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Field Notes
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The Nights are a Changing!
Mid-summer nights are often hot, humid and sticky- not good for sleeping, but great for growing. As we move into late summer, the nights are now cooler, which is great for sleeping with the windows open but bad for plant growth. As the hot, humid air of the day cools it cannot hold as much water/humidity as it did on the hot summer nights. The water in the air settles out onto the coolest surfaces first, which is usually our cars and the leaves of the plant. The early morning dew that we see on the plant surfaces will have been there for several hours before the sun of the mid-morning "burns it off". Yet in that moist environment on the plants leaves, mildews begin to grow in the late-summer and the leaves often take on a white-looking surface. This inhibits the plant's ability to photosynthesize and produce our food. Some plants are more susceptible to this than others. As a result, more dew will lead to less of those crops for the coming week's shares.
The curcurbit family (summer squash, zucchini, cantaloupe and cucumbers) are more likely to quickly succumb to the effects of dew. I find I bounce back and forth between accepting the reality of the effects of dew in a natural system and trying to combat it by planting three times as much of those crops for the late-summer period. In the end, if we are growing naturally, it is always Mother Nature's rule of the weather that will determine what we will eat.
Cantaloupe are always tricky to get perfectly sweet. Sun brings on sweetness and too much water takes sweetness away. We always stop watering the cantaloupe about two weeks before they are ripe to get the sweetest cantaloupe possible. This year, the first cantaloupe were near sweet perfection. Then, a week later, dewy nights caused the leaves to whiten over. Even though the days were sunny, the plants could not sweeten their melons. Then, after we had stopped watering for a week already, Mother Nature decided to give us a much needed inch of rain, which made your farmer very very happy- except for the sake of the later cantaloupe that then were not so sweet.
It is amazing how inter-connected our natural world is. How a small ripple over there can make so much of a difference over here.
To the warm late-summer nights,
Farmer Dave
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In Your Vegetable Share - Week 12
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The following items will most likely make an appearance in your share this week (and as always, the contents of your share is ultimately determined by Mother Nature's harvest conditions): - Tomatoes
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Arugula, Collard Greens or Kale
- Bell Peppers or Cubanelle Peppers
- Carrots
- Turnips, purple top or hakurei
- Cucumbers
- Green, wax or purple beans (if we're lucky!)
- Herbs
- And more, depending on harvest conditions!
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In Your Fruit Share:
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In the fruit shares this week:
- Peaches
- Watermelon
- Blackberries or raspberries
- And more, depending on harvest conditions!
If the fruit share has been calling you but you're not yet registered we are still accepting registrations for pro-rated fruit shares! You can register online or email Ginger for more details! |
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Storage Notes
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Some tips for storing your share this week:- Greens do best when in the fridge and kept cold. If you find your greens are not lasting as long as you would like, try turning your refrigerator a degree or two colder - it makes a big difference!
- For root vegetables, such as beets, radishes and turnips, cut the greens off and store them separately from the roots. The roots will keep much longer, and you can cook the greens separately (just like you would spinach or Swiss chard!)
- Tomatoes will keep their flavor best at room temperature - store them on your countertop! Refrigerators rob tomatoes of their flavor. The flavor does not usually return when they are brought back to room temperature.
- If you run out of space in your crisper drawers, try using some large tupperware-like containers. You'll find your veggies last a long time in those!
- Are fruit flies a problem? Fill the bottom of a glass with apple cider vinegar or a little bit of red wine. Carefully prick a small hole in the center of a coffee filter that is just big enough for the fruit fly to crawl through. Place the coffee filter over the top of the glass and poke it down so that the small hole is just over the liquid in the glass. Put a rubber band around the top of the glass to hold the filter in place and you've made yourself a nice little fruit fly trap!
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Recipe of the Week!
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Roasted Tomato, Eggplant and Smoked Mozzarella Pizza
From Epicurious.com
Ingredients:
- 1 medium eggplant (about 1 1/2 pounds), cut crosswise into 2 pieces
- 3/4 pound plum tomatoes, halved
- 2 teaspoons red-wine vinegar
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 4 teaspoons yellow cornmeal
- 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, washed well, spun dry, and chopped coarse
- 1/4 pound smoked mozzarella, grated coarse (about 1 cup)
For pizza dough
- 3/4 cup warm water (110° -115°F.) plus additional tablespoon if necessary
- a 1/4-ounce package (2 1/2 teaspoons) active dry yeast
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
Directions: Make pizza dough: - In a large bowl stir together water and yeast and let stand until foamy, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in flour and salt and blend until mixture forms a dough, adding additional tablespoon water if too dry.
- On a lightly floured surface knead dough about 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. (Alternatively, dough may be made in a standing electric mixer, In a bowl of mixer make dough as described above. With dough hook knead dough about 5 minutes, or until smooth and elastic.)
- Put dough in a very lightly oiled deep bowl, turning to coat, and let rise, covered loosely, in a warm place 1 1/2 hours or until doubled in bulk.
- Punch down dough and divide into 4 equal pieces. If making ahead of time put each piece in a small, sealable plastic bag and seal, pressing out excess air. Can be chilled overnight or frozen 2 weeks. If dough is frozen, thaw overnight in refrigerator before using. Makes enough dough for four 12- by 6-inch oval pizzas.
Make the pizza: - Preheat oven to 450°F. and very lightly grease a large baking sheet.
- Cut smaller eggplant piece into 1/3-inch-thick slices.
- Spread eggplant slices in one layer on half of baking sheet and season with salt. Put remaining eggplant piece and all but 2 tomato halves on second half of baking sheet.
- Roast vegetables in middle of oven 15 minutes, or until eggplant slices are tender, and transfer eggplant slices to a plate. Roast remaining vegetables 15 minutes more, or until eggplant piece is very tender.
- Remove baking sheet from oven and cool vegetables slightly.
- Scoop out flesh from eggplant piece into a food processor and purée with roasted tomatoes, unroasted tomato, vinegar, sugar, and salt to taste. Sauce and sliced eggplant may be made 1 day ahead and kept separately, covered and chilled.
- On a work surface sprinkled with 1 teaspoon cornmeal roll out 1 piece of dough into a 12- by 6-inch oval and transfer to a baking sheet. Repeat with remaining cornmeal and dough, ending up with 2 ovals on each of 2 baking sheets.
- Increase temperature to 500°F.
- Spread sauce on dough ovals, leaving a 1/2-inch border around edge of each pizza. Arrange eggplant slices on sauce and sprinkle pizzas with basil and mozzarella.
- Bake pizzas in lower and middle thirds of oven 15 minutes, or until crusts are crisp and pale golden.
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Upcoming Events: Save the Date!
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We're officially half-way through the CSA season and that means that it's time to start thinking about our annual Member Potluck! Mark Sunday, October 14th on your calendars as the big day! Start thinking about your recipes and we'll be sending out more information as the date gets closer.
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Registration is open for the Late Fall Share!
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It's hard to believe it but it's time to start thinking about the Late Fall shares. This is your chance to extend the CSA season all the way into December with 7 weeks of extra shares! The late-fall share is available in one size that is similar in size to the regular share. Don't be afraid that it will be too much food as many of the items can be stored into January. You'll find a mix of cool weather veggies and storage crops that, with proper storage, can extend your local vegetable season well into the winter!
You can look forward to the following items in your Late Fall share, harvest permitting: Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, garlic, celeriac, turnips, winter squashes, spinach, winter greens, leeks, apples, and lettuce Pickups are available in the following locations: - Burlington
- Dracut
- Lanesville (Gloucester)
- Lawrence
- Reading
- East Somerville
- Union Square
- Tewksbury
- and home delivery in the Boston area by Metro Pedal Power!
You can register online or email Ginger with any questions! |
Other Worthy Events
| 2nd Annual East Broadway Foodie Crawl: September 18th
"Food fiend or East Somerville friend? On Tuesday September 18th, come take a cultural crawl with us through the East Somerville restaurant corridor and discover Somerville's best kept culinary secrets. The authentic foods will take you straight to the sights and smells of Ethiopia, the tastes of El Salvador and the colors of Haiti. Last year, over one thousand people came and ate their way through this showcase of ethnic cuisine. This September over a dozen restaurants, representing five continents, will once again throw open their doors to a horde of foodies. Join us on this cavalcade of taste and culture!
All Profits Support East Somerville Main Streets, a non-profit 501c3 organization dedicated to building a vibrant neighborhood life and a unique destination through a thriving business district. Community starts at the heart."
Save the Date for theMOVE's annual fundraiser + celebration on September 8th.
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 Groundwork Share-A-Share™ Update
|  Thanks to generous donations by you (CSA members) to the Groundwork Share-A-Share™ fund, we were able to subsidize the cost of shares in 2012 for over thirty individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.
We'd love to be able to subsidize late fall shares as well. Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by donating to Groundwork Share-A-Share.
To learn more about the program, click here. Thank you all for helping us keep this program going in 2012! |
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Contact us:
Farmer Dave's
437 Parker Road
Dracut, MA 01826
(978) 349-1952
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