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| Welcome to Mehaffey Farm! |
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Greetings!
While we love all the wonderful spring leafy vegetables, we long for the appearance of summer squash, string beans, tomatoes and the other delicious foods of summer. The squash plants are loaded with flowers and tiny fruits, as are the beans, so we know it won't be long. The cauliflower is ready and will appear in your share this week along with the lettuce, kale and other items. Broccoli too! The melon patch is loaded with some good-sized fruit already, making our mouths water in anticipation. All that good eating in store for us!
As soon as the corn comes in, we'll have that too. Through an arrangement with our friends at Herrick Farm, you get corn in your share for a few weeks. Something else to look forward to. |
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What's Happening on the Farm
What's coming up
We are so close to tomato time! Mike was in the greenhouse on Saturday pruning the vines so that all of the energy goes into the fruit. Now we must wait for the ripening, which should start happening any minute now.
And yes, botanically the tomato is a fruit, but it is considered a vegetable for culinary purposes. There's even a United States Supreme Court decision decreeing it a vegetable. It is rich in lycopene, which may have beneficial health effects, but the most important part as far as we're concerned is the flavor. Nothing tastes like the first fresh, ripe tomato of summer, drizzled with a little olive oil, salt and pepper and a sprig of basil. Get ready!
Bees=Honey!
There was another wonderful occurrence this weekend. We took a full super of honey off one of our hives. This is such exciting news after the disappointment of getting no honey last year.
We knew one of our hives would likely produce this year, and here comes the first batch! The bees are busy working on another super, which is about 1/4 full, so hopefully, we're looking at a little more by the end of the season. For now, the frames which are heavy with their sweet contents are being stored until later this week when we rent a spinner to extract our treasure and put it up in jars.
Garlic too!
Ryan single-handedly dug up all the garlic while Maggie and Desi were at the Gloucester Market on Thursday. (Go Ryan!) It's now drying on racks in the barn. You'll probably smell it when you come to pick up your share! It takes a couple of weeks to cure garlic for storing. The fresh garlic in your share is fine to eat now, or you can let it dry on your counter. We're betting it won't last, but don't despair, you'll find more this week! We'll save a large portion of this year's harvest to plant this fall for next year's crop, with the goal of expanding the size of our crop each year.
U-Pick
The peas are about done-for. The hot weather has really finished them off, and while we're finding one or two, the vines are drying up and not putting out new growth. Very soon we'll pull them all out and replace them with one more planting of green beans for a later harvest.
There are still lots of flowers and some tiny stringbeans on the bush bean plants, and the cherry tomatoes are loaded with green fruit, so we're hoping U-Pick will resume next week. Please check in with us, as this may happen sooner. But there's no rushing Mother Nature!
We put up some Japanese beetle traps to see if we can rescue the basil which has been getting pretty badly attacked. There's still some good basil under the tent. Just peek underneath the reemay hoops for it. Pinch off the flowering tops
Composting
The composting program is going very well. Thank you for your efforts! Remember to bring your compost in exchange for a new bucket each week.
Just a reminder to check your name off on the clipboard in the barn, so we know that you have picked up your share, thank you! And please try to remember to bring your own bags! We do supply recycled grocery bags, in case you forgot. |
Recipe of the Week/Putting Food By Tips
Recipe of the Week:
Roasted Garlic
1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic.
3. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed.
4. Allow the garlic to cool enough so you can touch it without burning yourself. Use a small knife cut the skin slightly around each clove. Use a cocktail fork or your fingers to pull or squeeze the roasted garlic cloves out of their skins.
Can be spread over warm French bread, mixed with sour cream for a topping for baked potatoes, or mixed in with Parmesan and pasta. Delicious!
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See you at the farm!
Maggie, Bill, Ross, Richie, Ryan, Mike and Desi (Suchi and Charger too!)
Mehaffey Farm
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179 Newbury Road
Rowley, 01969
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