Month: June 2014

The forth arrives on friday this week and will will be open for pick-up at the farm. Our guess is that most of you will be grilling, boating and not coming to the farm so we are harvesting heavily in anticipation of a busier than usual Tuesday pick-up. As we crest into July there are many new things almost ready for your table. Peas are flowering heavily and we expect that we may be able to open them next week. Carrots and our second round of broccoli are looking great and should be coming in the next week or two. Large and cherry tomatoes are having a great year to date and we hope to get all of you picking cherries by the middle of July and have our first round of beefsteaks by August. Many of these long season crops are coming early which is odd knowing what cool spring we have had. 

What’s More Patriotic Than…Cabbage?

Cole slaw is the perfect balance to everything else we might be eating this holiday. Luckily we are giving you some great heads to work with…Take a look here for recipes to tackle this weeks’ (and last weeks’) cabbage and turn them into cool satisfaction to balance out the chips, burgers and ice cream.

What Else are We Doing on the Farm?

While planting, watering, weeding and harvesting vegetables takes up most of our time we have a few other irons in the fire this time of year as well.

• Maura is gearing up for the start of farm camp next week and we will have 20+ kids running the place; feeding livestock, harvesting carrots and just soaking up the farm everyday.
• We have also been cutting winter forage for sheep and cows the past few weeks and have baled and wrapped about 120,000 lbs of hay and silage and 5000 lbs. of straw from about 44 acres. This first cut is our biggest of the year and we be followed by a second cut in late august/early september that will yield about half the volume but with higher quality. All of this forage (except the straw) will be fed to animals over the winter months who will convert most of it into manure that we then use to feed the vegetable crops next year.
• We have some new help on the farm with the addition of a new sheepdog pup named Wynn. She is just 12 weeks old and I can’t really say she is helpful except for keeping us laughing and talking in high voices a lll the time. In the fall when she is 5-6 months old we will introduce her to our flock and then her work will begin. Our older dog Nell is great with her and has been very tolerant of this new addition to our family pack.

What’s in the Share this Week…

Cabbage

Kohlrabi

Lettuce

Chickories

Kale

Chard

Salad Turnips

Arugula

 

With solstice just passing this week the farm steps over an annual milestone in the march through the summer. The longest day of the year is the official start to everyone’s favorite season, the three months we all wait so patiently for, the three months that recharge us for what’s coming. These first few weeks of summer (and the few just preceding it) are the real golden time for growing things. The light is plentiful, the soil has just reached optimum temp and the rain comes.

Long days make everything possible here if you are a plant (or trying to grow one). Maine, while not the most northerly point in the lower 48, does have a great advantage over most of the country when the world tilts each year. Fifteen and a half hours for a plant to photosynthesize will give a vastly different result over say late September when we are under twelve. The ability of our crops to gather light and turn it into growth is matched by our soils (finally) warming up to their potential. Ample sunlight means nothing unless there are nutrients available for our crops to gather. In an organic system we rely heavily on the soil to provide what our plants need to grow and these nutrients only become redily available when the ground temperature rises above 60 degrees. This temp energizes the living fraction of the soil which then works to make the mineral and nutrient fractions available for plants to use. Combine active plants with available nutrients and all you need is water. This time of year we almost always have a regular supply of rainfall. If we could have one inch per week every Sunday (farmers try not work one day if we can) that would be great but we are generally happy with the push and pull between dry and wet each June.

Fed Up -The Movie

If you are trying to eat well for your health and the health of your family, go see this film. It details the uphill battle we all have trying to be healthy while most of the food industry that wants us to eat more and more of their processed sugar laden products and cook less and less. Michael Pollan, Mark Bittman, Bill Clinton and many others add their voices to this film by Katie Couric and a team of journalists. Showtimes this week in Brunswick at Frontier Cinema and next week in Rockland at the Strand. Here’s a link to the film website and trailer.

What’s in the Share this Week?

Beets

Kale

Lettuce

Scallions

Cabbage

Asian Greens

Kohlrabi

Strawberries

 

 

As we move into our third week of harvest we thought everyone, old members and new, might like a rundown of the most popular questions we are hearing about the farm.

Is the farm certified organic?

Our vegetables, lamb, and pastures are all certified organic by the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association. This means we submit a 40-60 page plan each year that includes every detail of how we produce crops. This plan includes everything we use for fertilizer (fish meal, fish emulsion, and brewery grain), how we wash our greens (twice in stainless steel tanks with annually tested well water), how many bales of forage we produce on a acres each year (12-16), etc. MOFGA then comes once a year spends half a day “inspecting” us; looking at records, walking the fields and asking questions about the details we submitted in our plan. The cost of certification, in addition to time is about $1200 per year. Our pigs are not certified  organic because we feed them a ration that is made up largely of spent grain from Maine Beer Company in Freeport (great beer!) and the grains they brew with are not organic (even though  they are very high quality).

Do you wash the greens?

Yes! Twice as a matter of fact. We have two 350 gallon stainless steel tanks where we dunk and re-dunk the leafy greens. These tanks are deep and enable us to roll the leaves over a few times allowing the grit from the field to settle away from the crop. While in the tanks we also inspect for quality, pulling bad leaves and weeds from the mix. Just because we wash the greens doesn’t mean you should not. It never hurts to wash them when you get home and the cold water from your tap will help them cool off after warming up on the trip from the farm to your kitchen.

What do I do with all these greens?!

1. Salads is an obvious one of course – but we also like to stress making your salad into more of a meal by adding other veggies, nuts, chicken, legumes, or other proteins.   Experiment with dressings – this makes the salad way more exciting!   Play with ingredients like miso, tahini, tamari, lemon juice, or toasted sesame oil to make salads a great treat!
2. Stir fries and sautés.  Butter, olive oil, garlic.  Sometimes if I want my greens a bit more tender, after a few minutes of cooking in a skillet with the garlic & onions I’ll add a tablespoon or two of water and cover until the water is absorbed.
3. Is pesto a favorite?  Lightly steam your chard or kale, and throw it in the blender or food processor with garlic, onions, basil, or other herbs, toss it on pasta or pizza with oil or butter, and cheese.
4. Bacon.  Hard to go wrong with bacon.  Cook the bacon in a pan, and then add the greens.  Watch out – the kids might argue over who gets the last bite!
5. Spanikopita. Many cookbooks or of course the internet will have the recipe.  We’ve been making variations on this for years.  I use kale, chard, or spinach I use whatever cheese I might have, and I rarely use the filo dough due to time constraints.   Sometimes I’ll top it with bread crumbs, roasted sunflower seeds, or even crushed up tortilla chips.  We call it kale pie.  I like to steam the greens and then puree them in the food processor.  And lots of basil.  Another favorite of kids.
6. Smoothies!!  See link below!  Green smoothies are all the rage these days.  If you’re not doing it already, then get on the trend! Throw your greens in the blender along with fruit, juice, and you’ll be powered up for the day!
7. Facebook?  We have not been very active on our facebook page – but I have to admit it is a great way to share recipes.  We will put some recipes on there – so I encourage you to “like” us if you are so inclined, and to share recipes with each other – especially since we are all working with the same ingredients from week to week! https://www.facebook.com/crystalspringcommunityfarm

 

Can I get any tips from professional food writers who are also members of your CSA?

Absolutely!!

Local writer and editor Liz Pierson and her family have been CSA members with us since day one.  Liz and her husband Jan have been inspiring us for years sharing anecdotes from their kitchen – an interesting Indian spice or super simple tomato sauce.  Liz recently posted a delicious recipe for creamy spinach and mushroom enchiladas on her daughter’s blog: http://www.diaryofalocavore.com/2014/06/creamy-spinach-mushroom-enchiladas-liz.html

Try it out & let us know what you think.  We will continue to look to Liz and her daughters for more great ways to cook with what is in season.

Another CSA member, Laura McCandlish recently wrote a column in the Portland Press Herald about the pleasures of CSA and using greens in smoothies!   Kid friendly as well.  Perfect timing!    http://www.pressherald.com/2014/05/31/the-farm-to-table-family-when-csas-give-you-greens-make-smoothies/

We will keep you posted with more of their great ideas as they come in!

What is the Upic field and when does it start?

The Upic is a 3/4 acre field where we grow crops that we think are fun to harvest. Each season you will find peas, beans, cherry tomatoes, herbs and flowers all available for you to pick each week. We expect our first crop that will allow us to open the field will be peas which we hope will be ready the first week of July. Once we open the field you are welcome to come pick once a week on Tuesday, Friday or Sunday dawn to dusk. The crops we grow here are meant to compliment the others we offer each week in your share.  We will let you know when the crops are ready for you to harvest and we’ll give relevant guidelines then as well.

Do you (Seth and Maura) own the farm?

Maura and I have run the farm as our family business for the past 11 seasons.  We have a long-term on lease 115 acres of the farm’s 320 acres from the Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust who saved it from development more than 25 years ago. The land trust runs the Saturday farmers market and cares for the farm’s trails along with many other important properties in the area.  More info on the work of the trust and how to support their efforts can be found on their website www.btlt.org.

Why operate the farm as a CSA as opposed to going to farmer’s markets or selling to restaurants?

Many years ago we were lucky to have worked on a several CSA farms in California and Massachusetts and found their connection to the communities they were a part of to be unique.  Inviting folks onto the farm each week of the season provides the potential for a relationship between growers and eaters that can’t be found anywhere else. Each week you are learning about what you are eating by coming straight to the source and talking to the people who grew the food for you.  As farmers we know every week that you are looking forward to picking up the harvest; we cannot hide from you – we have a commitment to present you with beautiful, delicious, quality food.  We in turn, are grateful for your appreciation and excitement about eating and cooking the fruits of our labor, it keeps us charged from week to week.  We also get to learn from all of you what is important about your food and your experience when you come each week.  We consider it to be a great partnership and obviously we can’t do it without you – thank you!

How do you deal with the crazy weather?

In short, we don’t.  If we have done our job we have handled all the variables within our control (planting by the calendar, protecting crops with row cover, irrigating when it’s dry etc.). Plants are very resilient and many of our crops we plant in succession ensuring another harvest in a week or two if one planting is lost. We also use different varieties that withstand one weather variable better than the next so if we lose the red onions we have yellow onions planted nearby that will deal with the changes differently and do well. When the weather makes wild changes we try to react as best we can and then hope all of our crops are healthy and can withstand mother nature’s swinging pendulum.

What’s in the share…

Lettuce Mix

Arugula

Chard

Kale

Spinach

Baby Bok Choi

Beets

Cabbage

Kohlrabi

 

 

Great first week….

Hope all of you enjoyed your first share this past week. The greens will keep coming and we have a few other great things on the horizon like beets, kohlrabi and scallions.  Please let us know if you need tips for using your greens in the kitchen.  Next week we’ll send out some favorite and easy recipes for greens!

How do we get your share to you each harvest day?

The night before harvest day, we stack empty barrels high on our flat bed trucks, and sharpen the knives.  The trucks are ready to head down to the field.   In the morning, our seven person crew piles in the trucks one by one and we’re rolling at 6:00 am.  Even on the warmest days our coastal farm is cool this time of day. We usually start with greens, lush and crisp with evening moisture.  Cutting spinach, kale, lettuce, and asian greens into barrels pulled along rows we harvest quickly and load up the trucks with 70, 80 and 90 pound totals of each crop.  If we are fast and the weather cooperates we can get these first tender crops into the barn and start washing before they are warmed by the sun.  We double wash the greens in water tanks, spin excess water out in our spinner, and place on the scale.  One person is in charge of keeping track of total numbers of pounds for each crop.  Finally we stack the bins onto our awesome cargo bikes and head into the cooler, ensuring the produce will chill quickly and keep well in your fridge.  On an average harvest day we will cut 300-400 pounds of just greens.  As we add in root crops, fruiting crops (squash, peppers, tomatoes) and heavier leaves (cabbage, broccoli, etc.) things really get busy and we make several trips between the fields and the washing barn each Tuesday and Friday.   The 2:00 deadline can certainly come fast some days, and feels well worth it when you arrive!

Egg Shares Start next week…still time

We have another week before the egg share begins so there is still time to add eggs to your pick-up each week.  Shares are $110 and run next week through the last week in October.  You can sign up online by clicking the link on our home page.   We will also have eggs for sale this week and every week at CSA pick up.

Mushroom Shares

What could be better that fresh local mushrooms along with your share this summer?   Portobellos, oysters, morels and many more varieties, cultivated and foraged make up your share each week. The share is $207 and runs for 18 weeks starting next week.   For more information on the producer, see their website http://www.oystercreekmushroom.com  To sign up, see the link on our homepage.

Upic Rising

Peas, beans and flowers are thriving in the upic field and we hope to be able to let all of you loose out there around the first week of July. Look to the newsletter from more updates…

Pigs are in their element

Our dozen pigs went onto pasture this week and have already started conditioning what will be next year’s Upic field expansion. Experts at excavation and perennial weed removal these guys are serious workers. Come by and watch their work ethic next time you’re at the farm.

Email list

Please make sure everyone who is part of your family/CSA share is receiving our emails. This is our primary mode of getting info about the CSA to all of you. We are happy to add whomever you would like and they always have the option to unsubscribe…

What’s in the Share this week…

Spinach

Lettuce Mix

Kale

Chard

Arugula

Asian Greens

Broccoli

Kohlrabi

Welcome to the 2014 Season!

Its been a slow but steady kind of spring this year. The farm apprentices started out on March 31 and we had 2 week sod cold and even a bit of snow and we waited to get into the fields. The days have been warming gradually and have allowed us to have some pretty nice greens and radishes that can sometime bolt this imd of year due to hot days and frosty night -neither of which we have seen since May began. All of us on the farm excited to begin harvesting these plants we have been caring for these past couple months.

We will start harvest this week and you can begin your summer of fresh organic produce this Tuesday or Friday. Here’s the nuts and bolts you need to know…

• Pick up on Tuesday or Friday from 2-7pm.
• Please bring bags for your produce. A few bags to separate different items works best. We will have bags here if you arrive without…
• We will have a spreadsheet for those of you unsure of your balance.
• In addition to produce we will have cheese, gelato, lamb and maple syrup for sale.

What’s in the share…

We expect glorious greens to dominate the share these first few weeks of June. Coming along quickly are our scallions, beets, broccoli, napa cabbage and strawberries. Soon we will be picking peas and cherry tomatoes in the upic field.

Organic Egg Shares

There is still time to sign up for an egg share! Fresh organic eggs from pastured hens raised by Sparrow Farm in Pittston Maine. The share starts June 16th and runs until October 27th (20 weeks) for $110. Your share guarantees you a dozen eggs when you come each week(big family? buy 2 shares). If you buy organic eggs regularly you know this is a great price for deep orange yolks and white that stand tall and proud. Click here or look for the button on our home page to sign up.

Fish Shares still available

If you have been on the fence about buying a fish share this is the last chance. We are close to having enough members but if we don’t get a few more by Tuesday we will not be able to host this share this year. Check out this awesome selection of ground ands shellfish all coming out of the Gulf of Maine. Here’s the link to the salt and sea website.

Mushroom share

Miane raised and gathered mushrooms for 18 weeks starting next week. Morels, black trumpets, hen of the woods and oysters are just a few of the varieties Oyster creek mushroom will deliver. The price is $207 for 18 weeks. The share begins next week so don’t delay. Here’s the link or find the button on our website.

 Cows?

Some of you who travel our road may have noticed a group of 11 cows in the pasture where we usually have ewes for the summer. These are heifers (young females that have not had calves) that we are grazing for a farmer friend from New Hampshire who is moving (himself and his animals) to Maine this summer. Its been great getting to know a new group of animals. Walking amongst these gentle giants is really satisfying as they work their way though our green landscape.