Community Supported Agriculture
 
In This Issue
Farm Notes
In Your Share
Vegisode: Braising Awareness
Tips and Tricks
Groundwork Share-a-Share
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Farm Notes: Wild Weather
 
Tomatoes and Lettuce in the Tewksbury Greenhouse
 
Many fear the climate changes that our planet is seeing. As a farmer in a relatively colder part of the world, it is not so much the increase in temperatures of global warming that I fear. Warmer temperatures could be a good thing for New England farmers as warmer temperatures could lengthen our relatively short growing season. A longer growing season would allow us to grow a wider diversity of crops for more weeks of the year meaning that we could provide fresh harvested crops for a lot longer than we already are. What I am fearful of with global warming are the drastic changes in the weather that we are beginning to see and will see more of in the future. When we go from a record high of 70 degrees in February to a near record cold of below zero the next night, everything suffers. These drastic swings in temperature cause damage to plants. When the weather cools most plants acclimate to the new weather by changing the constitution of their cells to be able to better withstand harsh cold. When the weather warms, the plants change again. These swings in temperature will lead to more damaged plant cells and more headaches/hurdles to jump through for the farmer.  
For example, our unheated kale and spinach greenhouse will now need to be minimally heated. When we have very warm days in the winter we will open the doors of the greenhouse so that the plants do not get too warm. But, when it is 70 degrees outside we cannot effectively cool the greenhouse below that outside temperature. The plants start to grow like crazy thinking that spring has sprung. But then when the night quickly goes down to near zero degrees, we cannot put enough blankets on the plants to prevent damage. What we did was put in a small temporary heater to keep the plants just around freezing, but not lower, allowing for a good harvest of spinach and kale last week. The temporary will need to become permanent heat to ensure healthy crops in the new future climate. Other crop systems will need to include different changes to reduce the risks of damage due to wild weather extremes. While our growing season may be getting longer, it is also presenting newer challenges.
Farmer Dave
In Your Share: Week 2
 
The following items may make an appearance in your shares this week.  The actual contents of your share may differ based on harvest conditions.  As always Mother Nature ultimately dictates what is available.  
  • Carrots
  • Celeriac
  • Kale
  • Lettuce or Arugula
  • Potatoes
  • Watermelon Radishes
  • Apples
Goldrush are one of our favorite apples. They are also one of the last to mature, being picked in early November. Like a fine wine, we find their flavor improves with time in storage. These apples have been sitting and improving in a traditional apple storage in the basement of a stone foundation building with no refrigeration. Their crispness has lessened but their flavor has grown. Enjoy!
Vegisode of the Week
 
Vegisode: Braising Awareness
Vegisode: Braising Awareness

Join Stacey and Denise for:
  • What braising is and why braise vegetables
  • Supplies needed
  • How to cut vegetables and suggested vegetables to use
  • Step by step braising technique
  • Serving suggestions , great make ahead meal which reheats beautifully
  • Rice Bowl night!!! A fun leftover night that does not feel like leftovers.
     
Making the Most of Your Share

 
First time CSA member? Not sure where to start? Here are some resources to help guide you. You may want to bookmark these for reference.

Our Vegisodes TM are fun, informative videos on how to prepare, store, and cook the items in your CSA shares!

Here are a few recommendations to get you started:


You can also follow us on Pinterest for recipes for:
Groundwork Share-a-Share Update
 
Thanks to generous donations by you (CSA members) to the Groundwork Share-A-Shareâ„¢ fund, we were able to subsidize the cost of shares in 2016 for over thirty individuals and families, as well as shares for local food pantries.

Please consider helping us in our efforts to make the CSA accessible to more families by donating to Groundwork Share-A-Share.

 

To learn more about the program,  click here.

 

Thank you all for helping us keep this program going in 2017!  

 
C ontact Us:

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

(978) 349-1952
farm@farmerdaves.net