Author: Seth

For the past few weeks we have been waiting for the new melons to ripen. This year I tried a new variety of cantaloupe from the infamous and celebrated Maine seed coop FEDCO, with great hopes for success. Those of you who have been CSA members for many years are asking yourselves “have we ever had cantaloupe from Crystal Spring?” and the answer is yes, but not often. We have tried to grow good crops of these sweet perfumed melons many times but with little success (2005 was a good crop). The short season and cool nights that come this time of year make ripening this fruit difficult. Because of the challenge and varied success I am always trying new varieties in hopes of finding one that will come to a sweet finish in the waning days of summer. Several weeks ago the crew and I started looking at the vines of this crop with doubt. The fruit was dark green and smooth like some sort of odd shaped pumpkin. My pessimism took over and I was ready to give in to another year of cantaloupe defeat. I chalked it up to some mix up at the seed house and then three weeks ago things started to change. The fruit went from deep green to a perfectly netted tan melon almost overnight; there was hope. Cantaloupe must be watched carefully as the window between the stages of green, ripe and rotten is short. When they’re ready, the fruits change from buff tan to slightly yellow and the vines separate from the melon with just the slightest tug. Last Friday they were so close I could smell success and then Saturday night came. Those of you who slept in on Sunday might not have noticed but we had our first frost of the year. It was spotty and light but burned many of the tender plants in fields, including the melon vines. I was sure the fruit would be hurt as well. We went down to take alook this morning and there they were, hundreds of perfect, ripe cantaloupes, untouched and ready to pick. They taste great, even better with the drama it to get them.

CSA Potluck October 4 from 12-2. Mark your calendars for our annual potluck. Kick back and enjoy your neighbor’s cooking and some good conversation. We’ll supply a massive salad and the best apple cider you have ever tasted. This year we also have a local music. Come early and leave late.

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.

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 along with Clapp’s Favorite pears. Available for sale singly and in 5lb. bags. Cider is available in half gallon jugs and is so good I would shower in it. Everyday. For weeks on end.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs. Just a few left from this year’s crop. Delivery in late November or early December. See us at pick-up for all the details.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Basil

Parsley Cilantro Beans

All Flowers

As the middle of September arrives we have begun to feel a tangible change in the season. The harvest focus we have been maintaining for the past six weeks or so has begun to slacken and we are able to look beyond to the work of preparing the farm for the coming winter. While there are still major crops to be brought in (winter squash is the heavy one that comes to mind) and weekly cutting for your share, during the next few weeks we will find our days filled more and more with the process of transitioning from production to rest. The most visible evidence of this work is the rows of vegetables slowly being replaced by blocks of dark green cover crops that will protect and enhance the soils over the winter. We have found time in the past month to plant about five acres of oats and peas, which are coming up strong in three of the fields. Most of our cover crops are, like oats and peas, a combination of legumes and grains. The two work together to produce and hold in soil nutrients that, come the spring, they will release and make available for the next crop.

These cover crops hold a second purpose on our farm –they feed sheep in the early winter after the grasses have gone dormant. Our ewes, which began breeding this week, will be between their second and third trimesters in late November-December. These first weeks of winter are crucial for maintaining the overall conditioning of the animals for the remainder of their pregnancies and the winter beyond lambing. The ewes mow these crops for us, fattening themselves while leaving seventy percent of the forage behind in a very available form, their manure. Now when you look out on those fields of green like we do, you can see baby lambs running in next years pastures and vibrant vegetables in next years fields.

Arugula. We have been doing well by this plant lately but it seems all of you are a bit cautious about taking too much home. Give it another try. This green is very versatile and the plantings we have been cutting lately are rich and relatively mild. Here’s a link to a couple recipes, including arugula salad and rustic pesto. http://crystalspringcsa.com/archives/category/recipes/arugula

Potato Alert Continues! We have another variety for you this week, but like the reds last week they may not keep well outside the fridge. Please refrigerate them if you are not going to eat them in the first day or two.

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Get on board early and beat the spring rush for CSA shares. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments in February, April and June of next year. Thanks to all of you who signed up last week, it’s great to have your support in this year of less than outstanding yields in the fields. We are very proud to be your farmers.

Organic apples for sale again this week from our friends at Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus. These Red Free apples are great. This is a high quality fresh eating and sauce variety that is certified organic. Available for sale singly and in 5lb. bags. More varieties (including clapp’s favorite pears) and their stellar cider will be available in the coming weeks.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs for sale starting this week…see us at pick-up for all the details.

There was a great column about CSA by member Sarah Wolpow in the Times-Record. Here’s the link: http://www.timesrecord.com/articles/2009/09/11/features/doc4aaa89e37a3ad730001720.txt

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Basil

Parsley Cilantro Beans

All Flowers

A nip in the air and things start to perk up around here. Fall is arriving this week and the produce, animals and farmers are responding. You’ll find three new things in your share this week; watermelon, potatoes and shallots are ready for distribution. Both are good-looking crops with the melon nice and sweet (a lovely side effect of the hot dry August we had), the red potatoes creamy and smooth and the shallots big enough to choke Julia Child. In other timely events for the season, the pigs went to the butcher last evening and looked to be just the right size and very healthy (now we can focus on getting the barns cleaned out and manure spread on the fields to distribute our unexpected bumper crop, the flies). Thanks to all of you who ordered pork for the winter. The cold evenings and perfect days have added a new vigor to the farm crew as we move into the big harvest season. Pulling heavy crops like the rest of the potatoes, pumpkins and winter squash, and melons, all of which will total many tons, marks this time of year as we are reminded of all of the work behind us by the sheer volume of food we pull from the ground.

Potato Alert! It should be noted that while we do have many potatoes (more than we thought given the severity of the blight) the keeping quality is not expected to be very good. My suggestion is to try and use your share of spuds each week and keep them in the fridge before use. From what we have been able to learn about the blight this year (the worst in living memory), it will infect stored potatoes if they are kept at warmer temps (out of the fridge). There is nothing wrong with the tubers as far as their being edible –they will just rot quickly if the spores are given a chance to germinate in the warmer temps most of us typically keep them at in the garage, basement or that cool closet.

Shallots? What are they? Well in short they are the best qualities of garlic and onions combined in one vegetable. Sweeter than onions but with the same aromatic rich qualities, shallots can be used for anything that calls for onions but without the worry of overpowering the dish. Our favorite uses for them are diced and added to our own salad dressings or roasted whole with olive oil and eaten along side any dish. They keep relatively well –but rarely stay around long in our house as they get used for everything. Here’s a link to a simple recipe for potatoes and shallots http://crystalspringcsa.com/archives/category/recipes/shallots

CSA sign-up for 2010 underway. Get on board early and beat the spring rush for CSA shares. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments in February, April and June of next year. Thanks to all of you who signed up last week, it’s great to have your support in this year of less than outstanding yields in the fields. We are very proud to be your farmers.

Organic apples arrive for sale this week from our friends at Willow Pond Farm in Sabattus. The variety we will be starting with is Red Free. This is a high quality fresh eating and sauce variety that is certified organic. Available for sale singly and in 5lb. bags. More varieties and their stellar cider will be available in the coming weeks.

Race for Space this weekend. The Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust will put on it’s annual run and fun walk to save open space in our community. For more info go to www.btlt.org.

Crystal Spring whole and half lambs for sale starting this week…see us at pick-up for all the details.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Basil

Parsley Cilantro Beans

All Flowers

August comes to a close this week and we enter fall in full force. This passing month is traditionally one of celebration as plants begin to fruit and all of us finally settle into summer. In Old World agricultural society this month was set aside for families to get together and eat, enjoying the first harvest of grains and baking the first bread of the new season. Lammas or Lughnasa are pagan holidays from English and Irish calendars that mark this special time when the harvest begins but before the preparations for winter need to be addressed. Interestingly the August vacations many of us take with family still address this need to celebrate before buckling down again with work, school and the rapidly approaching winter.

As a farmer I see other significance with this time as well, watching the light rapidly disappear. Both crops and weeds transform almost before our eyes at this time as they prepare for their last month of uninterrupted growing. As the days shorten, plants that in June or July would be twelve or eighteen inches tall before they began to set seed, start this process at three and four inches, sensing that there is no time to waste in fulfilling their reproductive responsibilities. At the farm we use the changing light to our advantage by seeding large quantities of greens for October. Plantings of arugula, lettuce mix, asian greens, and kale that would be sown three weeks apart at the height of summer are seeded just seven days from each other. The rapid loss of light speeds up the succession time between these plantings during the first days of their emergence from the soil. These same plants push towards maturity and then hold their quality in the cool October air, allowing us to cut them each week for you.

One crop that we hope to have through the end of the year is baby bok choi. This is a staple in our greens mix and match and is great by itself or paired with more substantial vegetables. Here’s a quick and easy recipe for stir-fry using bok choi http://crystalspringcsa.com/archives/category/recipes/bok-choi.

Hopefully by now you have all had a chance to chat with our stellar group of apprentices this season. Kate, Kelsey, Douglas, and Bethany are the one of the best groups we have had in thirteen years of farming. Aside from mastering the daily running of this place (my vacation a few weeks ago attests to this), they are just great people that Maura and I really enjoy having around.

Pigs for sale. Order your whole or half pig and fill the freezer for the winter. These are our own pigs raised here at the farm and processed however you like them at a USDA inspected butcher. This is a great way to have the best quality farm-raised pork all winter long. Those of you who have ordered lambs from us or freezer meats from other farms know by that by buying a whole or half animal you can save money without compromising quality or conscience. Bacon, ham, sausage and ribs are all included and packed as you like. Neighbors and families can split halves or quarters. Whole pigs are $4/lb. hanging weight and halves are $4.25. Talk to us at pick-up for more details.

CSA sign-up for 2010 begins this week. Get on board early and beat the spring rush for CSA shares. Sign up now with a deposit and get on the easy winter payment plan. A $100 deposit will hold your share with payments in February, April and June of next year.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Basil

Parsley Cilantro Beans

All Flowers

I made a big mistake this past week. I mentioned a few times that we could use a bit of rain. One would think that after the summer we have had I would have been able to contain the urge to vocalize such feelings…but apparently not. For my mistake we received two and half inches of rain on Sunday and another half inch Monday, just as a bonus. An inch would have been plenty especially given the fact we are still trying to get our June Hay into the barn. Now if I were to meet myself on the street I wouldn’t guess that I was the superstitious type. I have to say that for most of my life I have been a relatively rational person. Farming has driven me to believe deeply in any number of intangible forces greater than myself, the most hocus pocus of these being the power of suggestion. The farm crew has learned by this point in the season not to strongly praise one crop or even express relief about something going well until that crop is harvested or the task is done. To jump the gun is to invite a visit from Murphy (as in Murphy’s Law: Anything that can go wrong probably will) or at least a loud shoosh from me.

Pig preordering starts this week. These are our own pigs raised here at the farm and processed however you like them at a USDA inspected butcher. This is a great deal for high quality pork for your freezer this winter. Bacon, ham, sausage and ribs all processed and packed as you like. Neighbors and families can split halves or quarters. Whole pigs are $4/lb. hanging weight and halves are $4.25. Talk to us at pick-up for more details.

More Leeks this week…Are you running out of creative things to do with them? Here’s another recipe idea…

Carmelized Leeks and Noodle Soup

· 2 medium leeks

· 1/2 Tbsp olive oil

· 1 Tbsp butter

· 1/2 Tbsp dark brown soft sugar

· 1/2 pound noodles

· 2 heaping Tbsp chopped fresh parsley

· 1 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

· Salt and black pepper to taste

Preparation

Split the leeks lengthways and wash each layer thoroughly. Slice across into thin strips, including the green part.

Heat the Tablespoon of olive oil and butter together over a gentle heat. When the butter has melted, add the leeks and toss well. Cook slowly, uncovered, for about 10 minutes or until they start to soften.

Sprinkle over the sugar. After a couple more minutes, mix well. Continue to cook for 15 to 30 minutes, until the leeks have begun to collapse into a sticky mass. Add small amounts of hot water if required to stop sticking. While the leeks are cooking, cook and drain the noodles. When the leeks are done, add the parsley, olive oil, cooked noodles and seasoning to taste. Toss well and serve.

What’s in Upic?……

Thyme Chives Basil

Parsley Cilantro Beans

All Flowers

Summer has arrived with a vengeance this week…ah to be a ripening tomato in this weather. The heat has been a bit intense and the farm crew has wilted slightly. Like the crops that have shallow roots from the constant rain of the early season, we are not used to real summer weather. That being said it is nice to have things feel somewhat normal for the season. In between harvesting chores we’ve been spending a lot of time weeding. The weed family that seems to be thriving this year is grass, more specifically crab grass. I have been saying for the past two months that this is the year to have a lawn mowing business as the grass has been growing like never before. The sheep appreciate this growth in the pastures but the vegetables in the fields do not. Grasses are one of the hardest weeds to beat as they have great root systems and the get a hold fast. Most years we don’t have huge problems with the stuff as we can get in early with the tractor or the hoe and kill them young as they are just emerging. This year the constant rainfall caused us to miss many of those cultivating windows and early hoeing and hand weeding just moved the young plants around, allowing them to re-root in the wet conditions. Few things are as competitive with vegetable crops as grass. The plants make quick root systems that out compete almost anything for water and nutrients –think of your lawn. In areas where we have not been able to beat the grass back the vegetable plants are stunted and have poor color –mostly from lack of nutrients that have been washed out of our soils after so many soaking rains.

We hope to harvest a beautiful shallot crop this week. For those of you who are unfamiliar with shallots they are the close cousins of onions but they have a sweetness that likens towards garlic. Smaller than onions they are easy to do almost anything with we use them for salad dressings, soups and right in the pot when making rice. They store well and taste great raw, sautéed, and roasted. After harvesting they will need to cure in the greenhouse for a few weeks so that they will keep and then they’ll be ready to share with you.

Organic Blueberries will be available this week. There is still time to order for Friday’s delivery if you have missed out so far. Please let us know by this evening (Tuesday) at distribution or by email. These are certified organic, raked the day before berries from Stoneset Farm in Brooklin, Maine. The berry crop is plentiful this year and does not seem to be adversely affected by the poor weather at the beginning of the season. We will have a few quarts for sale in addition to the preordered deliveries and if there is enough interest we may do another order for next week. Let us know if you are interested in ordering for next week and we’ll start a list.

Berry prices are: quart (not pint) for $8.75, 5 lbs. for $25 and 10 lbs. for $48.