CSA Week 12, 2022

CSA Week 12

This week you MAY have corn (Yellow Mirai or bicolor Kristine) Molly Delicious (likely) or McIntosh apples, tomatoes, Cipollini onion, some kind of peppers ;), potatoes, beans, arugula, peaches..

This is week 8, the last week for our Totally Tomato CSA. Thanks for joining us!

The peaches have been amazing! What a gift 🙂 This week is the week to get a box of peaches for canning, baking, cutting up and freezing to drop in smoothies… Special CSA price of $40/box. We can have them at any farmers  market and likely at your CSA drop. Unfortunately, it is proving very difficult to manage leaving extra boxes of anything behind at several Wednesday locations 🙁  BUT, check out our markets location page to see where we are near you! Markets  

While we are the topic of peaches, from the movie Elf, a farm favorite conversation between creative team and Miles Finch:

– We open on a young tomato. He’s had some tough times down at the farm. You know, rabbits, and…
– No. No tomatoes. Too vulnerable. Kids, they’re already vulnerable.
– I know, you see, I told you guys. I told them the very same thing.
– And no farms. Everybody’s pushing small-town rural. Farm book would just be white noise.

Later on…the creative teams finds Finch’s idea book:

– It’s Miles Finch’s notebook. This thing is chock-full of genius ideas. I mean, look at that.
– And his best idea is about a peach that lives on a farm.
– What’s more vulnerable than a peach?

What is more vulnerable than a peach? Not much. We have been picking them pretty ripe and despite everyone’s most careful efforts, sometimes the travel is tough on them vulnerable babies. IF your peaches do not look perfect, I assure you, they are not rotten. “Rotten” is a trigger word around here and sends us howling. Yes, sometimes rotten does happen by the constant possibility that while looking over the fruit, you missed something, but never would we willfully put something rotten in your bag. It may come to a point where we simply cannot put peaches in the CSA at all, and that would be sad because who wants to miss out on that awesomeness.

McIntosh apples, yes, aka Macs, were discovered by John McIntosh on his farm in Canada in the early 1800s. We enjoy them here at the farm in New Braintree and you may recognize their parentage in the Macoun variety, but also the Cortland and Empire varieties as well!

Two more weeks of CSA extension option:

I am still ruminating on the 2 week extension and possibly a 4 week extension at UMASS. I will get it together for next week with what we are offering, bundle options, goodies for signing up free, etc.

Just interested in the Winter CSA for now? Sign up here 

We will offer a Spring/Summer bundle deal in soon 🙂

Woot!

CSA Week 11, 2022– pretty sure my crisp topping is in this letter, if you want to go back and dig it out.
You might be surprised that when I see the discarded peaches in the compost, I wade through and salvage what I can, it hurts to see so waste like that. Other things I have done with bruised peaches:

• Peach Sauce – just like apple sauce, but with peaches
• Peach Cobbler
• Peach Upside Down Cake
• Peach salsa – epic with chips or on salmon or pork or chix…

Member Aimee sent me this recipe a couple years ago, I like it! I don’t peel my fruit and often use peaches 🙂

Tomato & Nectarine Salad

(adapted from Boston Globe http://www.bostonglobe.com/lifestyle/food-dining/2015/08/18/recipe-for-lamb-spiedini-with-peach-tomato-and-mint-salad/Y2cdZ4ZU1QVu8fMXfu2fIJ/story.html)
2 T red wine vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
3T olive oil
2 large tomatoes, seeds squeezed out, chopped
1 cucumber, peeled and seeded, chopped
3 nectarines, peeled, chopped
2 sprigs fresh basil, minced
In a salad bowl, whisk together the vinegar, salt, and pepper. Gradually whisk in olive oil. Add the tomatoes, cucumber, nectarines and basil.

Corn and Tomato Salad

• Corn kernels from 4 ears of corn
• 1+ lbs tomatoes, dices
• 1 cucumber diced (if you have it, this works without too)
• basil
• lime juice
• S & P

Toss all the ingredients together and enjoy this simple refreshing salad anytime.

Minimalist Corn Chowder

Sent from members Nancy and Pete and they got it from Epicurious

• 4 to 6 ears corn
• 1 tablespoon butter or neutral oil, like canola or grapeseed
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and chopped
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tomatoes, cored, seeded, and chopped, optional
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves, optional

Shuck the corn and use a paring knife to strip the kernels into a bowl. Put the cobs in a pot with 4 cups water; bring to a boil, cover, and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the butter or oil in a saucepan and turn the heat to medium-high. When the butter melts or the oil is hot, add the onion and potatoes, along with a sprinkling of salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens, about 5 minutes; add the tomatoes if you’re using them and cook, stirring, for another minute or two. After the corn cobs have cooked for at least 10 minutes, strain the liquid into the onion-potato mixture. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down so the mixture simmers. When the potatoes are tender, about 10 minutes, add the corn kernels and milk and heat through. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, garnish with parsley and serve.

Keys to success

STRIP THE KERNELS from the cob with a sharp knife, and make sure to catch any liquid that seeps out during the process. TO MINIMIZE COOKING TIME, chop the potatoes into 1/4-inch pieces. Leave them larger if you’re not in a hurry. AS LONG AS your corn is young and tender, the kind you can just about eat raw, the kernels should be held out of the mix until the chowder is just about ready, so they don’t overcook.

Rachel’s kale salad recipe:
Lacitino kale works best, but any kind is fine

Take off the stem and slice into very thin ribbons. Toast 1/4 c of pine nuts (although I’ve done it with walnuts, sliced almonds or pecans), toss with olive oil and lemon juice. Add 1/4 c currants (although I’ve also used raisins and craisins) add Parmesan cheese. Salt and pepper to taste.

It actually gets better the next day.

Also check out:

Vegetale al Forno

We enjoyed several evenings of Nighthawks last-this week as they migrated for the season. It is a ritual to sit out and watch for them the last week of August. Once again salsa making coincided with Nighthawks and back to school. School started from Faith on Monday, so I get BUSY putting by for the winter. I have almost enough beans frozen, made a special batch of orange salsa, and will crank on peaches this week. The peach sauce freezes so beautifully and puts a summer smile on your face.

This is the time of year I reflect upon the wisdom of a dear friend. Stephanie, who lives just down the hill from us, is 97!!!, served in WW II, met her husband of New Braintree while he also served. I cannot begin to tell her story, and if there was a woman or young woman looking for a pinnacle of strength to emulate, she’s it. When “putting by” season is upon me, I ALWAYS think of a couple stories that she shared with me about her mother-in-law. I will share one here that all my long-timers will recognize: Oh to complain about providing for the family! Think how easy we have it now with our food processors, electric or gas stoves, and freezers. Every year I think of my dear friend Stephanie and a story she told me about her Mother-in-law: It seems her Father-in-Law returned from market with 10 baskets of peaches that were dead ripe…meaning the next day they would be spoiling. It was late in the day, but after supper, Mother started in on them. Stephanie, being large with child, went off to bed. In the morning, she woke to find all the peaches had been put up…it must have taken all night, and that was with a wood cookstove in August! I figure it would have been 150-200 quarts. Stephanie later told me she counted 2500 quart jars (of everything that had been put by) in the cellar that year. Plus I bet there were crocks of meat and kraut. A tremendous achievement for anyone keeping the house and pantries stocked! What work ethic!

We still have tomatoes for canning and PEACHES! if you need them 🙂

Eat well,

Geneviève Stillman