Good News Everyone! We’re taking care of ourselves! Brittany told me I’d better get this blurb written if I wanted to go climbing with her today, so here it goes! As you may know we’ve been pushing very hard over the last two years to get this farm up to speed but it certainly comes at a cost to our well being at times. It can be a tricky balance, when you live and work on the farm, to practice self care. That being said, we’ve been carving out moments here and there to make it happen. Brittany and I love sport climbing. When practiced with intention it can be an excellent way to exercise your mind and body in a way that has NOTHING to do with farming. When practiced willy nilly it can be a great way to hurt yourself and cause frustration in a way that also has nothing to do with farming, so we are careful to practice deliberately. 

It’s a great story, for another time when I’m not trying to do my last minute homework, but when I first saw Brittany walking through a crowd at the Earth Day festival in Jamaica Plain way back in 2010, one of the things that caught my eye was the little Black Diamond climbing backpack she was wearing to carry around her things (she’s not exactly a purse person). She is an excellent climber, and I have learned a lot from her over the years, no surprise there. She is also afraid of heights and does not like to doing flying acrobatic moves on the wall, so she climbs very smoothly and makes every movement count, unlike myself.

I have the advantage/disadvantage of my joy of heights and "man-strength", and have been known to skip a move here or there in order to complete a problem thanks to my length. It almost never makes me a better climber, even if I manage to finish the route. That being said, I have been slowing down, forcing myself to climb simpler routes but with better form in order to build a better foundation so that I might then actually be a better climber. It is hard to convey all of this to Harvey, who gets to come sometimes and is actually quite adept on the wall but frustrated with his limitations and fear of heights. But climbing is like yoga, everyone is at their own level and should practice their movements with intention and patience. I’m not going to be as smooth as Brittany, she has more experience and more patience, but I will do my darndest. 

I say all this because 1. it is very nice to have something to look forward doing together that does not require the farm as a third wheel (though it does come with us when we have a date night opportunity) and 2. deliberately taking care of myself might actually help me take better care of the farm, and by association your vegetables and you! So wish me luck! 

I say climbing has nothing to do with the farm, but in reality this practice of intention carries over to the farm pretty directly. We have been trying very hard to take a deep breath and address those things on the farm that will bring us more peace of mind on a daily basis. Though we are eager to start new projects (we have 5 greenhouses, a whole farm irrigation system and one more walk-in cooler to build in the next two years) we are deliberately taking a step back in order to take a more holistic approach to the farm in it’s current state. Like for example, how about we finish the dozen or more projects we have in progress before undergoing new ones? Seems reasonable enough but it can be very hard to rein in your ambitions when so much is on the line.

Will finishing the drywall in the employee bathroom make us money so that we can pay our awesome employees? No, not exactly, but it might help Lindsay want to stay if it doesn’t look like a dungeon. Will a fresh coat of paint help me grow spinach in the greenhouse I have not yet finished? No, definitely not, but It might make Brittany feel good when she’s walking through that hallway every morning. It is a balance, we DO need to finish that greenhouse and grow the spinach, but tying up some of these loose ends might help this place feel like it is becoming our home. And I WAS really excited to fix the conveyor belt that helps us pack your winter shares, it has made for a much more pleasant experience.

We are taking deep breaths, practicing with intention, eating great food!, and doing our very best to take care of the farm and ourselves. We hope you enjoy the results. 

SHARE CUSTOMIZATION



Please use the button below to complete the customization form for your share.

Please complete the from by 7am Monday (I need lead time to plan/harvest/pack the shares)

There are instructions in the form - please email me if you have any questions. If you subscribed to the mushroom share the mushrooms will not be in your box - please make sure to pick them up in addition to your produce box.

Please plan to pack out your share at pick up if possible.

I know it might seem like just a box to you, but $2.75/box is kind of a lot when you add it up. Especially when these boxes can get many uses. To prevent waste, help us save some money, and double check that we packed your share correctly, please plan to pack your share into your own bags, or bring the box back at the following pick up. PLEASE DO NOT TEAR THE BOXES. These boxes are meant for multiple uses and do have the same structural integrity after they are torn. If you feel like the box is going to tear, stop what you are doing! Some day I will get around to taking a video of myself making and breaking down a waxed box to have on the website.

Recipes

Hi - Jess Girotti here. If you have a recipe that you love that you'd like to share with other members or if a recipe link isn't working for you, feel free to email me at jgirotti@live.com. (Please note that I can't re-print a recipe from a cookbook that isn't already online.) Don't forget to check out the recipe pages on the Upswing website if you need more ideas for your other veggies.

STUFFED SWEET POTATOES WITH BEANS & GUACAMOLE

Janna Said made these loaded sweet potatoes for her family with her last share and they loved them! I'll definitely be adding this one to my rotation.

SWEET POTATO MUFFINS

Victoria Harnish used her sweet potatoes to make these gorgeous muffins. She added walnuts and says they were delicious!

ROASTED ROOT VEGETABLES WITH TOMATOES & KALE

Another fellow CSA member, Ann Pilch, says: "This recipe is super easy, and you can use whatever root vegetables you have on hand. You could use spinach instead of kale too. I have made it 3 times with different combos and it's all good! I don't generally have tomato paste on hand and although I am sure it would add an extra layer of flavor, it's delicious without it as well. I usually serve it with some hearty or crusty bread, but it would probably be good served atop your grain of choice, too."

WATERMELON RADISH WITH ROSEMARY BROWN BUTTER

Radishes aren't just for salads! Try roasting them in this brightly colored side dish that's perfect for a chilly winter night. This recipe also works well with purple daikon radishes and with turnips.

CARROT FRITTERS

Got carrots? Try whipping up a big batch of these fritters. The recipe calls for spring onions but scallions will work perfectly here too.

SPINACH & CARROT QUICHE

This veggie-loaded recipe calls for frozen spinach but you can use the same weight of fresh spinach and just give it an extra minute or two in the sauté pan to wilt.

Below is the contents of the first email sent in December

Hello and thank you for subscribing to our Winter CSA!

Your dedication to eating locally, year-round, and supporting our mission of creating a farm that is sustainable not only for the environment, but also for the people who work here (read: year-round employment) is recognized and appreciated.

Plus, you get things like extra sweet winter carrots, spinach, and lots of nutrient rich, hearty roots for warm winter cooking. If you are like me, the colder it is, the more you want to eat, and having healthy food that is fun to cook with is a great excuse to eat well.

Of course, you know this. It's why you signed up, but I just wanted you to know that you are seen and valued and we will do our best to make your winter share experience enjoyable!

IMPORTANT DETAILS

CUSTOMIZATION

On the Friday before each pick up we will send an email with a form for you to customize your share. Because of freezing temperatures, we pack everyone's share and hand boxes out of the heated truck to protect the produce. If you forgot to customize your share, we will pack you a farmer's choice share.

The photo above is of a winter share from 2018. We used to do distributions just once/month in winter, but got feedback from customers that storing so much produce was overwhelming, so we switched to every-other week. This gives us a chance to give you more fresh greens (yum!) and keeps your fridge and pantry from feeling too packed.

2022 was the hardest growing season we have ever experienced. The extreme drought made growing storage crops incredibly tricky. We have enough, and we have plans to purchase from two other certified organic farms to supplement if we fall short on some storage crops: Red Fire Farm out in western Massachusetts and Brookford Farm in New Hampshire. We will also have potatoes available from our good friend Matt at Sparrow Arc Farm in Vermont. We love "local", but "regional" is really a more rational goal for a sustainable food system. If produce is offered from another farm, it will be labeled as such in the customization form.

Each week we will include recipes with the customization form so you can select items based on what you plan to prepare. I will include an asterisk next to items that would be helpful for the farm for you to eat, either because we need them to get used up and or because we have an abundance. Carrots will always have an asterisk this winter! Red onions, too. And sweet turnips (good sliced in salad or roasted)!

Your Farmers,

Brittany, Kevin and Harvey