Week 13 - Notes from Stick and Stone Farm

NOTES FROM STICK AND STONE FARM

A few days ago, it was August. The month when many of us farmers wonder, "why do we do this?" or "what were we thinking?!"

It was hot. And dry. And we'd put in 90% of the work on growing a year's worth of vegetables, but only 30% had made it through the packing barn and out the door. Exhaustion was thick, and everyone was running on fumes.

And then the temperature dropped, and we got a little rain, and now the last plantings are being seeded, and the shallots are in from the field curing, and suddenly it seems like we might make it through after all. Sure- there are some things we never got to. Maybe we will let go of some of those. The priorities become apparent. We need to get the new greenhouse built. If we are canning peaches it needs to be now. The Fall is coming! -Lucy at Stick and Stone Farm

…and through the coming weeks and months, we’re tending to all the food for the winter months too:

Winter CSA Sign up is now open!

reserve your winter Full Plate Veggies, Fruit Bowl and/or Remembrance Dairy shares now!

Join the Winter CSA

this week’s veggies

salad greens - remembrance
lettuce - remembrance
beets - remembrance
cilantro - remembrance
sweet peppers - remembrance
tomatoes - remembrance & stick and stone
cooking greens - rotating kale/collards - stick and stone

ROTATING

jalapeños - remembrance
summer squash - stick and stone
romano beans - stick and stone
green beans - stick and stone
sweet corn - stick and stone
shishito peppers - stick and stone

crops are our best estimate & may change a bit after harvest. rotating means harvest will be enough for some, but not all locations this week; we’ll get each crop everywhere soon! salad greens rotate between field greens, spicy mix, lettuce mix, arugula, baby kale & tatsoi

this week’s fruit bowl

Yellow Nectarines - Bittner Singer Orchard, Appleton
Prune Plums - Bittner Singer Orchard, Appleton
Yellow Peaches - Beckens, Sodus
Premiere Honeycrisp Apples - Hurd Orchard, Holley

this week’s Remembrance cheese

Mozzarella - fresh mozz is just begging to be paired with an heirloom tomato and some u-pick basil!
or choose - Feta - the crumbly salty classic - ltd availability, FCFS

bulk offerings this week

SWEET PEPPERS, POBLANO PEPPERS and/or CAYENNE PEPPERS - choose one type, or load up on all kinds of peps - organic from Remembrance Farm - pickup THIS WEEK, 9/3-9/6

Order Peppers

PRUNE PLUMS - Bittner Singer Orchard

limited pecks available for pickup THIS WEEK, 9/3-9/6! After those sell out we’ll shift the form to preorder for next week, 9/10-9/13

Order Plums

pickup PEACHES this week if you pre-ordered last week

updates & reminders from the farm…

DANBY RESILIENCE FAIR

This weekend (on your way to or from CSA pickup, perhaps) join your neighbors at the Danby Volunteer Fire Department to share skills and have fun! Created by people interested in building strong community, sharing skills and knowledge, and nurturing healthy relationships and well-being together—all values that are core to CSA!

MORE INFO AND REGISTRATION HERE

on our plates…

Share what you’ve been cooking, we’re always glad to know, and eager to pass along. Just email Molly. Find this week’s ingredients in bold.

Beet Pate

recipe below is a favorite in Molly’s house, or try this recipe for Roasted Beet Pesto shared by a member!

3-4 beets
1 C walnuts
2-3 cloves garlic or scapes
half bunch cilantro or parsley
extra virgin olive oil - 1 tbsp if you're modest, but if you've got the good stuff it'll only add to the flavor.
salt and pepper to taste
optional: scoop of yogurt (or even better, fromage blanc!) to make it creamy

PREPARATION
1. rub the beets in a small amount of olive oil, wrap up in foil, and roast them until they're easily poked by a fork, about 40 min. Usually I do about 400 but the beauty of roasting veggies is that you can experiment! You can throw in the garlic if you like it roasted! Maybe just 10-15 min.
2. Lightly toast the walnuts
3. Let the roasted beets cool. Peel them and cut ends, and cut beets into chunks
4. Put everything in a food processor! You can add the olive oil slowly so it helps coat everything. process! Eat with crackers, or honestly just with a spoon while you hover over your food processor.

Corn Chowder Salad

4 thick slices of bacon (optional), cut crosswise 1/2 inch thick
1 pound potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 sweet peppers, cut into 1/2-inch dice
4 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 medium red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup cider vinegar
Salt and crushed red pepper to taste

PREPARATION - view recipe

In a large frying pan, cook the bacon over moderately low heat, stirring a few times, until it is crisp, about 5 to 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the bacon to paper towels and let drain.
Pour off all but 3 tablespoons of the bacon fat in the skillet (or add 3T oil if not using bacon). Add the potatoes and cook over moderately high heat until they start to brown, about about 3 to 6 minutes. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes longer, until almost tender; they’ll finish cooking with the other vegetables. Add the diced red peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes and peppers are tender, about 5 minutes. Add the corn kernels and cook, stirring, until heated through but still crisp, about 3 minutes.
Transfer the vegetables to a large bowl and stir in the onion, vinegar and bacon. Season with red pepper and salt to taste. Serve warm, or room temp.

U-Pick Gardens

open 7 days/week during daylight hours for all Full Plate vegetable share members.

upick rules: not open to the public. no dogs. no picking in tunnels or big fields. please stay off farm equipment and do not block farm roads. kiddos should be supervised. take what you’ll use, but be mindful of those who come after you. see u-pick details & maps here!

This is a lovely time of year for the upick, be sure to check them out!

AT STICK AND STONE FARM

Perennial Garden: herbs as always :)

Creekside Garden: september is here and the flowers and basil continue to be abundant!

Roadside Garden: hot peppers, ground cherries, tomatillos and cherry tomatoes! Yay!

AT THREE SWALLOWS (formerly Youth Farm)

The upick is looking lovely! Basil, shiso, okra, flowers, hot peppers, ground cherries, tomatillos and cherry tomatoes are rolling. Unfortunately the deer made a snack out of some of the tomato plants last week, look low on the plants for any fruit.

PRESS BAY COURT

don’t forget about this sweet little downtown u-pick! Open to all! Currently full of basil, flowers, & cherry tomatoes