CSA Week 16, last week for everyone except Tuesday…and the 2 week extension peeps 😉
Look out for Delicata or Honeynut winter squash, Dinosaur/Lacinato kale, kohlrabi, Asian greens, apples, onions, peppers, hots,
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.
This is week 16, the last regular season pick up for everyone except for Tuesday peeps. The last pick ups of the regular CSA season are:
Friday, your last day will be September 29.
Saturday, your last day will be September 30.
Sunday, your last day will be October 1.
Monday, your last day will be October 2.
Tuesday, your last day will be October 10.
Wednesday, your last day will be October 4.
Thursday, your last day will be October 5.
Yes! Sign up for the 2 week extension – the 2 Week option, as well as all the bundles are listed at the bottom. HERE
Lexington and Billerica shoppers: These markets will close at 6:00 for the rest of the season.
Recipes
Squash Tian
- 1 or 2 peeled and seeded butternut squash (about 3-4 lbs.)
- 1/4 cup or less flour
- 6 or more finely minced garlic cloves
- 1 Tbs. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried)
- 2-3 Tbs. grated parmesan cheese
- 1/3 cup olive oil
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions: Cut the squash into 1” cubes and put in a sieve or colander over the sink. Toss first with the flour, then the garlic, thyme, S&P and half the cheese. Oil a casserole or Pyrex dish and add the squash, dribble the rest of the oil over it and top w the rest of the cheese.
Bake uncovered in a 325 F oven for 2-2 1/2 hours or until the squash chunks are soft and the top is brown.
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 ( or 1 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. 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.
Kale and Cannellini Bean Soup with Chorizo
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for the bruschetta
6 to 8 cloves garlic, thinly sliced, plus 1 or 2 more whole cloves
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 (15-ounce) cans cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
2 quarts chicken stock, water, or a combination
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 large bunch kale, large ribs removed, chopped
8 oz Stillman’s Chorizo
1 baguette
Heat oil in a large pot. Add garlic and oregano and cook no more than a minute. Add tomato paste and vinegar, and cook another minute. Add beans and stock and bring to a simmer. Season with salt and pepper. Add kale and simmer, partially covered, for 1 hour. Season, to taste, again with salt and pepper before serving.
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 or daikon 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 and it is still yummy. 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.
Kale Pesto
1/4 cup chopped walnuts 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided 1/2 pound kale, coarsely chopped (stems too!)
2 cloves garlic, minced (~ 1 tsp) 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan freshly ground black pepper
- Toast the chopped walnuts in a dry, heavy skillet (preferably cast iron) over high heat, stirring constantly, until they start to brown in spots and become fragrant. (Be careful not to over toast them, as they will burn very quickly once they are toasted.) Immediately transfer the walnuts to a dish to cool.
- Bring two quarts of water to a boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt then add the kale. Cook kale until tender, about 10 minutes. Drain.
- Put the garlic, walnuts, and kale in a blender or food processor; pulse until well combined. With the blender or food processor running, pour in the olive oil in a steady, smooth, pencil-thin stream. 4. When the ingredients are thoroughly combined, transfer to a bowl. Stir in the Parmesan, remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper. Serve hot. (If you are going to freeze, add the Parmesan later when you are ready to eat the Pesto.)
Farm Dirt
Hey there! Don’t just wait for gleaning – head out to the farm and get a pumpkin for the kid (even if that kid is you ;)), pick up some apples for sauce, collect some gourds…
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. It has become a favorite Stillman’s CSA tradition to invite 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.
Stay tuned for gleaning!
Well, one think is for sure, the amphibians of the farm loved all the rain and pools of water all over the farm!
The winter squash harvest is on and soon it will be sanitized and packed away in storage. I am still waiting to see how the potato harvest goes, but so far, what I am seeing is high quality, large taters, so we can hope there will be enough to sustain the farm needs through the winter and spring. The Brussels are still slow to come (yes, 2 week extension should see them) and even the cabbage is slow so as you may recall me writing, we could not get a lot of things planted, and some things that did get in, were delayed or late or both. As always, and especially this year, we get greedy about good weather, hoping those late plantings will mature. 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. This year we have been constructing insulated, passive cold storage for potatoes, onions and cabbages…it’s time for insulation this week.
What happened to the summer? Was it handwringing over the rain and weather? I can’t believe I am writing the last CSA letter of the season. (I may not write a letter for the 2 week extension) I do try very hard to use the weekly letter to educate about what is in your bag/box, info abut how it’s grown and why it is good for you. I was just listening to a doctor explaining how industrial agricultural produce does not have the same concentrations of vitamins and minerals in it and encouraged his patients to shop farmers markets and eat locally. That is true, we’ve said it before 🙂 Look how great you are doing!
We start planning for the next summer CSA season NOW. it is a little gross that we have not even finished our work for this season and have to look ahead to next year already. Not complaining, just observing. Glenn just placed the bulk of the potato order and I will order the extra special seed potatoes (fingerlings, purple…) ordered next month. Next June’s CSA strawberries still need to be mulched. The vegetable seed order needs to be finalized and placed in deep winter and we will seed your first tomatoes in February. I file the paperwork and pay travel fees for the first group of workers from Jamaica mid-December, as it must happen 75 days before our date of need. We spend a lot of time brainstorming 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.
I did receive some unhappy feedback from a very long time member, mostly related to switching our Framingham, in person delivery/pickup location. We have had to make some tough choices in order to make the most of our labor expenses. While I had hoped offering the extended time frame for pickup would be a welcome substitution for not seeing one of us in person, it sounds like it is not ideal for everyone. It did save us about 60 person hours that we were able to reallocate to other farm jobs. Speaking of labor, our payroll expenses are running about $60,000 over last year, almost exclusively due to mandatory wage increases (minimum wage, prevailing wage, and then all the associated payroll taxes, workers comp, etc). We had anticipated this and we knew we would have to make a lot of small changes to crack that nut; one such change was making CSA locations as efficient as possible. Every bit helps.
What would be helpful for us is to hear what is/isn’t working but with added suggestions and or solutions – our membership is full of highly skilled, intelligent people that I know have great ideas for our CSA from varieties, to deliveries, to locations, and stuff I probably have not thought of 😉
Thank you to all who have sent supportive emails about what you have liked and loved about the CSA.
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 (Tue & Fri) and JP (Tue & 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 hours at the New Braintree farm to accommodate everyone out this way, including online ordering for NB pick up in the winter… 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.
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 15 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.
We are sorry, but we are unable to offer the 2 week extension to UMass. Thank you so much for joining us this year!
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)
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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 2024 for
$620$550 ($70 -2 week extension is FREE!) - 2 week CSA extension + Spring CSA for $490 (2 lb ($33) jar of Stillman’s Farm honey FREE at first pick up and 7% discount off 2 week extension)
- 2 week CSA extension + Spring CSA + Summer CSA 2024 for
$1045$975 (Includes 2 week extension FREE! 2 lb ($33) jar of Stillman’s Farm honey at first pick up FREE)
Not feeling the 2 week extension?
- Spring CSA + Summer CSA 2023 for $975 (Includes 2 lb ($33) jar of Stillman’s Farm honey at first pick up FREE and $60 store credit)
Just interested in the Winter CSA for now? Sign up here
- 2 week CSA extension + Summer CSA 2024 for
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.
All the bundles are listed at the bottom and this year -you can order your perfect bundle in one fell swoop 
