Westfield Area CSA Blog

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – May 18, 2021

Hello Folks, Happy Spring!  I am pleased to report that we are off to a much better start to the season than last year.  The first groups of workers arrived in late March and I now have my whole crew in place.  We are going gangbusters planting, weeding, spreading compost, mulching, and covering greenhouses.  The weather has been relatively cooperative.  It was a fairly dry spring with some early warmth and abundant sunshine, that helped to dry out the fields as the heavy snow melted.  Overall, it has stayed rather cool, but we have not had any extremely cold nights. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

2021 Registration

Happy winter everyone! It is time to register for the 2021 CSA season!   Know your farmer. Know your food. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 16, 2020

Hi Folks, we have reached the end of the CSA season.  I hope that you have enjoyed the produce we were able to provide this year.  Every farming season has its unique challenges, mostly weather related.  This year we had both the latest spring frost ever – May 18th – and the earliest fall frost that I can remember – September 18.  The September frost took us a bit by surprise as the forecast was for a low of 38 degrees.  The cold snap in September was even more unusual since it was not a single night, but rather four night in a row of sub-freezing temperatures.  This gave us only four months of frost-free growing season.  A long summer drought followed by excessive rain added another hurdle. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 9, 2020

Hi Folks, I hope you have been enjoying the balmy weather these past days; my crew and I certainly have been.  It’s a bit strange for early November but we’ll take it!  In any case there is no such thing as normal weather anymore.  The dry conditions have enabled us to finish digging the potatoes (finally!) and get started planting the garlic for next year’s crop.  The warmth is allowing some of the greens to recover from the damage sustained during the recent freeze, and the Brussel’s Sprouts and cauliflower to continue to mature.  We still have carrots and a few other root crops in the ground which also benefit from the mild temps and abundant sunshine. (more…)

Stuffed delicata squash

White Bean and Kale Stuffed Delicata Squash

From the website, www.cooklocal.com, this easy recipe serves 4 (or 2 if you are really hungry!).  You can readily add some pancetta or bulk sausage to the stuffing for a non-vegetarian meal.  Cook the meat for at least 10 minutes at the start of the recipe, then proceed with garlic, beans, kale, etc., as noted.  Just as yummy! (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – November 2, 2020

Hi Folks, November came brrrr-eezing in this weekend. We had temperatures in the mid- twenties Saturday morning. Today we are being buffeted by howling winds. We have two more cold nights ahead before the temps rise back to more seasonable levels. Friday was a long day for the crew, as they worked diligently to harvest and cover crops ahead of the freeze. We were mostly successful in protecting the crops, although we did have some losses. The dill and cilantro were burned by the cold. They should recover but they will need some time to grow new leaf. We continue our rotation with broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi, and red cabbage. We have some lovely lettuce for you this round. We will be alternating the arugula with broccoli raab and some other mustard greens during the final weeks of the season. (more…)

Acorn Squash Soup with Kale

Acorn Squash Soup with Kale

One rarely comes across acorn squash soup (mostly we see butternut as the main ingredient), but this one from marthastewart.com is tasty and colorful – we eat with our eyes first, right?  Savory bacon and peppery kale pair well with the sweet, nutty flavor of pureed acorn squash in this hearty soup.  The recipe serves 4.  Try it! (more…)