Week 5: The Height of Summer!

The rains last week and hot weather this week has the crops (and weeds!) growing well. Hot crops like zucchini and cucumbers are thriving, onions are starting to bulb up, and the tomatoes grew a full foot in the six days! This week we turned over what amounted to a great strawberry crop and transplanted out next year’s plants. Fresh herbs featured in our pick your own field are thriving and are a great addition to summer salads. Many thanks to our hard working crew for pushing through the recent heat wave and staying on top of things. It’s their hard work (and sweat!) that makes our share possible.

This week the share will include:

• Mixed greens
• Head lettuce
• Radicchio
• Rainbow chard
• Fennel
• Beets
• Carrots
• Scallions
• Cucumbers
• Yellow squash
• Zucchini
• Napa cabbage
• Pointed head cabbage
• PYO herbs
• PYO flowers

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

As a reminder, our hours for pickup have changed to Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12:30-6:30PM. We are also open for pick your own on Saturdays, 8AM-Noon. Shareholders are free to pick up their share any day that best suits their schedule, and do not need to commit to the same day each week. Additionally, shareholders do not need to tell us which day they will be picking up.

Vegetable of the week!

RADICCHIO is a leaf chicory, sometimes called Italian chicory. It is a good source of selenium, phosphorus, potassium, calcium, B-vitamins, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin E and folate. Radicchio has been known as a healthy food for quite some time. In fact, Pliny the Elder, a Roman author and natural philosopher, claimed in his encyclopedia, “Natural History,” that it was useful to purify the blood and treat insomnia. While this document was written during the first century, it’s actually true that one nutrient found in the radicchio plant, intybus, is a mild pain reliever and sedative.

Grilled Summer Salad

Dressing:
3 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil (& more for drizzling)
1 TBSP chopped fresh dill
1 TBSP Sherry wine vinegar
2 tsp dijon
1 tsp honey

Salad:
6 garlic scapes, trimmed at both ends (or scallions/fresh onions )
1 head romaine lettuce, 1 head red leaf lettuce, 1 head radicchio, all quartered with cores intact
2 summer squash and 2 zucchini, sliced lengthwise

Whisk dressing ingredients and set aside. Light grill to medium high heat. Arrange prepared veggies on baking sheets, drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill vegetables: romaine 2 minutes per side, leaf lettuce 1-2 minutes per side, radicchio and squash- 4-5 minutes per side. Remove from grill, core and slice the greens; chop the squash and onions/scapes/scallions. Serve with additional fresh greens, kale that's been massaged with the dressing, or dressed over quinoa/rice. Enjoy!

Our Farmers Kick into High Gear!

From Farmer Andrew...

The crops are looking good so far as we’ve had a couple excellent weeks of sunny weather. With the warm temperatures come a burst of new weeds and we are focusing our attention on early cultivation techniques. To help in this effort, we have utilized the newest member of our equipment fleet, the Kress cultivator, to help quickly cultivate crop rows and to save time on manual weed removal from our crew. This implement is equipped with “finger weeders,” which look wheels with soft tines that gently pull weeds close to the crop plant. While we’re still learning the all the adjustments, we’ve had some early success!

The longer days have given us more time to work, of which we have been taking advantage! The crew is busy transplanting, adding and removing row cover, and finishing up our spring clean up projects. In the past few weeks we’ve transplanted over an acre of onions and leeks and another acre of potatoes. Staples like lettuces and brassicas are rooted and looking great, and a whole lot of direct seeding has been in the works over the past week. The strawberries are just starting to flower, a sure sign that the warmer weather is here to stay.

Our new wash station is coming right along, as you may notice a new concrete slab behind the barn, and a beautiful fence (built by our own Appleton Staff) creating the barrier between the farm store picnic area, and our tractor equipment. In the coming weeks the finishing touches will be put in our wash station. We are looking forward to being able to use it!   

Fruit Share

We still have a few spots left in our new fruit share for Appleton Farms CSA shareholders! Ask for more info at appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org.

Meat CSA

Have you signed up for the Meat CSA yet? Pickup is at Appleton Farms, so it's a convenient, tasty way for shareholders to expand support for our local food system. For more information, check out the Meat CSA page on our website.

What's Happening on the Farm?

All sorts of incredible activities, our Farm Camp, the fantastic selection of local food and Appleton Dairy products at the Farm Store...the list goes on. Stay in touch! For details, head over to the Appleton Farms page – you'll be amazed at what happens at the farm!

Winter Share Pickup on Friday and December Happenings

Winter Weather Harvest
With snow on the ground, it’s finally starting to feel like winter! Despite the weather, we managed to

bunches of fresh kale

clean off the last of our covered spinach to get one final harvest for the share. We weren’t able to unearth the greens, which were mostly crushed under the weight of the snow. But luckily we have a good variety of storage crops in the cooler still.

Harvests get tricky this time of year because the vegetables will turn to mush if they are cut frozen and then allowed to thaw. So we carefully watch the weather for a few warm hours to get it done. It’s amazing how hardy and delicious the winter grown kale and spinach can be!

winter-grown spinach...delicious!

Don't Forget to bring two bags! Final Winter Share Pickup is on Friday, December 15th from 2pm to 6pm!

The share will include:

Spinach

Kale
Red cabbage
Watermelon radish
Daikon radish
Kohl rabi
Carrots
Beets
Purple top turnips
Red onions
Shallots
Garlic
Potatoes
Butternut squash
Popcorn
Tomato puree

Remember to bring two tote bags for pickup this week. If you are unable to make it, please inform us before the share happens so we can put together a box for you. We look forward to seeing you there!

- Andrew, Appleton Farms CSA Manager



  UPCOMING EVENTS AT THE FARM       

Winter is the perfect time to get cooking in the kitchen and learn some new recipes! We have an array of fantastic adult cooking classes let by Chef Carolyn Grieco with Carolyn’s Farm Kitchen. From Soups to Pot Pies, Valentines Dinner and Maple Cooking, there is so much to choose from! All classes involve hands-on instruction through multiple dishes, with a full meal at the end.

You can also get in the kitchen with our Cheese Maker Kristian Holbrook and learn how to make fresh cheese. Great last minute gifts for the holiday season!

Have some little ones in your family? We also have a parent/child Preschool Kids in the Kitchen program starting on Thursday, January 4th from 9:30-10:30AM. This is a 4 week program where we will learn a new kid-friendly recipe each session! Check our website for a full list of winter offerings and registration!

  IN THE FARM STORE                          


Lots of fantastic, locally-made items are in the Dairy  & Farm Store just in time for the holidays! Stop by to enjoy fresh samples of local goods and check out what's new. And of course, Appleton Farms award-winning cheese is on hand for all your holiday needs, from gift-giving to party-throwing.

Don't miss the Rum Cheese sampling on December 15th from 2 to 6pm for a perfect taste of the holidays!