Maplewood Organics

1 head lettuce or lettuce mix

1 head cauliflower

1 bag beans

1 bunch leeks

yellow summer squash

slicing tomatoes

cherry/sungold tomatoes

green peppers

basil

beets

1 garlic bulb

1 flower bouquet

Swiss chard and kale if you want it.

There will be trade options as usual.

Maybe some surprises!

CSA Newsletter

Volume 5

Issue 8- Farm

August 6, 2009

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Week 8

New to everyone this week: cauliflower and leeks! Another exciting addition for our half share members this week: celery and beans. We won’t be offering potatoes for another 2-3 weeks. We’re allowing the skins to thinken up before we dig the whole lot. Remember to go to our Local Harvest website blog (

http://www.localharvest.org/farms/M13345) to view your CSA contents for the upcoming week. You can also find our newsletters posted to that blog. If you want to look back at recipes, you can look there!

Farm update:

This past Wednesday night, Maplewood showed off its land and enjoyed the good graces of its harvest with company at its "NOFA-vore" event. NOFA, the Northeastern Organic Farming Association came to the farm, set up their wood burning pizza stove, and created a variety of delicious pizzas topped with our fresh vegetables and ground beef. Rain, thankfully, only snuck in at the end of the event, but unfortunately has been in and out ever since. It’s watering our crops, but sometimes preventing us from getting as much weeding at we should, not that any of the interns are complaining! The spotty rain has placed putting up hay at an awkward position, but we were able to put two wagon loads up Saturday evening. The calf we had been bottle-feeding, now has moved to drinking from a bucket and enjoys eating as much delicious grass and wildflowers as the rope she’s tied to allows! ~Hannah Gibbons

Garden Progress

We got an old rototiller last week. It’ll get us through until we find a better used one. Eric spent most of a day fiddling with it, trying to work out some kinks. We hope to have enough dry weather this week to use it where it’s needed. Our new crops of lettuce, carrots, beets, and basil are coming in nicely. They all need to be weeded out this week and mulched where possible. The summer squash should be just exploding in production by next week. We expect the same from our green peppers soon! Unfortunately we’re having a difficult tomato year again. We’ve been hit by blight in our tomatoes and potatoes. Last week the crew worked to remove all of the foliage from the 10 potato rows. First Eric mowed as much as he could. Two rows had to be hand-cut. Then everything had to be raked out and removed with wheelbarrows and a skid steer. Everything is in a pile waiting to be burned when it dries out a bit. We’re just weathering it with the tomatoes, trying to get as much as we can from our 600+ plants. I’m afraid it won’t be much. The cherry and sungold tomatoes look fine though. And the paste tomatoes don’t look as bad as the rest.

NOFA Summer Conference, Amherst, Massachusetts

The interns and I and our friend/member/volunteer, Susie, are off to attend the annual NOFA Summer Conference this weekend. We have 2 ½ days of workshops, speakers, farm tours, and fun! We’ll tell you all about it next week. I am attending for the first time since Madeleine was born (2004) without the kids! Thank you, Hubby! I’m actually feeling nervous! It’ll be great though.

Winter CSA – SOLD OUT

You may place your name on a waiting list for our winter CSA, which runs October through December. If someone cancels, you have a chance at a share in the order that you signed on. (The total cost to you is $140.)

Save the date: Saturday, September 12^th, 5:00-7:00pm – Annual CSA Member Cook-out

Recipes of the Week

Potato Leek Soup

2 tablespoons of Butter or Margarine
1 clove of Garlic grated
All of your Leeks
2 Potatoes (about a pound)
4 cups of Chicken Broth or 4 cups of hot water with two chicken stock cubes
1/4 teaspoon of Salt
1/4 teaspoon of Pepper
1/2 pint of Milk or Cream

1. Chop Leeks
2. Melt Butter/Margarine in a pan and add chopped Leeks and Garlic, stir frequently for 10 minutes
3. Peel Potatoes and chop into cubes.
4. Add all remaining ingredients to the pan, with the exception of the Milk/Cream.
5. Cook for about 15 minutes, longer if you want softer potatoes.
6. Just before serving, pour the Milk/Cream into the soup and stir well.

Other Ideas for Leeks:
-Add to an omlete with mushrooms
-Chop up and have with a baked potato
-Add them to a potato fritter

Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

8 cups 1-inch-thick slices cauliflower florets (about 1 large head; see Tip)
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground pepper to taste
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. Toss cauliflower, oil, marjoram, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet and roast until starting to soften and brown on the bottom, 15 to 20 minutes. Toss the cauliflower with vinegar and sprinkle with cheese. Return to the oven and roast until the cheese is melted and any moisture has evaporated, 5 to 10 minutes more.

Tip: To prepare florets from a whole head of cauliflower, remove outer leaves. Slice off the thick stem. With the head upside down and holding a knife at a 45° angle, slice into the smaller stems with a circular motion—removing a "plug" from the center of the head. Break or cut florets into the desired size.