CSA Week 16, last week for everyone except Monday…and the 2 week extension peeps 😉

Look out for mega butter and sugar corn, apples (supposed to be Gala or Macoun), Delicata or Honeynut winter squash, Dinosaur/Lacinato kale, carrots, purple potatoes…

Delicata winter squash, known for its very sweet flavor and edible, striped yellow skin OR the beloved Honeynut, the extra sweet baby sister to butternut.

The Whaaat for 2022 is corn still? I mean really? We enjoyed some corn for lunch today and noted how much corn was on each ear, and all the way to the tip!

This is week 16, the last regular season pick up for everyone except for Monday peeps. The last pick ups of the regular CSA season are:

Friday, your last day will be September 30.
Saturday, your last day will be October 1.
Sunday, your last day will be October 2.
Monday, your last day will be October 10.
Tuesday, your last day will be October 4.
Wednesday, your last day will be October 5.
Thursday, your last day will be October 6.

Monday people this is only week 15 for you.

Yes, you can still sign up for the 2 week extension – the 2 Week option, as well as all the bundles are listed at the bottom.

Dinosaur/Lacinato/Black Kale
might nice cabbage growing

Recipes

Wowser, the Delicata made it into this month’s issue of Real Simple 🙂
It’s not that what they wrote is wrong, but it is not totally correct…or maybe it is for what one experiences at the supermarket??? our Delicata will hold out in a dry dark place for much longer than three weeks – we will still have it for sale in February or so. At any rate, yes the skin is edible, which makes it one of the best hurry up squashes. It also microwaves extremely well (be sure to pierce it through a few times).
If roasting or sautéing, wash, cut in half the long way, scoop out seeds, then toss with some oil and bake on sheet in 350-400 oven till tender and lightly browned (not long). RS recommended tossing with soy sauce, hot honey and oil, which is probably yummy, but I really enjoy mine super simple with a just sprinkle of coarse salt.
Honeynut is a hybrid of Butternut and Buttercup and is a new favorite. Its small size makes it super manageable and would be great for the recipe below. Jsut want squash? When it doubt, halve the long way, scoop out seed cavity and bake, cut side down on greased sheet pan – it loves being roasted 🙂 ALSO, don’t forget any and all of these winter squash seeds are excellent toasted skillet or baked on a sheet pan. Did you know pumpkin seeds are in the top 10 superfoods?

Sausage- Stuffed Delicata Squash

Author: SimpleHealthyKitchen.com
Serves: 6-12 servings

  • 3 medium Delicata squash ( about 1 lb. each), halved lengthwise and seeded
  • 3 tsp. olive oil, divided (or coconut oil)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 lb. ground pork sausage ( or ground chicken sausage)
  • ⅓ cup chopped onion (1 small)
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 3 cups torn fresh kale, stems removed
  • 1 small apple, diced
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh sage leaves ( or1 tsp dried)
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries(look for brands with no added sugar)
  • ¼ cup toasted pecans, chopped
  • Drizzle pure maple syrup (optional)

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Brush cut sides of squash with 1 tsp olive oil and salt and pepper to taste. Place
cup side up on a baking sheet. Roast until tender (about 25-30 mins.)
2. While squash is roasting, heat remaining 2 tsp olive oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add
sausage, onion, and garlic. Cook until sausage is browned and onion is translucent, stirring to break
sausage apart (approx.10 mins.) Add kale, apples, rosemary, thyme, sage and additional salt and pepper
if needed. Continue to cook until the kale turns bright green and becomes tender (approx. 5-8 minutes).
Stir in cranberries and cook for an additional 1 minute.
3. Spoon sausage mixture evenly into squash halves. And sprinkle with toasted pecans.
4. Optional step- preheat broiler and arrange stuffed squash halves on foil lined baking sheet . Drizzle with
maple syrup. Broil until the tops of stuffing and squash are golden brown (approx. 5 mins).

The recipe above is very much like what I throw together…I wanted to give you an actual recipe 🙂 Sub leeks for an onion, sub fresh or dry cubed bread (stuffing mix?) for the sausage, toss in some cheese like Gorgonzola, cottage or ricotta… the sky is the limit!
You can stuff squash that is not cooked and bake until the squash is done. I typically cover the baking dish with foil to keep moisture in, then uncover for 10 minutes to brown up a little.

Busy Farmwife Anyslaw Dressing

Simple, simple, simple:
To 1/3 cup cider vinegar add 1/2 tsp kosher salt (sea salt would be good too), slowly whisk in 2/3 cup oil (something light, I use canola or safflower), and then add 1/2 tsp celery seed. Need more umph? Season with black pepper and a Tb favorite mustard.

Yep, that’s it. I used this general recipe for any slaw, including watermelon radish or the much coveted kohlrabi slaw. You can always add more salt to taste, and I often do. I have even substituted my Father’s favorite ‘No Salt’ when making this dressing with no ill effect. IF you like things tarter, add more vinegar… everyone knows I cook with the force, so the fact that I have written down a recipe with actual measurements is a huge achievement. And, yes, this is awesome with pulled pork or beef.

ZsaZsa’s Kale Soup

In a 4 qt. + pot- Fry

  • 1 onion coarsely chopped
  • 1 chicken breast or thigh- cut into bite size pieces
  • ¼ lb loose sausage broken up and stir fried
  • 6” length of chorizo cut into bite size
  • 1T minced garlic- put in last and fry very briefly
  • 1 bunch washed kale, torn in pieces
  • 1 can cannelloni beans, rinsed and drained
  • 6 c. chicken broth
  • salt and pepper to taste

Use this recipe as a guide to customize your own soup -More chicken-more chorizo- pasta instead of beans…

Another Kale Soup

Boerenkool Stamppot (Kale Hash)

delicata winter squash
Delicata
Honeynut picture swiped from Seedway catalog 🙂

Farm Dirt

Glenn walking among the rows of cole crops

Above is Glenn out scouting in the cabbage field.

We will be offering our annual gleaning but, hopefully, it won’t be for a while yet. I will send out an email when it is imminent. New to gleaning? “Then she left, and went and gleaned in the field after the reapers.” Gleaning is the act of collecting anything that might be left behind after the main harvest. The first hard frost kills any tender crops here in New England, so we harvest as much as possible before then. In spite of all our efforts, there are always a few peppers or tomatoes left on the plant, or squash and potatoes (not the green ones ;)) laying on the surface. For several years now we have invited our CSA members (only) to glean before the killing frost. Some things will survive and if the weather cooperates a little, we can continue to harvest greens, lettuces, broccoli, cabbages, dig carrots and such, well into November.

Fun Farm Dirt: The Border Collie puppies are magically delicious! Not surprising. If you are a person with an active lifestyle, or know someone who is, and can manage a highly active, intelligent animal, drop me a line. I think these puppies are going to excel in many areas. I have long decided the father should be running agility competitions, and the mother, our Josie, has a huge vocabulary and great understanding. In other fun news: Reid and Kirsten are getting married on the farm next May…so delighted to be expanding the Stillman family and growing the business. Their kraut and kale chips have been a big hit – they cannot keep up, and they better not slack off next Spring!!!

Stay tuned for gleaning!

We are still harvesting winter squash, and soon it will be sanitized and packed away in storage. The potato harvest continues and though we are missing the huge amount of Pintos we love so much, the rest of the varieties faired well and will feed us (you and me) through the winter and spring. The Brussels are still slow to come (yes, definitely see them in the 2 week extension) but the cabbage is awesome! As always, we get greedy with the good weather, always hoping to ripen every last fruit. We depend on these crops to carry us through the year. In these times, we are more aware than ever about the importance of having lots of food in storage so we can feed everyone we serve. We have 2 great big walk-in coolers, one smaller walk-in and a walk-in freezer that will be completely filled to the rafters with fruits vegetables…as well as ?? bins of winter squash stored 4 bins high in the head house, and ?? bins of potatoes stored in the barn to be sold before the bitter cold sets in. We also had a bumper crop of beautiful onions, which was a pleasant reprieve from last year’s disastrous rains that wrecked the crop.

I really cannot believe I am writing the last CSA letter of the season. (I might not write a letter for the 2 week extension) I do try very hard to use the weekly letter to educate you about new varieties and some of the fun factoids that us farm nerds keep track of. There is a lot that goes into running a CSA – it’s not just the weekly packing. We start planning for next season NOW. Glenn has placed the seed potato order for 2023 and the fall garlic is here, ready to be planted. The strawberries need to be mulched. The main vegetable seed order will be placed in deep winter and we will seed your first tomatoes in February. I will file the paperwork for the first group of workers from Jamaica mid-December, as it must happen 75 days before our date of need. We look forward to seeing them again March 1st. Meanwhile, over coffee, or wine ? we continue to brainstorm about crops to try, scheduling and general improvements to our CSA programs. I welcome your constructive feedback about your experience, varieties you are interested in, delivery/scheduling, or anything else. Thank you to all who have sent us such complimentary emails. Keep them coming.

Showing my vulnerable underbelly here: In your life, have you found yourself giving too much weight to negative feedback? We count on (and want) constructive feedback from our members. Ideally this happens throughout the season, when we can make adjustments and accommodations. We are sensitive here and I find we can receive 20 super nice emails or personal notes about what we provide, but one nasty email will send us tumbling. My recognition of this has resulted in my changing my own approach to other businesses when I am not totally satisfied or content with a situation. Why on earth do we give more recognition to a negative review than a positive? Human nature I guess. I don’t think I have any of these super negative people in my life (or CSA life) today, but if you are one of them out there reading this, or messaging me, thank you, your negativity makes me want to be a better person, with grace and empathy. 🙂

This year we will continue to offer early CSA sign up discounts in the form of store credit or additional local products 🙂

If you live near Boston or the New Braintree farm, you will be able to find us at all the markets until the end of October, Copley (Tu & Fri) and JP (Tu & Sat) ‘till Thanksgiving and then every Saturday after that, throughout the year. Boston Public Market runs year round, 7 days a week! We will keep some hours at the New Braintree farm to accommodate everyone out this way… we are one of few farms in our area that process SNAP and HIP 🙂

From all of us at Stillman’s, we are honored and blessed to grow food for you and thank you for being part of our family. YOU are part of our farm family. Do you need something? Please reach out. We sincerely hope you have eaten well this summer, and maybe learned something new about farming or vegetables, fruits, insects, birds, cooking, anything? Our long time members know everything already. This is the year I am going to have my “Farm Snob” shirts made for me; Halley and Joanne want shirts too. I will wager many of you reading this now qualify ?

This I wrote 2 years ago now, but it still holds: To our new members, who I am sure joined us to find safe harbor with good, local, safe, reliable food, we thank you. One positive outcome of this pandemic was our Commonwealth looked to herself for local answers, local food, local supplies. It is our fervent hope that this is not a one time deal and that the many who recently signed on to the buy local will continue to do so. We, and our fellow producers, are a resource for you. When the lockdown started, we not only reached out to our base with produce bags, but worked with other producers to distribute food. So, you are on our list. We humbly ask that you remain on our list so we can continue to grow and work together to feed our growing Stillman’s Farm family. Again, YOU ARE part of our farm family.

We will see you next week if you signed up for the season extension. Some of you may have signed up for Curt & Halley’s awesome WINTER CSA), many shop at winter farmers’ markets, a few may have goodies stashed away in the freezer or pantry, and some may go back to the convenience of the supermarket. Whatever your circumstance, we wish you the best in eating well! Thank you again for supporting local agriculture!

Eat well,

Geneviève & Glenn Stillman   ~and the Stillman’s Farm crew

Two more weeks of CSA extension option!

Why not keep things rolling until Still Life Farm winter CSA begins!!! Add two more weeks to your 16!! (we are on week 13 this week) We are offering an extension to current CSA members of an additional two weeks for $70. That way you will have your winter squash, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, late season apples cabbage, and other fall crops. It’s simple, just complete your purchase for 2 more weeks and we will keep you on your existing list. These two weeks will blend seamlessly filling the gap between our Summer CSA and Still Life Farm’s Winter CSA.

Discounts will be applied to Stillman’s Farm “store credit” (think electronic Stillman’s Bucks!) for you to use at anywhere you can find us and for any product we sell (yes, for honey, sauce, pickles, plants, etc)

Here are the bundle options (please note– you must purchase bundled options at SAME TIME to qualify for bundle discount):

  • 2 week CSA extension + Summer CSA 2023 for $620 $550 ($70 2 week extension is FREE!)
  • 2 week CSA extension + Spring CSA for $490 ($30 bottle of Oleatrees olive oil, honey or maple syrup FREE and 7% discount off 2 week extension)
  • 2 week CSA extension + Spring CSA + Summer CSA 2023 for $1045 $975 (Includes 2 week extension FREE! $30 bottle of Oleatrees olive oil, honey or maple syrup FREE)

Not feeling the 2 week extension?

  • Spring CSA + Summer CSA 2023 for $975 (Includes $30 bottle of Oleatrees olive oil,  Stillman’s farm honey or Grend Maple syrup FREE and $60 store credit)

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

Woot!

Don’t want any more CSA bags this year and not ready to sign up for next year? No worries! We will still be offering our large discount (in the form of store credit) to returning members through November. The early sign up discount offer will go out to members later in October. Also, you can always sign up for Still Life farm Winter CSA or Stillman Quality Meats meat bucks whenever. The 2 week extension special bundle offers expire October 1st (but check in if it is the day before your last pickup :))

All the bundles are listed at the bottom and this year you can order your perfect bundle in one fell swoop 🙂

OH! I almost forgot, PayPal offers a pay later or pay in 4-6 installments option, without interest, which sounds pretty nifty.

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