tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44436211406200467582009-11-09T08:58:25.654-05:00Farm news, vegetable updates and grower musings, now Shared Harvest CSAGretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-63145798544639850422009-08-30T17:45:00.002-04:002009-08-30T17:47:56.491-04:00

I suppose that by now tomato lovers in the Northeast have all heard about phythophtora infestans, aka late blight. .......read more on the new Shared Harvest CSA blog.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-4370053331345400952009-05-25T19:13:00.004-04:002009-05-25T19:19:53.210-04:00

A year ago I confessed to fantasizing about a red cultivating tractor. ....read more on Shared Harvest CSA blog.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-26957265452792091422009-04-13T19:40:00.002-04:002009-04-13T19:42:34.574-04:00

Ack! How could this happen? .... read more on Shared Harvest CSA blog.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-47916023879952676232009-03-05T07:44:00.001-05:002009-03-05T07:46:55.998-05:00

This is the last of them. ... read more on the Shared Harvest CSA blog.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-53022267555147417212009-02-23T14:18:00.003-05:002009-02-23T14:30:16.625-05:00

The Belmont CSA has been renamed the Shared Harvest CSA and my blog has moved to http://SharedHarvestCSA.blogspot.com. Join me there! I just posted information about the '09 Winter CSA, including an updated list of Frequently Asked Questions.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-55736886015435214832009-02-05T06:00:00.004-05:002009-02-05T07:56:42.041-05:00

What do farmers do in the winter? I don't know about the other guys, but I've been busy ... here's a pic of me and hubby, hard at work. I bought a new computer (a necessary piece of farming equipment in the 21st century) and, as we were getting acquainted with it, discovered it has a camera in it. This photo was taken moments after I said, "I wonder what happens when I press this key?" Hubby,

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-59143919196852733452009-01-15T06:00:00.005-05:002009-01-15T11:53:43.939-05:00

Remember the rock picking, way too much rain and rabbits, and early spring row cover? How about fava beans, cherry tomatoes, peppers, and the rows and rows of lettuce? I've pulled together a slideshow of some of my favorite pictures from 2008 (there might be a couple of '07 pics included). Many of these photos were taken by Kathy Martin. Liz also made good use of her cell phone's camera during

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-64404240256823643722009-01-03T12:20:00.002-05:002009-08-30T19:18:48.618-04:00

In addition to catching up on my reading, cooking and eating lots of winter veggies and generally being lazy, I've been counting, summarizing, and tallying winter shareholder survey responses. It's the first step in planning for the '09 winter share. I thought some of you might be interested in the data, so here they are.I’ve taken the data from a number of places: distribution records,

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-49138118435772635652008-12-15T19:30:00.005-05:002008-12-15T19:44:24.164-05:00

One hundred and ninety winter shareholders took part in the Belmont CSA's Winter Ride Share program. These folks walked, biked, car pooled, participated in driving cooperatives or had their CSA share delivered by the New Amsterdam Project. That's 190 shareholders out of 300 total for a whopping 63% of shareholders. Wow. Everyone -- yes, every single shareholder! -- did what they could to reduce

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-20235839799581719822008-12-09T07:35:00.004-05:002008-12-09T07:40:21.968-05:00

Chris at Vanguarden CSA supplies the winter share with popcorn bouquets. Popcorn on the cob is new to many folks and I get lots of questions about how to cook it. Unshelled popcorn should be stored at temperatures near 32F and high relative humidity. Once or twice a week, shell a few kernels and try popping them, either in an air popper or on top of your stove using a little oil and a pan with a

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-14044158233252541652008-12-09T07:11:00.005-05:002008-12-09T07:27:04.937-05:00

A shareholder took this photo of the December multi-farm winter share, noting the name of each veggie. Double click on the photo, then mouse over each vegetable to see the notes.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-51405100251111070792008-12-05T17:00:00.009-05:002008-12-09T09:22:57.491-05:00

All but one item in the December winter share installment were harvested well over a week ago. Picadilly and Vanguarden farmers put these storage crops in walk-in coolers, minimally heated greenhouses and root cellars. Onions, shallots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and winter squash were out of the fields by October 1. Other root crops (for example, beets, celeriac, parsnips) were harvested through

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-62188839167063171392008-11-15T05:52:00.006-05:002008-11-15T06:21:09.366-05:00

Today's distribution of the Winter Share promises to be .... moist. I'm heading out of town immediately after the distribution: Don't interpret my electronic silence as evidence of a disaster! No, I've built an ark and am sailing off to ..... well, more about that later.Over the past two days, Liz and I harvested the Belmont-grown part of the share: collards, kale, radicchio and sage. Chris from

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-9188191366018856642008-11-13T20:00:00.002-05:002008-11-13T20:12:49.052-05:00

Is it just me, or do other people check the weather forecast a couple of times a day? Yeah, that's what I thought. It's just me.The weather for this Saturday's Winter Share distribution doesn't look so great. If the prediction were just for rain, well, what's a little rain when we've all got water-proof skin? But thunderstorms? In November? Join me as I keep an eye on the weather predictions on

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-58537816102136986602008-11-11T08:08:00.000-05:002008-11-11T07:08:22.641-05:00

Seven year old Abigail and her family picked their winter share up in a wagon on Sunday. Here's a poem and picture Abigail wrote about this Autumn Delivery. Thank you, Abigail!

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-44481885418587677832008-11-07T20:34:00.022-05:002008-11-15T05:51:38.164-05:00

More detailed information about some of these veggies can be found in the October "What's in the share?" post.From Jenny and Bruce Wooster, Picadilly Farm Carrots, 5.5 pounds. Again, "boleros", our favorite fall carrot. Beets, 3 pounds. A sweet storage type.Potatoes, 5-6 pounds. A very tasty gold potato, in a wide range of sizes. These will store best if taken OUT of the plastic bag.Parsnips, 2

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-60855361257845003062008-11-06T17:38:00.021-05:002008-11-07T06:12:21.325-05:00

Liz and I took a little road trip this Wednesday. First stop was Berlin, MA to meet Charlie at Village Power and Equipment. Charlie is the man to go to if you're in the market for used farm equipment, or if your used farm equipment has broken down. His knowledge about old tractors is encyclopedic. We looked at his tractors: Cubs and Super As, 148s, 149s, Gs,Ns, Hs and tractors with letter/number

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-56413416462837406942008-10-29T18:00:00.003-04:002008-10-29T18:00:00.621-04:00

These photos were taken during the October Winter CSA distributions. I'm hoping we have equally nice weather for the November and December pick ups! Thanks to Jane Sedgwick and Kathy Martin for their sharing their photography skills with us.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-82766710347160815132008-10-26T09:06:00.018-04:002008-12-30T13:50:29.139-05:00

"Oh! Oh my! Oh! Oh! Look! Look what's in the share!" "I get apples, too?!" These were just some of the delighted exclaimations we heard at the share pick up yesterday.It was a great day to be at the farm. Lots of happy people, eaters and farmers alike. Nice weather, very managable traffic, lots of really good food, including Stone Hearth Pizza and homemade pumpkin cookies for lunch (thanks to

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-26047016303488093182008-10-19T08:00:00.010-04:002008-10-19T08:09:19.957-04:00

Wow! What an incredibly successful first Winter Share distribution! Here are some highlights.The produce we distributed was exceptional in quality and variety. This is the kind of share that CSA growers want to give shareholders every single distribution. Mother nature cooperated fully with us on this one! The produce highlights for me where the Vanguarden green peppers and hakurei turnips;

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-3312037738418151152008-10-18T22:17:00.005-04:002008-10-26T12:49:31.217-04:00

Double click on the photo above and you'll be taken to my Flickr site where the identity of the veggies will be revealed. Special thanks to Kathy Martin and Skippy for these wonderful photos.Here's the entire share, including the five apple varieties from which shareholders selected one 10 pound bag. The apple varieties are braeburn, gala, fortune, mutsu and empire. All are from Cider Hill

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-72922789910816964942008-10-18T09:00:00.006-04:002008-10-25T06:17:11.952-04:00

From Bruce and Jenny Wooster, Picadilly Farm:Carrots, 5 pounds. These are a variety called "Bolero", which we grow especiallyfor the sweet flavor and exceptional storage. The carrots may need another rinse, but many of the nutrients are in the outer layer of the carrots - unless it is your preference, they do not need to be peeled. Potatoes, 5 pounds. These white "Superiors" are a solid producer

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-90754669734355272032008-10-17T06:00:00.002-04:002008-10-19T08:11:39.814-04:00

This week Liz and I have been getting ready for the winter share harvest tomorrow morning. I walk the one acre field at least once a day inspecting our vegetables. Together we redesigned our wash station. Today we planned what would go where: Should the bags of apples go over there? Or should they go over there? How about the boxes? The pre-bagged leafy greens, the apple cider? Where should the

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-36757085034762714572008-10-16T20:51:00.004-04:002008-10-16T21:16:56.506-04:00

You'd think we would all be ready for a nice long rest after the tough growing season we've had this year. But just the opposite is true: there's growing excitment among the farmers involved in the multi-farm winter share. This fall has been wonderful growing weather. We have some fabulous vegetables. And hungry and appreciative winter shareholders ready to eat them!I had a couple of fun

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4443621140620046758.post-27509941143357526472008-10-09T20:20:00.001-04:002008-10-09T20:21:49.782-04:00

We took the last of the tomatoes down today. Moved tomato stakes to their winter resting place. Mowed the pepper and eggplants. Used the disk harrow to chop up the plant debris and get the field ready for winter rye. It was a bit odd, though pleasant, putting the farm to bed on such a summery day.

Gretta Andersonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15687718223755061812noreply@blogger.com0