A & B Burger from Beverly!  It was a beautiful night on the farm with delicious food and music by the Squeezebox Stompers.  Join us for one of our upcoming dinners- next Friday is the new restaurant opening in Rockport- Feather & Wedge. Our whole line up and registration information can be found on our website.   

We are thrilled that we are getting some folks participating in our recipe exchange!  Had to love this first email from Terry C. "Love greens and would love to share some recipes with everyone but honestly I have to say I feel like these have been the best tasting greens I have ever had and really hate to interfere with their awesomeness by changing their flavor or complicating them with too many ingredients….. keep on with the awesomeness!  Straight saute with garlic for most  - and raw or juiced! We are highlighting 

CSA Share Week 3

Lettuce

Greens

Salanova

Kale

Kohlrabi

Radishes

Green garlic

Bok Choi

Salad Turnips

PYO Peas

PYO Parsley

New to the share

Cabbage

Scallions

From the Fields:

The dry weather has been a serious pain this week with almost any mechanized action causing a major dust storm out in the fields.  One blessing from the lack of rain has been that the weeds are suffering as much as anything that we put into the ground.

I have been keeping careful tabs on the broccoli and it looks like we´re going to have a major haul once the rest of our successions start coming in.  The plants just look incredibly tall and healthy.  Should we be forced to start harvesting broccoli mid week, it will likely make an immediate appearance in the share room.  Don´t worry Mon./Tues pickup people, there will be plenty to go around for a while.

Summer squash and zucchini also seem to be producing some early fruit.  Now that it is officially summer the fruits of summer time will quickly follow and unfortunately Mother Nature doesn´t let us dictate her time line.

-Ryan and crew


Recipe Highlight

From: Stephanie Young of  Beverly
Stephanie has  3 including one year at Moraine

This recipe is a modification of a Weight Watcher recipe based around chives and pea pods
Stephanie's thoughts on her terroir experience at Appleton Farms: "Love the farm to table experience it creates in our home"

Recipe Name: Pea Pod Chive Mint Salad

Category: appetizer salad or lunch entree

How to: 

In a bowl mix all together and toss

2 cups raw pea pods chopped

2 Tablespoons fresh chopped chives

2 table spoons finely minced mint

1/2 lemon squeezed

3 salad size tomatoes or six cherry tomatoes  chopped

1 tablespoon capers

1/4 to 1/2 cup feta

optional 1/2 tablespoon olive oil.


Very low calorie when omitting oil and using fat free feta

Serves 1 as a lunch entree, two as an an appetizer salad and a great  low calorie lunch

PS- Stephanie, we had trouble bringing your pic in, so we apologize that we can't include it here!  Will make sure we get it right next time.

Welcome to Week 2

We hope that you enjoyed your first week of share pick up. Having the share room stocked with the daily harvest and alive with friendly faces has been a delight for our whole farm team.

Did you read our mid-week email about the new CSA Recipe Exchange?  We'd love to get this rolling so that we can all share tasty recipes that inspire us to try new veggies or try old veggies in new ways. Information on the recipe exchange can be found below. Come on food lovers...unite!

We are also working hard to make sure you have answers to questions about your share- we have a short FAQ below that answers a lot of the questions we hear most often. We assume if we hear it a few times weekly there must be others who are wondering but haven't asked yet.  Ashley is in the share room every day alongside our shopkeepers so if you have other questions, don't hesitate to ask.

In other news, our Sunset Hill Camembert is back on the shelves in the farm store!  Make sure to stop in for a sample and to pick up some cheesy-goodness for your summer picnics and backyard barbecues.

From the Fields:
Do you know how sometimes you have a chore that is just irresistibly satisfying?  A task that you look forward to and possibly even save as a reward for completing your other responsibilities? It could be vacuuming or doing the dishes or folding the laundry but for some reason it puts your mind at ease.  For some reason the farm crew this season has been experiencing this sensation whenever we head out to weed our carrot beds.  It helps that the carrots look so good after they have been well weeded.  Even though we are hand weeding on hands and knees moving at .001 miles an hour there is something almost therapeutic about focusing on a task at the micro level.

Unfortunately we can’t spend every day weeding the carrots (though not for a lack of weeds).  Plenty of other tasks demand our attention as well.  With harvests beginning this week it has been a struggle to keep up with the other seeding, planting and weeding tasks we need to get to.  Once our last tomatoes and peppers are planted and the rest of the winter squash gets in the ground we will be in good shape for keeping up with our chores.  Maybe when we get to that point the therapeutic benefits of weeding carrots won’t carry the same allure.  - Ryan and crew

CSA Share Week 2, (6/20-6/24)

Lettuce

Greens

Salanova

Kale

Kohlrabi

Radishes 

Spinach 

Green Garlic

New to the share

Bok Choi

Salad Turnips

Chard

PYO Shelling Peas

CSA FAQs

Can I pick up my share on a different day than usual?  You may pick up your share on either day of your share block (ex: Monday or Tuesday) without alerting us.  If you need to pick up in a different share block (ex: You are a Mon/Tues pick up but want to come on Friday), you must notify Ashley by Friday the week before you switch by email or phone.  achapman@thetrustees.org or call (978) 356-5728 x 0 for the farm  office.  

What if I miss a pick up?  We harvest each day for the number of shareholders picking up.  If we have additional shareholders dropping in, those who come late in the day on their correct pick up day will face limited or unavailable choices and that’s just not fair. If you miss a pick up, we're sorry but we can't have you pick up twice the next week.  

Why are there limits on some vegetables?  We can’t grow an unlimited amount of every vegetable.  In order to provide a wide selection, we must limit some crops. Additionally, we sometimes have to limit certain crops due to crop failures, insect infestations, or other unexpected consequences of Mother Nature. 

Does all the produce come from Appleton? 98% of the produce at your pick up will be grown here at Appleton or at our sister farm Moraine.  We do purchase some crops from our friends at Picadilly Farm and Heron Pond Farm.  We also buy in corn from Marini Farm.  To support healthy land and the best growing practices, we will always have to rotate some crops on and off our land.

Can someone else pick up my share if I am away?  Yes, but please explain the pick up policies and encourage them to read the weekly blog that can be found on our website.  Our Share Room Manager or any of our share room staff are also happy to assist.

Why has the share gone from 22 weeks to 20 weeks?  Shareholders will receive the same amount of produce across 20 weeks as they have across 22 weeks in the past. 

RECIPE SUBMISSIONS for our new Appleton CSA Recipe Exchange:  
Please submit your recipes by email to:  appletonrecipeexchange@gmail.com

Recipes should focus on one of the veggies currently in the share- did anyone do anything creative with the green garlic or how about using radishes outside of a salad? We'd love to hear from you!

1. Your info:  

First, last name(s): 

Town: 

Number of years participating in Appleton Farms CSA:     

2. An original 

By submitting you confirm that the recipe is an original and has not been published by someone else.   If any part of the recipe is not your own please be sure to credit the original author.

3. The recipe

Name:

Category: Is it breakfast, lunch, appetizer, dinner, snack, or dessert?

Please list:

Ingredients and measurements

Clear instructions

Number it serves

Can you tell us about your recipe? Is it a family tradition? Summer favorite for the beach? One your grandmother taught you?

3. Your thoughts on your terroir experience at Appleton Farms:

How would you describe your Appleton Farms experience in terms of one or all of the following aspects of terroir: cultural connection (traditions, events, social connections), environmental stewardship, place and taste (the connection between Appleton Farms and its harvest)

4. Photos (optional)

We’d love to see a photo of that beautiful strawberry pie or grilled eggplant or whatever your recipe yields and one of you - at the farm, at home or wherever! 

The Discovery and Delight of Terroir at Appleton Farms

Welcome to the 2016 season!  We are excited to welcome you back to the farm this week.  

As, shareholders, you have made a commitment to share in the risks and rewards of farming here at Appleton Farms.  It is our hope that this season you will be inspired to share the many rewards of being part of a CSA - sharing your harvest with a neighbor who may not have access to the abundant fresh local food that your farm share provides, sharing the pick-your-own experience with a grandchild to instill the wonder of what can come from the tiniest of seeds, or share the joy of cooking by taking part in our new recipe exchange. 

We were recently inspired by volunteer Cathleen Williamson's research on the concept of terroir  at Appleton Farms.  To bring this concept to life, we will be seeking your favorite farm-focused recipes in our new recipe exchange.  Read on and see you all this week!

The Discovery and Delight of Terroir.  A celebration of place and taste at Appleton Farms by Cathleen Williamson

Walk into the share room on any given day and it is easy to see that the Appleton Farms CSA program is cultivating produce lovers among its members, adults and children alike.  What is it about CSA membership that is fostering these sophisticated, vegetable-loving palates? Beyond the quality and fresh taste of Appleton’s fruits and vegetables, what other cultural influences of membership are at work that impact food preferences and taste? This was the topic of my research study last fall as part of my masters degree in gastronomy.

What I expected to find was the home experience – special traditions of making grandmother’s tried-and-true tomato sauce with the bounty of plum tomatoes or making blueberry crisp together at the height of the summer – to be where these palates were being formed. What I found, however, is that while there are some kitchen connections, the more meaningful influences are happening right at the farm itself - people and place; culture traditions; and a sense of environmental stewardship collectively taking the lead on cultivating taste and food preference.  There is also a sense of delight and discovery that happens when all of these factors  work together that further influences taste and food preference by fostering a sense of experimentation and joy.

Taste an Appleton Farms strawberry or cheese and you know there’s something special about it.  There is a reason you wait patiently (or not) for its arrival every season. The concept of terroir – a French term that started in the thirteenth century to connect the land to the taste of wine and later expanded to include other cultural and environmental factors working together -- gives a seat at the table for the influence of physical place on taste alongside its companions of embodied values and cultural tradition.

How does your CSA participation influence your taste and preferences?  What is it about the sense of place and the stewardship of the land; and the cultural traditions you experience both here and on your own that make a difference?

This summer we are launching a recipe exchange that will celebrate the delight and discovery of terroir.  We invite you to participate by not only sharing your own original recipes featuring the Appleton products you love but also your experiences and thoughts on how being a part of the CSA program is shaping your food preferences and taste.   Each week we will highlight a “recipe of the week” in our blog post, distribute the recipe in the shareroom, and post all recipe submissions on this part of the blog: http://appletonrecipes.blogspot.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

-Cathleen P. Williamson

RECIPE SUBMISSIONS:  Please submit your recipes by email to:  appletonrecipeexchange@gmail.com

Recipes should focus on one of the veggies in the share:
CSA Week 1

·         Lettuce

·         Salanova

·         Greens

·         Kale

·         Kohlrabi

·         Radishes

·         Spinach

·         Green garlic (use it as you would green onions)

·         PYO strawberries

1. Your info:  

First, last name(s): 

Town: 

Number of years participating in Appleton Farms CSA:     

2. An original 

By submitting you confirm that the recipe is an original and has not been published by someone else.   If any part of the recipe is not your own please be sure to credit the original author.

3. The recipe

Name:

Category: Is it breakfast, lunch, appetizer, dinner, snack, or dessert?

Please list:

Ingredients and measurements

Clear instructions

Number it serves

Can you tell us about your recipe? Is it a family tradition? Summer favorite for the beach? One your grandmother taught you?

3. Your thoughts on your terroir experience at Appleton Farms:

How would you describe your Appleton Farms experience in terms of one or all of the following aspects of terroir: cultural connection (traditions, events, social connections), environmental stewardship, place and taste (the connection between Appleton Farms and its harvest)

4. Photos (optional)

We’d love to see a photo of that beautiful strawberry pie or grilled eggplant or whatever your recipe yields and one of you - at the farm, at home or wherever!  

The Discovery and Delight of Terroir at Appleton Farms

Welcome to the 2016 season!  We are excited to welcome you back to the farm this week.  

As, shareholders, you have made a commitment to share in the risks and rewards of farming here at Appleton Farms.  It is our hope that this season you will be inspired to share the many rewards of being part of a CSA - sharing your harvest with a neighbor who may not have access to the abundant fresh local food that your farm share provides, sharing the pick-your-own experience with a grandchild to instill the wonder of what can come from the tiniest of seeds, or share the joy of cooking by taking part in our new recipe exchange. 

We were recently inspired by volunteer Cathleen Williamson's research on the concept of terroir  at Appleton Farms.  To bring this concept to life, we will be seeking your favorite farm-focused recipes in our new recipe exchange.  Read on and see you all this week!

The Discovery and Delight of Terroir.  A celebration of place and taste at Appleton Farms by Cathleen Williamson

Walk into the share room on any given day and it is easy to see that the Appleton Farms CSA program is cultivating produce lovers among its members, adults and children alike.  What is it about CSA membership that is fostering these sophisticated, vegetable-loving palates? Beyond the quality and fresh taste of Appleton’s fruits and vegetables, what other cultural influences of membership are at work that impact food preferences and taste? This was the topic of my research study last fall as part of my masters degree in gastronomy.

What I expected to find was the home experience – special traditions of making grandmother’s tried-and-true tomato sauce with the bounty of plum tomatoes or making blueberry crisp together at the height of the summer – to be where these palates were being formed. What I found, however, is that while there are some kitchen connections, the more meaningful influences are happening right at the farm itself - people and place; culture traditions; and a sense of environmental stewardship collectively taking the lead on cultivating taste and food preference.  There is also a sense of delight and discovery that happens when all of these factors  work together that further influences taste and food preference by fostering a sense of experimentation and joy.

Taste an Appleton Farms strawberry or cheese and you know there’s something special about it.  There is a reason you wait patiently (or not) for its arrival every season. The concept of terroir – a French term that started in the thirteenth century to connect the land to the taste of wine and later expanded to include other cultural and environmental factors working together -- gives a seat at the table for the influence of physical place on taste alongside its companions of embodied values and cultural tradition.

How does your CSA participation influence your taste and preferences?  What is it about the sense of place and the stewardship of the land; and the cultural traditions you experience both here and on your own that make a difference?

This summer we are launching a recipe exchange that will celebrate the delight and discovery of terroir.  We invite you to participate by not only sharing your own original recipes featuring the Appleton products you love but also your experiences and thoughts on how being a part of the CSA program is shaping your food preferences and taste.   Each week we will highlight a “recipe of the week” in our blog post, distribute the recipe in the shareroom, and post all recipe submissions on this part of the blog: http://appletonrecipes.blogspot.com

We look forward to hearing from you!

-Cathleen P. Williamson

RECIPE SUBMISSIONS:  Please submit your recipes by email to:  appletonrecipeexchange@gmail.com

Recipes should focus on one of the veggies in the share:
CSA Week 1

·         Lettuce

·         Salanova

·         Greens

·         Kale

·         Kohlrabi

·         Radishes

·         Spinach

·         Green garlic (use it as you would green onions)

·         PYO strawberries

1. Your info:  

First, last name(s): 

Town: 

Number of years participating in Appleton Farms CSA:     

2. An original 

By submitting you confirm that the recipe is an original and has not been published by someone else.   If any part of the recipe is not your own please be sure to credit the original author.

3. The recipe

Name:

Category: Is it breakfast, lunch, appetizer, dinner, snack, or dessert?

Please list:

Ingredients and measurements

Clear instructions

Number it serves

Can you tell us about your recipe? Is it a family tradition? Summer favorite for the beach? One your grandmother taught you?

3. Your thoughts on your terroir experience at Appleton Farms:

How would you describe your Appleton Farms experience in terms of one or all of the following aspects of terroir: cultural connection (traditions, events, social connections), environmental stewardship, place and taste (the connection between Appleton Farms and its harvest)

4. Photos (optional)

We’d love to see a photo of that beautiful strawberry pie or grilled eggplant or whatever your recipe yields and one of you - at the farm, at home or wherever!  

Welcome to the 2016 season! Week 1

Welcome to the 2016 season!

From the Fields:

It’s the Friday before the first week of CSA distribution.  Next Monday we will begin our routine of morning harvests and our days will become a little more hectic but right now the farm feels quiet.  As I came into work this morning a rainbow was spanning our fields and the day has cleared into one of those crystal clear beauties that are so wonderfully rare.  I’m taking this as a good omen for the season to come.  Today we are working on getting the better part of our tomatoes and peppers planted.  As with most of our projects this year, we are a couple of weeks behind schedule with getting these transplants in the ground but the extra time has meant extra TLC.  In spite of being late in planting almost everything seem to be happier than ever.  Since I  often blame bad weather when things are going wrong, I guess it’s only fair to credit to all the lovely weather we’ve had so far this spring for the great looking veggies we have coming up.  The hours we’ve spent watering, fertilizing and weeding couldn’t have hurt though.

On the share list I did not include broccoli although it may in fact be included in the share next week.  We planted three varieties of broccoli this season with the intention that they would mature about ten days apart starting in mid June and running through early July.  Blue Wind is the earliest maturing variety and, just like those early maturing strawberries, has decided to begin forming heads a week and a half ahead of schedule. Blue Wind tends to be a smaller sized broccoli under the best circumstance but, because the plants didn’t take the extra 10 days to mature, the heads are a bit less hefty than usual.  We will definitely need to limit them and they aren’t likely to last more than a week but have no fear as there is plenty more broccoli on the way.  Although we weren’t planning to have broccoli for the first week of share distribution, I’m very excited about its surprise early appearance.  I always tell my staff that our job as CSA farmers is to knock the socks off of our members with the bounty we bring in from our fields.  It gets harder and harder to do this each season with so many savvy vegetable eaters out there but hopefully having Blue Wind pass through the share room on our very first week will do the trick.

It is probably a good idea to provide fair warning now: the strawberries are in full swing and, between the hot weather and the rain, some have gone bad.  There might literally be a ton of perfect, unspoiled berries out there but I know how it breaks the heart to see even a little bit of fruit go bad.  We will be attempting to set picking limits that allow everyone to take home a fair share.  It is a joy to grow such incredible berries for all of our CSA members but some of that joy is lessened when I have upset members telling me that berries are rotting on the vine with the expectation that I can change the picking limits right then and there.  Setting limits on PYO crops is tricky guess work.  I’m doing my best to make sure that we all get to share equally in the bounty and more importantly that we all get to enjoy the experience of picking.  Make sure to get out there and have fun this week.

See you next week

Ryan

What's In the Share:

CSA Week 1

·         Lettuce

·         Salanova

·         Greens

·         Kale

·         Kohlrabi

·         Radishes

·         Spinach

·         Green garlic (use it as you would green onions)

·         PYO strawberries

Volunteer Opportunities:
Flower Fields Volunteers- Thursday mornings from 9am-11am. Email: bzschau@thetrustees.org 
Saturday's in the Farmyard- Volunteer opportunity for ages 12-20. Email: crouillard@thetrustees.org
Sunday's in the Farmyard - Volunteer Opportunity for ages 15-20.  Email crouillard@thetrustees.org


Wish List: Have these items or know these people? Email bzschau@thetrustees.org

A three sided shed/lean-to without a floor for our sheep
A chainsaw artist who can make us some more vegetables like our carrot. We supply the logs.
Wooden garden carts or wheel barrows in good condition
Scissors! donate to the scissor basket for CSA PYO

Upcoming Events and Programs:

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, Clover Food Lab 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. 

Fun in the Farmyard  | Sundays 10am-3pm
Drop by our Carriage Barn anytime between 10am-3pm on Sundays to experience life on the farm and meet some of our friendly farm animals. Activities are partially self-guided and can include farm crafts, games, story time, playing with the goats, meeting a chicken and more. This event is free and recommended for ages 2-6, but all are welcome! FREE

P.S.- Follow us on Instagram and Facebook to learn more about what's happening on the farm

www.facebook.com/appletonfarms

www.instagram.com/appletonfarms

Strawberry picking open to shareholders this Saturday

Well the strawberries just can't wait another week to see you! Please come enjoy pick-your-own strawberries this Saturday from 8am-12noon. Check in at the CSA Barn for limits and containers before heading out via the NEW pick-your-own entrance off the parking area.  Signs will help direct you.

A full blog post coming this weekend before our first share pick up week: Monday, June 13th.

Sweet summer strawberries await!

News about Saturday's Welcome and Orientation

We can't wait to see you on Saturday at our 2016 Welcome and Orientation event.  The barn is finally cleaned up and ready to welcome you back! 

Thank you to the many shareholders who have signed up using our Sign Up Genius.  If you haven't signed up and would like to do so now, please follow this link: Appleton Farms CSA Shareholder Orientation We have added additional spots for each session at 9am, 10am, and 11am. Parking will be tight and remember to drive slowly on the farm roads.

We will begin each 1 hour session by splitting into two groups- one group will head off to pick their first few strawberries via the new entrance to the pick-your-own fields with Assistant CSA Manager Leah, while the other half of the group will get an orientation and welcome with CSA Manager Ryan. Our friends from Boston Area Gleaners will be here to let you know about volunteer opportunities in the fields and there will be farm staff on hand to answer questions about programs & events, farm camp, CSA billing, and anything else you'd like to know.

All morning, Sandy, our Farm Store Manager, will be offering samples of our new ice cream flavors from Honeycomb Creamery while Kristian, our Cheese Maker, will be sampling out his new Appleton cheeses.  Mojo, Terra Cotta Pasta Company, Dancing Goats Dairy, Lark Cookies, and Pozup popcorn will also be at the farm from 9am-12pm offering samples and welcoming you back with tasty treats.  

For those who can not make it this Saturday, we would be happy to orient you on your first share pick up day.  The share season opens on Monday, June 13th.