Author: Bryan Housel

Circle Brook Farm

2024 Registration

Happy winter everyone! It is time to register for the 2024 CSA season!   Know your farmer. Know your food.

CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture.  CSA members pre-pay for “shares” in a local organic farm at the beginning of the season in March when the farmer most needs the money. Then during the harvest from June through November, the farmer delivers a weekly assortment of vegetables, herbs, and some fruit.

100% of your food dollars go to the person who is growing it. You support sustainable, local agriculture and get freshly picked organic produce at reasonable prices.  In addition, you know the farmer growing your vegetables and can visit the farm – establishing a personal connection with your food supply. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 22, 2023

Hi Everyone, I wanted to give you the rundown on what you will encounter in your stock up shares. If not, I will soon be receiving emails and texts with photos of strange, unknown vegetables. What is it, and what the heck do I do with it? I can help with what it is and how it should be stored. As for how to prepare it -that’s what Google is for, right? (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 13, 2023

Hello Everyone, We have reached the final week of the CSA season. I know that some will be sad not to receive their weekly bounty, while others may be relieved to be free of the pressure of putting it all to good use. My crew and I are relieved as well as proud to have been able to provide reasonably abundant shares despite the many challenges that the weather created. (more…)

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels sprouts as they are now known were grown possibly as early as the 13th century in what is now Belgium. During the 16th century, they enjoyed a popularity in the southern Netherlands that eventually spread throughout the cooler parts of Northern Europe.  They are a cool weather crop that, rather than being damaged by a frost, actually gets a little sweeter and improves in taste. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 6, 2023

Hi All! As expected we were hit quite hard with a freeze last week, three nights in a row with temperatures dipping into the mid 20’s. We harvested a lot of peppers ahead of the cold blast; some green, some ripe, and some in between. They represent the last taste of the summer crops for this season and will be in the shares this week and next (if they hold up well). (more…)

celeriac

Celeriac (aka Celery Root)

Celeriac, aka celery root or knob of celery, is a distinct variety from the plant that produces the green stalks we enjoy in salads and soups; is cultivated specifically for its large, robust, and unfortunately rather ugly root.  It is a distant cousin to anise, carrots, parsley and parsnips.  Celeriac is recognized for its large, round, knobby and deeply gnarled, root ball.

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Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Basil

Spaghetti Squash with Tomatoes and Basil

Here’s another great spaghetti squash recipe from steamykitchen.com.  If you’re only feeding 4-6 people, I suggest cooking the spaghetti squash whole, then only using half of the squash when you’re ready to sauté with the tomatoes.  I like my spaghetti squash not too hard, not too soft. It shouldn’t be mushy, you should be able to still separate the strands of squash.  Serves 8-10. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – October 30, 2023

Hello folks, Happy Halloween! No time for trick or treating for us – we are busy covering crops to protect them from a series of cold nights this week. We have been picking a lot of peppers because they can be stored for a couple of weeks and covering the plants will probably not be sufficient protection. Soon we will have to abandon the more tender crops and concentrate on protecting the hardier ones, which can still sustain some damage if the temperatures drop below 28 degrees. (more…)

Sunchokes

Jerusalem Artichokes (aka Sunchokes)

Sunchokes, of the sunflower family, are native to North America where the natives called them “sun roots” before European settlers arrived. Samuel Champlain, a French explorer found them in Cape Cod in 1605 and pronounced them similar in taste to artichokes. But why “Jerusalem artichokes”? They don’t come from Jerusalem nor do they look like artichokes. There are a few theories: when first discovered people started calling them “girasole” (or flower that turns looking for the sun) which eventually became “Jerusalem”. Another possibility is that as sunchokes became the staple food of the first European pilgrims in North American soil they named it as food for the “new Jerusalem”. (more…)