It got down to 23 degrees in our fields Monday night.   Of course, Tuesday morning happened to be our first Winter CSA harvest.   We had to wait until noon for the crops to thaw out before picking them.  

This week's share contains radish, carrots,  white salad turnips, red and
green lettuces, red bok choi, kale, sweet potatoes, butternut winter squash, and a (sample) rutabaga.
  Rutabagas are underrated, and are a fantastic addition to the Thanksgiving feast.  Dice them up, boil or steam them, and then mash them.  For a simple dish with complex flavors, combine your mashed rutabaga with mashed potatoes.  If you like your stuffing on the moist side, mix in some shredded rutabaga before you stuff it.  

In light of Thanksgiving, Everyone will pick up their next share at their normal pickup site and time, but on Tues Nov20.   And yes, you will get a larger quantity of rutabagas in the Thanksgiving Share.

  The Winter CSA shares are distributed Every Other Week.


This week's share....

This weeks share consists of celery, red cabbage, kale, cauliflower, lettuce, sweet white salad turnips, carrots, radish, cilantro, scallions, and either sweet potatoes or winter squash.  The celery is less succulent than the stuff we see in the stores. It's flavor is concentrated, not diluted, so it is best used for cooking or diced up and added to other items.   

Thankyou for sharing in our harvest this season.  As always, we are both compelled and inspired to do our best for those who support us!


For those who are interested, the Online Signup for our Winter Share is http://firstlightfarm.csasignup.com.  You sign up online, then you have the option to pay online through PayPal, or to mail in a check.  

We had our first killing frost last weekend.  It actually helped us out for next season,  because it killed a lot of weeds that were producing seeds this fall.  The frost also killed the eggplant, which is definitely a blessing to some of you!

This week's share consists of mixed asian braising greens, dill, napa cabbage (the tall frilly one with a rubber band on it), red cabbage, fennel, spinach, peppers, cauliflower, kohlrabi (the hard green balls), and winter squash or sweet potatoes. If you got winter squash this week, you'll get sweet potatoes next week, and vice versa).

Next week is our last week for summer csa distributions.

We are busy planting crops in our field houses for the winter shares.  One house that was planted to tomatoes a few months ago is now filled with over 10,000 plants for the winter shares...with crops such as lettuce, spinach, beets turnips, arugula, scallions, kale, chard, ect.   These field houses allow us to grow crops year round with no supplemental heat.    On a cold sunny day, it feels (and looks) just like a second spring in there.

Reserve your Winter Share now!   There will be an online payment option soon,  but for now, just email me to save your spot.
 
firstlightfarmcsa@gmail.com

Open Fieldhouse:  Come out to the farm to check out our offseason production systems and pick a few fresh veggies while you're at it.    Bring your family, your dogs, and even your friends;  the more, the merrier.  A visit to the farm is the best way for you to see the oppportunities we have for you to get more involved.  We are All About Bartering!
 
The Open FieldHouse  hours are Tuesday and Wednesday 1-4pm by appointment, and weekends by  appointment.   Email me if you're interested.

This week’s share consists of beans, potatoes, dill, radish, napa
cabbage, beets, peppers, and winter squash.  After this week,  there are 3 more weeks in the summer share.  


Get a Winter Share! –  $325  
Pay by check, or online.  (The online option will be working soon, so for now,  just email me to reserve your share.)
  
   Mail check to :
     First Light Farm 
      P.O.Box 546
      Wenham, Ma 01984

 Shares will be distributed every other week;  4 in the fall, then 7 in
winter/spring,  for a total of 11  distributions, in the weeks of:

Nov 5, Nov 19, Dec 3, Dec 17  
 Mar 4, Mar 18, Apr 1, Apr15, Apr 29, May 13, May 27.

 You may pick up your share in Topsfield,  Hamilton, Salem, Lynnfield, and possibly some other locations.  The exact days/times are yet to be determined. 
Let us know if you have a site in mind, we will deliver if there are at
  least 15 shares.

 FLF’s Winter Share is not your average winter share. We offer the freshest crops  that can be grown during these months in our area. 
In addition to the cabbage, onions, potatoes, winter squash, and other
storage crops typically offered in winter CSA shares, we offer crops that are  harvested fresh every month of the year from our fields in Hamilton. Storage  crops are great, but in the off season, the Freshly Picked local produce we offer is not that  easy to find! 

The 4 weeks in the Fall will have freshly harvested crops such as lettuce, arugula, Asian greens for salads and stir fries,  bok choi, spinach,kale,chard, radish, carrots,beets,turnips, broccoli, parsley,cilantro, and dill.  Storage crops including winter squash, potatoes, cabbage, and onions will be included, but not in excessive quantities.   (You can find  that stuff anywhere).

  The 7 weeks in the Winter/Spring will feature all freshly harvested veggies : lettuce, arugula, Asian greens, bok choi, spinach, kale, chard, radish, carrots, beets, turnips, parsley,cilantro,  and dill
.

This week’s share consists of beans, arugula, lettuce, kale,
onions, vitamin greens (the bunch with round dark green leaves), tomatoes, and golden beets.  

I want to thank everyone who helped connect First Light Farm with
food donation opportunities.  Just as it is on a global and national scale, we may have plenty  of food, but it is not distributed equitably.  Farms often have random surpluses, but getting the food to those who need it is harder than you’d think.  Actually, it’s a pain in the butt.  

Thankfully there are organizations out there which exist to coordinate the logistics of food donations. By bridging the gap between all the food
and all the need, they give farmers an opportunity to contribute. 
We are grateful for that; it is our chance, and we want to make the most
of it.  

This past Sunday, staff and volunteers from The Boston Area  Gleaners came out to harvest some of our surplus crops.  It seemed like they were running around the farm having fun, but whatever  they were doing, they left with a van load of cabbage, eggplant, tomatoes, and  kale. Also, this past Monday, we  started a regularly scheduled donation pickup with Beverly Bootstraps.  Both of these organizations distribute the donated food to various local pantries and shelters.  

The financial support you provide our farm through your CSA   membership ensures that we may keep on growing and sharing food with our community.  Your participation makes it possible for us to donate food to the needy.  You  provide money; we plant crops; mother nature decides which crops die and which  crops thrive; organizations such as Boston Area Gleaners and Beverly Bootstraps
distribute surpluses; people who need it get to eat it.   It’s kind of beautiful.   

It is definitely tomato time!  
This week’s share also includes striped candy beets (with greens still
on!), purple topped turnips, sweet onions, peppers,   mesclun lettuce/mixed greens, and cabbage.   There may be a few surprises as well, but that is not up to me. 

Also, for the rest of the season, you have the opportunity to buy
larger quantities of certain crops from us at a Wholesale Case Pricing.   Just email your Case order to me,  and we will send it along with your share.  
 
Price -  $30/case.   Minimum  order – 1 case.  (A case is 20 lbs, or 20
bunches).

This is a great opportunity to do some canning,  freezing, pickling, juicing, or sharing.  What better could you share with a newly-wed couple?  Besides maybe a farm share for next season?

 This week, we’re offering cases of Eggplant,  Tomatoes, and Beets by the pound;  and Kale by the bunch.

We are also ramping up our Donation Program with a few food
  shelters.     We’ve  got the food, but we really need some help making connections and coordinating  the logistics.  If you’d like to  get involved,  let me  know.   The window is wide open, but not forever.  

This week’s share consists of radish, lettuce, onions, leeks,
  peppers, tomatoes, carrots, and lots of Eggplant.

When supply permits, we will give you tomatoes which are at various stages of ripeness, so you can enjoy them all week. 
 
  The onions you are getting now are not storage onions, they are a sweet variety called ‘ailsa  craig’. They should be eaten soon, before they rot.  i cut around the occasional brown centers, and they are delicious.

Beans will be coming in a few weeks.

Many of the crops have really fattened up.  This weeks share consists of striped beets, kale,purple topped turnips, lettuce, onions, peppers,cucumbers, eggplant,zucchini, and tomatoes.

Be sure to cut out the little bad spots and occasional catepillars.  Consider them proof that we farm organically and hate to waste perfectly good food!
 
And sorry if some of the crops got a little crushed as we tried to close your box.

this week we are planting, watering, weeding, and harvesting.

The mixed baby lettuce in the plastic bag may be a bit wet and/or stuck together because of how we wash it and then pack the bags into the boxes. 

  You should take it out of the bag,  wash it in the big bowl (or just fill up the  sink).  Then 'spin dry' it, and store in an unsealed plastic bag in the fridge.  In this condition, it should stay fresh for about a week.  

If you don't have a  spin drier, get one.  It could be the best $10 you spend all summer. 
  
The basic idea is that you want to keep the greens cool and moist,  but  not in standing water.