Spring CSA

Week Four of the Spring CSA bag will include a mix of the following: Mixed Variety Potatoes, Yellow Onions, Baking Apples, Greens (either Spinach, Lettuce, or Microgreens), Basil, and Five College Farms Tomatoes.  Please note that the weekly photo is not an exact depiction of what is in your share, but rather a reference image. This week there may be microgreens or pea shoots that we had been planning on for next week…but we cannot control everything all the time, LOL, so this week’s bag is more awesomeness than usual!

Typically we pride ourselves on not “buying in” produce, we are very proud to say that we grow everything we sell.  There are some exceptions to that rule, where we source excellent products that we do not grow ourselves from neighboring farms.  This week your tomatoes are from Five College Farms in Hadley, MA.  They have a year-round organic greenhouse tomato operation and can supply us with high-quality local tomatoes in the off season.  We thought that our members would appreciate getting some good, locally grown tomatoes for an added bit of pizazz in this week’s Spring CSA shares!

The 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.  Most of the letters will be composed by Halley Stillman, though Genevieve Stillman may jump in from time to time.

Lunenburg Members Take Note: Easter Sunday’s (April 4) CSA delivery will be rescheduled to the previous Saturday, April 3, 12-2pm.  If you have a conflict and cannot find a sub to pick up for you, please contact us.

Weekly Featured Item: Baking Apples

Some of our apple varieties overwinter better than others.  This week we will be handing out a bulk amount of the less crisp varieties for you to get creative with.  Make up a big batch of applesauce, take a chance on that pie or galette that you have been wanting to make but haven’t done yet, or simply roast your apples with cinnamon on a cookie sheet and put them under your oatmeal for breakfast…yum!!!  Let’s tap that creative baking side and really take advantage of  cooking seasonally during the “hunger gap” that is early spring in New England!

Check out Genevieve’s’ favorite apple crisp recipe:Fruit Crisp (scroll down)

Simple Applesauce

Applesauce is simple to make and it freezes beautifully too!

If you have a food mill, wash and quarter your apples (sometimes I cut out some of the core that has seeds in it because I imagine it makes the sauce bitter), proceed with the cooking and run through your mill after your sauce is done to rid it of the seeds and skin. If you don’t have a food mill, then go ahead and peel your apples and remove the core and anything you don’t want in your finished product.

Simply add enough water to your apples to prevent burning (very little) and they will start to juice themselves. Stir frequently until you are sure there is enough liquid to not scorch. If you would like your sauce spiced, add your cinnamon stick and cloves now so they can simmer with the potatoes. If you are not going the food mill route, then you can tie your spices in a bit of cheesecloth or sack. Cook with the lid on (low) once it is simmering and check back once and a while. It’s done once you have mush/sauce 😉

#cookingwithStillmans

Making an amazing dish with Stillman’s or Still Life Farms produce??? Take a picture and post it to your social media with the #cookingwithStillmans.  Every week a winner will be chosen at random and receive a fun farm prize!

Ever wonder how we price our CSA, and what factors go into CSA?

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is the backbone of both Stillman’s and Still Life Farms.  We deeply appreciate all our members, as your support really gives us the ability to own our small businesses and do what we love – GROW GOOD FOOD!

Ever wonder how we calculate the price of our various CSA programs? There’s a lot of calculating, and it is not exciting, but here’s the breakdown for inquiring minds (this is not an exhaustive list, but a sample:  CSA allows our members to eat as though they owned a farm, while not actually owning the farm.  We do all the hard work and our members reap the benefits.  When pricing CSA we have to take into consideration the following things: paying our labor a living wage, the price of gas, credit card fees, administration fees, packaging, storage, seasonal availability and cost of produce, profit, and more.  For 2021, our hourly H2A labor rate has increased a staggering $0.70/hour and the local labor got a $.75 increase.  Our Jamaican H2A labor on average makes about $22/hour, and it is very important to us as business owners to be able to pay our irreplaceable employees a living wage.  Since the beginning of the year, gas prices have jumped about $0.60/gallon.  We use gas or diesel to power our farm equipment as well as to make deliveries to our CSA members (when that delivery is to Boston we are talking about 4 hours round-trip in a big box truck).  Credit card fees are what they are, offering credit as a payment options provides flexibility that our customers appreciate.  A lot goes into the management and administration of CSA.  Someone must plan, grow, pack, and deliver all the food.  Someone must organize customers, answer queries, and write newsletters to communicate with and educate our members.  You might notice a difference in the perceived value of your shares between Winter, Spring, and Summer CSAs.  That has to do with the availability of food during the different seasons.  In the summer things are “easy”, meaning that food is prolific and picked directly from the field.  Oftentimes in the summer there is a “glut” of food (e.g. when you have tons of cucumbers or eggplant), instead of throwing out the extra food because it is “over the value” of the CSA share for the week, we hand it out…waste not, want not.  In the winter and spring we get into storage items.  Now most of the winter and spring produce was grown during the previous summer, but has to be stored throughout the cold months.  Typically farmers throw out 1/3 of their crop over long-term storage (because produce doesn’t just magically store forever after being picked).  In the winter and spring when greens are being harvested out of the greenhouse, they are very limited and at a premium.  During the winter and spring things are “hard”.  That’s just the reality of farming, and the reality of growing and eating local food in Massachusetts.

This past winter quite a bit of time was spent on our CSA “blood wall” (expenses), leading to our updated CSA pricing. CSA is mutually beneficial for both farm and customer.  We make a covenant with our CSA members at the beginning of the season, our members help the farm with expenses and in return we prioritize them and make sure they have access to health, local, safe food all year long. It’s the perfect synergy.

Eat well & love your food,

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