It's been really beautiful this spring at the farm. I love the color of bright green new growth against a dark gray sky. You all know the Robert Frost poem? Nothing Gold Can Stay? Here's a little reminder in case you didn't get to read 'The Outsiders' in fourth grade.

I love this poem. I recite it to myself all April long. New growth is precious.

It was a bummer of a forsythia year because of that deep freeze in early February (at least I think that's what caused the blossoms not to open except the few very close to the ground). Oh well. At least the plants are alive and maybe next year will be extra beautiful!

I feel like the sugar maple flowers are extra showy this year.

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold,

Her hardest hue to hold.

Her early leaf's a flower;

But only so an hour.

Then leaf subsides to leaf.

So Eden sank to grief,

So dawn goes down to day.

Nothing gold can stay.

It's a tight week for produce. We are still waiting on asparagus to come in and the head lettuces just aren't big enough. We still have lots of greens but we can't guarantee any particular kind of green will be at every site. Except claytonia, pea tendrils and spinach. More carrots and potatoes this week! And if you haven't taken a daikon radish (the purple ones) I suggest you try them. They are delicious grated with carrot in a salad. And so pretty!! Also great in tacos with cilantro and scallions.

This is a little shorter email this week. It's been a bit of a push the past few weeks to get it all done, but we are doing it.

My uncle took some really nice drone shots on Saturday when Jamie, Kevin and Hayden were out planting leeks and shallots and Kerry and I were trying to get ahead on the potting up for the week. Pretty cool, huh? Enjoy!

A Note on the bags we use for greens:

The bags we use are cellophane, which is entirely plant based. They are not marketed as compostable, so we can't tell you that they are, but they are not petroleum based.

For now, this the best we can do. Maintaining food safety standards and crop quality is greatly important to us, and baby greens is a very important product to us in spring. We try to use paper or fully reusable containers whenever possible, but this is not an option for the greens. We also can't keep the greens fresh if we were to try putting them out with tongs and having you fill a reusable container. Maybe if we have an indoor distribution location one day this would be something we could try. Kevin was very excited to report that several members were expressing their concern about plastic. We think very deliberately about how to reduce our plastic use on the farm (and at home) and have been making strides in recent years to reduce use. You just wait for the email about the bail chopper...

Ok, So What's in the Share!?

Choose 3 bags greens (no guanantee every one of these will be available at every site. Please eat pea tendrils and claytonia this week.): spinach, claytonia, pea tendrils, micro greens, arugula, lettuce mix, mustard greens . . .

Mix and Match 4 pounds (you can sub one pound for an herb bunch): Carrots, potatoes and daikon radish

One bunch scallions

*Please note* we do our absolute best to estimate what our customers will prefer when it comes to choices based on years of CSA and market experience and data collection. That said, sometimes a crop is more popular than anticipated and we do run out of that choice. We try to avoid this, but have determined this is a better alternative than not giving choices.

*Please remember* this share costs less weekly than all of our other shares. The standard price is $22/week. It has a lot of high value but light-weight greens in it so it can sometimes seem smaller than a summer share, where instead of bags of greens you are getting multiple pounds of fruits and roots. This is the nature of seasonal eating in New England. We will get better at growing storage crops and overwintering crops so we can more "heavy" choices in spring - but for now, this is the spring share, exactly as we planned it, and we are very proud of what we are able to make available in APRIL!!!

Recipes

Hi - Jess Girotti here. If you have a recipe that you love that you'd like to share with other members or if a recipe link isn't working for you, feel free to email me at jgirotti@live.com. (Please note that I can't re-print a recipe from a cookbook that isn't already online.) Don't forget to check out the recipe pages on the Upswing website if you need more ideas for your other veggies.

SPANAKOPITA LOADED POTATOES

These are a crowd pleaser, even for the anti-spinach crowd.

CARROT, PURPLE DAIKON RADISH & SCALLION SALAD

Gorgeous spring colors and an Asian dressing with just a touch of honey.



STIR-FRIED PEA SHOOTS WITH GARLIC

I love using pea shoots up in salads but this is a yummy alternative if you want to switch things up.

CITRUS, BEET & CLAYTONIA SALAD

Claytonia is also known as Miner's Lettuce or Winter Purslane. This salad doesn't have much dressing on it so I like to squeeze some of the citrus on along with the drizzle of olive oil.

ARUGULA SALAD WITH CARROTS & GOAT CHEESE

Sweet Maple-thyme roasted carrots with bitter greens and tangy goat cheese combine perfectly in this spring salad.

STEAMED SNAPPER WITH DAIKON AND MUSTARD GREENS

Quick and easy steamed snapper over a bed of sauteed greens, cabbage and daikon with ponzu sauce.

IMPORTANT DETAILS

Below is information for pick up at all 3 of our weekly locations. If you can't remember your pick up location, please refer to the email sent on 4/10/2023.

Upswing Farm

65 Brookline St, Pepperell, MA

Your pick up day is Wednesday.

Hours are 2:00pm to 6:00pm.

Here is a list of the exact dates of your share pick up. *

I recommend stopping what you are doing and adding them to your calendar, with an alert, right now!

April 12th

April 19th

April 26th

May 3rd

May 10th

May 17th

May 24th

May 31st

Parking: Please park in the parking lot by the greenhouses and the white Upswing Farm sign. It's more like 53 Brookline if you are using GPS.

Picking Up Your Share: Please check in with Joella and cross your own name off the list !

This is very important. We need to know who has come! Then, read the signs and choose your produce based on the signs. Joella can answer any questions you have.

If you are going to be late: Text 508-215-8378. We can pack a box for you and leave it on the farm house porch (actually at 65 Brookline, up by the white barns)

If you can't make it: Please let us know a time when you can come by Thursday or Friday and we will leave your share out for you on the porch.

If you want to send someone else in your place: This is a great idea if you are going on vacation! Give your neighbor or anyone who is helping take care of your place your share for the week. Just make sure you forward the person you are sharing with the weekly email so they know pick up procedure. No need to tell us if you are going to do this.

Can't make it and want to donate your share to a local food pantry? Let us know and we will make sure it gets to one of the five food pantries we serve weekly.

Holliston Community Farm

34 Rogers Rd, Holliston, MA

Your pick up day is Tuesday.

Hours are 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

If you can't make it by 6:00, we can leave the share in the walk-in cooler for you to pick up later.

Here is a list of the exact dates of your share pick up. *

I recommend stopping what you are doing and adding them to your calendar, with an alert, right now!

April 11th

April 18th

April 25th

May 2nd

May 9th

May 16th

May 23rd

May 30th

Parking: Please driving up the driveway at 34 Rogers Rd, past the yellow house and past the farm stand and park in the parking lot. Please drive carefully, it is a narrow drive, and you will need to travel the drive from the house to the street single file. Please be patient and courteous with one another.

Picking Up Your Share: Please check in with Lindsay, cross your own name off the list !

This is very important. We need to know who has come! Then, read the signs and choose your produce based on the signs. Lindsay can answer any questions you have.

If you are going to be late: Text 508-215-8378 if you are going to be late. We can pack a box for you and leave it in the cooler to pick up later that evening or the next day.

If you can't make it and want to switch your pick up day to Thursday 1-6 at Weston Nurseries: Please let us know by Monday morning at 7am, if possible, so we can adjust our harvest for the week. Email upswingcsa@gmail.com.

If you want to send someone else in your place: This is a great idea if you are going on vacation! Give your neighbor or anyone who is helping take care of your place your share for the week. Just make sure you forward the person you are sharing with the weekly email so they know pick up procedure. No need to tell us if you are going to do this.

Can't make it and want to donate your share to a local food pantry? Let us know and we will make sure it gets to one of the five food pantries we serve weekly.

Weston Nurseries in Hopkinton

93 East Main St, Hopkinton, MA

Your pick up day is Thursday.

Hours are 1:00pm to 6:00pm.

Here is a list of the exact dates of your share pick up. *

I recommend stopping what you are doing and adding them to your calendar, with an alert, right now!

April 13th

April 20th

April 27th

May 4th

May 11th

May 18th

May 25th

June 1st

Parking: DO NOT GO IN THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF WESTON NURSERIES! There is no way to drive to the back lot from there. Instead, turn north at the light in front of Weston Nurseries onto Legacy Farms Rd North and turn right into the parking lot behind the nursery. You will see out white Box truck there, with tents. Park anywhere on the gravel lot, not too close to the tents, if possible.

Picking Up Your Share: Please check in with Anna (Ah-na) (she's new and she's great!) and cross your own name off the list !

This is very important. We need to know who has come! Then, read the signs and choose your produce based on the signs. Anna can answer any questions you have.

If you are going to be late: Text 508-215-8378. We can arrange a spot for you to pick up.

If you can't make it: Please let us know - we don't have a great alternative until the start of the Ashland Farmer's Market in Summer - so don't forget! If you can plan ahead you can come to the CSA pick up in Holliston on Tuesday. We just prefer to know by Monday at 7am if possible so we can adjust our harvest plan.

If you want to send someone else in your place: This is a great idea if you are going on vacation! Give your neighbor or anyone who is helping take care of your place your share for the week. Just make sure you forward the person you are sharing with the weekly email so they know pick up procedure. No need to tell us if you are going to do this.

Can't make it and want to donate your share to a local food pantry? Let us know and we will make sure it gets to one of the five food pantries we serve weekly.

Your Farmers,

Brittany, Kevin and the Upswing Farm Team

Also, I'm bad at spelling. I am a generalist, so as long as most of the letters are there, and there is good context, by brain prefers not to be bogged down by details. Also, I am frequently typing these emails late at night or early in the morning after or before a big day of work. I promise I'm not making spelling or grammar errors becauseI don't care. I really, really do care, I'm just no good at copy editing and I rarely have time to send these out for a proof read to Kevin who is still sleeping. I hope you can forgive me.