Rain,Sun,Hail, Thunder....What's Nexr?
Rain, Sun, Hail, Thunder…What’s Next?
A word from Derek your farmer:
I originally wrote this section on Monday after 3 full days of sun, but then Tuesday another storm came through this time with hale, so I decided to rewrite. The Ashfield News reported in its July edition that as of June 22nd there were 14 recorded days of rain, dropping 5.34” of precipitation. As we have seen the rain didn’t stop on the 22nd. What does that mean for our crops? They are in desperate need of sun & more than just a day here or a day there, we need weeks of sun in order for the plants to catch up to where they should be. While we haven’t had extensive crop loss as some farms in the Valley have, we have lost a few. The last planting of green leaf lettuce rotted from the rain, the cucumbers & summer squash which we should be harvesting from right now have just sat there waiting for the sun to show so the plants could grow. Those plants went in right before the rain began last month. I have had to replant where plants rotted, for the 3rd time on Thursday we replanted yet again. We are having to face the fact that this may just not be a good year for cucumbers. Peppers & eggplant which also went in right before the rains started have also just sat there, we’re hoping they will bounce back & start growing. Some onions were pulled out of the ground due to the hale on Tuesday.
Another issue is not being able to get the next set of plantings in; the ground just can’t be worked when it’s saturated with moisture. I was finally able to get the beds ready for the next plantings of carrots, beets, lettuce mix, and green beans on Thursday. Today after harvesting I’m hoping the compost will be dried off enough to turn in so we can plant. On the brighter side of the weather, the cooler temps have been great for the broccoli, kales, & chard. The cabbages look pretty good also & should be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks.
What does all this mean? There is going to be a lull in the crops soon, it doesn’t mean you won’t receive anything, just that there may not be anything new on our tables. The season started out so well, & there was such an abundance of food. If you have taken everything we have offered so far this season full shares have averages $31.55 worth of produce & half shares have averaged $19.35 per week. Which we think is great considering we base our share price on $21/week for full shares & $12 for ½ shares. Usually shares average this much when tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc are on. So in spite of the rain the beginning of the season was full of abundance, let’s all pray for sun so the abundance can continue. P.S. tomatoes are trellised & 90% of them look strong.
Volunteering:
Some of you indicated that you would be willing to come to the farm & help out. Due to all the rain we are behind on cultivation, so if anyone has a spare hour or two & would like to come & help pull some weeds, we would really appreciate it. Just give us a call & let us know when you can come & we’ll get you to work. Thanks
Bags:
Finally this week I have your totes bags for you. I apologize for the lateness. I had to order them from another company because The Bag Store in Greenfield where I have ordered in the past went out of business, & I ordered the wrong sizes. We didn’t want to reorder the bags & had to figure out how it would work for you. So I took out Maia’s sewing machine & did some readjusting; now the bags are closer to the original size. The bags are how we determine your share amounts each week. So please bring your bag with you to the farmers markets for your shares, so you can have free selection of vegetables. On occasion we may ask you to take only 1 or 2 of something so there is enough for everyone, we may also not offer things in the CSA that we have for sale if when we harvest there isn’t enough for all members. Thanks for your patience & understanding.
Ashfield Farmers’ Market pick up:
The Saturday market is where the majority of you have decided to pick-up your shares. Which is great, we hope that it is working for everyone. Something that has happened the last couple of weeks is…some of you have come closer to the end of the market & we’ve run out of things. This makes us all feel bad, & the 4 of us have been trying to figure out how it can work better for you & us. We don’t really want to take anything home from the market if we can help it. Some crops have to be composted after being exposed to the elements for 4 hours.
When we harvest on Fridays we harvest what we want to sell & what we need for shares. We have been holding some items back (like carrots,beets,broccoli) but we need to have a time limit for holding things back. The fairest thing we could come up with is to ask you to come to the market by 11:30 to pick up your shares, after 11:30 we will put any items we have held back on the tables for sale. Your still welcome to come later for your share we just can’t guarantee your selection. If 11:30 doesn’t work for you please let us know & we’ll work something out. Thanks for your understanding.
Introducing Vicky:
Vicky is the newest addition to our herd of goats. She joined us on Sunday July 5th. She is a star milker & we’re really glad to have her. Our goats have been slow in having their babies which has made cheese making a challenge. A week into her lactation Vicky is giving us a gallon plus of milk per day, we expect her milk production to increase. Vicky is also a very sweet, large goat. What her former farm told us……if Vicky doesn’t want to go she’s not going. She is very strong, but so far she has gone where we need her to. She has adjusted to going out to pasture each day. Welcome Vicky.
Joie one of our other goats gave birth to twin does on
Tuesday. Mom & babies are doing well. We are holding Joie’s milk for her babies but so far she’s giving us close to a gallon/day.
Once we add her milk to the other goats we expect to be able to make cheese on a daily basis, which makes me very happy.
Picture in the Recorder:
Moses & Abraham were in the Greenfield Recorder the end of June. They are very pleased with the publicity. When I showed Moses he actually licked the picture. They seem to be holding their heads a little higher & prouder these days.
One of the driving forces behind our desire to farm is to grow healthy food for low income families. We have been able to do this through our participation in the Senior Farm Share program; we supply 30 low income seniors with vegetables for 8 weeks of the growing season. We also grow quite a bit of food for the Hilltown Food Pantry in Ashfield. The Food Pantry serves 140 families on a bi-weekly basis.
Recipe:
The beets have really been amazing this summer haven’t they? A customer shared this recipe with me so I thought I would pass it along. Bon Appetite!!
Pasta with Beet Greens
Serves 6
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 medium red onions (1 lb), halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 lb beet greens with stems (from about 2 bunches beets), stems cut into 1-inch pieces and leaves cut crosswise into 3-inch-wide pieces, divided
• 1 cup water, divided
• 3/4 lb penne
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, coarsely chopped
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add pine nuts and toast, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Add garlic to oil remaining in skillet and cook, stirring, until golden. Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add vinegar and cook, stirring, until most is evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add beet stems, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until stems begin to soften, about 12 minutes.
• Cook penne in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 Tbsp salt for 6 qt water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.
• Meanwhile, add raisins, then beet leaves to onion mixture in handfuls, turning each handful with tongs until beet leaves are wilted before adding next batch. Add remaining 1/4 cup water and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add olives, then add pasta and cook, tossing and moistening with some of the cooking water as necessary, just until liquid has thickened slightly. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts
Wagon Ride:
We had hoped to have Abe & Moses bring our wares to market every Sat unfortunately with all the rain the fields we were going to cut through are just too wet, & it doesn’t look like they will dry out anytime soon. We would like to invite all of you to the farm for a wagon ride through the fields so you can see where your food is being grown. Keep watching our website for the date, it will probably be the last weekend of July or the first Sunday in August.
From CISA:
As a member of Sangha Farm you already know the advantages of supporting local agriculture. Now you can take your involvement with local food and farms to another level by joining CISA’s Community Membership Initiative.
Since 1993 CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) has increased business opportunities for small farms in western Massachusetts through its highly successful Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown public awareness campaign. Your membership in CISA directly supports the programs and services that make it possible for farmers to thrive in western Massachusetts —and to continue producing fresh, locally grown food and other agricultural products year ‘round.
Membership begins at $35 (individual) or $60 (household) level. Tell us the name of your CSA farm and take $5 off. Join for yourself...for your family...or make a gift membership for someone special. Visit www.buylocalfood.com to enroll or call 413-665-7100.
A word from Derek your farmer:
I originally wrote this section on Monday after 3 full days of sun, but then Tuesday another storm came through this time with hale, so I decided to rewrite. The Ashfield News reported in its July edition that as of June 22nd there were 14 recorded days of rain, dropping 5.34” of precipitation. As we have seen the rain didn’t stop on the 22nd. What does that mean for our crops? They are in desperate need of sun & more than just a day here or a day there, we need weeks of sun in order for the plants to catch up to where they should be. While we haven’t had extensive crop loss as some farms in the Valley have, we have lost a few. The last planting of green leaf lettuce rotted from the rain, the cucumbers & summer squash which we should be harvesting from right now have just sat there waiting for the sun to show so the plants could grow. Those plants went in right before the rain began last month. I have had to replant where plants rotted, for the 3rd time on Thursday we replanted yet again. We are having to face the fact that this may just not be a good year for cucumbers. Peppers & eggplant which also went in right before the rains started have also just sat there, we’re hoping they will bounce back & start growing. Some onions were pulled out of the ground due to the hale on Tuesday.
Another issue is not being able to get the next set of plantings in; the ground just can’t be worked when it’s saturated with moisture. I was finally able to get the beds ready for the next plantings of carrots, beets, lettuce mix, and green beans on Thursday. Today after harvesting I’m hoping the compost will be dried off enough to turn in so we can plant. On the brighter side of the weather, the cooler temps have been great for the broccoli, kales, & chard. The cabbages look pretty good also & should be ready to harvest in the next couple of weeks.
What does all this mean? There is going to be a lull in the crops soon, it doesn’t mean you won’t receive anything, just that there may not be anything new on our tables. The season started out so well, & there was such an abundance of food. If you have taken everything we have offered so far this season full shares have averages $31.55 worth of produce & half shares have averaged $19.35 per week. Which we think is great considering we base our share price on $21/week for full shares & $12 for ½ shares. Usually shares average this much when tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers etc are on. So in spite of the rain the beginning of the season was full of abundance, let’s all pray for sun so the abundance can continue. P.S. tomatoes are trellised & 90% of them look strong.
Volunteering:
Some of you indicated that you would be willing to come to the farm & help out. Due to all the rain we are behind on cultivation, so if anyone has a spare hour or two & would like to come & help pull some weeds, we would really appreciate it. Just give us a call & let us know when you can come & we’ll get you to work. Thanks
Bags:
Finally this week I have your totes bags for you. I apologize for the lateness. I had to order them from another company because The Bag Store in Greenfield where I have ordered in the past went out of business, & I ordered the wrong sizes. We didn’t want to reorder the bags & had to figure out how it would work for you. So I took out Maia’s sewing machine & did some readjusting; now the bags are closer to the original size. The bags are how we determine your share amounts each week. So please bring your bag with you to the farmers markets for your shares, so you can have free selection of vegetables. On occasion we may ask you to take only 1 or 2 of something so there is enough for everyone, we may also not offer things in the CSA that we have for sale if when we harvest there isn’t enough for all members. Thanks for your patience & understanding.
Ashfield Farmers’ Market pick up:
The Saturday market is where the majority of you have decided to pick-up your shares. Which is great, we hope that it is working for everyone. Something that has happened the last couple of weeks is…some of you have come closer to the end of the market & we’ve run out of things. This makes us all feel bad, & the 4 of us have been trying to figure out how it can work better for you & us. We don’t really want to take anything home from the market if we can help it. Some crops have to be composted after being exposed to the elements for 4 hours.
When we harvest on Fridays we harvest what we want to sell & what we need for shares. We have been holding some items back (like carrots,beets,broccoli) but we need to have a time limit for holding things back. The fairest thing we could come up with is to ask you to come to the market by 11:30 to pick up your shares, after 11:30 we will put any items we have held back on the tables for sale. Your still welcome to come later for your share we just can’t guarantee your selection. If 11:30 doesn’t work for you please let us know & we’ll work something out. Thanks for your understanding.
Introducing Vicky:
Vicky is the newest addition to our herd of goats. She joined us on Sunday July 5th. She is a star milker & we’re really glad to have her. Our goats have been slow in having their babies which has made cheese making a challenge. A week into her lactation Vicky is giving us a gallon plus of milk per day, we expect her milk production to increase. Vicky is also a very sweet, large goat. What her former farm told us……if Vicky doesn’t want to go she’s not going. She is very strong, but so far she has gone where we need her to. She has adjusted to going out to pasture each day. Welcome Vicky.
Joie one of our other goats gave birth to twin does on
Tuesday. Mom & babies are doing well. We are holding Joie’s milk for her babies but so far she’s giving us close to a gallon/day.
Once we add her milk to the other goats we expect to be able to make cheese on a daily basis, which makes me very happy.
Picture in the Recorder:
Moses & Abraham were in the Greenfield Recorder the end of June. They are very pleased with the publicity. When I showed Moses he actually licked the picture. They seem to be holding their heads a little higher & prouder these days.
One of the driving forces behind our desire to farm is to grow healthy food for low income families. We have been able to do this through our participation in the Senior Farm Share program; we supply 30 low income seniors with vegetables for 8 weeks of the growing season. We also grow quite a bit of food for the Hilltown Food Pantry in Ashfield. The Food Pantry serves 140 families on a bi-weekly basis.
Recipe:
The beets have really been amazing this summer haven’t they? A customer shared this recipe with me so I thought I would pass it along. Bon Appetite!!
Pasta with Beet Greens
Serves 6
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/3 cup pine nuts
• 3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 2 medium red onions (1 lb), halved and thinly sliced lengthwise
• 3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 1/2 lb beet greens with stems (from about 2 bunches beets), stems cut into 1-inch pieces and leaves cut crosswise into 3-inch-wide pieces, divided
• 1 cup water, divided
• 3/4 lb penne
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/2 cup pitted brine-cured black olives, coarsely chopped
• Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers. Add pine nuts and toast, stirring, until golden, about 2 minutes. Transfer to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• Add garlic to oil remaining in skillet and cook, stirring, until golden. Add onions and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 8 minutes. Add vinegar and cook, stirring, until most is evaporated, about 2 minutes. Add beet stems, 3/4 cup water, and 1/2 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until stems begin to soften, about 12 minutes.
• Cook penne in a pasta pot of boiling salted water (2 Tbsp salt for 6 qt water) until al dente. Reserve 1 cup pasta-cooking water, then drain pasta.
• Meanwhile, add raisins, then beet leaves to onion mixture in handfuls, turning each handful with tongs until beet leaves are wilted before adding next batch. Add remaining 1/4 cup water and 1/4 tsp salt and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until just tender, 5 to 6 minutes. Add olives, then add pasta and cook, tossing and moistening with some of the cooking water as necessary, just until liquid has thickened slightly. Serve sprinkled with pine nuts
Wagon Ride:
We had hoped to have Abe & Moses bring our wares to market every Sat unfortunately with all the rain the fields we were going to cut through are just too wet, & it doesn’t look like they will dry out anytime soon. We would like to invite all of you to the farm for a wagon ride through the fields so you can see where your food is being grown. Keep watching our website for the date, it will probably be the last weekend of July or the first Sunday in August.
From CISA:
As a member of Sangha Farm you already know the advantages of supporting local agriculture. Now you can take your involvement with local food and farms to another level by joining CISA’s Community Membership Initiative.
Since 1993 CISA (Community Involved in Sustaining Agriculture) has increased business opportunities for small farms in western Massachusetts through its highly successful Be a Local Hero, Buy Locally Grown public awareness campaign. Your membership in CISA directly supports the programs and services that make it possible for farmers to thrive in western Massachusetts —and to continue producing fresh, locally grown food and other agricultural products year ‘round.
Membership begins at $35 (individual) or $60 (household) level. Tell us the name of your CSA farm and take $5 off. Join for yourself...for your family...or make a gift membership for someone special. Visit www.buylocalfood.com to enroll or call 413-665-7100.
posted by Maribeth Ritchie at
3:44 AM
