2023 CSA – Week #19
Keep farming, feed people, build community
October 10, 2023
Notes From the Farm This week we have onions and a mix of winter squash from our friends at Sub Edge Farm. They are located in Farmington/Avon, and the heavy rains this summer flooded some of their fields. We provided some lettuce, kale and chard for their CSA to help out for a few weeks and now we get to share their harvest of squash and onions with you. We are still harvesting tomatoes and you can combine them with the winter squash to make a great soup. Check out the recipe idea below.
Thanksgiving is not far away, and once again this year you can secure a CT grown turkey from Ramble Creek Farm, with pickup here at Massaro on Monday, November 20, 12:30-5:30pm. Click the link to reserve your turkey now.
Sales for our 6-week fall CSA extension will close this week. Please sign up now if you are interested. The fall CSA begins in November, immediately following the end of our summer CSA, and continues in to December after a one-week Thanksgiving break. Sign up online through our GrownBy store or mail/bring payment to the farm; $180 for on-farm pickup, $204 for District pickup. Pickup will be available on Wednesdays at District in New Haven, and Fridays at the farm. There will be no Tuesday pickup at the farm. We downsize a bit for the fall and winter so space for the fall CSA is limited.
Here is a list of upcoming events and workshops on the farm:
- Join Chris Loscalzo for a bird walk through our Nature Trail on Sunday, October 15 at 9am. Chris will take you on a guided walk through our trail pointing out native birds along the way. All ages are welcome to participate in this free event. Be prepared to walk on uneven and wet ground, and bring your binoculars if you have them! Click here to register.
- Come to the farm for family movie night: Hocus Pocus, a spellbinding halloween classic; Saturday, October 21, 5:30pm; movie starts at dusk. Click here to register.
-Farmer Steve and our Farmers: Alyssa, Alanna, Aloe, Cass, Cierra, Dune, Kayla, MC, Sophia
This Week’s Anticipated Harvest: Winter Squash*, Onions*, Kale, Tomatoes, Peppers or Eggplant, Radishes or Salad Turnips, Carrots, Garlic
*from Sub Edge Farm
U-Pick:
Closed for the season
Fruit Option:
No fruit this week
Final fruit to be distributed the week of 10/16
Big Green Truck Pizza
Big Green Truck Pizza will be at the farm from 3-6pm on Tuesdays once per month:
- Tuesday, November 28
They’ll be parked in the parking area, making a variety of their favorite pies for you to choose from. Payment can be made to Big Green Truck here with cash, venmo, or paypal.
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 Acorn Squash Tomato Soup
adapted from theplantcollective.com
Ingredients
- 2-4 small to medium tomatoes, quartered
- 1 Acorn Squash, roughly peeled and quartered (can sub other winter squash varieties)
- 1 cup Cherry Tomatoes
- 1 White Onion, peeled and quartered
- 1/2 head Garlic
- 1/4 cup Vegetable Broth if it’s too thick add another 1/4 cup
- 1/4 cup Canned Coconut Milk
- 1/4 cup Cashews, soaked in hot water for at least 20 minutes
- 5 Basil Leaves
- 1 tsp Coconut Sugar
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- Black Pepper, to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Add olive oil to a baking dish and add in the tomatoes, onion, and garlic. Drizzle with more olive oil and salt & pepper. Bake for about 40 min.
- Meanwhile add the cashews to a bowl and submerge in boiling water.
- After 40 min remove the roasted veg from the oven and let cool. Add to a large blender with the basil leaves, vegetable broth, coconut milk, soaked cashews (drain them first), sugar, and additional salt & pepper. The garlic should be soft enough to squeeze the cloves out, then discard the skin. Start on a low speed then gradually turn it up until the soup is extremely smooth. Should only take a minute or 2.
- Divide into bowls and optionally add a drizzle of coconut milk and salt & pepper on top of each portion.
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 your continued patience and understanding on this.
On-Farm Pickups – Tuesdays 2:30-6:30pm; Fridays 12:30-5:30pm
- Come on in to the big red barn: 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 note that we will no longer be offering the drive thru pick up option. We will make up a few bags in advance for a quick pickup option for those who might need it.
- There is a handicap parking spot and an additional accessible spot next to the entry/exit on the south side of the barn.
- 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.
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).
- 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.
Egg CSA Subscriptions
- Pickup along with your vegetables on your regular pickup day and location.
- Massaro Farm Egg cartons can be returned to us as long as they are in good, clean condition.
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.
- 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 also share news, stories and photos on facebook 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 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 the farm’s 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 at 197 Dixwell Ave in New Have on Wednesday afternoons from 3-6pm and some weekend markets again beginning in late July.
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].
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