A Farming Family Newsletter
February 1, 2024
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Hello Caitlin,
Welcome to our farm family newsletter. With this newsletter we hope to introduce you to all the family members who make this farm thrive, and highlight a vegetable, fruit, or product we offer. As a farming family we continue to grow and learn everyday and hope you will join us on the journey.
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Supporting your Community
Purchase a CSA, and show your support, not only of your desire to see agriculture continue in our community, but your own dedication to eating locally grown produce and sustainably caught seafood.
| The planting season will be starting soon. Peas may not be the first plants to pop up and be ready for harvest in the spring, but they are the first seeds we put in the ground each year. | |
We are so lucky to have so many wonderful farms here in town for all your fresh food options. The greens and heirloom tomatoes at Green Spark cannot be beat, the variety of Maine grown foods from within our state boarders is vast at Jordan's Farm. The passion and dedication Maxwell's Farm has put into its Strawberry fields is abundantly clear with every sweet devious bite.
At Alewives we are working hard everyday to bring you a wide selection of fresh fruits and veggies, succulent seafood, and of course the sweetest of jams. The best of baked goods, and many other products to make your meals a little easier.
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So Much More
When you support our family farm, you are supporting more than just a place to get your healthy and delicious food, you are supporting the continuation of a way of life. Where the next generation learns not from watching or reading, but from doing. Taking a moment to pause your day to just dig and play in the earth. Experience first hand how a seed grows into a seedling and then into food.
| Purchasing a CSA early in the season, is a great way to show your support of the farm and what we are working towards everyday. Doing our best to grow, raise, and create great food options for not only you but our whole community. | |
Feature Family Member
The Eldest
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This month we are featuring Tucker Jordan, Father, Fisherman, and Farmer. Tucker is the eldest child of Jodie and Patricia. | |
Tucker grew up grew up learning farming and fishing from his father and grandfather, Alvin. | |
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As a young man Tucker attended college in New York studying Fire Science. He returned home to pursue his dream of following the foot steps of the generations before him.
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Tucker spent many hours lobstering aboard the Patricia Ann, with his father and countless trips to Alewife Cove with his grandfather, learning all he could about his passion. It wasn’t long before he acquired his own vessel and struck out on his own, creating Maine Lobster Boys.
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Tucker's responsibilities on the farm have turned him into a Jack of all Trades, we turn to him to fix any and all the problems that pop up on a farm. In any single day he not only is a fisherman and a farmer, but he can also quickly take the form of a plumber, an electrician, welder, or mechanic. We rely on him to keep all the nooks and crannies of the farm going. | Now a father of two, Tucker's visions of the future is more focused on the importance of family and providing his boys with the same opportunities and childhood he was allowed to enjoy living the farm life. | | |
Vegetable Spotlight: Sweet Potato | |
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Let's talk...sweet potatoes:
Member of the Morning Glory Family
Sweet potatoes are an excellent source of carbs with little fat. Full of vitamin C, vitamin A, and potassium. Sweet potatoes also carry over three grams of protein packed in to their colorful flesh.
Supporting your Health:
Reduce risk of heart disease, reduce cholesterol, help bring your blood pressure down, and provide support for your diabetes management.
Growing on the Farm:
We are excited to be attempting to grow a colorful variety of tubers. We will not only be growing orange flesh sweet potatoes but also white and purple.
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Nutritious and Versatile
BOIL - BAKE - GRILL - ROAST - WHIP - MASH- FRY - AIRFRY
Salads, chili, muffins, pies, breads, side dish, pancakes, fries or tots.
Sweet Potatoes Varieties
Two main varieties, Dry Flesh (tan colored skin) and Moist Flesh (dark skin with rich orange flesh inside)
We are not YAMS, they come from two completely different plants.
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Harvesting your sweet potatoes: Sweet Potatoes must be harvested before the first frost. It is a must to track your grow days. Wait for a dry stretch of weather, digging muddy tubers is not ideal. Be careful not to damage the tubers while harvesting.
Curing Your Crop:
Brush the excess dirt off (do not wash) place them in a high humidity place with temperatures in the 80s, takes about 1-2 weeks. Curing allows for cuts and blemish to heal, the skin to thicken, and the starches to convert to sugars.
Storing your Sweet Potatoes: Do not place, your sweet potatoes in the refrigerator, store them in a cool, dry place. Kept around 55 degrees they will keep for a month or more.
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Our pig shares are for half a pig, which includes
- Pork Chops
- Country Ribs
- Ground Pork
- Breakfast Sausage
- Rib Chops
- Sweet Sausage
- Roasts
- Hams
- Bacon
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Sign up now for your Pig Share, we will be welcoming our piglets in April 2024, they enjoy life on the farm until late Fall. | | |
Recipes from the Farm Kitchen | |
Sweet Potato Pancakes
present from the "feel good Foodie"
Link to Recipe
| We will be making some of these in the coming weeks and popping them in the freezer! Quick and easy breakfast from the farm. Serve it with some Maine Maple Syrup. | |
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What you need:
Sweet Potato
Eggs
Milk
Sugar
Maple Syrup
Flour
Cinnamon
Baking Powder
Salt
Nutmeg
Butter
Pull It All Together
Pre Cook your Sweet potato to make some mashed potatoes, Mix the Ingredients as the recipe calls, and pour that batter on the hot griddle and enjoy.
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During the winter, farm life slows down, but doesn't stop, this allows our bodies and our minds to rest and prepare for the grueling demands of the growing season.
During the "off" season, we are spending our time planning for the changes we will want to see in the coming season, what new veggies do we want, what grew well, what didn't, what changes will we make for the season.
During the Month of March, we have finished the year end accounting, the seeds, seedlings, starters, and slips for the season have been ordered and are on their way. We will start to turn the soil, beginning in the tunnels, to give us a jump start on the spring greens, lettuce, spinach, and arugula.
With the amazing weather we are having we are able to get outside and start working on the countless clean up projects that continue around the farm (an endless battle). If the warmer days continue we will soon be mixing soil in the greenhouse and starting the seeds.
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83 Old Ocean House Rd - Cape Elizabeth, ME. 04107
farmer@alewivesbrookfarm.com | 207-799-7743
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