New Blog!

Hi all,

Our blog has moved! Come visit us at the new site: https://appletonfarms.thetrustees.org/2019/04/29/april-news-from-the-farm/

Greenhouse Season and Sugar Season are Underway!

Greenhouse season is underway!

As we close out February, a couple recent snowfalls brighten up the farm. We’ve set our sights on spring, but mother winter has reminded us that she’s not quite ready to leave. Despite the cold, we spent time this week setting up our greenhouse in preparation for seeding onions and leeks. The first days inside are always such a thrill, pushing our hands in soil again and dropping seeds into flats. Their promise and potential has us excited for the season to come.

The past month has seen us continue to rest our bodies and take time to research best practices and improve the overall quality of what we do. In particular, we’re studying ways to improve seedling production and energy use in the greenhouse, organic disease management, and improved soil building practices. Much of what we do involves equipment and so part of the winter has entailed making repairs and repainting worn out implements. We’ve also decided to invest in a mechanical transplanter this spring, which will allow us to move away from transplanting all our seedlings by hand. Not only will this save us time, freeing us up to focus on other tasks, but it lessens some of the physical burden associated with putting plants in the ground. It’s something I’m sure the crew will be excited about!

Summer CSA membership renewals for the 2019 continue. While there’s still time to renew, our share is nearly full and we’ve begun making offers to folks on the waitlist. If you are a current member that would like to renew for the 2019 season, please do so soon, as we can no longer guarantee your spot in the share.

If you need the weblink to renew or need to be in touch with us for any other reason, please send a message with your current email to appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org. Feel free to call us with any questions at 978-356-5728 ext. 4115. We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too!

Upcoming Events at Appleton Farms

March

2

Saturday

Happy Hour at the Sugar Shack

Join us for Happy Hour at the Sugar Shack and experience how we turn our sweet sap into tasty syrup before sampling local beers

March

5

Tuesday

Tuesday Story Time on the Farm

It may be cold outside, but it's cozy in the Farm House! Join us for a regular Tuesday story time this winter.

March

6

Wednesday

Felted Soap Making

Learn how to make beautiful felted wool soap! Felted soap is not only beautiful, but also great for your skin and the environment!

March

6

Wednesday

Preschool Farm Explorers: Kids in the Kitchen

Join us for a kids in the kitchen session for preschoolers and try out some delicious kid-friendly recipes with ingredients from the farm

March

8

Friday

Cancelled -- Beer in the Barn: Meet the Brewer Series with True North Ale Co

It may be cold outside, but it’s cozy in the Carriage Barn, especially with a beer in hand!

March

9

Saturday

Sugar Shack Saturdays

Spring is coming and the sap is running! Experience the time-honored tradition of maple sugaring with Sugar Shack Saturdays at Appleton Farm

Renewal Deadline for Current CSA Members

We want to send a reminder to current members that CSA membership renewals for the 2019 season are still open. While there’s still time to renew, we are opening signups to folks on the waitlist on February 1, so we can no longer guarantee your spot after February 1 for the 2019 season if you haven’t signed already. Huge thanks to all of you who have already renewed! To renew your CSA, please start here with your Trustees membership.  If your Trustees membership is current, contact us at appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org and we will send a link for renewal to our current CSA members. We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too! Winter updates from the farmers: We received most of our seeds for the upcoming season and have the rest of our supplies ordered. Most of the field crew is hired at this point and we’re only one month away from the first the greenhouse seeding! With only one real snow storm under our belts so far, it’s hard to believe our spring work is only weeks away. We will continue to rest our bodies in weeks ahead as we energize for the upcoming season. Late winter is a time for us to review some of our practices and systems and find places where we can make improvements. You may recall us talking about a new food safety law last season. The upgrade to our wash station was only a small part of how the new rules impact our production. The bulk of the legislation impacts us through the copious amount of records required to document daily tasks. While the law is focused on reducing food safety risks, it has forced us to streamline some of our practices and improve the way we document operations. Leah has been leading these efforts and I’m glad to report that we’re in great shape for the upcoming season! Another major area of focus for us this offseason has been improvements to soil health. The addition of five acres for vegetable production this season will allow us to improve our crop rotations and be a bit more intentional with how we cover crop and rest fields. Our focus here is to build soils and fertility through compost applications and annual cover crops, and to rotate crop groups over different parts of the farm over time to avoid the build up of pests and diseases. The new acreage allows us to plan rotations multiple years in advance and avoid cropping some of our worn out fields. We are very excited these developments to say the least.

Upcoming Events on the Farm Beer in the barn: NBPT Brewing NBPT brewing will join us to tell us all about their beer and career in brewing. Live music and tasty brews to follow. We will have light snacks for sale, or bring your food from home! This is a 21+ event. February 8th 5:30-8:30 Beer in the barn: Saintly Cider Saintly Cider will join us to tell us all about their cider and career in brewing. Live music and tasty brews to follow. We will have light snacks for sale, or bring your food from home! This is a 21+ event. February 22nd 5:30-8:30 February Vacation Programs Check the website for all of the amazing programs during vacation week. February 16-22

Happy to help. Feel free to get in touch with any questions! email: appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org phone: 978-356-5728 ext. 4115 Andrew Lawson, CSA Manager: alawson@thetrustees.org Sarah Kelly, CSA Coordinator: skelly@thetrustees.org

Happy New Year and Renew Now for 2019!

Renew your Appleton Farms CSA membership today! The recent mild weather and bare fields have us dreaming of spring! But we’re happy to be spending a few weeks in the office planning out the next growing season. While we’ve been perusing seed catalogs and tweaking the crop plan, our creative juices have been flowing and there’s a growing excitement for the year to come. I think we have a couple welcome surprises in store for our CSA members for next season! And a reminder to current members: CSA renewals for the 2019 season are open, and we are offering new payment plan options this year to help spread out the cost. **We will open signups to the waiting list on February 1 and we cannot longer guarantee your spot for 2019 if you do not sign up by that date. To renew your CSA, please start here with your Trustees membership.  If your Trustees membership is current, contact us at appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org and we will send a link for renewal to our current CSA members. We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too! - Andrew & Leah

Seed catalogs are here!

An update from the Appleton Farms store: Fresh milk is back at the farm store!  We apologize for the hiatus over the past 2 weeks. We had unforeseen equipment failures & repairs were delayed by the holidays. We were only able to bottle 160 gallons this week, but next week we expect to bottle 250 gallons of milk. Please feel free to call the store anytime to confirm availability – we know the driveway can be rough this time of year.  We have just graded the road to ease your journey. If you haven’t been in the store in a while, be sure to check out our new, local products.  We are happy to welcome: Beckah's Bangin Butter  (small batch paleo almond butter made in Beverly, MA); Ariel’s Honey Infusions (raw Vermont honey infused with organic herbs made in  Waitsfield, Vermont); & Little Acre Gourmet Ketchup (gourmet condiments made in Dover, NH).  Plus, I am waiting on a fresh batch of Baer’s Best Beans (locally grown & hand-picked beans from South Hamilton, MA – organic varieties, rare heirlooms, and yummy soup mixes!) 20% off select Trustees products (Pickles, pickled beets, tomato puree, frozen pesto, meat & jerky) Join our  frequent milk-er program! Earn a stamp for each milk purchase (1 stamp per visit) and get a free 1/2 gallon of milk on your 13th visit. Meet our cow of the month in person.  We encourage visitors to stop by the dairy barn any time and chat with the staff.  We milk the cows at 4 am and 4 pm daily and welcome visitors to see the dairy team in action as well as ask questions.   Thank you for shopping at Appleton Farms. Hope to see you back at the farm this week.  Best wishes, Staci Zarimba Store Manager