The Week's Offerings
Spring CSA Bag 4 (weeks 7 & 8)
Bag Five contains the following local produce: Ramps, spinach, mesclun salad greens, spring radish, watermelon radish, hakurei salad turnip OR leeks, carrots, rainbow Swiss chard, pinto potato, Macoun apples…
Store any greens in your fridge, if they are not wrapped, definitely put them in a bag or something to retain moisture. We notice greens grown indoors are a lot “softer” and are very prone to wilting. The roots and apples should live in the fridge as well. Store the potatoes and (when you get) onions in a cool, dark place – I mean, the onions would be fine on your counter, but might sprout in the light this time of year 😉
You are part of a wonderful family collaboration between Stillman’s Farm (Glenn, Genevieve, Reid, Kirsten and sometimes Faith Stillman) and Still Life Farm (Curt, Halley and sometimes Kip Stillman), joining forces to bring you a most satisfying addition to our varied CSA offerings. Family Farm Force!
This weekly letter SHOULD 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.
Saturday
- March 1
- March 15
- March 29
- April 12
- April 26
- May 10
- May 24
Jamaica Plain 12-3PM
Bank Of America parking lot, 667 Centre St
Sunday
- March 2
- March 16
- March 30
- April 13
- April 27
- May 11
- May 25
Lunenburg 12-1PM
Stillman’s Farm,1410 Lancaster Ave
Thursday
- March 6
- March 20
- April 3
- April 17
- May 1
- May 15
- May 29
BPM 11-5PM,
Brookline Beals St 1-5PM,
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 12-6PM
Recipes
It’s Ramps time!
ometimes called Wild Leeks, Ramps are our native wild allium. They are related to garlic and onions and can be enjoyed in anything you wanted that flavor profile in. I think of them more like leeks because I love them sautéed in butter and served up with scrambled eggs. Simply trim off the roots, rinse carefully, and use the entire stem and leaf. Sautee whole or chop them up, it’s all good. Ramps are high in vitamins A and C. Our ramps have been sourced from a partner farm in the Connecticut Valley (that’s still in MA) that sustainably harvests these delightful alliums.
Wild Ramp and Swiss Chard Pesto from Domestic Dreamboat
With a rich, garlicky flavor and thick, spreadable texture, this Wild Ramp and Swiss Chard Pesto is a great springtime addition to all your favorite foods.
- ½ cup walnuts
- 4 ounces Swiss chard, washed
- 2 ounces wild ramps, cleaned, root ends trimmed
- ½ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- tap here
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
Toast walnuts in a small, dry skillet over medium heat until they are lightly browned and fragrant. Remove from heat and cool.
Coarsely chop the Swiss chard leaves and stems and the ramps. Add them both to the bowl of a food processor with the walnuts, Parmesan, salt, and pepper. Process until everything is finely chopped, about 10-15 seconds. Slowly stream in the olive oil until the mixture forms a thick paste, using a spatula to scrape down the sides of the bowl as needed.
Serve with pasta, as a sandwich spread, as a raw vegetable dip, or in any other way you think might be delicious. One of my favorite ways to eat it is spread on crusty toast with a fried egg on top. Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to a week, or freeze.
Farm Dirt
News for all CSA members: We are transitioning all of you to our new host Farmhand. That means the future Spring CSA reminders will becoming via Farmhand automated system. Alerts will come via text, and you will be able to login to your new account with them to see when your deliveries are, what CSA you are signed up for, renew your CSA and more. SLF has already made the transition, so it should be very easy to see what is going on. I am sure there will be some kind of WELCOME email once you are fully on board 🙂
Stillman’s Farm. The farm crew has knocked out field prep for those fields most accessible in the spring. Plowed, harrowed, planting mulch…little seedlings are out of the greenhouse and transplanted into the field. A protective layer of Remay row cover provides an additional barrier against the chilly spring weather and a little more warmth to speed growth. This year’s strawberries are uncovered from their straw winter bedding. The early potatoes were planted this week, and so much more!
We are having a container planting workshop here at the New Braintree farm Mother’s Day weekend Saturday, you can sign up here and we are having a fun day planned Saturday May 17th, celebrating planting your own food. There will be kids’ activities as well 🙂
We are still taking signups for Sumer CSA. I am not including a link here BECAUSE we are transitioning to a new host this weekend 🙂
- Centre Street Farmers Market in Jamaica Plain, Saturdays, year-round, 12noon-3pm, 677 Centre St, Boston, MA (BOA parking lot)
- On-site Farm Stand, Monday-Saturday, 10am-4pm, 1205 Barre Road (Rt. 67), New Braintree, MA
THE REALLY BIG NEWS IS Reid and Kirsten are expecting early September!!! So, yes, it’s okay to comment on her tummy 🙂
Still Life Farm. Spring projects are in full swing. Curt rents a wood chip spreader every year to mulch our many berry plants. Using this piece of equipment saves hundreds of man hours and make sure our berries stay weed free throughout the growing season. We busted through 15 truckloads of wood chips this spring – good thing the town was doing some tree clearing in our area. Pruning continues. Curt and Ethan have been working on pruning the rest of the cherry orchard. Just in time, they are beginning to burst into bloom! Fingers crossed for another good fruit year this year!
Winter CSA. Early enrollment for Winter CSA has begun! Eat healthy and local year-round with a Winter CSA subscription from Still Life Farm. As a thank you for signing up early for the Winter CSA, we are happy to offer you a discounted price – your early memberships are literally our seed money. To sign up, head to the link: https://www.gofarmhand.com/csa/still-life-farm/share?plan=890861b8-205e-4805-bf09-e32bd17cee6e and use code EARLYBIRD to receive our ‘thank you’ pricing.
Eat well & love your food,
Halley Stillman (Still Life Farm) & Genevieve Stillman (Stillman’s Farm)
