Fall Schedule:

CLOSED FRIDAYS,

with reduced hours on the remaining open days:

FALL PYO & Farmstand Hours:

Tuesday & Thursday: 2 - 5:30 PM

Saturday: 9 am - 12:30 pm

******

Our LAST farmstand day will be next Tuesday, November 25, 2 - 5:30 PM, and we will have abundant, fresh Fort Hill Farm produce available through mid - January when you order online! 

* Online ordering begins Saturday, Nov. 29, for Friday pickups through early January. 

FARM NEWS ~ November 18, 2025

November has become a busy month for the farmers at Fort Hill.  We’ve worked hard to provide a reliable income for our crew so that we can provide (nearly) year-round work for our core folks, and that means growing and tending crops into the winter months.  We’ve got the winter carrots, beets, cabbage, winter squash and potatoes all packed away, made a good dent in the leeks and Brussels sprouts, and planted 24,000 cloves of garlic.  We’re working hard to get the garlic mulched while we turn our attention this week to the dahlias, which need to get dug before the ground gets close to freezing. Through our crew’s hard work, 6 greenhouses are packed with lettuce, kale, spinach, scallions, escarole, radicchio, dandelions, bok choy, salad mix, cilantro, fennel, frisee, and radishes, so there is still plenty of great produce to come.  

Kolade still smiles in the face of the first snowflakes, despite his penchant for warmer temps.

It’s time to celebrate all the people whose hard work makes the farm possible!  We’ve been blessed with some truly great folks who literally do the heavy lifting and we are very grateful for their efforts. Elliott McGann manages the farms operations; we are lucky to have an experienced farmer keeping us all on task and managing the New Milford market.  Harvest management is one of the hardest jobs on the farm and Dana Scott does a fantastic job with a lot of help from Faye Barry. Faye is also our resident dahlia artist, greens seeder and cultivator.  Matt Gannon manages our restaurant and wholesale accounts with aplomb and keeps the never-ending irrigation lines going in a very dry summer. Adam Quattro managed the pack shed in the first half of the harvest season, and CJ Coll has made a strong showing at his first management job on the farm by taking the reins in the busy fall season.

Kolade Akinpelu works hard to ensure the weekly success of the Westport market, James McNamara kept the tomatoes on a short leash all season and has made tidy work of fall greenhouse plantings, Nick Tompos easily wears as many hats as are needed in any given moment; all three have kept things moving in the field and in pack shed, and Sophie Kolukisa has helped keep the harvest buzzing along all season long.  As in past years, we had an enthusiastic group of high school and college students who helped us pick strawberries and peas and weed the crops, and we are grateful for their efforts during the hottest part of the season.  It’s a common trope to get pessimistic about "kids these days,” but based on the folks we’ve had work for us over the years, the future looks just fine.

I try to maintain 11 straight rows of arugula in a hope-against-hope late greenhouse planting.

Nat Mahan has done a great job managing the farm stand this season, with lots of help from Liz Moore, Tony Morse, Monty Robinson, and Elizabeth Krause. Rebecca and Elliott had a very special group of folks help them at the Westport and New Milford farmers markets including Jon Clement, Liz Moore, Eileen O’Reilly, Stacy Fama, Brandon Osterhout, Tess Dougall, and Sara Jaeger (Westport), and Jodi Beckett, Julia Kinoshita-McCauley, and Cara Leichter (New Milford).

Jim helps bring in the last of the spuds before winter really sets in.

Rebecca and I have been running the farm together for 15 of the 23 years there’s been veggies grown at Fort Hill.  We are a good team; Rebecca puts together the annual crop plan, manages our greenhouses and plant sales, creates work schedules for our employees, seeds much of our vegetable crops, oversees harvest and sales, puts together the weekly newsletter, and runs the Westport Farmers market…on top of being a wonderful mom and partner.  She’s a gifted farmer and responsible for a lot of what goes well at Fort Hill Farm.  I’m the guy who pays the bills, manages soil fertility and pests, digs the spuds, and triages all the broken stuff that piles up at the farm.  The most important daily decision I make is “can I fix this, and who can I call if I can’t?” [I'll also mention that Paul is being a tad modest here and that his special gift for attuning to plants' needs as living, changing entities and adjusting strategies to keep them thriving – is one of the elements that makes Fort Hill the vibrant farm that it is! – Rebecca.]

Our biggest and warmest thanks go to you folks who take the time to seek out our veggies at our farm or at our stand at a farmers’ market.  Without you the farm wouldn’t exist and we are very grateful for your dedication to our farm. While this is the end of the Farm News for 2025, we still have (literally) tons of veggies stored up or growing in greenhouses that we will be selling through our online store at the farm or at the Westport Winter Farmers market. We will continue to put out a weekly email reminder with all the details through January.  In the meantime, we hope you have a great Thanksgiving and Thank You for supporting our farm.

All the best,

Paul, Rebecca, and the Fort Hill Farm crew



Featured this week:

Storage Onions! An abosolute staple in the kitchen– the base to any meal, raw or cooked. Well, prior to this year, featuring onions was only a dream. But thanks to Paul’s persistence with soil micronutrients and minerals and Dana’s and Faye’s’ insistence on timing of harvest, along with a helping hand from the weather, it is a dream come true. We'll have (big, beautiful) onions going into the winter. “WHO grew these onions?” I now marvel … WE did!   

Sugar Pie Pumpkins: Very popular for looks and function, these are great for pumpkin breads and pies, and just in time for Thanksgiving (see recibelow). Prepare pumpkin puree by cutting pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds, bake at 375F cut side down on a parchment-lined or greased pan until a fork slides in easily. Puree or mash the flesh. This will freeze well for future use. Use as soon as possible. 

Also available:

Head lettuce; spinach; salad mix; arugula; pea shoots; curly and lacinato kale; rainbow chard; red, purple, and French Breakfast radish; salad turnips (limited); cilantro, parsley, thyme, sage; red beets; chioggia beets; gold beets; baby bok choy; carrots; leeks; celeriac; radicchio; dandelion greens; escarole; fennel; sprouting broccoli (limited); Beefsteak and heirloom slicing tomatoes (limited); green and red cabbage; German Extra Hardy garlic; jalapeño, shishito, cayenne, and poblano hot peppers; red and yellow storage onions; Satina Gold, Dark Red Norland, LaRatte and Pinto Gold fingerling, Blackberry and Kennebec potatoes; zucchini; Jester delicata squash; Honeynut squash; Butternut squash; Koginut squash; Sugar pie pumpkins; collard greens; traditional and Murasaki Japanese sweet potatoes; Brussels sprouts; plus choice apple varieties from Hidden Gem Orchard, Maple Bank Farm, and Averill Farm!

Recipes:

Suggested by Rebecca Batchie

– Not into this particular recipe? For more recipes arranged by crop, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database.

Pumpkin Soup Recipe

From the kitchn



PREP TIME

5 minutes

COOK TIME

20 minutes

SERVES 4

INGREDIENTS

1 medium yellow onion, very finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, finely grated

2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves (from 1 large bunch), plus more for garnish

2 tablespoons olive oil

[2 pie pumpkins or]  1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée (about 2 cups)

3/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 tablespoons heavy cream

Toasted pumpkin seeds and flaky sea salt, for serving (optional)

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat until shimmering. Add 1 very finely chopped medium yellow onion and 3 finely grated garlic cloves and cook until fragrant, 3 to 4 minutes.

Add 2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves, 1 (15-ounce) can pumpkin purée, 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger, and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper. Cook over medium-low until steaming and fragrant, about 5 minutes.

Add 2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth and cook, stirring constantly, for 3 to 4 minutes. (The mixture will bubble.)

Remove the pot from the heat. Add 2 tablespoons maple syrup and 2 tablespoons heavy cream, and stir to combine. (At this point, for a creamier soup, you can use an immersion blender or transfer to a blender to purée until it reaches your desired consistency.)

Serve warm, garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds, flaky salt, more fresh thyme leaves, and black pepper if desired.

FARMSTAND & PYO FALL SCHEDULE:

Tuesday & Thursday: 2 - 5:30 PM

Saturday: 9am - 12:30 pm

Last Farmstand Day: Nov. 25

Online ordering begins: Nov. 29

FARMERS' MARKETS

Come see us on Thursdays from 10-2 at the Westport Farmers' Market

50 Imperial Ave, Westport

~Goes inside at Gilbertie' Greenhouses

November 20

and on the Green at the

New Milford Market,

Saturdays from 9 - Noon

~Last market November 22