Falling Forward

Another summer comes to a close and a light frost comes in on cue, even after a couple of blistering days last week. Expect it when you least expect it… Look for great greens in the weeks ahead as we move into our last month of harvests.

We have the last of our tomatoes this week and they are green. Those with some southern roots will look at this with excitement.  True New Englanders – get ready for a taste sensation!  Fried green or pickled tomatoes are a great way to send off this stellar tomato year. Click here for a couple starter recipes. To keep the southern theme going we also have the first installment of our sweet potato crop, fresh from the 85 degree curing room. They are sweet and nutty. Lots of great ways to enjoy these but 40 minutes at 400 degrees, salt and butter can’t be beat.screen-shot-2016-09-27-at-12-43-46-am

Time to Sign Up for Next Season!

It’s been an extraordinary season with some of the best crops of tomatoes, melon and squash we have seen in twenty years of farming. As we work through the unknowns that make up a successful farm season the one thing we can count on is all of you coming to the farm, happy to see what we have done. As  farmers we love knowing exactly where our food is going and sharing stories with you each week about your fantastic grilled veggie pizza, wowing your dinner guests, or the successes in figuring out how to get the kids to eat cabbage (roast it!) In turn, we hope that you value knowing and seeing where your food is grown and the weekly experience of just being here in this beautiful place.  Maura and I hope you will join us again for another year of great food and real community here at Crystal Spring Farm. Follow this link to sign up for the 2017 season.

Oysters come to Crystal Spring

oysters-half-shell-1For few weeks this fall we are offering a preordered oysters from our friend Lincoln Smith and Long Reach Oysters in Harpswell. These are native eastern oysters grown from seed over the past year on rafts off Great Island. We have sampled a few and they are briney with great flavor and good size. They will be delivered to the farm each Friday and ready for CSA pickup. Prices are 1/2 dozen for $9, a dozen for $16 and 3+ dozen for $15/per. Please send me an email order by the end of Tuesday for delivery on Friday. Here’s a link to Lincoln’s website.

What’s in the Share

Lettuce Mix

Asian Greens

Kale

Napa Cabbage

Chickories

Green Tomaotes

Sweet Potatoes

Watermelon

Radishes

Onions

What’s in Upic

Herbs and Flowers…both waning

 

Pickled Green Tomatoes

2-3 green tomatoes

about a tablespoon kosher salt

1 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons whole mustard seed

pinch of celery seed

1/2 teaspoon turmeric

1 yellow onion sliced

1 green and 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced

 

Slice tomatoes to about 1/2″ thick, removing stem and blossom ends and place evenly on a baking sheet. Sprinkle evenly with salt and refrigerate overnight. Drain in a colander for about an hour. Combine sugar, vinegar, mustard, celery seed and turmeric in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil. Add onions and simmer for about 5 minutes before adding tomatoes and peppers. Return to a boil and simmer for 5 minutes. Pour everything into a sterile mason jar and refrigerate for at least two weeks. Enjoy as you would a pickle along with your meal or as a stand alone snack…

Last Days of Summer

Its the last fews days of an exceptional summer.   Sometimes I speak of biblical plagues on the farm like unstoppable pests, unrelenting drought, etc.  This summer my references trended more toward the miracles. Like wine from water or feeding everyone with a few loaves and a couple fish, we have pulled an amazing amount of great flavor and quality from a hot dusty few months. Years like this (once we pass through them) make me believe again in the strength of the farm as an organism, resilient beyond a bad season. As the days shorten and we move into cooler days (and hopefully some rainfall) I look forward to giving the fields a rest, planting them with something other than hungry vegetables and dreaming up another season.

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How appropriate that we have winter squash and watermelon the same week of equinox? What could be better? This watermelon is one of my favorites. Peace is the variety and it is meant to be yellow (don’t worry).

Watermelon Radishimg_2807

This new addition to the farm lineup is a favorite. These big radishes and flavorful and beautiful. It’s hard not to take a photo before you enjoy them. Our favorite way right now is sliced thin with a splash of rice vinegar. We put them out anytime of day and the kids go nuts.

 

What’s in the Share

Lettuce

Fennel

Kale

Chard

Arugula

Chickories

Hot mustard

Gold Beets

Peppers

Watermelon

Watermelon Radishes

Bok Choi (big!)

Acorn squash

What’s in Upic

Butter beans (use like edamame)

Flowers

Herbs…

The transition to fall is here and we have the produce to prove it. After a rip snorter of a storm on Sunday the switch was thrown and here we are. The farm woke up to 39 degrees this Monday morning and I had to start my day finding the hoodie I have forgotten about since I put it down in the barn in May. (Just as a note, this is the kind of farm problem I love).

img_2786Enjoy the Sugar Dumpling squash in your share this week. It’s a favorite of ours and does well simply roasted in a 375 degree oven face down for  about and hour. I love to pull it out, bathe it in butter, salt and maybe a bit of brown sugar or maple syrup before eating the whole thing (skin too, it’s thin and tasty). Nothing says fall like a good excuse to turn on the oven and smell something lovely filling the house.

Greens are back too. Spinach is in abundance this week along with some of our more interesting asian greens, all topped off with spicy watermelon radishes (they as very red inside).

 

What’s in the Share

Spinach

Carrots

Radishes

Asian Greens

Cabbage

Winter Squash

Tomato

Leeks

What’s in Upic

Edamame

Cherry Toms (waning)

Flowers/Herbs

Busy…

September is the busiest month for us. Not because of the farm, or rather not only because of the farm. This month our kids go back to school and Maura goes back to her  counseling job at the middle school in Topsham. As luck would have it everyone began their school schedule today! Please find our produce list below and accept our apology for a very late newsletter…

 

What’s in the Share

Tomatoes

Cabbage

Fennel

Carrots

Garlic

Beets

Peppers

Cucumbers

Arugula

Kale

What’s in Upic

Flowers

Herbs

Cherry Toms

Edamame