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| Welcome to Mehaffey Farm! |
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Greetings!
We thank the gods for this rain, and just in the nick of time! We have been irrigating, but irrigation will never substitute for a darn good soaking. They're predicting several days of wet weather, and hearing it was coming, we were able to get many of the longer-keeing items harvested ahead on Saturday. We dug up bushels of fingerling, red and all blue potatoes, and picked all the cukes and zukes we could find. We picked the last of the first crop of green beans. The plants are starting to get brown and tired and the beans aren't as pretty, but they still taste great. A new crop of new bush beans are almost ready, and we probably will be able to start harvesting them this week.
In continutation of the veggie bonanaza, this week you'll have eggplant, peppers, potatoes, cukes, zukes, tomatoes, corn, and lovely heads of lettuce in your share. Enjoy!
U-Pick The new green bean crop may be available by late in the week. You can check the first row which is on the way out, but it may revive a little after the rain. The second row is where tender, delicious new beans are now forming. Again, the availability of the U-Pick crops will depend on when you come to pick. We're going to go ahead and pick anything that needs to be picked, rather than letting the beans get too big and overgrown, as this will cause the plants to stop producing. As always, if you don't find enough to pick, please let me know by calling my cell phone number that's listed in the barn. Be sure to get some delicious, sweet cherry tomatoes. We will keep a supply of the small brown paper bags in the barn on the shelf in the pickup area. The Husk Cherry tomatoes aren't quite ready yet, but we've tried a few early ones and they are delicious! Pick some basil too!
Non U-Pick customers are always welcome to pick some basil too! Rather than cut the basil, it will stay much fresher if you snip some off on your way home. |
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What's Happening on the Farm
We're having the best year ever for cucumbers, summer squash, eggplants, and peppers this year. The greenhouse tomatoes are HUGE! And the outdoor tomatoes are starting to ripen.
We think we finally have a handle on the weeds, and we're starting to harvest a few melons. We've been doing some pest control on the Japanese beetles that are here in numbers we've never seen before. We've hung traps all around the gardens, which lure them in and do help a little. Before the rain, we did resort to spraying all the brassicas with Pyrethrins, also known as "Natural Py." This is a derivative of chrysanthemum, and is an accepted organic substance.
Please let us know if you are interested in purchasing a Late Season Share, we still have a couple left. This share goes from Oct. 1 until the week before Christmas. Share pick-up is every other week, and includes items like potatoes, winter squash, garlic, leeks, onions, brussells sprouts, root vegetables, cabbage, and greens from our greenhouse. It also includes canned or frozen items like tomatoes, relishes, jams, salsas, and many other items. It's a real bargain at $400. Since now is the time to plant some of the crops, we need to know how many shares we will have. We welcome your deposit, and you can pay the rest in installments. Don't miss out! |
Recipe of the Week/Putting Food By Tips
Recipe of the Week:
Ratatouille --
This is my mother's recipe...every time I make it I think of her! (Go here to see my post from last year's ratatouille making! http://mehaffeyfarm.wordpress.com/2010/08/11/ratatouille-like-my-mama-made/)
What do we do with an overabundance of summer squash? Make a huge batch of ratatouille of course! This recipe makes good use of all the wonderful height-of-summer vegetables that are coming out of the garden now.This recipe is best cooked over long slow heat. It tastes even better the next day. Grate on some good parmesan cheese before serving. Can be served as is as a side dish, or over rice for a delicious vegetarian supper. Freezes well.
Ingredients:
2 or 3 summer squash
2 eggplants
2 or 3 large onions
2 or 3 peppers
2 or 3 ripe tomatoes
3 or 4 garlic cloves, smashed and minced
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
2 T oregano
salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
Cut all vegetables into 1 inch cubes and pieces. Salt the eggplant and summer squash liberally with sea salt and place in a colander to drain for at least 15 minutes. Rinse and squeeze excess moisture out with paper towels. You may omit this step, especially when the eggplant is young, but it works really well to remove some of the excess moisture from these veggies so they don't get mushy. Older eggplants also benefit from this treatment which takes out any bittern
ess.
Pour oil a large dutch oven and sautee onions and peppers until softened. Add garlic and cook a couple more minutes. Add eggplant and squash. Cook until they start to soften then add diced tomatoes, herbs and salt and pepper. Cook over low heat at least 1/2 hour. Longer is good if you can wait!
Enjoy!
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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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185 Newbury Road
Rowley, Massachusetts 01969
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