Stone Soup
The Newsletter of Stearns Farm CSA
July 10, 2010 Volume 11, Number 6
In This Issue:
| ON THE STAND THIS WEEK: head lettuce; scallions; carrots; summer squash, zucchini, and patty pans; cucumbers; beets; savoy and green cabbage. PYO: braising greens of chard, kale, and collards; green beans; blueberries; raspberries; tea herbs; culinary herbs; edible flowers; a bouquet of flowers. COMING UP: mini bunching onions, early potatoes, onions. |
From the Field: Heat/Trish Stefanko
Frann preparing to water new transplants
The recent heat has been a challenge for us all. We have been triaging with irrigation, directing water to the most fragile crops and encouraging those with the ability to extend roots deeper for underground moisture to do just that. Heat lovers like tomatoes and summer squash push forward with fruit growth. But lettuces, which are not heat-lovers by nature, become bitter and send out seeds under the weight of this record-breaking heat and lack of rain. Farmers always plan for worse-case scenarios by selecting seed varieties that have good track records under stressful conditions. And yet there are limits to stress tolerance (for the vegetable varieties, not the farmers), so we keep a close watch on all of them and shore them up and encourage them and give them extra this and that, hoping to pull them through these times. Remember that all of us, fauna and flora, are feeling the heat of this unusual time.
We put so much of ourselves into this beautiful place. Our tending and caring for this land never ceases. And so it follows that we tend and care for each other, especially during times like the past week of extreme heat. Thanks to the members who signed up to work and showed up despite ninety-plus degree temperatures. Thanks to all of the sharers who, at pick -ups, let us know you appreciate our efforts in this heat. Thank you to Tuesday and Friday work-for-shares who chug along with enthusiasm despite sore backs and sweaty brows. You are the backbone of harvest days and I appreciate your willingness to keep on going. I feel grateful for being a member of this group of four women whose devotion to Stearns makes the rest possible.
Perhaps the silver lining of such temperatures is that we all (except farming staff!!) slow down. Hopefully, as Kathy invited all of us to do last week, we take this opportunity to truly see the beauty that resides on every inch of this land.
Latest wildlife sightings: Leopard frog over in the late tomatoes. Big American toad in the summer squash. Orioles heard but not seen. Various Rodentia scooting around here and there. Snapping turtle skeleton found in the compost pile out back. Bard owl hooting in the back forest during the days. Cat bird who loves to share lunch with us. Ruthie!!. Coyote tracks, white tail dear tracks, and best of all…wild turkey momma with 6 fluffy little kids following her through the front beds. You can see their tracks if you take the time and look closely!
The heat
Early AM
Turkeys with momma
Leaving so night creatures emerge…we only see evidence of their presence
Harvest push
Keeping up the pace in the afternoons
Keeping eachother going
Working as a team..picking up slack and having others do the same for you
Microcosm tasks and macrocosm picture..keeping the whole thing in mind
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Garden Showcase: Beets/Donna Savastio
Photo courtesy of Johnny's Selected Seeds
Beets can be eaten raw, boiled, steamed, sauteed or roasted, which is my personal favorite. Roasting beets whole with their skins on seems to bring out their natural sweetness. After roasting, you can peel them and slice them into your recipes. They are wonderful tossed with a bit of butter or olive oil and salt, and also go splendidly with goat cheese in a salad (an amazing combo).
One thing to keep in mind is that they do stain or “bleed,” but cutting boards can be cleaned with a little bleach and water. A helpful hint to minimize staining is to wash and boil them whole and unpeeled. Once they soften from boiling you can let them cool, cut off the stem and root ends and rub off the skin. Now they are ready for slicing, chopping or grating with less mess from the bleeding.
Beet greens are edible too, but at the moment you will be getting your beets without the tops. Our beets have been invaded by leaf miner, an insect that in its larval stage mines its way between the leaf membranes (it's the same insect that is damaging our chard). Later in the season we may get beets with their greens, and when we do, don't throw away the green tops—they can be used like any other leafy green but will shrink considerably when cooked.
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Field Showcase: Purslane and Lambsquarter/Donna Savastio
Purslane
While the FDA lists purslane as a pervasive weed, it is actually an edible plant with a very earthy, slightly acidic flavor with crisp succulent stems and leaves. It can be eaten as a leafy vegetable with what is described as a slightly sour and salty taste. It is eaten throughout much of Europe and Asia and can be used fresh in a salad or cooked like spinach. Because of its texture and sort of gelatinous quality it is apparently also very good in soups and stews. Mexican cooks like the hot, peppery bite of purslane with eggs and pork. Chinese cooks like its sharp flavor with noodles and the Greeks love it in salad. It also apparently is used in Europe to deglaze pan juices and make them thicker after making an oven roast. Purslane boasts the highest content of omega-3 (the same as in fish and algae) and is very low in calories—about 15 calories per 4 ounce serving.
Lambsquarter
To harvest, pull up both purslane and lambsquarter from the roots—this helps with weed control; snip and eat just the tender topmost leaves—they taste the best. Go on and give them a try—I hope you will enjoy them!
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Children's Garden Update/Lauren Rota
The Children's Garden has had some busy little gardeners recently! On June 30th, we used our little wheelbarrows and rakes and laid new wood chips on the paths throughout the garden. We selected a plank of board, and a location for our new balance board. It is a "Bridge through Thyme" and Lambs Ears. We tested it many times to ensure that it would be the best location, the safest and the most fun. In between all this hard work, we watered the flowers and plants with our watering cans and enjoyed dipping our feet in the large bucket that held the water. We also played hide and find with some little farm animals. Just the right fun for a hot summer day! The radishes and nasturtiums were offering themselves to us from the garden with such abundance that we just had to harvest them. The colors and flavors brought many happy faces and much laughter. Finally, we enjoyed a cart ride to the compost pile at the end of the field to deposit our weeds.Come join us! We will be inviting children to come work in the children's garden, while parents put in their work hours, once a month. Our next children's work time is Wednesday, July 21st from 10-12. RSVP to lauren
laurenrota.com. We would love to have you!back to top
Farm News: Wish List
Our wish list is modest this week: we need a a two-drawer file cabinet for the office (it has to be fairly heavy duty to put up with farm life), some more trowels for field work, and buckets: white 5-gallon buckets are needed urgently, and some smaller buckets would be greatly appreciated.
We would also love to have a pool, for cooling down over-heated staff, and after-lunch coffee delivery (iced coffee please, for now; in October we'll be ready for hot coffee). Thanks, as always, to all who donate items to the farm and help in so many ways.
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Work-for-Share Position Available: Newsletter Editor for 2011 Season
With great regret I have decided not to serve as the editor of Stone Soup for the 2011 farm season. I am hoping to find my replacement during the current season so that we will have time to work together and ensure a smooth transition.
Being the editor of Stone Soup is a unique way to be part of the Stearns Farm community, and not only because there is only one of you! You work closely with Kathy, the staff, and some of the work-for-sharers (Children’s Garden Coordinator, Herb Garden Coordinator, Volunteer Coordinator). You learn a lot about the inner workings of the farm, and you gain a deeper appreciation of what it takes to put our shares on the stand each week for 20 weeks. You work at your desk, instead of in the fields, and you have total control of your work schedule—as long as you get the newsletter out on time each week.
Like many things at the farm, the job of newsletter editor is more complex than it might seem. The editor needs to be both flexible and accommodating and a stickler for deadlines. Everyone who contributes to the newsletter is also doing something else for the farm—usually quite a number of other things—so the editor needs to be very proactive about keeping track of contributions and deadlines, without becoming a pain in the neck. Once the items are in, the editor needs to, well, edit them (almost always just proofreading). Of course, the editor needs to write news items and features of varying length and complexity, sometimes well in advance, other times on the fly. Stone Soup is published once in the spring, weekly during the twenty-week summer season, and monthly during the three months of the winter share.
The editor also needs to get in touch with her inner photographer. While we do have some very talented photographers among our sharers who contribute photos on special occasions, I have taken the bulk of the photos that appear in the newsletter during my tenure, as did Sarah, my predecessor, and that is really the most practical way to manage this part of the newsletter.Finally, the editor needs to have a flexible schedule that is compatible with the weekly rhythm of the season. This is the part that has been most challenging for me. Balancing work, family, and frequent summer travel has proven to be more than I can do comfortably.
In terms of technical job requirements, the editor has to be very comfortable with word processing and digital photography and must be willing to learn basic HTML (it’s easy—really!). A background as a writer, editor, or journalist seems like a necessity (but perhaps isn’t). Knowledge of farming or gardening are helpful, but not required—you can learn on the job.
If you think you might be interested in becoming the next editor of Stone Soup and would like more information about what the job entails and how we would work together this year, please contact me at nzsofer
comcast.net. Splitting this work-for-share position is a possibility. back to top
Upcoming Events
| July 15 | Date by which half your work hours must be completed or paid |
| July 17 | Garlic Harvest |
| July 21 | Children's Garden Work Day |
| August 13-15 | NOFA Northeast Organic Farming Association Summer Conference |
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Our Mission
To preserve the historic Stearns farm as a sustainable all-natural garden, providing locally grown food in partnership between the land, the farmer, and the community
- by using the CSA model
- by providing fair compensation, adequate working conditions, and support to the farmer
- by practicing good stewardship
- by donating excess food to the needy
- by encouraging the community to actively participate in the farming process
- by providing learning opportunities
- by fostering relationships between the CSA and the wider community and
- by providing a beautiful place that is nourishing to body and soul.
Contact Us
Stearns Farm CSA862 Edmands Road
Framingham, MA 01701
(508) 371-4310
| Name | Position | Contact Information | |
| Stearns Farm | Main phone | contactstearnsfarmcsa.org | 508-371-4310 |
| Trish Stefanko | Farm Manager | t8588hotmail.com | 508-887-5649 |
| Sonya Ciavola | Assistant Farm Manager | saciavolagmail.com | |
| Cathy Briasco | Administration | stearnsfarmbriasco.org | 508-358-4167 |
| Sara Abramovitz | Volunteer Coord. | saralarryverizon.net | 978-443-9747 |
| Lauren Rota | Children's Garden | laurenlaurenrota.com | 617-999-6932 |
| Nomi Sofer | Newsletter Editor | nzsofercomcast.net | 508-875-2080 |
| Leslea Linebarger | Newsletter Editor | leslea2verizon.net | 508-624-0802 |
| Tom Yelton | Webmaster | webmasterstearnsfarmcsa.org | 978-443-5138 |
See Also Public/Staff and Public/Volunteers to contact a specific person.
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Recipes: Lovely Color with Beets
This week I am focusing on beets and the lovely color combination possibilities that they offer us. I personally tend to roast them a lot, and get tired of making them the same way over and over again. Hopefully the recipes I have chosen for this week will inspire you to do other things with beets that not only taste great, but are also beautiful on our plates!
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Grated Raw Beet Salad
Serves 4Adapted from The New York Times "Recipes for Health," by Martha Rose Shulman
According to the author, people who swear they hate beets love this salad! It’s a North African-inspired mixture of grated, uncooked beets dressed with orange and lemon juices and a small amount of olive oil. It makes a great starter when you’re serving something robust as a main course, like a couscous.
1/2 pound beets
3 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoon minced chives, mint or parsley (or a combination)
Salt to taste
Leaves of 1 romaine lettuce heart
Peel the beets with a vegetable peeler and grate in a food processor fitted with the shredding blade. If you don’t have a food processor you can use a box grater.
Combine the orange juice, lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with the beets and herbs. Season to taste with salt.
Line a salad bowl or platter with romaine lettuce leaves, top with the grated beets and serve.
Advance preparation: The grated beets can be dressed and kept in the refrigerator, covered well, for a couple of days. They become more tender but don’t lose their texture, and the mixture becomes even sweeter as the beet juices mingle with the citrus. Toss again before serving.
printable version
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Beet Risotto with Greens
Adapted from Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone by Deborah MadisonServes 4
This risotto has a marvelous jewel-like color! It has a delicious deep taste, tempered by the greens, lemon and parmesan. If you want a proper risotto texture you need to use Arborio or another starchy short grain rice and keep stirring! Keep you stock hot as you add it to the risotto- cold stock will not give you the creamy texture that you want in a risotto. This would make a lovely main course or a starter for a larger meal. If you are vegan you can substitute the butter with olive oil and leave out the Parmesan. A food processor would make short work of grating the beets!
5-1/2 to 6-1/2 cups vegetable stock, including beet or chard stems
3 tablespoons of butter, or a mixture of butter and olive oil or just olive oil
1-1/2 cups Arborio rice
½ cup dry white wine or dry vermouth
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
2 tablespoons chopped basil or one tablespoon dried basil
2 to 3 medium beets, peeled and grated, about 2 cups
2 to 3 cups of greens, beet greens, chard, kale or spinach, all stems removed and finely chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Grated zest and the juice from one lemon
½ cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
Get your stock simmering on a low simmer on the stove. Using a wide pot, heat your butter (or olive oil or mixture of both) and add your onion. Cook over medium heat a few minutes, stirring frequently. Add the rice, stir to coat well and cook for a couple of minutes. Add the wine and simmer until absorbed, then stir in half of the parsley, the basil, the grated beets and your chard or kale. Add 2 cups of stock, cover and cook at a lively simmer until the stock is absorbed. Begin to add the remainder of your hot stock in ½ cup increments, stirring constantly until each addition of stock is absorbed before adding the next. When you have about one cup of stock left add your beet greens or spinach. Taste for salt, season with pepper and stir in the lemon juice and the lemon zest. Remove from heat, stir in your Parmesan and the remaining parsley. Serve with extra cheese at the table.
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Beets and Carrots
Serves 2This is a nice side dish that is delicious, easy and lovely on the table.
4 small carrots or one large one
2 small beets or one large one
1 tablespoon butter
Pinch Kosher salt
Pepper to taste
¼ teaspoon sugar
¼ cup water
Chop the carrots and the beets into bite size pieces. Melt butter in a small pan with a lid. Add the carrots beets and the remaining ingredients. Stir well. Place lid on the pot and let cook on medium-high for about 10 minutes or until a bit soft. (I would start testing them after five minutes). If there is any water left in the pan use a slotted spoon to remove the vegetables and serve.
printable version
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The purpose of this recipe page is to share ideas for enjoying Stearns Farm produce. This year we are going to focus on combinations that use as much as possible of the current week’s ingredients. The arrival of each vegetable, fruit or herb adds to our options for fresh, truly seasonal meals. One of the pleasures of this kind of eating is the chance to flex our creativity and combine our discoveries to keep things interesting and have fun as we prepare and preserve the harvest.
What do you do with your Stearns Farm produce? Please share your recipes, vegetarian and vegan options, family favorites and seasonal menu ideas. Send recipes, questions, tips on storage and food preservation, and other suggestions to dsavastio
verizon.net. Thanks!back to top
Revision 1. Last edited Sat 10 Jul 2010 9:24am by NaomiSofer