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
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Urgent call for Boxes!

Our quantity of reusable plastic boxes has reached critical levels. Unfortunately this week we ran out of boxes and had to send out many of our shares in cardboard boxes. This is not the sustainable way that we like to provide our shares.

Please, please, please return any and all Farmer Dave's boxes that you have. If you forget to bring your box to return at pick up we kindly ask that you transfer your share to plastic bags and leave the empty box behind. 

Thank you! 

Farm Notes : Farm Reflections
Lucy surveying the sweet potato crop
 
The sun now rises later in the morning. Gone are the days when we could get out into the fields as early as 5AM. The nights are getting cooler. The morning dew is lasting longer. It is becoming obvious that we are now over the hill, past the peak of the season. Now the focus begins to shift. We will be seeing out the rest of the harvest of the summer time vegetables. We will be focusing on planting and weeding those crops that will continue with us long after a fall frost. We are ensuring that all our fruit trees and plants are strong going into long winter dormancy. While the focus changes, the work by no means diminishes. There are simply fewer hours of warm daylight to get everything done.

As the daylight diminishes it is also a good time to consider curling up with a good book in the near future. With that thought, we wish several of our farm teams members well as they move from the farm to their academic institutions of higher learning. They have worked hard and learned much on the farm. I trust they will use the hard working life of the farm as a standard setter as they embark on their future.

While savoring the sweet summer flavors of tomatoes, corn and more, I look forward to the fall harvests ahead.

Farmer Dave 
In Your Share: Week 11      
 
We are now exactly half way through the main season CSA share! Fall vegetables are right around the corner. This week brings us the first harvest of early Ginger Gold apples.

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. 
  • Kohlrabi
  • Watermelon or red radishes
  • Corn
  • Eggplant
  • Kale, Swiss chard or Lettuce
  • Pickling Cucumbers
  • Slicing Cucumbers
  • Bell, Cubanelle or Carmen Peppers
  • Assorted summer squash
  • Slicing Tomatoes
  • Cherry Tomatoes
  • Scallions
  • and more!
Fruit Share:
  • Ginger Gold Apples
  • Watermelon
  • Blueberries

*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! 
 
Pasta with Burst Cherry Tomato Sauce and Kale

Adapted by Farmer Dave's from NYT

Ingredients
  • 1lb pasta of your choice 
  • 1 bunch kale or swiss chard, stems removed and sliced into ribbons
  • 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 onion, diced
  • 6 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
  • Red pepper flakes to taste
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 quart cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1-2 carmen or xanthi peppers (red, orange or yellow), chopped
  • 1/2 cup grated romano cheese
  • Generous handful of toasted pine nuts
  • 1 bunch fresh chopped mint or basil
  • 4 scallions, thinly sliced
     
Directions:
  1. Bring a large pot of heavily salted water to a boil. Add pasta and kale or swiss chard and cook until pasta is 1 minute shy of al dente. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup pasta cooking water.
     
  2. Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat for 15 seconds, then add the oil and heat until it thins out and easily coats the pan when swirled. Add onion and cook until translucent. Add garlic, red pepper flakes and a large pinch of salt and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and peppers and cook until the tomatoes burst, turn golden at the edges and shrivel up slightly, about 5 to 8 minutes.
     
  3. Add pasta to pan and toss with tomato mixture; if the mixture looks dry add a little pasta cooking water a few tablespoons at a time. Cook over high heat until the pasta finishes cooking in the sauce. Toss pasta with 1/2 cup grated romano cheese and pine nuts.
     
  4. Divide pasta among warmed pasta bowls. Top with a generous mound of fresh mint or basil and scallions. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and more pepper before serving.
     
Want some more ideas?  Check out our Pinterest Recipe Boards! or Vegisodes with Stacey and Cassie!

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

Vegisode of the Week! 
 
Tomatoes!

Tomatoes!
Tomatoes!
In this Vegisode, Cassie and Stacey walk us through several quintessential ways to store and prepare fresh tomatoes.

-How to store
-Roasted tomatoes two ways (sauce, and soup)
-Caprese Salad
-Bruschetta
-Grilled Cheese and Tomato Sandwiches
-Salsa
-Stuffed tomatoes with tuna salad, chicken salad, mac and cheese
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 2016!  

 

C ontact Us:

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

(978) 349-1952
farm@farmerdaves.net