Community Supported Agriculture

In This Issue
Farm Notes
CSA Member Appreciation Potluck!
Please Return CSA Boxes
Those Things in Containers
Late Fall Shares!
In Your Share
Recipe of the Week
Groundwork Share-a-Share

Tuesdays

Choice Style
3:00pm - 6:30pm

Pre-Boxed
3:00pm - 7:00pm

Farmer Dave's Farm
437 Parker Road
Dracut, MA
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Farm Notes: 
 
Harvesting an older planting, next to a newer planting.
  

This week on the farm things are growing. Last week we had a few bursts of rain. This less than half inch of water helped us to get through the week, but we have been irrigating everyday to ensure that the different crops are happy. Every year around this time more and more of the plants begin to show damage from the many naturally occurring plant diseases that make them look not so pretty.  We do all that we can to lessen and delay the damage from the diseases.  We use drip irrigation on many of the crops.  We space them out properly. We rotate the different crop not only from field to field, but also from farm to farm.  Certain diseases overwinter in the soil and have preferred crops.  If we do not grow that crop in the same soil for several years, we are lowering the amount of disease in the soil.  Many visitors to the farm are surprised to not see the same crops in the same place as the previous year. We have several years of records to ensure that we are properly rotating the crops.  Our winter crop planning is sometimes like putting together a chess puzzle (if that could exist).  The faster the plants are growing the more strength they have to combat the diseases.  As the days grow shorter in the year and the plants grow slower, we must be more mindful of the health of the plants. 


 

Though the "easiest" time of year to grow is now passing, we are still planting. For a few more weeks we will continue to transplant lettuce and greens, and to continue to seed the faster growing crops and the spinach for the fall winter and spring. Though they become a little trickier, abundant harvests will continue for months to come. 


 

Enjoy!

Farmer Dave


 

  

CSA Member Appreciation Potluck!

 

Please join us on Sunday, September 28th from 1:00 - 6:30 p.m. for our 2014 CSA Member Appreciation Potluck! It will be fall fun at its finest and a great chance to mingle with your fellow CSA members!  Here's a small sampling of all the excitement that we're planning.

 

  • Apple picking!
  • Hayrides!
  • Games!
  • A Member Talent Show!
  • Food!
  • Tractors and Classic Farm Equipment!
  • Meet your Farmers!
  • Tour the farm and see where your vegetables grew up!
  • And Goats!

 

The potluck is all about showing our love for all of our CSA members.  We know that you are a diverse and talented bunch of people and we'd love to incorporate that into our annual festivities.  So, for the first time this year we're introducing an annual CSA member talent show!  Do you have a special family-friendly talent that you'd like to share with your fellow CSA members?  Are you a musician? Magician? Juggler? Comedian? Dancer? Fire breather? Hula Hooper? Balloon animal maker? Puppeteer?  We would LOVE LOVE LOVE to feature your talent at the potluck.  Email Ginger at [email protected] to participate.

 

This event is free and open to all CSA members and their families! The only requirement is that you bring a potluck dish (at least 10 servings) and the recipe to share.

 

If you pick up on:

You are encouraged to bring a:

Monday

Appetizer or Finger Food

Tuesday

Main Dish

Wednesday

Side Dish

Thursday

Dessert

Friday

Dessert

 

 

If you are planning on joining us at the potluck please R.S.V.P. to [email protected] with the number of people attending and what potluck dish you think you might be bringing!

 

We'd also love some volunteers to help with the following items. Contact Ginger at [email protected] if you'd like to help with any of these:

  • Participating in the CSA Member talent show.  Are you a musician? Juggler? Expert Hula Hooper? Magician?  Share your family friendly talent with your fellow CSA members!
  • Cooking extra food, with extra produce we'll supply 
  • Photographing the event
  • Managing the potluck table (clearing away empty dishes, putting out more food, etc)
  • Clean-up crew. 

We hope to see you there!

 

-The Farmer Dave's Team

 

 

 

Please Continue to Return CSA Boxes

The CSA packing staff is in a bit of a pickle, running dangerously low on CSA boxes. If you have any yellow or green CSA boxes in your home, office, kitchen, car, garage, or yard.....please bring them all back with you to your next CSA pick up. Reusable CSA boxes helps keep the cost of the CSA down, but only if we can, well, reuse them ;). 

 

We appreciate that many of you brought back the boxes from your home. If you have not already done so, please bring in your stash. 

 

We'll have bags at the pick ups for you to carry your share in if you forget your boxes.

 

Thank you for your cooperation! 

Those Things in Containers....

We're talking about berries and cherry tomatoes. 

 

Unlike larger operations that sell to grocery stores, we choose varieties for their flavor, not their durability. They can split and bruise easily, so make sure to take them out of the containers and eat any split tomatoes or soft berries immediately, as these will spoil the fastest. Since we don't use mold inhibitors on our berries, this is very important to avoid mold growth.

Melon Storage

Make sure you store your melons in the refrigerator for maximum shelf life. They will spoil more quickly at room temperature! (Yes, we are all hurting for fridge space. Melon season will come to a sad close soon.)

Late Fall Share is Just Around the Corner....

Now that fall is just around the corner, it's time to start thinking of where you will get your weekly local produce after the vegetable and fruit shares end (the last day of pick-ups is the week of October 20 - 24). Here is some information about our Late Fall Share, and a couple appreciation gifts, too!

 

When?

 

Our Late Fall Share runs for 7 weeks, from October 27 through December 12. 

 

What are some items that might be in the late fall share?

 

Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, celeriac, turnips, winter squashes, spinach, winter greens, leeks, apples, and lettuce. 

 

How much produce?

 

The quantity of produce in the Late Fall Share runs somewhere in between the small vegetable share and the regular vegetable share. We pack them in the yellow CSA crates, but the boxes are often not completely full. Each week there are between 8-15 different kinds of produce.

 

Since some of the produce in the Late Fall Share is ideal for storage, some households find that they can store the produce through February!)

 

Where can I pick up a late fall share?

  • Burlington (Mondays 4:00 - 6:30 pm)
  • Lanesville (Mondays 3:30 - 6:30 pm)
  • Reading (Mondays 3:00 - 6:30 pm)
  • Dracut (Tuesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
  • Lawrence (Tuesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
  • Tewksbury (Wednesdays 2:00 - 6:30 pm)
  • East Somerville (Wednesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
  • Union Square (Wednesdays 3:30 - 6:00 pm)
  • Home Delivery by Metro Pedal Power on Wednesdays (Somerville, Cambridge, many neighborhoods in Boston)
  • Home Delivery by Farmer Dave's on Mondays (North Andover, Andover, Methuen, Windham NH, Salem NH)
When do I need to sign up?

We will have registration open until we fill up. Everyone who registers and pays in full by October 1 will receive a free Farmer Dave's short sleeved T-shirt as a thank you gift (to be distributed before Thanksgiving).

What is the cost of the late fall share?

The Late Fall Share costs $275 by credit card (or $266.75 with the pay-by-check discount) if you are picking up at one of our locations. Delivered to your home or office, the cost of the share is $350 if delivered by Metro Pedal Power (Somerville, Cambridge, Boston) or $345 if delivered by Farmer Dave's (Andover, North Andover, Methuen, Salem, Windham NH). 

Share the Bounty with Friends, and Reap a Sweet Reward!

We are trying out our first ever referral program with the Late Fall Share! If a new member signs up for the Late Fall Share and enters your name in the "how did you hear about Farmer Dave's" question upon check-out, we will give you a free 1 lb-jar of local honey! There is no limit on the number of jars you can earn, so spread the word and get your friends to take the plunge! (The referral bonus only applies to brand-new members who have never had a share with Farmer Dave's before). The honey will be distributed before Thanksgiving. 

How can I sign up?

 

Register online, or contact us at [email protected] for a paper registration form. Pick up a registration form at your CSA pick up, or call us at (978) 349-1952. We're happy to help!

In Your Share: Week 14
The following items will most likely make an appearance in your share this week. 

Ultimately, Mother Nature has the final say; however, this week, we are planning and hoping to harvest the following. 



Vegetable Shares
  • Arugula
  • Kohlrabi
  • Beets
  • Lettuce
  • Corn
  • Lettuce
  • Assorted Peppers
  • Assorted tomatoes
  • And more!
Fruit Shares
  • Raspberries
  • Assorted melons (need ideas? Try freezing chunks of melon, or making jam or jelly!)
  • Peaches
  • And probably more!
Recipe of the Week 

 

Arugula, Corn, and Tomato Salad with Shaved Parmesan
Adapted by Farmer Dave's from Bon Appetit

Ingredients
  • 6 cups (lightly packed) fresh arugula (about 4 ounces)
  • 1 1/2 cups (lightly packed) fresh lettuce leaves
  • 1 1/2 cups corn kernels (cut from about 2 small ears)
  • fresh herbs, to taste
  • 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 2 1/2-ounce piece Parmesan cheese
Preparation:

 

Toss first 5 ingredients in large bowl. Whisk oil and lemon juice in small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle dressing over salad; toss to coat. Divide salad among plates. Using vegetable peeler, shave curls of Parmesan atop each salad and serve.             


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 2013 for over thirty individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.

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 2014!  

 

Contact Us:

Farmer Dave's CSA
437 Parker Road
Dracut, MA 01826

(978) 349-1952