Westfield Area CSA Blog

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- September 23, 2010

Hi Folks,

We received a bit more rain this past week from the storm that passed through on Thursday. It wasn’t much, perhaps a quarter of an inch, nothing like the downpour experienced in the eastern part of the state and NYC. Fortunately we were also spared the high winds and hail that accompanied the storm in these areas. (more…)

Chimichurri

Chimichurri

Chimichurri is an Argentinian sauce simi- lar to pesto. It is usually used as a mari- nade for grilled steak, but can also be used just as a spread over some crusty bread.The variations are endless with this recipe. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- September 16, 2010

Hello Folks,

We had some light rain and drizzle here at the farm this past Sunday. I don’t think it amounted to even a 1⁄4 inch of precipitation. It will help to germinate some of the recently planted seeds and will also help the lettuce and some other newly transplanted broccoli and kohlrabi starts. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- September 9, 2010

Hi Folks,

I hope you had a pleasant Labor Day weekend. There’s no 3 day weekend here at the farm of course, we’ve got to harvest your food! Besides harvesting, the major project for Monday was to finish erecting a temporary fence around 4 acres of field to keep the deer from destroying the pumpkin and winter squash crop. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- September 2, 2010

Hi Folks,

As predicted we received some much needed rain this past week, a total of a little more than an inch, that fell mostly as drizzle and light rain over four days. Such a protracted period of precipitation makes the harvest more challenging, especially for the potatoes, which had to be dug by hand, without the help of the potato digging machine. I’m not complaining though, after such a dry summer we’ll take whatever we can get, and be grateful for it. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- August 26, 2010

Hi Folks,

It’s been a dry summer and we’ve been waiting and hoping for some rain. Many of the scattered storms that have been about have missed us and we finally had to hand water most of the recently transplanted lettuces last week or risk losing many of them. Now it seems we’re headed into a rainy stretch for the first half of this week. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- August 19, 2010

Hi Folks,

This will be a brief update since I am late in writing it. My computer died last week and after determining that it was not worth fixing, today I purchased a new one. Between setting it up, learning my way around a different operating system, and getting the farm work done, it’ been a hectic day. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News- August 12, 2010

Hi Folks,

It’s been getting rather dry again here on the farm — nearly 2 weeks without a substantial rainfall — and while there is still some moisture deeper in the ground, the surface is essentially dust. This makes it a bit challenging to get good germination on the many crops that we are currently seeding, such as carrots, turnips, and mustard greens. (more…)

Thyme

Thyme

There are actually over 100 varieties of thyme, but only 2 that are used in the kitchen: Garden thyme and lemon thyme. Garden thyme has a woodsy, pungent aroma, while lemon thyme, when crushed, has a distinct lemony smell. Leaves and sprigs are used in salads as garnishes, and in soups, chowders, and in many Cajun and French dishes. (more…)

Circle Brook Farm

Farm News – August 5, 2010

Hello Folks, We’ve arrived at August, having survived a scorching July, and happy for the more moderate temperatures we’ve enjoyed over the past week. A few passing storms have brought us just enough rain to keep the crops happy and to help germinate the many seeds I’ve sown during the week. I’ve planted more beans, cucumbers and summer squash for a late September harvest as well as beets and carrots for October. We have also begun transplanting the brassica crops for the fall as well. (more…)