Tuesdays
3:00pm - 6:00pm
Cambridge Hospital
1493 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA
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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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Tuesdays
4:00pm - 7:00pm
Community Servings
18 Marbury Terrace
Jamaica Plain, MA
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Tuesdays
Choice Style
3:00pm - 6:30pm
Pre-Boxed
3:00pm - 7:00pm
Groundwork Lawrence
60 Island Street
Lawrence, MA
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Farm Notes
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At this time of year, we are often just a degree away from the end of the season for our frost-sensitive crops. At 32 degrees, the water in the cell walls of some crops will burst, thus ending the life of those crops. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, beans and squash all fall into this category. Many other crops such as broccoli, lettuce, carrots and peas have stronger cell walls that will withstand the freezing temperatures.
In the past ten years, I can recall the earliest frost around September 26 and the latest around October 27. This is a whole month's spread. Years ago, we would plant the frost-sensitive crops so that they were all harvested by the end of September, ensuring that little could be lost to a frosty night. Now, wanting to maintain as much variety in our diets for as many weeks of the year as possible, we push past the limits and keep seeding crops like beans longer than our fore-bearers ever considered (global warming also seems to be lengthening the growing season). While the last beans were always planted by the Fourth of July, we will often seed beans every ten days until the tenth of August -- re-seeding the fields of early corn. The added bonus of the late-seeded beans is that, besides offering us great tasting protein, they also help to add nutrients to the soil for the next year's corn. So, if the last beans do not make it to maturity before frost and did not provide us with some food, I know that we at least fed the soil, making next year's crop richer.
We have learned over the years which of our fields, and which sections of those fields, frost first. There can often be as much as a five degree difference in the same night. This is just one more consideration when we are planning what crops to plant where and when.
The nail biter gets to be when you are in October and there is a predicted chance of frost. Do we pick it all, pick half and try to cover the rest with large "blankets", or take our chances? The difference can be just one degree. If we pick it all but then don't get a frost, we might not have enough beans or peppers for another few weeks, when we could have. Unless the prediction is for temperatures in the mid-20s, we typically harvest enough for a few days ahead and then try to protect the rest. Our large blankets are used almost every spring and fall. If the night is calm, the temperature under the blanket is often five degrees warmer. If the night is windy, there can be little difference. Yet, a light wind at night will often prevent a frost from "settling" on the crops. Warm air rises, so if there is a wind a night, the frostier spots will be in the hollows.
Though we try to stretch our growing season as much as possible, in the end, Mother Nature ultimately decides what we will eat and when.
Farmer Dave
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There are only 2 more pick ups for the main season vegetable and fruit shares! If you would like to continue to receive weekly shares in November and December,
register now for our Late Fall Share!
Late Fall Shares are available in the following locations:
-Burlington (Mondays 4:00 - 6:30 pm)
-Lanesville (Mondays 3:30 - 6:30 pm)
-Reading (Mondays 3:00 - 6:30 pm)
-Dracut (Tuesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
-Lawrence (Tuesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
-Tewksbury (Thursday 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
-East Somerville (Wednesdays 3:00 - 7:00 pm)
-East Boston (Wednesdays 2:00 - 6:00 pm)
-Westford (Fridays 2:00 - 6:00pm)
-Malden (Fridays 3:00 - 6:00pm)
-Quincy (Fridays 3:00 - 6:00pm)
-Home Delivery by Metro Pedal Power on Wednesdays (Somerville, Cambridge, many neighborhoods in Boston)
-Home Delivery by Farmer Dave's in Dracut, Lowell, Tewksbury, Methuen Andover, North Andover, Wakefield, Melrose, Stoneham, North Reading, Reading, Woburn, Salem NH, Pelham NH, Windham NH
Late Fall Share Details
The Late Fall share will run for 7 weeks, beginning in early November and ending in mid-December.
You can look forward the following in items your Late Fall share, harvest permitting:
Brussels sprouts, cabbage, broccoli, sweet potatoes, potatoes, carrots, beets, onions, celeriac, turnips, winter squashes, spinach , winter greens, leeks, apples, and lettuce.
Depending on when the last frost of the season occurs, we sometimes are able to include summer crops like peppers, eggplant, or corn in the late fall share. Each season's mixture varies based on crop conditions.
How can I sign up?
Looking forward to growing for you this fall!
The Farmer Dave's Crew
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New Add-On: Farmer Dave's Bread and Butter Pickles and Pickled Beets
If you meant to preserve the harvest and time got away from you this year, we took care that for you! We now have bread and butter pickles and picked beets made from Farmer Dave's produce and processed locally by CommonWealth Kitchen.
CommonWealth Kitchen is greater Boston's only non-profit food business incubator and food manufacturing social enterprise. CommonWealth Kitchen is a collaborative community, providing shared kitchens combined with business assistance to help aspiring entrepreneurs build great food companies, create jobs, improve healthy food access, and strengthen our regional food economy.
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In Your Share: Week 19
Fall is in the air!
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.
- Spaghetti Squash or Acorn Squash
- Potatoes
- Carrots
- Beets
- Bell, Cubanelle or Carmen Peppers
- Onions
- Swiss Chard
- Cilantro
- Green Tomatoes (here are some recipe ideas)
- and more!
Fruit Share:
- Cortland Apples
- Golden Delicious Apples
- Macoun, MacIntosh, or Fuji Apples
- and possibly more depending on weather
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Try some of these recipes from our blog!
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Recipe of the Week!
Rawsome Caramel Apples
Recipe adapted by Farmer Dave's from Brigitte Mars
Ingredients:
- 6 apples
- 2 cups dates soaked in 1 cup water, and mashed down
- 2 tablespoons raw tahini
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 tiny pinch sea salt
- 2 cups walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts or other nut of your choice
Pulse the nuts in a food processor and transfer to a bowl. Poke a chopstick through 6 apples. In a food processor, blend till smooth, the soaked dates, vanilla and salt. Using a butter knife, apply the date paste to each apple. Swirl in nuts. Chill in the refrigerator.
Have a great tip or recipe to share?
Email it to us to have it included in our newsletter and recipe blog!
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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!
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C
ontact Us:
Farmer Dave's CSA
437 Parker Road
Dracut, MA 01826
(978) 349-1952
farm@farmerdaves.net
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