Cosmo
Introducing Your Fearless Crew
Share Weeks 3-4 (June 21- July 2)
In This Issue
How the storm affected the farm
Introducing the crew..Olivia and Sarah
Ben and Maryn
Jason and Max
Kristen
Gearing up for the U-pick season

This Week's Share

Kohlrabi

Beets

Turnips

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Scallions

Broccoli

Garlic Scapes

Fennel

Napa or Pointed- head Cabbage

 Salad Greens

Cooking Greens

 

U-pick

Strawberries

Sugar snap peas

Shelling peas

Flowers

 

Recipes
 
  
  
 
An Important Reminder :

At this point eveyone should have paid off  their share balances (unless arrangements have been made otherwise). If you haver not done so please bring your payments to the next share or mail to us. If you do not remeber what your balance due is check the
 sign-in sheet. If there are any questions please e-mail or call
Thank You.

CHECK IT OUT !!

 

You may have noticed we have done some work on the parking lot.

  • We added a whole new area for parking.
  • We have a designated an ENTER and EXIT.
  •  We have added a new narrower  garden bed.

We have made all these improvements to make the lot bigger, easier to navigate, and hopefully safer to drive through. Please help by using the designated entrance and exit.

 

Thanks!! 

 
fieldhouse 

 

I'll spend only a short time kvetching about the weather before moving on to some more positive pleasantries.  It seems as though this spring has been a never ending water bath!  I never knew that Western Massachusetts was going to develop a typhoon season but lo and behold it did.  Two Thursdays ago during the first share week strawberry pickers and our farm crew were scurrying out of the fields as an incredibly intense thunderstorm rolled in.  Lightning and thunder like I've never experienced and torrential rain ensued.  In its wake the storm left one of our greenhouses in pieces.  The high winds literally picked the greenhouse up ripped out the ground anchors and rolled it over a few times until it was broken beyond repair.  To add insult to injury we had just re-skinned (put a new plastic cover on) this small house 2 weeks earlier.  Usually a new greenhouse skin lasts 4 years.... it was only two short but sweet weeks with this one.  We were very fortunate that the smaller greenhouse did not harm any of the plants inside it, did not hit and damage our main greenhouse, and it happened to land in an empty section of one of our fields that we've yet to plant with our fall root crops fall root crops.  The crew spent last Saturday dismantling the greenhouse and taking it out of the field piece by piece but we didn't let it get us down.  We will be able to salvage some of the pieces and may be able to put up a smaller version of that same structure sometime in the fall. 

Despite all of the water and cool weather I've been pleasantly surprised with the amount of food that we've managed to coax from our soggy silt in the last two weeks.  This year marks the first time in our five year history that we've had enough food and enough variety in the second share week to move to the mix and match system for distributing our hard vegetables.  This is the earliest we've ever had full size beets, it was a bumper crop of spring broccoli (despite our early season maggot problems), the strawberries are rockin', and though the leaf miners tried to do in our spring spinach we've all had enough to make a couple of batches spanakopita (check out the recipe in the side bar if you don't know what I mean).  So while I can't believe there is a stream of positivity flowing out of me... there are a lot of upsides to this upside down spring.

 
crew Olivia and Sarah

 

By far the biggest upside is our farm crew so I thought now would be appropriate to do a whose who at Riverland Farm.  The new members of our farm crew this year are 

 

Olivia, Sarah, Ben, and Maryn. 

  Olivia started with us in late March.  She came to us with some experience from a few different farms most recently, Town Farm in Northampton.  She is the head honcho in the washroom this year and responsible making your vegetables look clean and pretty each week.  Olivia can also be found doing tractor work on our oldest original tractor as she is the proud pilot of our old Farmall Cub.  When she's not on the farm you might find her in Northampton where she resides, doing theatrical performances, or playing guitar. 

  Sarah started up with us in May.  She is relatively new to vegetable farming but did gain some farm experience last year on Small Ones Farm in Amherst.  Before starting up at the farm she was making ice cream cakes at Herrel's while schmoozing with James Franco and other famous Herrel's customers.  She's catching on quick at the farm and is always armed with a quiver of probing questions.

 

 Ben and Maryn 

 

Ben also started up with us in May.  He is currently studying Anthropology at UMASS where he'll be returning in the fall.  Ben worked for a few years at Jane and Paul's Farm in Norfolk, MA where he spent his high school years.  Originally from the South... Ben is not a huge fan of the winter but he does like East Carolina pulled pork.  Ben can pull weeds like nobody's business, has a great sense of humor, and is a talented cat charmer.  If he's not at the farm you might find him out hiking on one of the many trails in the valley.

  Maryn started up in late May after finishing up her first semester at Cornell where she is studying agriculture.  For the past two summers she worked at Sienna Farm in Sudbury, MA and she was hooked.  To get internship credit from her work at the farm she has taken on a project involving time trials of how long it takes us to harvest on each harvest day.  She'll be living in Amherst for the summer with a family she affectionately calls her "host family" before returning to Cornell in the fall.  Unlike Sarah, Maryn is unimpressed with James Franco and doesn't like Stop and Shop.

 

 Jason and Max

Jason is one of the anchors of our Farm crew.  You may remember his charm from last year.  Now in his second full year at the farm Jason has taken on more responsibility in the field, on the tractors, and in the greenhouse.  He is settling into his new role just in time to take over for Meghan in the greenhouse.  Among many other skills Jason can put away more doughnuts than anyone I know and has an awesome ability to keep the rest of the crew laughing.  He's probably the only person I'll ever meet with the last name Dragon and when he's not at the farm you might find him at riding his motorcycle or at the Montague Inn (aka the happiest place on earth).

  Max is the other anchor of the Farm Crew.  He's our assistant manager and is now in his third full year with us on the farm.  Max can be found managing the farm crew, doing any one of a myriad of tractor tasks, keeping our seeding and transplanting records in order, or packing the walk in cooler like an artist.  I sleep better at night knowing Max is here to keep things in order when our new family member comes into the world (any day now!!).  Max and his girlfriend are looking to start their own farm sometime in the near future; we're all pulling for them.  When Max isn't here you can find him looking for land anywhere from New York to Rhode Island, at Brookfield Farm with his lady, or napping in the back of a Honda Civic.

 Last but certainly not least

 

In addition to the farm crew we'll have help from long-time friend and former farm crew member Kristen Herrmann in the share room.  Kristen was the only member of our farm crew in 2007 (the inaugural year for Meghan and me at Riverland) and that didn't deter her from working with us again in 2008.  Kristen helped launch the farm, literally and her mark is still on it to this day (I think I found a pair of her gloves in the barn just yesterday).  We're excited to have her farm knowledge at work answering all your vegetable questions with a smile.

As we plow through another week here on the farm we're very happy to be doing it with this wonderfully capable group of special people.

Enjoy the harvest!

On behalf of the farm crew...

Your Farmers,

Rob and Meghan

 

 

 

Gearing up for the U-Pick season

 

Here are a few tips for how be prepared for u-picking throughout the season.

 

 

What to Bring:

  • A good pair of scissors or clippers.

 Keep this valuable tool in your car for picking flowers, herbs, sunflowers, broom corn. We will have some available but often they are in high demand.

 

  • Reusable containers, bags.

Bring bags or tupperware with you to transfer your pickings into so we can reuse the quart and pint containers as much as possible.

 

Your share will be measured out by using our reusable farm bags or plastic "Thank you for shopping" bags. Our handy little Riverland Farm bags are just $5.00 and available in the share room. There will be other times throughout the season for you to use any reusable bag you already own (for example melons, tomatoes, winter squash, if you purchase products we have for sale) so keep those handy in your car as well.

  •  Jar, bottle, vase

Once the flower season really gets going you will want to have something to put your fresh cut flowers into that can hold water and keep the flowers fresh until you get home. It is good to hve something that will keep the water contained so that water does not spill in your car.

 

How to behave:

  •  Orientation

Always take a moment to read the board to see what is available and the amounts listed for the share. Then refer to the map. We will have lots of u-pick crops in the lower field (tomatoes, beans, herbs) and also across the street from the share room(flowers, peas, more herbs).

Though you may be tempted to take a shortcut or pick in another row that may not be open yet we ask that you please stay on the path and pick the bed that are marked open. You may be stepping on freshly seeded beds.


Here are a few tips for how be prepared for u-picking throughout the season.

 

What to Bring:

  • A good pair of scissors or clippers.

Keep this valuable tool in your car for picking flowers, herbs, sunflowers, broom corn. We will have some available but often they are in high demand.

 

  • Reusable containers, bags.

Bring bags or tupperware with you to transfer your pickings into so we can reuse the quart and pint containers as much as possible.

 

Your share will be measured out by using our reusable farm bags or plastic "Thank you for shopping" bags. Our handy little Riverland Farm bags are just $5.00 and available in the share room. There will be other times throughout the season for you to use any reusable bag you already own (for example melons, tomatoes, winter squash, if you purchase products we have for sale) so keep those handy in your car as well.

  •  Jar, bottle, vase

Once the flower season really gets going you will want to have something to put your fresh cut flowers into that can hold water and keep the flowers fresh until you get home. It is good to hve something that will keep the water contained so that water does not spill in your car.

 

How to behave:

 Orientation

  • Always take a moment to read the board to see what is available and the amounts listed for the share.
  • Refer to the map. We will have lots of u-pick crops in the lower field (tomatoes, beans, herbs) and also across the street from the share room(flowers, peas, more herbs).
  • Though you may be tempted to take a shortcut or pick in another row that may not be open yet we ask that you please stay on the path and pick the bed that are marked open. You may be stepping on freshly seeded beds.