Massaro Community Farm Keep farming, feed people, build community July 31, 2023 Notes From the Farm On Monday last week I was excited for the first tomatoes ripening up. I thought we’d harvest enough ripe ones for everyone, and if not, we’d harvest green ones as well. Turns out we were not quite there for Tuesday and Wednesday, and we had a good haul of the other crops to bring in, so only the cherry tomatoes were available in the beginning of the week. My apologies for getting ahead of things there. Typically we have tomatoes by mid July, but the cooler conditions in June and wetter July definitely delayed them a bit. More are ripening up for real now so there will be tomatoes for sure this week! We are between successions of cucumbers now as the first planting fades and the second planting is not quite fruiting yet. Greens, zucchini and squash still look plentiful this week, plus we’ll harvest eggplant, scallions, basil and string beans – which have been the highlight of a number of meals in my home lately, see recipe ideas below.   Join us on Tuesday, August 1 for a pizza party at the learning garden pavilion. This will be the beginning of our final push on our capital campaign to finish the pavilion. We need just 30 more people to donate any amountto unlock the $15,000 match from Sustainable CT. Hope to see you there! Next week on Tuesday, August 8 and Friday, August 11, from 4-5pm we’ll host a flower bouquet making workshop with our very own Farmer Alyssa. Alyssa will have flowers harvested from our fields for you to work with as she takes you through the art and joy of making a bouquet. And of course you’ll bring a bouquet home with you. $20-$40 sliding scale. Space is limited to 12 people per workshop. Click the link on the date to register. -Farmer Steve and our Farmers: Alyssa, Alanna, Bella, Cass, Faith, Kate, Kayla, Leah, Maddie, MC Donate to Help Finish the Pavilion If you prefer to give offline by cash or check please make payments to Massaro Community Farm and drop off or mail to 41 Ford Rd., Woodbridge, CT 06525. For questions please contact Lindsay at development@massarofarm.org, or call the farm office at 203-736-8618 This Week’s Anticipated Harvest: Mixed Tomatoes, Eggplant, Shishito Peppers, Scallions, Eggplant, Zucchini, Summer Squash, Lettuce, Kale, Chard, Basil   U-Pick: Cherry tomatoes, string beans, cucamelon, herbs Fruit Option: Apples or Blueberries Big Green Truck Pizza Big Green Truck Pizza will be at the farm from 3-6pm on Tuesdays once per month: Tuesday, August 1 Tuesday, September 5 Tuesday, October 3 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. Our flower CSA has a few spots still available. Send an email to csa@massarofarm.org to reserve your flower CSA or sign up at the farm. Bunches will vary week to week. Limited availability; farm pickup only (Tuesday or Friday), $15/week. End date Friday, October 6. CSA parking area/pickup images See images below for an overhead view of the pickup areas at Massaro and at District. Dinner on the Farm Sunday, September 10, 4pm ZINC is back to prepare a spectacular seasonal feast for our annual Dinner on the Farm. Join us on Sunday, September 10th for our unique farm-to-table event, which brings people together for a fabulous family-style meal in a wonderful setting. Funds raised through ticket sales, sponsorships and silent auction help support our fresh produce donations to health, human service and hunger relief agencies, as well as our farm education programs. Click the link below to purchase tickets and see our sponsorships opportunities. Purchase Tickets or Sponsor Dinner on the Farm Recipes and Cooking Ideas Green Beans with Tomatoes adapted from shelovesbiscotti.com Ingredients half pound to a pound of green beans 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil 1 small-medium onion finely chopped or 1 bunch of scallions pinch crushed red pepper flakes optional 1-2 cloves garlic minced 4-5 medium fresh tomatoes or cherry tomatoes blanched and chopped 1-2 sprigs of fresh basil chopped 1-2 sprigs of fresh parsley chopped Salt and pepper to taste Instructions Wash and trim the ends of the green beans. Set aside. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the chopped onion and sauté for about 4-5 minutes or until the onion is translucent. Make sure to give it a few stirs. Add the red pepper flakes (if using) and the minced garlic and sauté for about 1 minute. Add the tomatoes. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to obtain a vigorous simmer. Simmer for about 10 minutes or until the sauce begins to thicken. In the meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook the beans for about 5 minutes. Beans should still be crisp. Drain and add to simmering tomatoes. Simmer, uncovered, until beans become tender but still firm (not mushy). If the sauce appears dry, add some water. Add the herbs during the last few minutes of cooking. Season with salt and pepper and serve as is, or serve over rice, cous cous or your choice of pasta shape. CSA Pickup Instructions and Reminders Balancing Tuesday and Friday CSA pickup: Quite a few more people who have chosen Tuesday than Friday for on-farm CSA pickup. If you are willing and able to switch to Fridays, please let us know, as that will help us balance the days and reduce traffic. A request for 10-week Flexible/Half CSA subscribers: Please send your pickup plan in an email to csa@massarofarmcsa.org if you haven’t already. The majority thus far have chosen to begin picking up Week 1 and doing alternating weeks from there. If you haven’t yet sent your plan in, you can help balance out our harvest days and limit crowding by starting with Week 2. We generally suggest picking up every other week, beginning either week 1 or 2, but the plan is flexible to allow you to choose any 10 weeks you would like. Please send us your plan now. 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 – a few more are still available 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 – a few more are still available 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 csa@massarofarmcsa.org 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: csa@massarofarmcsa.org. (203) 736-8618 41 Ford Road, Woodbridge, CT www.MassaroFarm.org Follow Us