2012 CSA Greetings

Greetings 2012 Hope’s Edge CSA member,

Here at Hope’s Edge Farm the vagaries of Mother Nature (perhaps abetted by human activity) have left us feeling a bit schizophrenic with regards to our farming activities. First, the unusually warm and dry months of March and April had us anticipating an early spring and an early start to our 2012 season. But, then May arrived wet and cool teasing us here and there with a few consecutive days of sun and warmth only to turn cool and damp once again. Now, early June finds us stymied by the recent record setting rainfall which has left the soil a bit oversaturated (a bit of an understatement). This bipolar weather pattern is perhaps not so unusual for late spring in Maine but the number and intensity of rainfall episodes does seem to be more extreme than we normally experience. One storm in early May dropped over 5.5 inches while the most recent storm left us with over 6 inches.

Despite the adverse weather conditions we have continued to “farmer “ on; managing to keep to our planting schedule and staying one half step ahead with regards to soil preparation and weed control. More importantly, the seed germination rates seem to have been unaffected by the cool damp soils and the transplanted seedlings are established and so far they are holding their own, awaiting the warmer days of mid-June.

May also was our lambing month.

Eleven ewes delivered a total of twenty lambs all of whom are growing rapidly and adding to the cacophony of voices heard during morning chores. In addition to all of the aforementioned tasks we are also trying to finish erecting the greenhouse structure that we had begun last fall. This new house will be home to our tomato crop and in addition will house some greens over the next winter.

This season, Tommy and I have been joined by a crew of part-time helpers. Dakota and Aube will be helping us 4 days a week each and Amanda is with us for 2 to 3 days a week. Together we will do our best to keep you nourished.

The first market day of this 2012 season is scheduled for Friday, June 22nd, followed by Monday the 25th and Tuesday the 26th. The season will run for 19 weeks ending on Tuesday, October 30th. At the top of this letter is printed the day you have selected or that has been assigned to you as a pick-up day. This will be your pick-up day for the entire season. I hope this day works for you. If not, let me know as soon as possible and we will try to work something out.

The following information is IMPORTANT so please take note.

TUESDAY AND FRIDAY SHAREHOLDERS: The pick-up time is from 11 AM (please DO NOT come earlier) until late evening. If for some reason you cannot come on your assigned day, your share will still be available for up to two days later. After that, your share will be recycled. PLEASE LET US KNOW IN ADVANCE if you are unable to pick-up your share on any given week. This way we avoid over-harvesting and wasting food.

MONDAY SHAREHOLDERS: The Monday shareholders have the option of picking up their share in Rockland on Tilsen street near the water treatment facility between 10 AM and 10:30 AM. Alternatively, you may pick up at Avena Botanicals in Rockport if that is more convenient or if you are unable to get to the Tilsen street location during the short window of time that we will be there. However, whatever location you choose, I am encouraging Monday shareholders to pick up your share as soon as possible, as neither site has refrigeration facilities. Any share not picked up by Monday evening will be donated to hungry farmers. You will be notified when cut flower, strawberry, cherry tomato, and pea-picking seasons are upon us. It will be up to you to come to the farm for these items.

At the end of this letter is a schedule of potluck get-togethers for the season. These events offer you an opportunity to meet other participants and a chance to enjoy the farm in a relaxed and convivial way. Please post this schedule and try to come to one or all of these events. We also invite you to visit this blog regularly since we will be posting recipes, stories, photos and videos to keep you up to date about what is happening on the farm throughout this growing season.

Directions to the farm for those of you who have never been here are given below. Follow Morse Road past a pair of corrugated metal buildings. On your right you will see yet another building with brightly painted murals on the doors. This is the pick-up shed. Come on in. Welcome to Hope’s Edge CSA. I am looking forward to seeing many of you again or to meeting you for the first time. We are looking forward to feeding you food and beauty during the coming months.

Sincerely,

Your Farmer Tom

POT-LUCK SCHEDULE

Friday June 29th 6 PM

Tuesday August 7th 6 PM

Friday September 14th 6 PM

Saturday October 27th 4:30 PM

DIRECTIONS

FROM CAMDEN VIA 105 Take 105 into Hope Center, continue two miles past Hope General Store. Turn left onto Ludwig Rd. Travel one quarter mile to Morse Rd on the left.

FROM APPLETON/SEARSMONT VIA 105 Travel approximately 3miles from 105/131 intersection. Turn right onto Ludwig Rd. Continue as above.

A new CSA season about to begin!

Greetings from Hope’s Edge Farm! My name is Aube and I’m one of Tom’s apprentices this growing season. Throughout the summer, I’ll be uploading stories, seasonal recipes, photos and videos to keep you up to date about what’s happening on the farm. Since I am an avid food blogger (you can see my video food blog by clicking here), I was thrilled when Tom asked me to take on “blogging duties” and I look forward to sharing little morsels of our everyday life on the farm.

We have been kind of hanging on to the edge of hope here (excuse the pun) with all this incessant rain! Tom sounds like he is (only slightly) on the verge of despair but he has a twinkle in his eye nonetheless, so all is not lost. And despite the mud and puddles everywhere, there are plentiful rows of proud brassicas, dainty fennel, sleek onions, shallots, and leeks, bodacious sweet corn (yes, the variety is actually called Bodacious!), elegant kale, luscious chard, eager tomatoes, and even… tentative, tender-hearted artichokes! Of course none of these are ready to eat, but we did feast on some tasty spinach this past week (yum!) and the peas are promising to be upon us soon. We are busy transplanting, weeding, seeding, building, and sometimes singing. So all is well despite the wet weather, and we are all looking forward to providing you with a feast of fresh goodies all summer long!

This week, I’ve got a strawberry rhubarb recipe to share with you. Nope, not pie. Sorbet! A creamy, easy to make (no need for an ice cream maker) sorbet with only 3 ingredients: strawberries, rhubarb, and sugar. And for the presentation, homemade ice bowls lined with flowers, herbs, and berries. You can see it all in this video from my blog, and then scroll below for the recipe. Farewell for now and I look forward to meeting you soon at the CSA market days as well as our upcoming potluck on June 29!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB SORBET
3 1/2 to 4 cups chopped rhubarb (I used 3 cups the first time but found the rhubarb taste didn’t come through enough)
2 cups chopped strawberries
3/4 cup cane sugar
Optional: 1 tbsp. finely ground chia seed (aside from being super healthy, these give a creamier texture to sorbets)
Cook the rhubarb with a little water (about 1/4 cup) until soft, around 10 minutes. Add the sugar and simmer for another 10 minutes.  Allow to cool. Puree the rhubarb with the strawberries in a food processor and freeze in a shallow pan for about 4 hours. Break up the frozen mix into chunks and return it to the food processor. Puree until very smooth and velvety. Return to the freezer for an hour to two, or until serving time.

ICE BOWLS

Materials:
-4 medium and 4 small plastic bowls, with about a 1 inch difference in height and width (yoghurt containers also work fine for this)
-1 pitcher of ice-cold water
-Around 4 cups of small edible flowers, berries and herbs (see suggestions below)
-Small heavy objects to use as weights, such as rocks or coins

1. Pour water into the 4 medium bowls so it covers about an inch at the bottom of each. Put the bowls in the freezer until the water is frozen solid. Be sure to keep them level so that the water doesn’t freeze lopsided.

2. Remove medium bowls from the freezer, working on just one at a time so the water doesn’t melt. Place a smaller bowl on top of the ice base inside the medium bowl, making sure it’s centred. Fill the smaller bowl with a layer of heavy objects to keep it anchored down. In the gap between the small and medium bowls, drop a handful of flowers, herbs, and berries of your choice. Try to make them fill the space vertically as well as horizontally by squeezing the larger flowers, herbs, or berries into the gap so that they are held in place between the walls of the bowls and do not all float to the top. Pour water to fill this space so it reaches a 1/2 inch from the rim of the bowl. Tuck in any leaves or flowers that are sticking out of the water. Freeze.

3. Remove the ice bowls from the freezer. Run a little hot water on the outside and inside of the plastic bowls, being careful not to touch the ice, then unmould the bowls. Fill with scoops of sorbet or ice cream and serve immediately.

Suggestions for decorating your ice bowls:
Edible flowers: pansies, violets, roses, lilac, lavender, borage
Herbs: mint, lemon balm, rosemary, thyme, fennel leaves
Berries: raspberries, blackberries, redcurrants, wild strawberries, gooseberries