Community Supported Agriculture

In This Issue
Tuesdays

Choice Style
3:00pm - 6:30pm

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

Farmer Dave's Farm
437 Parker Road
Dracut, MA

Helpful Links
Like us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Find us on Pinterest

Find us on Yelp
Garlic Harvest       

  

On Saturday we welcomed some of our wonderful CSA members out to the farm to help with the garlic harvest. It was a beautiful morning, perfect for a few hours work in the sun. After an hour of harvesting, one of our guests commented that she had developed such a greater appreciation for the labor and love that goes into producing the food for our CSA.

 


Each clove of garlic is planted by hand in the fall and covered by a bed of leaf mulch. In the spring when the bulbs are beginning to emerge we will go through the field and clear a little bit of the mulch away from the emerging garlic plant to ensure that it is able to stretch through the leaves to find the sun. In June, we harvest the garlic scapes (the flower) from the plant to force the reproductive energy of the garlic plant back into the bulb so that it forms larger cloves for us to enjoy. Now we are harvesting and cleaning the fully formed garlic cloves by hand. We will all enjoy some of this freshly harvested garlic in our shares this week. Some will be dried in the barn to save for later distribution and about a quarter of the harvest will be saved to plant again in the fall for next year's crop.

We hope that you enjoy the fresh garlic this week! It may just have been harvested by one of your fellow CSA members!

Cheers,

Farmer Dave  

 
Please Return CSA Bins          

This is a friendly reminder to please check around your house and return any empty CSA bins to your pick up. We're starting to run short of bins and it's really important that they are returned to us each week.

If you forget your bin we kindly request that you transfer your share into bags to transport home and leave your empty bin at the pick up.

Thank you!  
In Your Share: Week 9         
Summer squashes

This is what we are planning and hoping to harvest this week.  Ultimately Mother Nature has the last word so the actual contents of your share will vary.
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • Celery
  • Corn
  • Cucumbers
  • Kale
  • Sweet peppers
  • Radishes
  • Summer Squash
  • Garlic
  • Fresh Onion
  • and more!

Fruit Share

  • Blueberries
  • Peaches
  • Nectarines
  • and possibly more if we're lucky!

*Farmer Dave's does not spray fungicides on our berries. This provides what we believe to be a safer product for our members and farmers but means that we can only harvest in optimal (dry) conditions. If there is rain in the forecast we will not be able to harvest berries for our fruit shares because they would mold quickly once harvested. We also recommend that our members plan to use their berries within 48 hours of pickup. They will not last as long as store bought berries.  

Recipe of the Week     
Kid (and Adult) Friendly Kale-Broccoli Salad
 
From Ginger.

My 15 month old daughter and husband couldn't get enough of this easy to throw together salad. It can be served right away but is better if made the night before so the dressing can really absorb into the kale and broccoli leaves.

Ingredients
  • 1 bunch kale
  • 1 head broccoli
  • 1-2 sweet peppers
  • 1/2 cup chopped scallions
  • 3 Tablespoons sunflower or olive oil
  • 3 Tablespoons sour cream or plain yogurt
  • 1 Tablespoon mayo
  • 3 Tablespoons white wine vinegar (more to taste)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar or honey
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 Tablespoons fresh dill
  • Freshly ground pepper to taste
Directions
  1. Thinly slice kale, broccoli, pepper and scallions. Place in a large bowl and toss to combine.
  2. In a small bowl wisk together oil, sour cream, mayo, vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and dill. Adjust with more vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Pour dressing over salad and toss well to combine.
  3. Can be served immediately but is better if made ahead of time to allow the dressing to permeate and soften the kale.

Have a great tip or recipe to share?  Email Ginger to have it included in our newsletter and recipe blog!

Groundwork Share-a-Share:
 
Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by  donating to Groundwork Share-A-Share. With the help of CSA members like you, Groundwork has been able to help subsidize the cost of CSA shares for families who would otherwise be unable to afford participation.

 

To learn more about the program,  click here.

 

Thank you all for helping us keep this program going in 2015!  

 

Contact Us:

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

(978) 349-1952