Welcome Summer! Happy Solstice!
Anyone else feel like the sun intensified as soon as the summer solstice passed? Even with ambient air temps in the 70's, being under the sun with all the humidity feels like it could be 100 degrees in the field. It's been a brutal few days dealing with the humidity. I always joke that if it's raining or cloudy, I just want it to stay raining and cloudy for the day. Probably my least favorite weather is a rain followed by the sun that brings all that moisture back into the air. Rainbows be damned.
It's been nice to get some weekly showers with the warm days and the plants are loving it. We've seen a lot of growth since last week. Our zuchini is just starting to produce and cukes aren't far behind. Summer is so much fun because you can almost watch the plants grow. It's a big difference from the spring when the soil is still cool. We should start seeing new veggies coming in almost every week now.
We finished up the end of the week planting all of our flowers on Friday. A few thousand starts went in the ground and were happily rained in the following day. My joke is that we all want to be flower farmers, but veggies (barely) pay the bills. We do a fair amount of bouquets through the summer, but really I plant so many flowers because they're nice to look at in the fields. It makes everyone happy to see all that color when they are in full bloom and the pollinators love them as well.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR FALL CSA!
Summer CSA Shares Week 3
Another round of CSA shares comin at you! We're going to let members take as many garlic scape bunches as the want this week without counting against the 8 items in your share. We plant about 10,000 garlic, which means we have that many scapes to unload! Take as many as you can use! I'm including a recipe for pickled scapes that I love for snacking on or putting in salads.
Zuchini is starting to come in. We'll have a limited amount this week, but by next week we'll be swimming in it. Cucumbers are right on the precipice and should be in shares in the next week or so, and I ate the first cherry tomato last week, which means they are not far out!
Delivery CSA Shares
Basil
Bok Choy
Garlic Scapes
Head Lettuce
Microgreens
Radishes
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Zuchini
Market Style Pickup
Members pick eight items for their basket
Basil
Beets
Bok Choy
Broccolini
Chard
Kale
Head Lettuce
Lettuce Mix
Microgreens
Garlic Scapes
Onions
Oregano
Radishes
Sage
Spicy Salad Mix
Spinach
Sweet Potatoes
Turnips
Find us at the Market!
In addtion to our CSA and farm store, we also setup at three farmers markets throughout the week starting on Thursday mornings!
You can find our produce at:
Cheshire Medical Center in the Cafeteria
Thursdays 10am - 2pm
Jaffrey Farmers Market
Fridays 3pm - 6pm
Keene Farmers Market
Saturdays 9am - 1pm
RECIPE LINK:Sheet-Pan Chicken With Sweet Potatoes and Fennel
A member shared this recipe
with me because it uses a lot of the veggies we had in shares last week. Unfortunately Fennel is tapped out for the time being--there is more growing in the field--but if you've got some leftover from the last two weeks it's a great recipe!
Ingredients
▪2½ to 3pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts (about 10 to 12 ounces each)
▪½cup olive oil
▪Kosher salt
▪2medium sweet potatoes, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 1¼ pounds)
▪1small fennel bulb, cut into 1-inch wedges, fronds chopped and reserved
▪¼cup white wine vinegar
▪1lemon, zested, plus 2 tablespoons juice
▪1tablespoon Dijon mustard
▪1garlic clove, grated
▪1½teaspoons black pepper, plus more to taste
▪1cup crumbled or grated pecorino cheese
▪¼cup parsley, leaves and tender stems
▪4cups leafy greens, such as baby spinach or torn kale (optional)
Instructions
Step 1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. In a large bowl, toss chicken with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and arrange on a large rimmed baking sheet, skin-side up.
Step 2
In the same bowl, toss potatoes and fennel with 2 tablespoons oil. Season with salt and arrange in an even layer around the chicken.
Step 3
Roast until chicken and potatoes are a deep golden brown and fennel is starting to caramelize at the edges, about 35 to 45 minutes.
Step 4
As chicken cooks, combine vinegar, lemon zest and juice, mustard, garlic and 1½ teaspoon pepper in a small bowl. Whisk in remaining ¼ cup olive oil in a thin stream and stir in pecorino. Season with salt and pepper.
Step 5
Transfer the chicken to a cutting board to rest. Toss the fennel fronds and parsley with the roasted vegetables.
Step 6
To serve, cut the chicken off the bone and slice. Divide chicken and vegetables among plates. Serve with a handful of leafy greens if you like, and spoon the pecorino vinaigrette over everything.
RECIPE LINK:Pickled Garlic Scapes
Garlic Scapes can be used as a subsitute anywhere garlic is required, but one of my favorite uses is to make a pesto with them!
Ingredients
▪1 large bunch garlic scapes (about 1/2 pound), trimmed
▪2 cups apple cider vinegar
▪2 cups water
▪2 tablespoons Kosher salt
▪1 tablespoon raw sugar
▪1/2 teaspoon peppercorns
▪1/2 teaspoon mustard seeds
Instructions
1.Trim the garlic scapes by cutting off any dried ends then chop into lengths to fit into the mason jars you're using.
2.Arrange scapes in the jars leaving about 1/4" headspace at the top and add peppercorns and mustard seeds.
3.Combine apple cider vinegar, water, salt and sugar in a medium sauce pot. Bring to a boil and stir until salt and sugar dissolve.
4.Pour the brine into the jars making sure the garlic scapes are completely covered with the liquid. Loosely fit the lids onto the jars and leave out on the counter until room temperature.
5.Once cooled, tighten lids and place in the refrigerator to pickle for at least 2 weeks before using.
RECIPE LINK:Easy Zucchini Carpaccio with Spinach and Basil
Ingredients
▪1 pound zucchini
▪1 teaspoon salt, divided
▪4 cups spinach
▪1 cup torn basil leaves
▪½ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, coarsely grated
▪1 ½ tablespoons good quality extra virgin olive oil
▪2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
▪Salt and black pepper to taste
▪¼ cup toasted pine nuts
▪Zest of 1 lemon
▪¼-½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
▪3 large basil leaves, chiffonade
Instructions
1.With a mandolin, slice the zucchini into thin rounds. Place the slices into a large colander set over a bowl and toss with ¾ teaspoon salt; leave uninterrupted for 20 minutes to drain.
2.Rinse the slices well, drain and pat dry with a kitchen towel.
3.In a large mixing bowl combine the spinach and basil. Toss gently to combine then sprinkle with ¼ cup Parmigiano-Reggiano, remaining ¼ teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle 1 ½ tablespoons oil and lemon juice over the greens and toss together.
4.Arrange the greens on a platter and top with the zucchini. Sprinkle the remaining Parmigiano-Reggiano, pine nuts, lemon zest, red pepper flakes and chiffonade basil over the top. Serve immediately.
Plant Stand Winding Down, but Still Plenty of Plants!
We're going to be putting a lot of the stand plants on the sale table this week, but I've also got some more flower varieties that are ready to come out of the greenhouse.
Hanging Baskets
2 for $45, 3 for $60
The Farm Store is OPEN!
Through the Summer the store will be stocked up on Thursday mornings!
Open to the Public.
Dawn - Dusk
Honor System
In the store this week:
Carrots
Spinach
Microgreens
Salad Mix
Kale
Chard
Bok Choy
Beets
Garlic Scapes
Strawberries
Onions
Potatoes
Sweet Potatoes
Snap Peas
Kielbasa
Maple Breakfast Sausage
Hot Dogs
Pesto
Ice Cream
& Eggs!
Pickup Location for Archway Farm Meat CSA
I heard back from a few of you interested in an Archway Farm meat CSA share, so Mark has added the farm as an additional pickup location. Now if you want to sign up, you can pick up your meat share from the same place you get your veggies! It makes choosing what to make for dinner a breeze!
Visit www.Archway.farm to explore options and order a share delivered to the farm!
