Author: Seth

Thank you, thank you, thank you. As the daylight of 2009 fades and I look back on the past season I am overwhelmed with gratitude towards everyone who has been a part of the CSA this past year. 2009 will go down in the history of his farm as the year all of you did the heavy lifting, supporting us through what was the worst farming year in living memory. I have been crunching harvest numbers the past week and can’t believe how extensive the loss was across so many crops. On average we were down 35 to 40% in our harvest numbers. The beating we took in the months of June and July was countered somewhat by average yields in August and September. But, there were a few crops that really did well over the many successions we planted. Some of the best performers were: broccoli 5655 lbs., carrots 7057 lbs. leeks 2166 lbs sweet peppers 2607 lbs. greens (all together) 5966 lbs. cucumbers 5858 lbs. winter squash 12952 lbs and watermelon 2750 lbs. Every year we have our bright points –most years just have more than this one did. Let us all hope that we have earned some karmic credit with mother-nature this year and the skies will shine brighter come the spring.

After the last CSA pick-up the farm crew and I spent a week cleaning up the farm, crunching numbers and making lists of things for me to do over the winter. In spite of all the tough breaks we had this summer we had a stellar crew. They were focused, mature, and just plain pleasant to spend the day with. If we can do half as well next year I’ll be quite happy. Here’s the report on their whereabouts…Douglas headed down to Vermont to work on a startup farm with some friends there, Kelsey is interviewing for next season with farms all over the Northeast and Kate and Bethany will be living here for the winter, trading room for shepherding and working odd jobs around the area (including babysitting -call us if you would like to get in contact with them).

Thanks for all of your surveys and the overwhelming positive comments about our work this difficult year. We take your comment to heart and try to reshape the CSA each season to reflect your needs as members. On the crops front there were many suggestions and we are working on how to tweek the field plan and take account of as many of your thoughts as possible. We heard many time that you would like more broccoli and were planning on adding a least two plantings (which would give us another months worth of harvests). Another suggestion we heard many times was the desire to know more about what is coming in your share for the week. In response, will post on the website each Monday the produce we’ll be harvesting for the week. There were also many requests for cooking demos and we have spoken to the chefs at El Camino, Wild Oats Bakery and Back Street Bistro about sharing their skills with fresh produce here on pick-up days next summer. We are also looking at expanded hours for CSA pick-up to allow all of you more flexibility with you share. More details about all of these changes and a preliminary event calendar with cooking demos, farm potlucks and other new fun stuff will be coming you way in the New Year.

If any of you are looking for a great event this weekend look no further than the MidCoast Hunger Prevention Program’s Annual Auction. MCHPP is a vital organization that serves over 26,000 meals each year and provides food through its pantry for more that 2500 local folks. The auction is a stellar event with lost of great music related items (signed guitars, concert posters, etc. as well as services from local businesses (you can bid for share in the farm if you haven’t singed up yet!). The emcee is WCLZ radio personality and CSA member Ethan Minton –and he doesn’t hold back! The auction will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. this Saturday, November 21, at the Brunswick Golf Club, 165 River Road, Brunswick. The evening will include delicious hors d’oeuvres, a cash bar, fantastic silent auction items, a raffle, and a lively live auction. Tickets are $15 each, or $25 for two. For ticket information, please call MCHPP at 725-2716.

I have been settling back into this hemisphere and time zone for the past couple weeks –glad be back where its not 90 degrees everyday and the sun moves comfortably across the southern sky. My trip to Africa was amazing. One day I was working the farm full tilt with fall falling all around and forty eight hours later I was trying to keep hydrated and learn to understand English with a Shona accent. The two weeks I spent outside Harare, Zimbabwe were focused on trying to create a good foundation for food production at an orphanage that cared for sixty children aged six months to eighteen years old. Most of the kids had lost both parents due to the raging aids epidemic that currently infects between fifteen and twenty percent of all adults.

My days there were filled with figuring out little problems that would allow us to address bigger ones. Things like where to develop the garden so that the food wouldn’t be stolen every night or how to deal with rainfall that is nonexistent half the year and torrential the other half. Over the two weeks we were able to dig some drainage ditches, amend the soil with lime and micronutrients, plant some test plots of cover crops and make a crop plan for the year to come. I found it invigorating to be able to spend a couple weeks looking in detail at these few acres, trying to understand the ecology of the place and how to best create some systems for long-term growing of food. In addition to the garden project, I also worked with some other volunteers who were starting up a small diary goat herd and poultry operation at the orphanage. All of these activities were filled with meals, interaction and help from the kids, each of them eager to be a part of what was going on.

My sponsors and traveling companions were Greg and Mary Penner who live here in Brunswick and have been involved with the orphanage from its beginnings ten years ago. If you would like to learn more about the orphanage and see some photos of the kids go to http://www.zimbabweorphanageproject.org/how_to_help.html

The next six weeks here are the farm are usually pretty quiet. Right now the ewes and remaining lambs are still eating cover crops in the fields and take just about an hour or so to care for each day. The rest of my time is spent balanced between my kids and repairing equipment, making endless lists and getting ready to place seed orders for the coming season.

After the New Year we’ll start spending more time with sheep in preparation for February lambing, ramp-up apprentice hiring and get ready to fire-up the greenhouse for the first seedlings in March.

Thanks again for your support this year as well as your deposits for next year’s CSA share. Hopefully you have a few root vegetables or squash left for Thanksgiving. We’ll see you around town.

The final week of harvest. Of course farmers typically welcome Halloween, the end of the harvest, the shorter, colder days. This year is no different. Since April 6^th Seth and the four-member fabulous farm crew have been working 12-hour days throughout the week and half days on Saturdays. They are tired and welcome the well deserved restful winter and a change of the rigorous pace. By next April, if we do our winter job well (resting that is) we will be eager to start it all over again next spring. This is why we live in New England.

Thank you once again for being a member of our farm. Seth is not here to speak for himself, but I have heard him say more than once that this is the worst season he has experienced since he began farming over twelve years ago. We don’t need to re-hash the stories of the summer, but certainly the yields and quality of some of the crops were not what we expected or hoped for. Crushed as we may have felt, we were bolstered by your understanding and support in an off year. So please know we fully appreciate you.

Brussels sprouts make an appearance this week. Much awaited by many of you, I know. For those who may consider joining Griffin in turning the Brussels sprouts into a “lightsaber with funny spikes” read on for some cooking tips. The most important tip is to cook and enjoy your Brussels sprouts as soon as possible. Each year we hear from people who had never before eaten freshly picked Brussels sprouts and were amazed at the flavors and textures – a new experience all around! Trim them off the stalk and peel off any outer layers that may be wilted, and cut an X in the bottom of each or slice lengthwise in half. Steam until tender (or put in boiling water directly). Drain and toss with butter, salt, and pepper. Or trim and cut in half, stir fry with onions or shallots and toss in some walnuts and drizzle lightly with maple syrup.

Surveys! Attached to this email. Or pick up hard copy at distribution. As usual, we appreciate your feedback on your experience with us this year. Yes we had some crop disappointments, but we want your thoughts on other aspects as well. If we didn’t read and value your comments, we wouldn’t bother to ask the questions – so thank you in advance for your time and thoughts.

Need Childcare? We are fortunate to have farm apprentices Kate and Bethany staying on with us this winter to help care for our sheep and lambing. Bethany is available for childcare services. Griffin and Leila would be happy to provide excellent references (as would Seth and I). She can be reached at 508.789.2233 or bethanylallen@gmail.com

Order your Thanksgiving Turkey Milkweed Farm’s (off Woodside Road) pastured turkeys available for the holiday fresh $3.50 per pound, 10-20+ pound birds available for the holiday. Contact Michael or Lucretia at 725.4554 or milkweedfarm@gmail.com

Apples This week we have Macs, Northern Spys, and Cortlands from Willow Pond Farm.

CSA sign-up for 2010. Thank you for those of you who have signed up. If you haven’t done so yet, you may pay in full or leave a $100 deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan with $138.33 due in February, April and June 2010.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available – ½ lb and 1lb. and 2 lb.

Farmer Seth! Last but not least…so many of you asked about him last week at pick up, and I had no news. I spoke with our traveling farmer this weekend; I now know he is faring well, but hot! He will write a newsletter about the trip, so although this week is the last pick up, another newsletter to come soon with his stories!

What’s in Upic?…… last week…

Thyme and chives, depending on frost

It’s Maura here at the newsletter helm as Seth is putting his head and hands to work in warmer climes of Harare, Zimbabwe. He packed two fifty-pound bags filled with a wide variety of seed for cover crop to promote fertility as well as some equipment to work on setting up an irrigation system – including graph paper and pencils to work the design. And lots of bubble gum for the children, as per their request.

The final harvest and farm clean up is in the hands of our competent interns who are heading towards the end of their tenure with us. It is almost as if Seth planned this time away from the farm. Our apprenticeship program promotes independent thinking and problem-solving by giving lots of responsibility from day one, all the way back in April. By October the interns can go for weeks without missing Seth at all (aside from his great company and funny jokes of course). We could never do this work without the dedication of our fabulous interns.

Rutabaga is coming in this week. To some this is a welcome treat, and you know exactly what to do. Others may wonder…. Believed to be a cross between a turnip and a cabbage, rutabaga is high in vitamins A, C, and calcium. You can store it in your fridge for up to a month. Here are a few cooking ideas for you. Peel the outer skin and grate into a salad or slaw with your other root vegetables. You can also steam one-inch chunks and serve with butter, salt, pepper, or mash with potatoes. Rutabaga is also yummy roasted along with your other root veggies, squashes. There are a few recipes on the farm website, including rutabaga fries – serve with ketchup and let the kids have at it.

Think Soups Now that the days are colder and we don’t have the burden of watching or listening to the Red Sox late into the night (or reading the articles in the morning) we might have extra time for cooking to warm our house and bodies. We’ve been enjoying warm cider, apple crisps, and yummy soups. I just roasted some pears along with the winter squash to puree together into soup, along with onions and ginger. Yum….

Next week is final harvest The last pick up will be October 27^th and 30^th. You can look forward to Brussels sprouts, and pumpkins, both pie and carving next week. Depending on the frost, we may have thyme and chives this week and then we’ll be putting the upic to beds for the winter.

Surveys I don’t have the end of season surveys ready for you yet, but they are important to us, so I hope to have them next week.

Order your Thanksgiving Turkey Milkweed Farm’s (off Woodside Road) pastured turkeys available for the holiday fresh $3.50 per pound, 10-20+ pound birds available for the holiday. Contact Michael or Lucretia at 725.4554 or milkweedfarm@gmail.com

Fall cooking CSA cooking class. Still spaces available in cooking class this Saturday the 24^th at 10:30 am with Katiya Gettys and Bob Lezer. Sounds like a fun, educational and yummy day! Produce, all supplies and copies of the recipes will be provided. Look for more info at CSA pick-up and make reservation by calling 865.0655.

Apples This week we have Macs and Northern Spys from Willow Pond.

CSA sign-up for 2010. Thank you for those of you who have given your deposits and full payments. If you haven’t done so yet, sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments of $138.33 due in February, April and June 2010.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available – ½ lb and 1lb. and 2 lb.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Flowers

Frost has been tickling us with more regularity this week and pretty soon a night without it will be rare. The positive of this time of year in between kind of cold and really cold is that the quality of the greens rival what we see during our first harvests in June. The leaves are tender and delicate and the flavor tends towards sweet as the cold brings the sugars out. We hope to have some sort of greens for the share all the way through the end of the month along with some of the heavier stuff like turnips, squash, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, etc.

In contrast to the difficulty of the beginning of the summer, the late season has been relatively mild. We have had good amounts of time to get tender crops in and fields put down without the usual dodging of hurricanes and two-day gales often seen this time of year.

In addition to good vegetable growing, the sheep have been enjoying a good fall for grass and we have been able to move them around well during the breeding season, which has just come to an end. We had two separate breeding groups paired with different rams that have come back together into one big group of ewes. This flock numbers a little over eighty, which is not small, especially when you are trying to keep them on fresh patches of grass. This time of year the ewes are particularly hungry (like us) they can feel the coming cold and are trying to bulk up a bit. I like to refer to them as the grazing machine because they can move through a 300 by 50 foot area of calf high grass in a day, making it look like a mower has been through during the night. In trying to keep this group fed we moved them from one end of the farm to the other this last Sunday, running them down the middle of Pleasant Hill Road before the traffic got going. This was a blast as the ewes pranced down the yellow line waiting to see where we would guide them, and trying to make their own roads into the wrong fields a few times as well. There are a couple photos of he run in the online version of the newsletter.

Fall cooking CSA cooking class. Come join Katiya Gettys and Bob Lezer for a fall cooking class geared toward making the most of your fall share. They have been members of the farm since this CSA program began. Bob has also been volunteering with us for years –from helping raise the greenhouse in 2004 to managing the Upic field this past year. As vegetarians for over 30 years make their meals between June and November completely from farm produce; they use it all. The class will focus on creating fun and interesting dishes that are easy to prepare. This will be an interactive class where everyone gets hands on experience preparing and then eating the recipes. Produce, all supplies and copies of the recipes will be provided as well as a demo on knife use and sharpening. The class will be held in Saturday October 24 at 10:30 am in Freeport just 4 miles from the farm. Cost is $39 to $55 on a sliding scale. Look for more info at CSA pick-up and make reservation by calling 865.0655.

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments not due until February, April and June of next year.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available in ½ lb and 1lb. and 2 lb. sizes. Allergies? Repertory issues? Local honey can help ease problems with local pollens, molds and other airborne troublemakers. If fall is your time to suffer, try some local honey.

Organic Pastured Turkeys Available Now! Call Kena at Little Ridge Farm 353.7126.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives All Flowers

Parsley

Sorry we were not able to throw the potluck this past Sunday –ah the weather.

Change of seasons is underway at the farm. Leaves are brilliant the wind has a nip but the clearest sign autumn is here are the clothing habits of the farm crew. We all layer on the clothes for the cold mornings, peel most of them off for midday and try to remember which truck, field or barn we left them in come the afternoon. Nothing beats the clear air this time of year. All the colors pop (even the grays in the clouds) and I find myself forgetting what I’m doing, watching the sky roll by again and again.

The seasonal transition will be apparent in your share this week as well. You’ll find the first dose of fall roots with turnips and celeriac leading up the charge (get your cookbooks ready). Leeks return this week as we move into our fall planting and peppers continue for one last week; a final reminder of the warm weather that has gone by.

This week is the week to throw yourself wholeheartedly into fall vegetables. If you can get creative with turnips and celeriac now you’ll be able to carry that gusto right into winter, when these crops re about all we have for local produce! The easiest way to start with these vegetables is to cube them (peel the celeriac first) with potatoes and toss them with olive oil. Then roast them with salt, pepper, and maybe some cumin or paprika in a 425 degree oven for 30-40 minutes (turning after 20) or until they are tender and starting to brown. Look for more recipes on our website www.crystalspringcsa.com.

Fall, while beautiful, can be a tiring season for our bodies. The changes in light and temperature can wear us down. In addition to fresh produce and slowing down our pace a bit, our family uses herbal extracts to stay healthy and strong as we prepare for winter. Maura has been making herbal tinctures for the family from plants grown here on the farm and this year has made some extra to offer to all of you. We will have tinctures of oats and sacred basil for sale at pick-up beginning this week through the end of the year. Oats are a nerve tonic and help relieve stress and exhaustion. Sacred Basil is also regenerative and can help relieve anxious insomnia, sharpen the mind and boost immune systems.

Thanks to all of you for your well wishes on my coming trip to Africa. I will be leaving a week from today and returning October 30. I’m really looking forward to applying some of my soils and plant skills where they will make a big impact. We’ll be sure and send an update on the trip when I return. In the meantime Maura and the farm crew will keep the place spinning like a top.

Potato Alert Continues! More potatoes. Keep eating them! Please refrigerate the spuds if you are not going to eat them in the first day or two. Please don’t compost these potatoes! They will grow next year and spread the disease.

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments not due until February, April and June of next year. Many thanks to all of you who have signed up again already.

Organic/low spray apples, pears and cider for sale this week from our friends at Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available in ½ lb and 1lb. sizes. Allergies? Repertory issues? Local honey can help ease problems with local pollens, molds and other airborne troublemakers. If fall is your time to suffer, try some local honey.

Come to our annual CSA Potluck this Sunday October 4 from 12-2. Kick back and enjoy your neighbor’s cooking and some good conversation. The food at this event is pretty stellar every year and desserts tend to be well represented. We’ll supply a massive salad and the best apple cider you have ever tasted. This year we also have music by a great young local bluegrass band, Fen. We’ll have hay bales piled up for the kids to romp on, and some balls to kick around as well. Bring chairs, blankets, and plates, cups and flatware for yourselves. In the event of rain we will cancel. Look for an email Sunday am if the skies are looking questionable.

The potluck is a great time for some socializing, especially for me as I will not be around for the last couple weeks of October. I have been offered a ticket to Zimbabwe to aid an orphanage there in starting a two-acre garden.

Jack Frost came by again on Friday night and we had 31 degrees at the house. All the tender stuff had been harvested from the fields but the beans and the basil in the Upic were melted beyond recognition. Luckily the sheep don’t care and they have been enjoying the rotting bean plants since Sunday. I’m always amazed how efficient Mother Nature is at cleaning up the farm after a long summer. The chill on Friday eve was followed by an inch of rain on Sunday. The rain soaked all the frosted leaves, which in the next few days will rot away with the help from some opportunistic fungus that the rain has kick started. We will continue to see this process again and again over the next six or seven weeks until even the heartiest of crops will have succumbed and we will begin full-blast winter.

‘Silent Spring’ to Silent Night: Are Frogs Canaries? Tyrone Hayes PhD. Professor from UC Berkeley will speak this Friday October 2^nd 6:30-7:30pm at the Morrell meeting room at the Curtis Memorial Library in Brunswick. Hayes has done extensive research on the effects of pesticides on the rapid decline of amphibian populations around the world. Attempts have been made by large pesticide producers to silence his work. This lecture is part of the Cornerstones of Science series presented by Bowdoin College and Curtis Memorial Library.

Potato Alert Continues! Please refrigerate the spuds if you are not going to eat them in the first day or two. The late blight continues to cast its shadow upon us; to beat it we must eat. Please don’t compost these potatoes! They will grow next year and spread the disease.

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Help us get a strong start for the coming season. Your shares, promised now, help us pay for early seed orders and supplies that are always cheaper if paid for before the end of the current calendar year. Besides, just imagine how great those tomatoes will taste next August. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments not due until February, April and June of next year.

Organic/low spray apples, pears and cider for sale this week from our friends at Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus. More organic Red Free apples and low-spray Macs are available this week. Available for sale singly and in 5lb. bags. Cider is available in half gallon and gallon jugs and is so good I have sworn off water, or milk, or beer.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. We still have lamb available for a winter delivery date. Is your freezer full now? No problem you’ll have until January to make room for your lamb. See us at pick-up for all the details.

Crystal Spring Farm Honey from bees here at the farm now available in 1lb. and 2lb. sizes.