Maplewood natural organics

CSA Newsletter
Issue 10- Farm and High Street
We got back from the NOFA Summer Conference in Amherst, Massachusetts Sunday evening just as the rain starting pounding down. We got an inch and half in 45 minutes! I love the rain.but holy moley! That's too much at once! Eric was able to do some picking while we were away. He also tilled the areas that we planted with fall crops this week. We replanted the area behind the house where the garlic grew yesterday. Maddy got to get her Valentine's Day radishes in the ground. Some crops are fizzling out. Others are just on the edge of coming in. You'll have a lot of the same this
week and maybe next during that transition.
The Gardens
Last week the weeding focus was on the brassicas - all of the cabbage family crops - to make more
space for them to flourish in this cooler weather. I will also be using an organic approved pesticide over the next couple weeks on all of the brassicas to help us out with the cabbage looper larvae. This is not a very fun job and is extremely time consuming. This year it is essential as the pest pressure is high. We want our kale to last into the winter and for our late cabbages and Brussels sprouts to develop well into the fall. The tomatoes are coming along. We're not sure if we'll have an overabundance this year, but we're taking care of the plants in hopes of having much higher yields than we've had so far. Next year I'd like to grow hoop house tomatoes in our new high tunnel. I learned some useful bits and pieces about
growing tomatoes this way at the conference this weekend and I'd like to give it another try early in
the season.
On the Farm
This week we welcomed some visitors to the farm. Hannah Gibbons and Ellyn Gaydos, two interns from two summers ago visited us early this week. These young women bunked together in the camper the summer they worked for us and hadn't seen each other since, so it was a nice reunion for them too. Their visit was a good distraction for us with Gaby so newly gone too, especially for Madeleine and Calvin. I was asked this weekend about how I thought having interns come and go so often affects the children. I think it's a great way for them to meet a fairly diverse group of people, learn what's it means to build community in our home and learn about letting go. We've stayed in touch with all of our former interns to some extent. Most of them have made it back for visits. We form an extended family with our interns. At times it is hard to have so many people in the house. It's not easy having an audience when tantrums and bad moods are happening or when we make mistakes within our family. There are so many positives too. We all have opportunities to learn and teach and form life-long
relationships. Hannah and Ellyn returned and fell right back into the groove of our farm and family.

100% Grass-fed, Certified Organic Beef
We have beef on hand right now and can deliver it to you at your weekly pick-ups. We also have larger
freezer beef packages available for the month of September. Please place your orders by August 22nd
for delivery before Labor Day. Our beef has been selling out fast and we have new customers coming
on, so act soon! Visit our website for details about our delicious beef
Please find us on Facebook (Maplewood Organics and The Organic Mother) and Twitter
(maplewoodvt and organicmother74). We have a new email list sign up on Facebook!

Recipes of the Week

Onion and Tomato Salad

Pesto Dressing:
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons homemade or store-bought pesto
Salad:
2 large onions
1 large (about 3/4 pound) firm, ripe tomato, cored and cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
Fresh basil sprigs for garnish
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
To make the pesto dressing, in a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, and pesto; set aside.
Cut the onions crosswise into thin slices and separate the rings into a bowl. Pour the dressing over the onions and
mix gently.
On 3 or 4 dinner or salad plates, arrange equal portions of the tomato. Top with equal portions of the onions and
dressing. Garnish with basil sprigs. Season with salt and pepper.
Oven Roasted Broccoli
2 heads of broccoli washed and DRIED well then cut into florets
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and sliced
4-5 tablespoon of olive oil
1 lemon for zest and juice
1/4 cup lightly roasted sunflower seeds
2 Tbsp. basil cut into shreds
1/3 cup freshly shredded Parmesan cheese
Sea salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 425.
Toss broccoli with garlic and oil on cookie sheet. Add salt and pepper and mix well
Cook in oven uncovered for about 20 minutes until just starting to get tender and some of the floret tips are
slightly browned.
Remove from oven
Zest lemon over broccoli. Squeeze lemon juice over broccoli. Sprinkle on sunflower seeds, basil and parmesan
cheese.

Please visit our website to read our past newsletters and recipes if you're looking for more ideas. Only
this year's newsletters are there so far, but I'll be working on getting all of our newsletters from 2005
on archived on our website.
http://maplewoodorganics.biz

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