Week 16 - Rain and wind!

Week 16

With all the rain and windy weather this week, we spent a good bit of time indoors sorting and cleaning garlic. The indoor work is always a nice change of pace for the crew and is a time for groovy music or interesting podcasts. We separate out the best bulbs to use as seed for next year’s crop, which totals almost one-quarter of the entire harvest! Those bulbs will be broken into individual cloves over the next few weeks and planted at the end of October before the cold weather really hits. 

With temperatures forecasted over 80 degrees F this week and nighttime temperatures above 60 degrees F, it’s hard to believe it’s time to start thinking about planting garlic and taking down the tomato trellising. But the warm weather should help some nice stands of cover crops establish in most of our summer fields, blanketing the farm in green. It’s a beautiful sight, our way of feeding the soil and taking care of land that we expect so much from.

This week the share will include:

Greens

Spinach

Head lettuce

Rainbow chard

Kale

Bok choi

Salad Turnips

Carrots

Broccoli

Potatoes

Garlic

Spaghetti Squash

Cherry tomatoes - PYO

Hot peppers - PYO

Herbs - PYO

Despite our best efforts to keep a good stash of scissors for the pick your own field, every week many go missing. I’d like to encourage you to bring your own scissors if you plan on picking.

Just a reminder, we only allow one pickup per week but the choice of day is up to you. If you cannot make it for one of the weeks, you can always send a friend to pick up your share for you. Please remember to bring your tote bags! The shareroom is open Monday & Thursday 2-7pm, Tuesday and Friday 12-5pm

Sunday night Concerts Start  Sept 24!

Join us for our annual Down on the Farm Fall Concert Series at Appleton Farms! These family-friendly concerts will feature live music, food trucks, lawn games, and an opportunity to meet our dairy cows and farm animals. The series kicks off on Sunday, September 24th at 4pm with Cold Chocolate. 

Cold Chocolate is a fresh and exciting Americana band with a unique sound that fuses bluegrass and folk with a dash of funk. With original tunes and technical prowess, this trio from Boston is mesmerizing audiences with guitar, upright bass, percussion, and three-part harmony.

Bring your own picnic or purchase food from Joe's on a Roll and CopperDome Pizza.  Beer and wine will also be available for purchase from Ipswich Ale and Old Planters Brewing.

Gates open at 4pm and concert starts at 5pm. Leaf-peeping and family photo opportunities among the foliage in our historic Stone Paddock a bonus!

News from the Farm Store

Milk bottling on Wednesday this week. 

We have some new products... come check them out. You can also now sign up for our courses at the store!

Regular store hours are M-F 11 to 6 and Sat and Sun 10-4. Sometime we may stay open a little later, but generally we close at 6 pm.

We are looking for one or two shopkeepers.  If you know of anyone who would like to join the team in the store on a part-time basis, please have them apply by sending an email to screighton@thetrustees.org .

Please remember to bring back your glass milk bottles. We generally bottle milk on Wednesday mornings and it is ready in the store on Wednesday mid-afternoon.

Week 15 - Cool Mornings

Week 15

Fall is in the air. The mornings have been cool with heavy dews and a tinge of color is creeping in some of the trees. The days are getting shorter. It’s dark when I wake now and dark when we clean up the share on late days. The to do lists seem more manageable and the pace isn’t quite as frantic as mid summer. We started deconstructing our tomatoes as many have finally succumb to early blight. The first cover crops are starting to germinate and those fields are left to rest for the winter. This week will likely be the last to feature summer stables like tomatoes and peppers. We are transitioning into the fall bounty with beautiful broccoli, delicata squash, and leeks.

This week the share will include:

Greens

Spinach

Head Lettuce

Fennel

Bok choi

Broccoli

Peppers

Tomatoes

Potatoes

Leeks

Delicata squash

Cherry tomatoes - PYO

Hot peppers - PYO

Herbs - PYO

Despite our best efforts to keep a good stash of scissors for the pick your own field, every week many go missing. I’d like to encourage you to bring your own scissors if you plan on picking.

Just a reminder, we only allow one pickup per week but the choice of day is up to you. If you cannot make it for one of the weeks, you can always send a friend to pick up your share for you. Please remember to bring your tote bags! The shareroom is open Monday & Thursday 2-7pm, Tuesday and Friday 12-5pm

Family Farm Day -- A Big Success!

Thanks to everyone who helped make Family Farm Day a success -- volunteers and participants alike! 


Sunday night Concerts Start  Sept 24!

News from the Farm Store

Milk bottling on Wednesday this week. 

We would like to know more about what you like about our milk. Click Here to take our very short survey. (sorry the link did not work last week - thanks to those of you who tried).

We have some new products... come check them out. You can also now sign up for our courses at the store!

Regular store hours are M-F 11 to 6 and Sat and Sun 10-4. Sometime we may stay open a little later, but generally we close at 6 pm.

We are looking for one or two shopkeepers.  If you know of anyone who would like to join the team in the store on a part-time basis, please have them apply by sending an email to screighton@thetrustees.org .

Please remember to bring back your glass milk bottles. We generally bottle milk on Wednesday mornings and it is ready in the store on Wednesday mid-afternoon.

Week 14 - Squash!

Week 14

We received three-quarters of an inch of rain on Sunday and well over an inch of rain on Wednesday. With potential for more precipitation this weekend, it’s feasible to think we won’t need to irrigate much again this season! Most of the hot crops are slowing down. Tomatoes are just trickling in now and we are finally done picking cucumbers and summer squash. The greens are enjoying the cooler weather and continue to look beautiful. This week we will start doling out what turned out to be an excellent crop of winter squash. Our fall brassicas (broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbage) look good but are a couple weeks away.

This week the share will include:

Greens

Head Lettuce

Green curly kale

Bok choi

Fennel
Beets

Peppers

Tomatoes

Potatoes

Garlic

Spaghetti squash

Cherry tomatoes - PYO

Hot peppers - PYO

Herbs - PYO

Despite our best efforts to keep a good stash of scissors for the pick your own field, every week many go missing. I’d like to encourage you to bring your own scissors if you plan on picking.

Just a reminder, we only allow one pickup per week but the choice of day is up to you. If you cannot make it for one of the weeks, you can always send a friend to pick up your share for you. Please remember to bring your tote bags! The shareroom is openMonday & Thursday 2-7pm, Tuesday and Friday 12-5pm

News from the Farm Store

Milk bottling on Wednesday this week. 

We would like to know more about what you like about our milk. Click Here to take our very short survey. (sorry the link did not work last week - thanks to those of you who tried).

We have some new products... come check them out. You can also now sign up for our courses at the store!

Regular store hours are M-F 11 to 6 and Sat and Sun 10-4. Sometime we may stay open a little later, but generally we close at 6 pm.

We are looking for one or two shopkeepers.  If you know of anyone who would like to join the team in the store on a part-time basis, please have them apply by sending an email to screighton@thetrustees.org .

Please remember to bring back your glass milk bottles. We generally bottle milk on Wednesday mornings and it is ready in the store on Wednesday mid-afternoon.

Upcoming Programs and Events: 

Family Farm Day is September 16th!   Join us for fun, games, and food.  Watch for details.  (and yes, it is a Saturday this year).

Friday Night Dinners - three more weeks! : Join us for dinner by Chive and music in the Stone Paddock. The family-friendly dinners feature food grown or raised on our farms (as well as other local area farms.)  Dining on the farm is one of the best ways to enjoy the flavors of the season! Ticket prices include full dinner buffet, non-alcoholic beverages, and dessert. Beer and wine is available for purchase.  

We do limit the numbers and some dates are filling up so Sign up now!  

Sunday night concerts start Sept 24. 

Are you a runner?   September 23rd's Run for Amy is a great way to see the Great Pasture as you run a 5K or 10K.   The run is in memory of Amy Foster and will benefit Dana Farber and Appleton Farms.

Week 13 - A Touch of Fall in the Air

Week 13

It’s starting to feel like fall with shorter days and cooler weather. Although we will continue to pick tomatoes, the huge harvests are behind us now. We spent quite a bit of time harvesting a good crop of winter squash this week. Most of it out of the field now, binned up and curing in the greenhouse. It takes a couple weeks of warm, dry conditions to toughen up the skins for longer term storage and to improve the eating quality of the fruit.

Although there are two more months of CSA pickups, it’s time to start preparing some of our land for next year already! We started spreading compost on some our early planted fields to improve fertility and build organic matter. Over the next two weeks, any of our land without a crop will be seeded to a winter cover crop. These crop will be grown in the fall and early spring with the intention of being plowed in to protect and enrich the soil. We seed mixed species but try to include at least one legume, which enriches the soil with nitrogen and reduces our fertilizer input needs. A healthy farm starts with healthy soil.

This week the share will include:

Greens

Lettuce mix

Rainbow chard

Bok choi

Fennel
Beets

Peppers

Onions

Potatoes

Tomatoes

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Cherry tomatoes - PYO

Hot peppers - PYO

Herbs - PYO

Despite our best efforts to keep a good stash of scissors for the pick your own field, every week many go missing. I’d like to encourage you to bring your own scissors if you plan on picking.

Just a reminder, we only allow one pickup per week but the choice of day is up to you. If you cannot make it for one of the weeks, you can always send a friend to pick up your share for you. Please remember to bring your tote bags! The shareroom is open Monday & Thursday 2-7pm, Tuesday and Friday 12-5pm

News from the Farm Store

Milk bottling on Thursday this week. 

We would like to know more about what you like about our milk. Click Here to take our very short survey. (sorry the link did not work last week - thanks to those of you who tried).

We have some new products... come check them out. You can also now sign up for our courses at the store!

Regular store hours are M-F 11 to 6 and Sat and Sun 10-4. Sometime we may stay open a little later, but generally we close at 6 pm.

We are looking for one or two shopkeepers.  If you know of anyone who would like to join the team in the store on a part-time basis, please have them apply by sending an email to screighton@thetrustees.org .

Please remember to bring back your glass milk bottles. We generally bottle milk on Wednesday mornings and it is ready in the store on Wednesday mid-afternoon. THIS WEEK IT WILL BE BOTTLED THURSDAY.

CSA Staff Profile:

Meet Leah Jurman, CSA Assistant Manager .  This is Leah's 3rd year at Appleton and she lives on the property with her boyfriend and dog, Ruby.  She loves farming because she is fascinated with systems biology and loves to eat.  When she is not working, Leah volunteers for Sweet Paws Dog Rescue.   

Upcoming Programs and Events: 

Family Farm Day is September 16th!   Join us for fun, games, and food.  Watch for details.  (and yes, it is a Saturday this year)

Friday Night Dinners: Join us for dinner by Chive and music in the Stone Paddock. The family-friendly dinners feature food grown or raised on our farms (as well as other local area farms.)  Dining on the farm is one of the best ways to enjoy the flavors of the season! Ticket prices include full dinner buffet, non-alcoholic beverages, and dessert. Beer and wine is available for purchase.  

We do limit the numbers and some dates are filling up so Sign up now!  

Pinacle Tours:  September 9 and 30.   Click here for more info: 

Sunday night concerts start Sept 24. 

Are you a runner?   September 23rd's Run for Amy is a great way to see the Great Pasture as you run a 5K or 10K.   The run is in memory of Amy Foster and will benefit Dana Farber and Appleton Farms.

Haybale Hangout

Every Saturday  10AM-2PM Member Child: $5 Nonmember Child: $10Join us at Hay Bale Hangout and spend the day at Appleton Farms. Stop by anytime between 10AM – 1:30PM for fantastic farmyard meet and greets! Hands on activities start at 10AM and run every half hour.  Once you’ve paid, stay for an hour or all day! Cash only please. No additional cost for adults.