Spring CSA

Spring CSA Bag Two is headed to you!

In classic New England fashion, March decided to dump a bunch of snow on all of us, just when we thought spring was arriving…. hopefully we are back on track now, and that was the final snowstorm of the year (fingers crossed).

This week’s bag should include the following: Swiss chard, Spinach, Bok Choi, Cortland apples, Onions, Gold Potatoes, Parsnips OR Beets, Tetsukabuto Winter Squash, Daikon Radish Slaw, Garlic OR Shallots, and Popcorn.  If you are eating with us for Spring CSA, you are really getting to the nitty-gritty of farm food and seasonal eating.  Eating local and seasonal during the early spring means lots of overwintered roots, apples, and squashes.  We have the additional luxury of greens coming out of our high tunnels and greenhouses, to be cherished!

Correct storage of the items in your CSA share is the key to successfully eating seasonally.  Here is a Storage Cheat Sheet that I hand out with Winter CSA that also applies to Spring CSA.  Check it out if you need storage tips.

This weekly letter will be coming to your inbox the day before your pickup and is also available at stillmansfarm.com/blog and stilllifefarm.wordpress.com.  

We will see you in TWO WEEKS for your next bounty of Spring bag. The schedule is also on our website calendar.

Saturdays:

March 4, March 18, April 1, April 15, April 29, May 13, May 27
Jamaica Plain, 12-3pm

Sundays:

March 5, March 19, April 2, April 16, April 30, May 14, May 28
Lunenburg, 12-1pm

Thursdays:

March 9, March 23, April 6, April 20, May 4, May 18, June 1
Boston (Boston Public Market) 12-6pm
Brookline (Beals Street) 1-6pm
Watertown (City Hall) 12:30-1pm
Natick (Princeton Rd) 1:30-6pm
Worcester (Deadhorse Hill Restaurant) 5-9pm
Hardwick (Still Life Farm) 4-6pm
New Braintree (Stillman’s Farm) 12-6pm

Parsnips!

This week’s featured item is the parsnip.

Now, honestly, I know that many love the parsnip, but it’s really not my favorite…give me a carrot any day.  But it does have its place in a great many wonderful winter and spring dishes.  My Vegetable Illustrated cookbook claims that parsnips are “simultaneously sweeter and earthier than carrots, with more complex and subtle floral notes but they are just as versatile in the kitchen.”

The only preparation a parsnip needs is maybe a quick peel and to core out the tough inner center.  Then they are wonderful roasted and thrown on a hearty winter salad, in stews, boiled with butter…or, try something new with this recipe for Parsnip Hummus.

Parsnip Hummus, from Vegetables Illustrated

• 1 pound parsnip, peeled, cut into 1-inch lengths
• 1/4 cup tahini
• 3 T EVOO
• 3/4 cup water
• 2 T lemon juice
• S&P
• 1 garlic minced
• 1 t paprika
• 1/2 t coriander
• 1/4 t cumin
• 1/4 t chipotle chili powder
• 1 T toasted sesame seeds

Microwave parsnips in covered bowl until tender, about 10 minutes.  Combine tahini and oil in a small bowl.  Process parsnips, water, lemon juice, 3/4 t salt, garlic, paprika, coriander, cumin, and chili powder in food processor until completely smooth, about 1 minute, scraping down sides of bowl as needed.  With processor running, add tahini mixture in a steady stream and process until hummus is smooth and creamy, about 15 seconds.  Season with S&P.  Transfer hummus to serving bowl, cover and let rest for 30 minutes to allow flavors to mingle. Drizzle with extra EVOO and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Serve.

Notes on a few other items in your share.

Tetsukabuto winter squash is a Japanese squash who’s name literally translates to “Iron Helmet”. It’s a wonderful late storage crop and easily carries into the spring.  You can cook it any way you would traditionally use winter squash.

Locally grown popcorn is exactly the same as the popcorn you would buy in the grocery.  Except, we grew it this past season at Still Life Farm, and you need to remove it from the cob before cooking.  Then you can cook it “old school” in a hot pan with oil, in the popcorn maker, or in a paper bag ends loosely rolled in the microwave on the popcorn setting.

Garlic.  It’s getting to be the end of garlic season.  To increase shelf life at this point, store it in the fridge and use it as you need it.

Radish Slaw – use it first. It is wetter than the cabbage slaw and doesn’t keep as well…we were all pleasantly surprised to use red cabbage slaw from week 1 just yesterday, it was perfect! Just whip up the below ingredients in a large enough, lidded container to hold the slaw, then dump in the bag’s contents, cover and shake it up.

Genevieve’s go to Slaw Dressing

Simple, simple, simple: To 1/3 cup cider vinegar add 1/2 tsp kosher salt (sea salt would be good too), a bunch of black pepper, a fat TB of Dijon or spicy brown mustard, 1/2 tsp celery seed; slowly whisk in 1/2 cup oil (something light, I use canola or safflower), Toss over anything shredded: kohlrabi, radish, cabbage, carrot, apple…

Farm Dirt:

Despite the late season snowstorm, work on the farms continues to move in the direction of spring.

Stillman’s Farm.  Seeding is in full swing.  Glenn has been working away all week, seeding over 1,000 trays of tomatoes, eggplants, and peppers.  Reid and Kirsten were able to get the extensive heirloom tomato collection organized and seeded.  Annual flower baskets (including those reserved for Reid and Kirsten’s upcoming wedding!!!) have been designed and planted.  The first group of H2A Jamaican labor has returned from their winter at home.  I don’t think they were too pleased about this past snowstorm.  Merrick, Ali, and Melbourne have been busting through farm projects, including getting the flat-filler back into operational status (a machine that automatically puts soil into the seeding flats, saving lots of labor hours).

If you are planning your gardens, we have lots in store for you later this Spring. I have the tomatoes updated online and will get to the peppers and eggplants next week. I will also try to update the actual lists of flowers, herbs, and other veggie transplants we will have available.

Still Life Farm.  We wrapped up our final Wayland winter market last week and it was a huge success.  Curt and I have been delighted to see many CSA members faces popping up at winter markets this past season!  We’re trying to stay on top of our spring seeding schedule, and so far have seeded all the alliums, celery, hearty herbs, cherry tomatoes, zucchini and summer squash, and a few other items.  A couple days ago the farm team transplanted a fresh batch of mesclun salad greens into the high tunnel.  Halley finished applying for the 2023 Infrastructure Grant.  If SLF is awarded, we intend to put up another high tunnel for more winter greens production and install a stand-alone generator as backup power for our winter (and spring) vegetable storage.  Fingers crossed…

Eat well & love your food,

Halley Stillman (Still Life Farm) & Genevieve Stillman (Stillman’s Farm)