Westfield Area CSA Blog

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – October 23, 2017

Hi Folks!  A week after our frost event we are seeing the damage that was caused.  It seems bit strange, but while the peppers and beans were not completely killed, we had damage to some crops that are usually quite hardy.  Lettuce, which is much tougher than one might think, had quite a bit of tip burn, as did the chard.  Even the broccoli and the kale have some white spots on the leaves — a sign of frost damage.  (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – October 16, 2017

Hi Everyone!  Today, in addition to harvesting for the Tuesday deliveries, we spent preparing for another cold night.  This will be our first hard frost and will likely finish off most of the tender crops such as the peppers, eggplant, beans, and summer squash.  We have covered as much as we were able, to try to keep them alive for a few more weeks.  This will be a single cold night after which it will warm up again for a week or so.  The sweet potato vines will certainly be killed and we can begin harvesting them in earnest.  They will be featured in most, if not all, of the shares remaining in the season.  (more…)

Vegetable Lentil Soup

Vegetable Lentil Soup

This recipe is from Gourmet magazine and can be found on epicurious.com.  It requires lots of chopping, but is relatively easy. I generally double the recipe when I make it, because it goes very quickly.  Note that the lentils may need more cooking time, depending on whether you have pre-soaked them or they are dry.  Buy the pre-cooked lentils at Trader Joe’s to save time!  Serves 2 generously. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – October 9, 2017

Hello Folks, as I write we are receiving some much-needed rain; hurricane rain but without any damaging winds.  This will be of great benefit to the greens and the fall brassicas which have been slowed down by the dearth of precipitation through most of September.  We have some spinach that is sizing up and may be ready to begin harvesting next week.  We also have a lot of broccoli planted which will be heading up through the rest of the season and cauliflower should be starting soon as well. (more…)

Spiced Squash Cookies

Spiced Squash Cookies

From an old, Edible Vermont (2009) magazine, Winter issue, these spiced cookies are cake-like in texture and so welcoming on a cold, wintry day with a hot cup of tea (or cocoa).  Roast and mash the butternut squash ahead of time so you have it ready when you want to bake these cookies.  The recipe yields about 5 dozen. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – October 2, 2017

Hello Everyone!  So, you may have noticed I haven’t had much to say about the weather for the past few weeks; a deviation from the norm – since most of my updates begin with a weather report.  I jokingly refer to it as griping about the weather, but it’s really meant to help the members understand what we are up against, and in what ways the weather affects our production.  With the devastation caused by Harvey and then Irma and now Maria, it didn’t seem appropriate to utter a single word that might be construed as complaining.  Besides, the frequent rain had ceased, and after a cool beginning September, the weather has warmed up nicely.  (more…)

Broccoli Soup

Broccoli Soup

If we are lucky enough to get broccoli leaves, they are perfect in this soup. If not, feel free to just use broccoli. This will be a very dark green soup. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – September 25, 2017

Hi Everyone!  As we head into the fall we will be transitioning back into cool weather crops, but for now we are still abundant with summer veggies.  Next week we will begin to have broccoli again and we will start to ship some of the winter squash in the shares.  We have a nice crop of fall carrots coming along, but we will give them one more week to size up.   We have salad turnips for everyone this week.  They are great either raw or cooked and have beautiful greens. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – September 18, 2017

Hi Folks!  So you might think that by now things would start to ease up a bit here on the farm, and I would have time to write these updates and get them out to the members in a timely manner.  But it never really slows down much until November.  We are still busy transplanting fall crops, such as lettuce, and direct seeding other crops like spinach and radish.  We are cleaning up fields that have produced their crop and planting oats and peas as a winter cover crop.  And we are preparing ground for planting garlic in late October and early November.  (more…)

Quick Kimchi

Quick Kimchi

This quick, spicy, tangy cabbage side dish stands in for the traditional salty Korean staple.  Unlike fermented kimchi, this quick variation is best eaten shortly after preparing and does not keep its crunchy texture when stored. Enjoy it with grilled meats or chicken.  The recipe makes 4 cups and is from Eating Well Magazine. (more…)