Spring CSA

Week Six of the Spring CSA will include a mix of the following: Spinach, Winterbor Kale, Lettuce, Russet Potatoes, Onions, Beets, Cortland and Mutsu Apples, Fresh Cut Herbs (Dill, Cilantro, Basil, Mint, or Thyme) .  Please note that the weekly photo is not an exact depiction of what is in your share, but rather a reference image.

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.

Weekly Featured Item: Beets

Beets are one of those delicious root veggies that are good at both the beginning and end of the season, and when stored they just get sweeter.  They have a sweet earthy flavor, and are best roasted or baked (in my opinion).  Bake beets in a covered roasting pan with 1/2 cup water at 400oF.  They are done when easily pierced with a sharp knife and the skins slides off.

Partners for Beets: basil, cilantro, cumin, curry, dill, fennel, ginger, horseradish, citrus, mustard, vinegar, apples, shallots, walnuts, yogurt.

Kale, Beet, and Farro Salad

1 cup cooked farro

1 bunch wilted kale, chopped and cooked down with a bit of garlic

1 pound roasted beets, cubed

1 Tablespoon minced shallots

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 teaspoon dried thyme

S&P

3 Tablespoons EVOO

3 Tablespoons lemon juice

Roast beets at 400oF until fork tender and skins slip off, cool, cut into cubes, and set aside. Cook farro with chicken stock for 50 minutes (until it looses its crunch).  Drain and set aside in same bowl as beets.  Wilt down chopped kale with just a touch of garlic and S&P.  Set aside in the same bowl as the beets and farro.  Mix together your dressing.  Combine Dijon, minced shallot, thyme, S&P, whisk together with EVOO and lemon juice.  Taste and adjust if necessary.  Toss dressing together with farro, beets, and kale!  Sometimes I add a bit of Parmesan or Feta cheese, depending on my mood.  Enjoy!

 

#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!

The Week Five winner of our #cookingwithstillmans challenge goes to @carolemitnick, for turning her Spring CSA ingredients into sausage, escarole, and potato stew AND shiitake, onion, and Manchego pizza!  She’ll be receiving a little extra farm prize this week at CSA pick-up!  🙂

Farm Dirt

Stillman’s Farm.  Field prep continues at the New Braintree farm.  Glenn and Merrick have spent a lot of time plowing and harrowing, and are just about to start making beds and laying plastic so we can get those early crops into the ground!  The greenhouses are bursting at the seams and we have to make some space to keep on seeding schedule.  Four Sand Hill Cranes were spotted in the corn fields just past the farm.  This is very far northeast for their range, so it’s exciting to catch a glimpse of them up here.  There has been one pair hanging around our area for the last few years, seems like they have convinced another couple to join them this year!

Still Life Farm.  Work continues on the new wash/pack/storage barn.  The scale of this project seems to be dwarfing the rest of the farm!  Yesterday Petersham Pump came and dug us a 460′ well, so we now have water on the other half of our farm! Brown’s Excavation continues to move dirt for our new foundation, they have dug up a couple of enormous boulders…they don’t call it Hardwick for nothing.  Tomorrow will bring the start of foundation work.  In the meantime, Curt and I got all the cherry tomatoes transplanted from their germination plugs to their grow pots, they will soon be transplanted into our largest greenhouse where they will thrive until late fall.  We have also been pruning like crazy.

Eat well & love your food,

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