This Week at the Farm: Fall is in the air
The farmstand is decorated with ornamental pumpkins and gourds, the mums are starting to bloom. Fall is in the air, and it seems like a good time to start embracing it and cooking those fall veggies.
The earliest winter squash varieties are in, and more are on the way. Red kuri squash is the veg of the week—it’s 10% off through Monday, September 16. Roast it, add it to soups, stews, or stir fries, or use it in this hearty chili!
Come sample local, artisanal cheeses in the farmstand this Saturday and Sunday, 11–3! We’ll be offering a variety of samples of some local favorites throughout the day: Neighborly Farms of Vermont, Boston Post Dairy, Spring Brook Farm, Jasper Hill Farm, and Plymouth Artisan Cheese.
Update from the Fields
This is the last weekend for corn, and next week we’ll harvest the last of our zucchini and cucumbers. Pick up a no-till watermelon and enjoy the taste of summer while you still can.
While the hard work of the summer season might appear to be winding down, the farm crew is still working hard to plan for the months ahead and even for the success of future seasons. These days, the crew can be found cleaning onions (cippolini onions and shallots are in the farmstand!), planting fall greens and kohlrabi, and planting cover crops to build and improve soil fertility for the next growing season.
From Our Kitchen to Yours
Production remains steady in the kitchen, where our kitchen staff are processing and preserving veggies straight from our fields and fruit from our orchard. They’re saving some specialties like marinated artichokes for the Thanksgiving holiday, but pickled beets and peppers, salsa, applesauce, and more are available in the farmstand now. Other delicious highlights include: cilantro pesto, garlicky beet dip, and a limited quantity of zucchini bread.
Volunteer at Pumpkin Festival!
In just one month, we’ll be hosting our 17th Annual Pumpkin Festival—click here for details! Every year, we rely on 50+ volunteers to help make this event a success. Please consider volunteering for a few hours, then spend the rest of the day eating great food, dancing, playing, and pumpkin picking!
After School Culinary Program
Learning to cook has so many benefits. Through following recipes, learning basic kitchen knife safety, and working in a kitchen with others, youth have the opportunity to hone their math skills, to practice positive communication, and to think critically about the effects of adding certain ingredients to a dish. Read more about the benefits here.
The fall session of our Cooking For Middle Schoolers class will focus on our favorite comfort foods, farm style! Class starts Monday, September 23 and runs for 6 weeks (no class on October 14).
Gardening Tips: Fall Pruning
Don’t cut back your perennials just yet! There are many reasons to leave them (unless they’re floppy, diseased or stressed, of course). They can provide color in the fall, height for beautiful snowscapes, and even food or shelter for birds throughout the winter.
Read more from UVM Extension →
Farewell to Anna
Yesterday we said “see you later” to our Marketing Manager, Anna Fleishman. After 8 seasons managing our retail operations and one season leading our marketing, Anna accepted a new position as Co-Director of the Creative Lives After-School Program at the White River School.
Anna has made enormous contributions to the farm’s retail operations and marketing and, while we’re all very excited for this next phase of her life, we will miss her very much. Please join us in wishing her the best of luck in this new chapter of her life!
—From all of us
Upcoming
September 14: Norwich Farmers’ Market, 9–1; Cheese sampling in the farmstand, 11–3.
September 15: Knife sharpening at the farmstand, 10–2; Cheese sampling, 11–3.
September 17: Little Farmers drop-in class for children ages 2 to 5, 10–11 am.
September 19: Lebanon Farmers Market, 4–7 pm.
September 23: First day of Cooking for Middle Schoolers, 3:30–5:15 pm.
September 25: First day of Homeschool Farm Science, 1–3 pm.
October 13: Pumpkin Festival, 10–3. [Volunteer]
