April 20 & April 22 (Note: 4/22 is Earth Day!!! A Holiday all earthlings can get behind!)
Good evening CSA members! This is Farmer Chris speaking! (and Farmer Christy editing;)
We have quite a 3rd week for the Spring CSA Share -
a true celebration of the unheated high tunnels (farmerspeak for greenhouses).
CSA Member Special this week:
Apples! $5/Quart - some wonderful apples grown in southern New Hampshire by Brookdale Fruit Farm. These folks have been growing fruit since the early 1900's
Birchwold Farm Eggs are $7/dozen for CSA members.
Pick up is Wednesday or Friday, 12 - 6
Detailed pick up instructions can be found at the bottom of this post.
In this Week's Share:
1 Bunch of WBF greenhouse grown Swiss Chard!!! My personal favorite preparation is a quick sauce with olive oil, shallots and a bit of apple cider vinegar. It goes great with grits (i.e. creamy polenta)
2 bags of Spring Greens. WBF GROWN!!!!!! You choose any TWO: spicy salad mix, spinach, and/or arugula. The greens are luscious and delicious. Honestly my favorite of green of the three is the spicy salad mix it goes great with some ginger sesame dressing add grilled chicken. (please remember variety is the spice of life so 2 different bags is very appreciated)
1 pound of Winter Radishes. These are coming from Brookford Farm in Canterbury, NH and Langwater Farm in Easton, MA. Both are certified organic. The varieties to choose from are Watermelon Radish, Green Daikon, and Black Spanish Radish. Edible Cape Cod has a great article about winter radishes, an important storage crop for New England: Nerd Out on winter radishes
Slice them super thin for the mildest taste - use a mandolin if you have one! I love the added crunch and color these provide for our salad. Here are some other creative ways to us them. "Give it some Thyme" dot com has a fabulous looking Winter Radish Salad w/ Orange Vinaigrette Please note that we do not have the purple daikon shown. Let's hear it for the humble Spanish Black and Green Daikon Radishes - make them proud!
1 Butternut Squash Grown and stored in ideal winter squash storage conditions at Tangerini's Farm in Millis. Certified Organic. Funny story regarding a butternut squash. At one of the earliest farms I worked on, Stearns Farm, in Framingham, one spring we had a member bring back her butternut squash from the previous season that had stored on her counter top in pristine condition. I said "that's for you to eat!" The point of the story is these are great storage crops and are ready to be cooked and enjoyed! Try a roasted butternut soup with some New Hampshire grown apples.
.5 lb Shallots grown by Brookford Farm, NH.
"You almost never see this item in a home kitchen, but out in the world they're an essential ingredient," Anthony Bourdain wrote in his book, Kitchen Confidential
That's right - this is key to any culinary ninja! Shallot is the onion's milder cousin. This essential member of the allium family is storage friendly and enhance any of your simple dishes.
WBF alum, Mike Moran of Common Acre Farm in Mansfield, grower (along w/ his partner, Laura) of the microgreens available at the farmstand, swears by sweating shallots to add to his homemade hummus. Farmer Christy believes finely diced shallot to be the base of any delicious salad dressing, along w/ dijon mustard and a spoonful of something sweet - honey, syrup, or jam - throw in blender w a vinegar or vinegar blend of your choice and slowly stream in the oil of your choice. 1 vinegar: 3 or 4 oil ratio
1.5 lbs of Storage Roots. Mix and Match these wonderous root crops provided by Brookford Farm. This week's choices include: CARROTS, BEETS, & PARSNIPS!!!! enjoy them all folks! If you've been seeing carrots and beets all winter and want to try something different - look up a good carrot cake recipe (or maybe muffins to reduce your frosting intake) or try a beet chocolate cake. If you take a mix of all three they'll look all pretty cut up and roasted on a baking sheet - "Tequila Sunrise" color scheme w/ the red beets staining the carrots and parsnips a bit! Roasted Roots are a go-to!
Thank you all for participating in this years spring share!! Your commitment to good food is extremely appreciated and important! This is seasonal produce in April. Storage roots, fruits (butternut), and alliums (shallot) and then lots of green (and purple) leaves!!
Add Ons:
Large Francese Loaf, 2 packs of Sausage, Caerphilly Cheese, 1 dozen Eggs, Pioppino Mushrooms
And the Farmstand is Open for any edible additions to your share, plus we have plants, potting soil, and/or compost for your gardens!
*Early Spring Farmstand Hours: Wed - Fri 9am-6pm & Saturdays 9am-5pm
beginning 5/31 we will add Tuesdays 9am - 6pm
THIS SATURDAY 4/23, 10am - 4pm - EarthFest is back! After a two year hiatus we are ready to celebrate Mother Earth and anything we can do to reduce human impact on the planet we all share! Lots of hands-on activities, great food, vendors, workshops, demos, tastings, and good ol' goodness. Marty Pearson's Wood-Fired Pizza from 11am - 3pm. From noon to 3pm: Facepainting and Live Music w Power of Earth Trio and possible special musical guests (DJ Rutabaga on percussion?) Kids 12 and under are free, as long as they are accompanied by an adult w/ a wristband ($20/wristband - includes 8 activity tickets - think carnival style - most activities are 1 to 3 tickets)
Farmstand will be open normal Saturday hours, 9am - 5pm.
**Tell a friend! Share our posts on Facebook or Stories on Instagram @whitebarnfarmers. Invent a TikTok!
Reserve Your Wristband online . . .
Follow the EarthFest link above for the schedule of workshops/vendors/etc. Be in Earth Day spirit with reusable water bottles, reusable shopping bags, and a willingness to follow Recyle/Compost/Landfill instructions for your waste. You are welcome to bring lawn chairs, strollers, wagons. Picnics are fine but supporting our food vendors or making your picnic out of WBF Farmstand provisions is even better!! No pets please! #EarthFest2022
Online Plant Sale will be for all the frost-sensitive crops - the pickup date will be Saturday May 21st. Customers will be assigned a 15-minute pick-up window according to their order number to try to spread us all out and keep it orderly. Keep checking the farmstand for all the cold-hardy crops ready earlier (now), for sale a-la-carte. Available now or soon: broccoli, cauliflower, peas, beets, cilantro, dill, borage, calendula, alyssum, bachelor's buttons, spinach, lettuce mix, kale mix, Swiss chard, snapdragons and more hardy flowers coming as soon as we can get them tagged and sent across the street!
Frost-sensitive crops include: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, basil, zinnias, sunflowers, cucumbers, zucchini, beans, and more. Perennial herbs in 4" pots are likely to be unleashed at that time, too, but not because of their frost sensitivity just cause we couldn't get the plugs earlier. Stay tuned for the announcement of the plant sale going up for your plant browsing, garden planning, online shopping pleasure!
Shares will not be boxed. Please bring bags and boxes.
See pick up details below.
Sometimes the share may change at the last minute due to availability.
Questions? Check out our Share FAQ
Pick up Procedures for the Spring Share
Pick up on your scheduled day any time Wednesday/Friday 12 - 6
Pick up will be in the tent located across from 458 South St, Wrentham.
Your items will be self serve so you can choose between options.
Please bring bags and boxes for your items to help us conserve.
We will have a clip board listing the items and the choices in the share.
Please check your name off the list when you pick up.
Add on share items will be located in designated coolers.
After two years of navigating this public health crisis, we are confident that we can minimize risk to our customers and staff. However, all of our plans are fluid. We may have to change this plan if we feel it is not keeping people safe.
Pick up is Wednesday/Friday from 12 - 6
Thank you so much for support!