Massaro Community Farm Keep farming, feed people, build community October 10, 2022 Notes From the Farm We have Honey Nut squash for you this week, which are a mini butternut type of winter squash, packed with a deep, delicious flavor profile. Cut them in half, bake them in an oven and enjoy what I think may be the best flavor any winter squash has to offer (our ‘Autumn Frost’ winter squash, which we hope to have later this fall is right there for top flavor as well).  We are harvesting plenty more greens this week, including more arugula and salad mix.  The salad mix is a mix of mustard greens along with some baby kale, and can be a bit spicy, but the spiciness will disappear if you cook the greens.  Try them in stir fry, rice bowl, soup or stew; see the recipes in the section below. This week we’ll also have Kiwi berries from Clover Nook Farm in Bethany.  They are delicious, and ripe when soft, so be sure to feel them and ensure they are not firm before eating.  Green on the inside, they perfectly resemble a larger kiwi, but without the fuzzy skin, so they can be eaten whole.  Hardy enough to be grown here in New England, they have limited pest and disease concerns relative to other fruits, so they can be successfully produced without pesticides and fungicides.  Let us know what you think. Temps dropped to the low 30s over the weekend and though we were didn’t have a frost our fruiting crops may be through – we’ll see if any eggplant or green peppers can still be picked – and this may be the final week for U-Pick; next week is the final fruit option pickup. Our 6-week fall CSA is nearly sold out, so please sign up now at our GrownBy page if you want in, and pay online or bring in payment. The fall CSA begins in November, immediately following the end of our summer CSA, and continues in to December after a Thanksgiving break. -Farmer Steve and our Farmers: Alyssa, Alanna, Ariel, Cass, Hali, Kayla, Leah, Maia, MC Fall CSA Sign Up This Week’s Anticipated Harvest: Honey Nut Squash, Potatoes,  Radishes or Salad Turnips, Arugula, Bok Choi, Onions, Mustard Greens (Salad Mix), Green Tomatoes Kiwi Berry from Clover Nook Farm   U-Pick: May be the final week for U-Pick Cherry tomatoes, herbs Fruit Option:   Apples or Pears Big Green Truck Pizza will be here next Tuesday, October 18 during CSA pickup hours; join us to celebrate a bit of fall CSA parking area/pickup images See images below for an overhead view of the pickup areas at Massaro and at District. Recipes and Cooking Ideas Korean Style Rice Bowl with Mustard Greens Adapted from www.calorganicfarms.com Ingredients 1 bunch mustard greens (salad mix), stems removed optional: add bok choi to include more greens if you like 4-5 radishes, salad turnips, matchstick sliced 2 cups shredded carrots or beets 4 thinly sliced scallions, leeks or onions 1 lb. thinly sliced shiitake mushrooms 4 cups cooked brown or white rice, warm 4 eggs, fried or poached 2 garlic cloves, minced 2 tbsp. rice vinegar, divided 2 tbsp. soy sauce 2 tbsp. vegetable oil 1 tsp. sesame seeds 1/4 cup gochujang, or favorite hot sauce Directions In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat 1 tablespoon of oil then add greens, in batches if necessary until it is wilted, about 5-6 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 1 tablespoon rice vinegar and sesame seeds. Remove to a bowl and set aside. Wipe out skillet, place over high heat, then add remaining oil and heat until shimmering. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally until softened and starting to brown around the edges. Remove to a bowl and set aside. In a small bowl, whisk together hot sauce, soy and remaining vinegar. Divide rice, toppings and sauce between four bowls. Add toppings and sauce to each, with an egg in the middle. Mustard Greens Saag Paneer Adapted from www.foodandwine.com Ingredients 1/4 cup ghee 1 medium yellow onion, chopped Kosher salt Pepper 3 garlic cloves, minced 2 chili peppers—stemmed, seeded and minced One 2-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced 2 tablespoons dried fenugreek leaves 1-2 bunches of leafy spinach (about 1 pound), stemmed and chopped 1-2 bunches of mustard greens (about 1 pound), stemmed and chopped 2 teaspoons garam masala 3/4 cup heavy cream, plus warmed cream for serving 1 pound paneer or halloumi cheese, cut into 1-inch pieces Steamed basmati rice, for serving Directions In a large saucepan, heat 3 tablespoons of the ghee. Add the onion, season with salt and pepper and cook over moderately low heat, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 20 minutes. Add the garlic, chiles, ginger and fenugreek leaves and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. In 3 batches, add the spinach and mustard greens, letting each batch wilt before adding more. Stir in the garam masala and season with salt and pepper. Scrape the greens into a medium bowl and let cool slightly. Wipe out the saucepan. In a food processor, pulse half of the greens with half of the heavy cream until finely chopped. Return to the saucepan and repeat with the remaining greens and cream. Keep the saag warm over very low heat, stirring occasionally. In a medium nonstick skillet, heat 1/2 tablespoon of the ghee until shimmering. Add half of the paneer and cook over moderate heat, turning once, until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate to drain. Repeat with the remaining ghee and paneer. Fold the paneer into the saag and cook over low heat until warmed through, 2 to 3 minutes; season with salt. Transfer to a bowl and drizzle with warm cream. Serve with steamed basmati rice. Make Ahead The saag paneer can be prepared through Step 2 and refrigerated for up to 4 days. Reheat gently. Twice Baked Honey Nut Squash From www.dishingupthedirt.com Ingredients Serves 6 3 honey nut squash, (or small butternuts) sliced in half lengthwise, seeded, and hollowed out leaving 1/4 inch on the sides 1 cup quinoa 2 cups veggie stock 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 up kale, stems removed and chopped 1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled olive oil salt and pepper Instructions Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle squash with a little olive oil. Place squash on an oiled baking sheet cut side down and roast for about 20 minutes. (If using larger butternut squash this process may take longer) Place 1 cup uncooked quinoa and two cups veggie stock in a pan. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 12-15 minutes, or until quinoa is fully cooked. Sautée garlic and onion in a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. After about 7 minutes add kale. Continue to cook until kale is bright green and wilted. (about 8 minutes) Mix your quinoa and kale mixture together (you may have extra quinoa, save it for a later use). Take squash out of the oven and scoop a healthy portion of quinoa mixture into each half. Top with a handful of gorgonzola cheese and place back in the oven for about 3-5 minutes, or until cheese is melted. Serve warm and enjoy! Use this recipe as a guide and adjust measurements and seasonings to your liking. CSA Pickup Instructions and Reminders Reminder emails from GrownBy: GrownBy sends reminder emails ahead of your CSA pickup day each week for our 20-week subscribers, and uses a default of picking up alternating weeks, beginning with either week 1 or 2 for our 10-week subscribers. We know that many people switch pickup days as needed, and have a different pickup plan than the alternating weeks. As a result, you may receive some reminder emails that don’t match with your pickup plan or changes. Know that we are working with GrownBy to make adjustments to the auto reminder emails. Thank you for patience and understanding on this. On-Farm Pickups – Tuesdays and Friday, 2:30-6:30pm Safety is our top priority for everyone on the farm, and Covid remains a risk in our community. With that in mind we’ll plan to move forward with two options for our on-farm CSA pickup, and will adjust as needed during the season: Outdoor, drive thru pickup: Pull in to the barn yard area between the red barn and white house for a drive thru pickup of your CSA, which will be bagged for you in advance. Barn pickup, fill your own bag, masks optional: Park in the parking area on the north side of the barn, walk down the steps and and enter the barn through the east barn door entry. Our harvest will be set out in bins with instructions for you to select and bag your own produce. Staff and/or volunteers will be there to help you as needed. Please bring your own bag or box. Please help protect our staff and community, do not enter the barn if you are sick, have tested positive for covid in the last 10 days, or have had a known high risk exposure. ALWAYS DRIVE SLOWLY at the farm – there is often programming here for kids, and the farm family with young children live here. When U-Pick crops are available, we recommend doing U-Pick first, then picking up your CSA when you are done. See map in the section above. Delivery to District – Wednesdays, 3:30-7:30pm Located at 470 James St. at State St. Go to Door 004 for District Athletic Club (see map below). CSA boxes will be stacked through the door and down the hall in the gym kitchen area. Pick up time is 3:30-7:30pm on Wednesdays. Take only one box of produce unless otherwise indicated, all boxes will be the same. Return your box each week and pick up a new one. NEW: Summer Flower & Dahlia CSA, 12 weeks – bring a home a beautiful bunch of flowers each week along with your produce. In July and August we’ll harvest a great mix of flowers grown here at Massaro, then in September and October you’ll receive dahlias from our friends at Two Meadow Farm (North Haven) and Off Center Farm (Woodbridge). Bunches will vary week to week as we bring in flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes. Limited availability; farm pickup only (Tuesday or Friday), $180 ($15/week). Start date Tuesday, July 19; end date Friday, October 7. To reserve your flower CSA, email [email protected]. Egg CSA Subscriptions – sold out; will make more available if possible Pickup along with your vegetables on your regular pickup day and location. Massaro egg cartons can be returned to us as long as they are in good, clean condition. We are not accepting non-Massaro egg cartons at this time. Fruit Option Comes from High Hill Orchard in Meriden. Typically begins in early July once blueberries are ready to harvest. Pickup along with your vegetables on your regular pickup day and location. Farm Store – for on-farm pick up only; not available for New Haven delivery Our eggs, honey and tomato products will be available each week as long as we have them. Purchase at pickup along with your produce. Note – we reduced our flock of laying hens, and egg availability may be limited. Products from our partner farms and local vendors may be available as well. Communications: We send out a weekly CSA newsletter during the harvest season, and additional messages throughout the year.  Please read them. There is often helpful information in them, or important updates that might answer questions you have.  We try to keep our website updated with those newsletters, and we also share news, stories and photos on facebook, twitter and instagram. If you have a question, request, feedback, or need to be in touch for any reason, emailing us at [email protected] is the best means of communication. This email is checked regularly, and we do our best to respond quickly. We’d love to talk with you when you are here on the farm and we can usually be found around the barn during CSA pickup hours, so grab our ears, pick our brains, chat us up or tell us what’s on your mind! Bags: Please do bring a reusable bag or box to take your produce home in. We will have compostable bags available for you if needed. What if I miss a week?: If you are not able to make it to the farm to pick up your produce on a given week, you are welcome to have someone else pick up it up for you. Simply have them come to the farm or District on your behalf. Any produce that is not picked up will be donated, so know that it is put to good use! If you do miss a week, please understand that you are not entitled to additional produce on another week. Produce Donations: Part of our mission and commitment to the community is to donate produce to local hunger relief organizations, which is more important than ever right now. To make this happen, we harvest additional produce for donation on CSA distribution days. Any produce not picked up by our CSA members is added to that donation. Thus, if you can’t make it one week to get your vegetables, know that your produce will go to people in need and is never wasted. Want more of our produce?: As our harvest allows, we will offer additional produce for sale at the farm. If you don’t see something you want available in the store, please do let us know when you are here and we’ll see if we can offer it. We will be at the Q House market in Hamden on Wednesday afternoons beginning in late June, and some weekend markets again beginning in August. Payment plans, and final payments: If you signed up through GrownBy for weekly or monthly payment plans, your card will be charged automatically. Please make sure your card is up to date. If you paid by check and you still have a balance for the CSA, please send in your final payments, or email your payment plan to: [email protected]. Build a Farm Pavilion For years, we’ve been dreaming of a sturdy structure that can host the increasing number of farm visitors. Now, thanks to partnerships with Haynes Group and Emmett O’Brien Technical School, the farm will erect a 20′ x 32′ post-and-beam pavilion in September. If you visit the farm this summer, you’ll likely see the foundation and lumber staged for this project. This new structure, located in the farm’s Learning Garden adjacent to our new parking area, will provide year-round gathering space for 75-100 guests and expand our sustainability footprint with two composting toilets. Etch your place in farm history by purchasing a brick that will form the foundation of the pavilion! Revenue raised through the sale of bricks will provide matching funds already received for this project from The Crippled Children’s Fund and Paul and Judy DeCoster. 4″ x 8″ Brick – $100 8″ x 8″ Brick – $250 Buy a Brick (203) 736-8618 41 Ford Road, Woodbridge, CT www.MassaroFarm.org Follow Us