Farm News

We sure have had some crazy days on the farm this summer. Take last Saturday. The plan was to have Janine and John drive our box truck (affectionately known as “the chubby bunny”) to Weston Farmers market while I headed out to Pennsylvania on an equipment road trip, as it is hard to find rusty but still useable farm equipment in CT anymore. We got the truck loaded and sent the crew on their way to market while I rigged up the van and trailer to head west. I got as far as Danbury when Janine called me to say that the truck, which is pretty much the nicest and most expensive thing I have ever owned, had sprung a fuel leak. So I detoured south to the market, diagnosed a punctured fuel filter and set about to fix it while our ever helpful farmer’s market support team of Katie, Tom, and Emilie Meyer and their friends Terry and Kim set about stacking and selling veg. I got the truck fixed by Ten AM so I figured I still could squeeze in a road trip to PA to get a ‘new’ grain drill to plant our fall cover crops, to save us the work of sowing hundreds of pounds of cover crop seed by hand. I really love equipment road trips, its fun just watching the countryside go by with a big chunk of metal on your trailer, and Lady Luck smiled on me because the ol’ van made it there and back, in one afternoon, without a problem.

This week we are happy to have a volunteer crew of Yale freshmen here on the farm this week. These intrepid students opted to spend their orientation on an organic farm, and we definitely appreciate their help. They got right to work cleaning up the last of the pigweeds, picking tomatoes, and pulling beets and carrots. They have also had lots of time to relax, cook meals with farm veg, and get to know each other, so I’m pretty sure everyone is happy.

Hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,

Your farmer,

Paul Bucciaglia, for Janine, John, Leah, Bob, and Jean.

Crop update: The hot, dry weather is beginning to catch up with us now. Salad and cooking greens are less abundant, but we do have more in the works for early fall and are diligently irrigating those crops for the “second season” that occurs after Labor Day. ‘Tomato Bonanza’ season has arrived, and we are purposely giving you an overload of sweet, ripe fruit so you can get your fill of them now. Remember, they will be a distant memory by mid September. We have included lots of herbs so you can make sauce, salsa, and pesto. Corn continues to come in nicely but the presence of many ‘inspectors’ means that it is WBD (wormy but delicious). Unfortunately, about half of the current crop of lettuce got munched by a ground hog, so it will be in short supply for the next few weeks. We have, ahem, rectified that situation…. Cherry tomatoes have peaked but there are still some to be had, and a new and tender pick of beans is in this week. We have lots of carrots and beets, and the hot, dry weather has sweetened them up nicely. We will have cukes for a few more weeks, along with less abundant amounts of summer squash. Winter squash is ripening nicely, and we will pull the spaghetti squash in the next week or two. Watermelons continue to confound me with very uneven ripening, so this week we picked them and ask you to play ‘melon roulette’, we hope that most of you get a good one. We are bringing in a nice crop of onions to cure in the hoophouse; the dry summer has resulted in slightly smaller but higher quality than the last two wet summers. We will start digging potatoes soon and will have them available for the rest of the season.

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THIRD ANNUAL FORT HILL FARM HARVEST POT LUCK

When: Sunday, September 11 from 2:30 PM until dusk.

Who’s invited: CSA shareholders

What to bring: a main dish, side dish, or desert, and chairs if you like.

What’s going on: hay rides around the farm, pick your own pumpkins (one for each share), misc. fun, and a chance to see where all your veggies have been coming from.

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the farm! Please RSVP by SATURDAY, SEPT. 3!

Please do not bring pets or alcoholic beverages to the farm! Thanks!

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What’s in the box: Depends on what we could fit in it, but it might include watermelon, lettuce, corn, tomatoes, beets, basil, cilantro, green or wax beans, onions, cukes, and peppers.

Recipes:

Chunky Mediterranean Herbed Tomato Sauce, from “One United Harvest: Recipes from America’s Community Supported Farms”, available at the farm or from www.farmcookbook.com

2 medium onions, diced small 1 ½ T. minced oregano (optinal)

5 cloves garlic, minced 1 ½ T. minced thyme (optional)

1/4 c. olive oil 1 ½ T minced sage (optional)

3 lbs. tomatoes, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped dash of dried pepper flakes

3 T. finely chopped fresh basil salt and pepper, to taste

3T. finely chopped fresh parsley

In a large sauce pan, cook onions and garlic in olive oil over moderately high heat for 15 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes, herbs,and red pepper flakes and cook 15 minutes. Stir occasionally. Season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately or refrigerate in a tightly sealed container for up to 4 days. Sauce also freezes well. Makes 4 cups. From Karen Vollmekce, Vollmecke Orchards CSA, Brandywine, PA

Chocolate Beet Cake, From “Recipes from America’s Small Farms” (Farmers note: if you can’t get your kids to eat beets, this may work!)

4 (1-ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate, 1 ½ tsp baking powder

cut into small pieces 1 tsp. baking soda

4 large eggs ½ tsp salt

2 cups packed light brown sugar 1 pound red beets, peeled and grated

½ cup canola oil about 1 ¾ cups cream cheese frosting or fudgy chocolate frosting

1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 2 nine-inch round cake pans, line the bottoms with waxed paper and grease the paper. Melt chocolate in the top of a double boiler. Keep warm. Whip the eggs and brown sugar with an electric mixer for about 5 minutes, or until the mixture is noticeably thicker. Add the oil, whipping until it is incorporated. Add the vanilla and melted chocolate and scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl. Sift together the flower, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to the egg mixture and mix on low speed until well combined, stopping to scrape the bowl.. Add beets and mix well. Pour into prepared pans. Bake for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the centers spring back when gently pressed. Let cool completely in the pans on wire racks. Put one of the cake layers on a serving plate, spread on ¾ cup of frosting, put other layer on top, and frost sides and top of cake