We have lots to tell you about the share, field updates, and renewals so we will keep the farm news brief this week. This Sunday, we'd love to see you at our final Down on the Farm: Fall Concert with Rust Never Sleeps. There will be a pumpkin contest, trick or treating for kids, food trucks, beer and wine, and of course, great music. The fun begins at 4pm and all the info can be found right here.
We are thrilled to announce that Liz Green has joined the Trustees Agriculture Team, stepping into the statewide Vegetable & CSA Program Manager role. Liz has been farming since 2008, and has worked on a variety of vegetable farms in
Eastern Massachusetts, including our own Powisset and Moraine Farms. She was most recently the Farm Manager at Three Sisters Farm in Ipswich, which she helped
launch from scratch. Liz brings her deep knowledge about farming as well as a strong connection to the North Shore community. She will be working with Ryan and all of our CSA Managers across the state to support the farms, farmers, and the CSA programs. Liz will have her office at Appleton so you'll be sure to see her in the share room throughout the season.
The Share:
Kale/Collards
Chard
Beets
Turnips
Potatoes
Greens
Carrots
Radishes
Cabbage
Garlic
Field Updates:
As we mentioned in our mid week update, share renewals are
now live for the 2017 CSA season. If you are a primary shareholder you
should have received an email with a link to our signup page at this
point. Please contact Susan in the office at 978.356.5728
ext. 4110 if you haven’t received the email yet or if you have any
questions about the renewal process. Although we are coming to the end of
an extremely challenging season, we have done everything possible to build
momentum in the share room over the last several weeks and I expect that next
week, our final week of share for those who weren’t able to take the summer
hiatus, will be one of our very best. There is no denying that part of
becoming a CSA member is assuming some share of the risk that comes with
farming. Over the years we have seen bumper crops and crop failures but
this is the first season that we have seen crop failures on such a
level. Now that we are aware of how dicey things can get, it
would be difficult not to perceive our shared risk more acutely than ever
before. I would not try to downplay this risk in order to convince our
shareholders to sign on for another season, rather I would like focus on the
steps we took to shield our members from the worst of the drought and how hard
we worked to turn a tough situation around and end on a high note. I
can’t promise that next season will be perfect but I can promise that we will
work just as hard and give everything we have to make next year as great as it
possibly can be. Food for thought as you consider renewing.
In the fields we are chipping away at all the usual fall
tasks: collecting various pieces of equipment and tools that have become
dispersed around the fields, rounding up irrigation parts and frost clothe,
removing drip tape and taking down trellising. We are still very busy
with the harvest and each week provides fewer and fewer daylight hours to work
with but little by little the farm is being prepared for its winter
slumber. This week we began planting the garlic, a task I love dearly and
have written about at length in years past. It has been so warm that I’m
a little nervous the garlic might put on too much top growth before winter sets
in but this would only be a minor set back.
Construction on a new
greenhouse began today. This is a project that has conceptually been in
the works for at least 3 years but only became a reality in the last couple of
months. The new 30x60ft structure has been desperately needed to solve
some work flow and space issues that have handicapped our greenhouse seeding
efforts (especially in the early spring). The most obvious benefit to the
CSA that I can think to mention is that we will be able to seed, and therefore
transplant and eventually harvest, our tomatoes much earlier than in the past
few years. I will probably write about this project at much greater
length in the future but for now let me offer a deep and heartfelt thank you to
Gerry Bouvier, the project manager, for bringing our greenhouse dreams to
waking life.
As promised in last week’s blog post, we have come up with
an alternative to the Appleton Thanksgiving share with the Three River FarmersAlliance share. If you haven’t all ready grabbed a flyer from the desk in
the share room, make sure to check it out! You can sign up by filling out
the form at the bottom of the flyer then either handing it in to Ashley or by
writing “Appleton” on your form and mailing it to the address listed.
Don’t forget to include your payment along with your form. Checks can be
made out to Three River Farmers Alliance. You can pick up your
Thanksgiving share on Monday November 21st between the hours of 1pm
and 3pm in the Appleton CSA barn.
Upcoming Programs:
Its pie time and we have you covered for the Thanksgiving holiday. Join us in the farm kitchen as we learn all the basics for making delicious country-style pies including techniques on tender homemade pie crust, rolling & assembly, and proper baking.…..all while keeping it fun, simple, and stress-free. Workshop includes hands-on preparation of 3 different pies and each participant will take home one unbaked 9” deep dish pie (apple variety) to pop in the freezer and bake fresh for the holiday table! Warm pie will be enjoyed with coffee and tea at the end of the workshop. (recipes may include Rustic Caramel Apple Pie and Pear & Ginger Pie) BYOB or wine.
Upcoming Programs:
Thanksgiving on the Farm Culinary Workshop | Sunday, November 13th 4PM
Jazz up your traditional holiday table with updated classics and helpful tips for keeping this special holiday simple & stress-free. We’ll talk turkey, covering tips on safe handling, roasting, stuffing, and carving while preparing a full menu including homemade stuffing and dishes such as Mushroom & Sourdough Stuffing, Apple-Roasted Vegetables with Pancetta & Thyme, Farm Potato & Celery Root Gratin and Spiced Pumpkin Trifle…..all sure to be a big hit with family and friends. Our workshop ends with our very own Thanksgiving celebration in the farmhouse dining room. Hands-on cooking, experienced chef instruction, & printed recipes included. BYOB or wine. Members: $72. Nonmembers: $90
Farming in the First Period with PeterCook | Sunday, November 20th 4PM
Farming, together with fishing, was the lifeblood of the first settlers. They brought English seeds, animals and farming methods to the new colony, but had to adapt them to the environment. Peter Cook will compare English agriculture (plantings in long straight lines produced by plows) with the mound agriculture of Native Americans produced by hoes. He will illustrate the farm animals brought over, mainly cattle and pigs, and how they were kept, used and shared among the colonists. He will illustrate the different crops, the enclosures and fences. The agriculture of the First Period was distinctive then and is fascinating now.
Presented by the Ipswich Historical Commission with The Trustees as part of the annual Thanksgiving celebration, "Ipswich is First…Period."
Peter Cook is a nationally recognized expert on colonial agriculture. During his long career, Peter has served as chief curator of Plimoth Plantation, administrative director of Historic New England, and chief curator of the Bennington Museum. At Plimoth he established a program to breed early species of livestock. Today, Peter is a professor in the graduate program at Lesley University.
