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Sunday, June 22, 2008

Third Harvest 6/24

Note: We do not offer PYO berries at this time. (2015)

Happy first week of summer!
The past few days mark for us the beginning of the "height of the season". (Not in terms of harvest-- that is yet to come.) Today we welcomed the Farm Camp kids for the first week of Farm Camp. The farm is buzzing with people, energy and BERRIES! We have had a healthy flow of pick-your-own strawberry customers and look forward to a strong finish to the berry season.
We hosted our first wedding event this past weekend so the farm is looking (relatively) tidy. Aside from being a great excuse to clean up the farmstead area and the sweep out the ell, it is great to host a gathering of family and friends in this setting. With a rooster in the background, the tractor rumbling across the street, and gardens and fields surrounding it all, the wedding couple certainly were making a statement about the kind of landscape-- and lifestyle that they value. Moreover, the party included plenty of people for whom “organic family farming” is not a particularly familiar concept. Some wedding guests had raised eyebrows as pick-your-own strawberry customers came and went, and when Stacy walked by with the cow to do evening chores. These folks in particular are most welcome guests to the farm. They usually are amazed to find that farming like this still exists. I am always encouraged by what often feels like a universal appeal that the farm has. The pleasant surprise in Aunt Edna's voice as she steps through the ell and says, "My goodness, look-- they're really growing food here!" ... priceless!
Of course there is good reason for Aunt Edna's surprise. Most farms don't look quite like this. Or rather, I should say, most food is not grown on farms like this. Where 2% of the farms in the US produce half the food on the supermarket shelves, we can safely assume that Broadturn Farm is not the standard. Huge mono-culture vegetable and grain fields, and factory-sized confinement feed lots paint a more realistic picture of agriculture today. In light of that doesn't it make sense that Edna would not want to visit a farm? Doesn't it make sense that Scarborough's zoning ordinance would at least prevent any sort of mixed-use for such unhealthy places? It does. Piggeries were banned from Scarborough because in the 1950s, where the Maine Mall is now, there was a large pig farm (not really that big by Iowa piggery standards, but still probably pretty stinky.) In the name of public health, zones were created to keep separate farms from the communities they serve.
Which brings us at Broadturn Farm to the mess we have found ourselves in. Because the farm is so public, we have attracted lots of attention (thanks to the Press Herald among other papers). If you didn't catch the articles in the paper check them out, along with the reader's comments. Here is the first one about the barn renovation. Here is the follow-up article. And here is another article not about us but very pertinent to the issue. That should catch you up...

The amazing work of the timber-framers: Michael Alderson, Jon Courtney, and Robby Alden. THANK YOU. Once they leave, there will still be work remaining to be done. A number of CSA members are carpenters, or at least familiar with hand tool, and by the end of this project many will have the opportunity to help.
The Harvest:
Lettuce
Radishes
Garlic Scapes
Strawberries
Green Onions
Kale

Broadturn Farm's resident chef Toto Talarico's "Orecchiette with Lemon and Kale"
1 lb. orecchette pasta
5 garlic scapes chopped
1/2 bunch kale thinnly sliced
some broccoli raab, also chopped fine
pepper flakes 1 pinch
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup grated peccerino
1 lemon

Cook pasta, sautee garlic and pepper till tender. add broccoli raab and kale, mix into pasta with zest and juice of 1 lemon. Salt and pepper to taste.


Pick your own strawberries are ripening fast, so tell your friends.
A few pictures of our crew: Ariana, Tim, and Toto in the onion field...

3 comments:

  1. tonight we made a variation of the Orecchiette with Lemon and Kale recipe. we sub'd spelt spiral noodles for the orecchiette and added a little black forest ham.
    had to write you to let you know this is the best pasta recipe we've found in a long time! bravo! and thank you for the inspiration and excellent ingredients.
    - Emily and Duncan Bruce

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  2. Still more ideas for all those yummy strawberries...on Friday's Standard Banking makes a lemon loaf, that is an AMAZING (and decadent) strawberry shortcake variation. Small slices in ramekins make perfect individual servings.

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  3. Hello! It's Olivia Collins. I visited today. Great blog, great site; nice job!!! :)

    ReplyDelete