CSA Week 11 and Farm Stand Updates

It has been an all-star farm crew this year! We were lucky enough to have 4 returning crew members as assistant growers this year, Sarah, Siobhan, Anna and Carmella, along with returning part-time crew members Rebecca, Dave, and Sue. We also had a great crew of new-to-farming college students Lily, Brooke, Adrian and Leah helping us plant, weed, and harvest this summer. There will be a smaller farm crew soon when the college students all head back to school so this week we will focus on weeding fall crops with a big group to get us in good shape to finish out the season! We will also be planting more lettuce, salanova and escarole (and covering to protect from deer!), harvesting more garlic, and seeding fall greens including spinach.

In the CSA this week:

• Seedless watermelon - These are a red watermelon with just a few white seeds and no black seeds.

• Eggplant or Sweet colored peppers - Members will have a choice each day.

• Scarlett frills mustard greens - These purple spicy greens are back! If you prefer a milder flavor then lightly cooking them is the way to go (see recipe below).

• Potatoes - yellow or red

• Tomatoes

• Green and purple peppers

• Uncured garlic

• Fresh Onions or scallions - There will be one of these two items available each day

• Carrots

• Zucchini

• Cucumbers

• Kale

• Lettuce

CSA Pick-Your-Own:

• Cherry tomatoes

• Edamame or Dragon Tongue beans- Members will have a choice of one of these items. The Dragon’s Tongue beans are cream colored and speckled with purple. When they are small and tender they can be prepared just like green beans. Once they get a bit larger you can “shell” them.

• Hot peppers - One per membership to spice up your cooking this week.

• Herbs - Sage, thyme, oregano, chives, mint, parsley, dill, dill flowers, cilantro and basil

In the farm store:

In addition to the items listed in the CSA, we will have seedless and pickling cucumbers, summer squash, and sunflowers. We will not have flower bouquets this week. We will have sweet corn from Verrill Farm at the beginning of the week (we do not yet know if they will have another delivery for us later this week), mushrooms from Fat Moon Farm and eggs from Pete and Jen’s.

We accept credit card, cash, check and EBT in the farm store. The farm store is open Tuesday - Friday 11am - 6pm and Saturday 9am - 3pm. We also continue to take online pre-orders for Wednesday and Friday pick-up. The link for online orders is https://openfoodnetwork.net/barrett-s-mill-farm/shop#/shop. Online ordering currently opens at 6pm on Tuesday for Wednesday pick-up and 6pm on Thursday for Friday pick-up.

PYO Flower CSA

The PYO Flower garden is open only to Flower CSA members this week while we wait for more flowers to bloom. We will re-open to the general public next week. The first of 4 varieties of sunflowers we seeded in the flower field are now blooming. Other varieties currently available for picking include zinnias, bachelor button, marigolds, gomphrena, strawflower, celosia, statice, ammi, rudbeckia, scabiosa, cosmos and amaranth. The next planting of snapdragons is just beginning to bloom. Please pick flowers above branching points. Picking hours are during any farm store hours: Tuesday-Friday 11am-6pm and Saturday 9am-3pm. We recommend bringing your own pruners or scissors as well as water for transporting your flowers home.

Garlic-and-Greens Spaghetti

by The Food Network

• 16 cloves garlic, thinly sliced

• 1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 2 medium onions, halved and sliced

• 1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes, or more to taste

• Kosher salt

• 12 cups torn mustard greens

• 12 ounces spaghetti

• 1/4 cup grated pecorino romano cheese

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Meanwhile, cook the garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and crisp, about 3 minutes. (Be careful not to over-brown the garlic or it will taste bitter.) Using a slotted spoon, transfer the garlic chips to a paper-towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 2 tablespoons oil into a small bowl to use as a dip for crusty bread, if desired. Add the onions and red pepper flakes to the oil in the pan; cook, stirring, until the onions are light brown, about 10 minutes. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt.

2. When the onions are almost done, add the greens to the boiling water and cook, uncovered, until just tender, about 2 minutes. Using tongs, remove the greens, shaking off the excess water; add them to the skillet with the onions (set the pot of water aside). Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Return the cooking water to a boil. Add the spaghetti and cook until al dente, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove and reserve about 1 cup cooking water; drain the pasta and transfer to a serving bowl. Add the cheese and toss. Add the greens and some of the reserved pasta water and toss, adding more water as necessary to keep the pasta from clumping. Top with the garlic chips.