Heirloom Harvest

Sweet (and healthy!) Charity

By the end of last season, after we could look at what we had accomplished, I think we were too tired to communicate it well. What’s happening—from a charitable standpoint—in Westborough and the surrounding area that wouldn’t be happening if we weren’t here? Overall, we donated 8,500 pounds of produce to charity in 2004. Here are some of the ways we became a part of the community:

For the first time ever, the Westborough Food Pantry distributed fresh produce to its clients. We delivered simple, easily prepared foods like tomatoes and lettuce. The produce came entirely from Heirloom Harvest. Thanks to CSA shareholder and Food Pantry board member Sheila McPharlin for helping to manage the logistics and to do the grunt work of delivering the produce to the pantry on Thursday mornings, when I and the staff are usually too busy harvesting for the CSA to help her.

The Worcester County Food Bank asked us not to bring them tomatoes that aren’t red when ripe because the agencies in their service area likely won’t take them, since clients are unfamiliar with tomatoes that aren’t red.

We began talking to agencies directly about whether they would be willing to work with a diversity of heirloom tomatoes. We found one that was not only willing, but enthusiastic about taking them. Jeremiah’s Inn, a Worcester residence home for recovering substance abusers, teaches participants life skills and how to cook in the agency’s kitchen. Not a single tomato of any color that was boxed for charity went unused -- Jeremiah’s Inn took them all. Kudos to Lyn Britt for developing this relationship.

A group of girls worked on the farm weekly from a Westborough residence home for teenage girls who aren’t living with their families. The girls took turns cooking for each other in a dormitory-style setting. Each week, when their work visit to the farm ended, I sent them home with a bag of produce with which they were unfamiliar. I also donated a good cookbook, From Asparagus to Zucchini: A Guide to Farm-Fresh, Seasonal Produce so they would have recipes to try. I talked with the staff and the girls on subsequent weeks to confirm that they were cooking and experimenting with the produce I sent home.

First Man and First Woman in the Garden of Eating

In the beginning, God created the Heavens and the Earth and populated the Earth with broccoli, cauliflower and spinach, green and yellow and red vegetables of all kinds, so Man and Woman would live long and healthy lives even without vitamins of the Flintstone.

Then using God's great gifts, Satan created rich ice cream with much butterfat which was packaged in small quarts, and also he created doughnuts that were fried in lard and entombed in fine sugar icing. And Satan said, "You want chocolate with that?"

And Man said, "Yes!" and Woman said, "and as long as you're at it, add some sprinkles."

And they gained 10 pounds that were not muscular in mass. And Satan smiled.

And God created the healthful yogurt that Woman and Man might keep the shapes they found so fair in one another.

And Satan brought forth white flour from the wheat, and sugar from the cane and combined them.

And their shapes were not as comely.

So God said, "Try my fresh green salad."

And Satan presented Thousand-Island Dressing, buttery croutons and garlic toast on the side.

And Man and Woman unfastened their belts, yea, even their buttons, following the repast.

God then said, "I have sent you heart healthy vegetables and olive oil in which to cook them."

And Satan brought forth deep fried fish and chicken-fried steak so big it needed its own platter.

And they gained more weight and their cholesterol climbed up unto the firmament.

God then created a light, fluffy white cake, named it "Angel Food Cake," and said, "It is good."

Satan then created chocolate cake and named it "Devil's Food."

God then brought forth running shoes so that His children might lose those extra pounds.

And Satan gave cable TV with a remote control so Man would not have to toil changing the channels.

And Man and Woman laughed and cried before the flickering blue light and gained pounds.

Then God brought forth the potato, naturally low in fat and brimming with nutrition.

And Satan peeled off the healthful skin and sliced the starchy center into chips and deep-fried them.

God then gave lean beef so that Man and Woman might consume fewer calories and still satisfy their appetites.

And Satan created fast food outlets on every street corner and placed 99-cent double cheeseburgers within them. And then said, "You want fries with that?" And Man replied, "Yes! And make their sizes super!"

And Satan said, "It is good." And Man went into cardiac arrest.

God sighed and created quadruple bypass surgery........

Then Satan created HMOs.

Ready When You Are for Volunteer Work

Details you need to know:

• The work requirement is 6 hours most of which should be completed prior to the end of August.
• You may work at the farm Sunday through Thursday, from 9am to 5 pm, except Wednesday, when you may start at 11 am.
• Work goes on rain or shine on harvest days.
• There will be a calendar in the greenhouse inside the front door to record the day and hours you complete at each visit. If you get home from a work period, and realize you forgot to record your hours, you may call us at 508-879-6768 or email us at padoo1-AT-rcn.com. (Please replace "-AT-" with "@" when you use this email address.)
• Greenhouse work is beginning (Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday starting at 9 am) and we will be in touch with John to track work opportunities as he assesses his need for workers.

We may be calling you or you may call us if you are ready to start. For the time being, you should park in the cemetery as the road out to the greenhouse is "pretty sloppy" according to John.

Hygiene

The key to good greenhouse management is hygiene. By keeping the greenhouse as clean as possible, the likelihood of pests and disease becoming established is limited. Since this is a new greenhouse, there were no pre-existing problems, and I’d like to keep it that way.

During the season, a great deal of potting soil gets spilled on the ground, enough that weed seeds can germinate and grow, creating habitat and food for pests. I am sweeping up all of that soil along with the leaf litter that blew in in the fall.

I’ve placed all of the pallets that were being used for benchtops outside where any pests that have snuck into the cracks and crevices can be exposed to the cold, wind, sun, water and snow, as well as hungry small birds.

Bubblegum and bandaids

It’s time around the greenhouse to get some spring cleaning done. I’ve finished my repairs to the greenhouse water pump, filled in the hole, and restored the floor and the benches around it. I’ve also repaired a small number of cuts in the plastic.

Town zoning regulations say that a greenhouse is a “temporary agricultural structure,” as long as it doesn’t have a cement foundation. One consequence of its impermanence is that when the ground underneath shifts, it does too. This is normal and expected. The new greenhouse already has large spaces opening up around the doors. The solution—at least until I or a carpenter can retrue the doors—is to attach thick foam winter weatherstripping across the openings.

It’s a bubblegum and bandaid solution that will only last until April or May, but that’s fine because we don’t need to stuff every crack after the season gets warm. Returning members may have noticed this kind of problem-solving around the farm last season. The farmer’s challenge is often to improvise quick, inexpensive solutions because time is short and we have to live within our budget.

Classic Green Bean Casserole

Editor's note: We get this recipe for using frozen green beans from Gwen E, who advises us she's no canned food junkie, and that this soup label classic works with fresh beans as well.

My college roommate once made this with four times the amount of black pepper by accident - and the flavor stuck with me forever. Since then I've been imagining making it with fresher and healthier ingredients.

I started with the Original Green Bean Casserole recipe which one finds on the back of the French's Fried Onion can, but I used 2 cups of previously blanched, trimmed and uncut frozen green beans. The long beans gave a very different look then the traditional frenched canned beans. I also added a carrot peeled and cut into coins- steam or blanch before adding to the rest of the ingredients. (I added the carrot solely for color. )

Then I cooked the casserole as described in the original recipe. If you do not want to use cream of mushroom soup or fried onions, I've seen (but not tried yet) recipes with sautéed mushrooms and cream instead of cream of mushroom soup and sautéed shallots instead of fried onions.

We're grateful to Gwen. Let's keep those recipes coming!

Now, with Color Pictures

Added a few pictures today, in the posts about the well and the snow.

Calling all recipes -- or just simple cooking tips

I’ve been transcribing to computer files the recipes that CSA members, friends and family have given me over the last few seasons. Recipes are one of the most requested newsletter topics, but I seldom have the time to keyboard the material that people give me during the season. I have now taken some off-season time to get those into my computer.

My recipe collection is not as comprehensive as I’d like; i.e., for some vegetables I don’t have anything keyboarded yet. If you have recipes that you’d be willing to share, please send them in now while there is still time to get them keyboarded.

We will print recipes for vegans, vegetarians and meat eaters, but we are relying on your participation to ensure recipe diversity, so please send in your favorites, and don’t feel if you see cooking tips for one kind of diet, that we don’t support or are indifferent to the interests of others.

One set of recipes I had in my file was a page copied from the 1887 version of the official cookbook for The White House, as written by then president Grover Cleveland’s steward, Hugo Ziemann. What stood out about these “ recipes” was that they were incredibly simple, “attention to detail” kind of information to improve the flavor of the vegetables. For example, when boiling beets, don’t poke them with a fork to test doneness, as this allows the flavorful juices to seep out. Better to squeeze them.

Simple hints like that one can make a big difference. I’ve bought a copy of the cookbook for myself, so watch for more hints and tips from Grover Cleveland’s steward. I prefer simple tips and recipes for members to long, involved all-day cooking extravaganzas (though a few of those over the course of the season are okay). Think about the kind of things you yourself might want to know when you're looking at an unfamiliar or challenging vegetable.

I’ve also been trying a few new recipes in my own kitchen, so watch for these during the season (I do eat meat): Portuguese kale soup, ginger and shrimp soup, and shahi korma. The first is obviously a kale recipe (though it uses potatoes too), and the shahi korma (a lamb dish) uses onions and cilantro. The second recipe didn’t include vegetables in its original version (noodles and shrimp), but the soup is easily improved with some bok choy or other Asian cooking greens.

All of these dishes were excellent choices for my 5-year-old daughter as she has recently lost all four of her front teeth, so I was looking for dishes with soft food that doesn’t require much use of the front biting teeth. As for me, I love the food I grow and I love the food I cook, and I have a capacious farmer’s appetite with which to express my love. When food is this good, I find it hard to practice “portion control.” So yes, I’ve gained a bit of weight over the off-season and it’s time to start working it off.

And I’d be remiss if in the midst of all this expressing love, I didn’t wish you all a Happy Valentines Day!

Close Neighbors

Animals are having their impacts. Deer have been an issue. They did find a few crops that I was experimenting with carrying over from the winter season, but all of those things I was trying to carry over were eaten by the deer. We tried to cover them with Remay netting, but the wind caught it and blew it off and the deer moved right in. They ate turnips, not just the tops, the bulbs too. I have never seen deer eat turnips.

There’s also a bunch of squirrels nesting in the old bee boxes in the barn. They’re really not harming anything there - and better that they’re there than nesting in some of the other farm equipment. So we just leave them.

Going Back to the Well

We’ve been down at the farm, digging out the well. We had to go down another two feet to ensure it's deep enough. We just want a little more insurance that it’s at a depth where we’ll have water all summer long. It’s about 15 feet now. The hole I’m in is about five feet deep, and the well goes down about ten feet more. We’re lifting wet, heavy sand out with a shovel. Click the picture for a bigger view.

The earth here is very sandy, because the farm is on an old lakebed. I have no idea when the lake was formed, or when the lakebed became dry land, but it’s surrounded by the Great Cedar Swamp (Thoreau knew of it), so it might not have been that long ago. It’s sandy loam, which is very good for farming; it drains well, which means that you don’t wind up with standing water, and during the spring, it warms up sooner than other kinds of soil, so you can get to it earlier.