We are harvesting lots of excellent produce this week! The photos above is from yesterday morning's harvest. The crew was harvesting chard, kale, beets, kohlrabi and fennel from sections 3 and 4. Next to them you can see newly planted crops of lettuce and an almost-ready-to-harvest crop of bok choy.

We changed our management strategy for these sections this year to include only crops that we plant every 2-3 weeks and that mature quickly. All of the beds in this section will be planted at least twice this season, some three times. It's a big change, and it's a lot to manage. Luckily, we have Ruthie with us trying to keep it all under control! We are working out the kinks, and there are some big kinks (like a LOT of weed pressure), but we are doing well, and the improved fertility in our soils has lead to some excellent yields of high quality crops.

We usually plant 30% more than what we think we will need to make our budget balance and deliver a fair amount of produce to our CSA members and still have some left to sell at market. In our first year here, we planted 50% more because of the many unknowns of a new location, new soils, etc, and we needed every percentage point.

This year, however, crops are doing so well that we have excess to donate! Last week we donated a 100 foot bed of radishes and a 100 foot bed of head lettuce to the Boston Area Gleaners. I had too many radishes and too much lettuce (about three different planting all coming into maturity very close together - we plant these crops every two weeks to ensure we have a continual supply). I called BAG and they sent a staff member and a team of volunteers to harvest the abundance. It was then distributed to their network of Eastern Massachusetts hunger relief organizations. BAG is a great organization, if you want to get out on a farm and do some important and meaningful work, this might be a great fit for you!

It's a big milestone for us to have so much excess that we can call the gleaners, our first time since moving to this location. We have donated plenty of produce since we've been here through our deliberate donation to 5 area pantries each week, but this feels particularly special. We plant excess as a form of insurance. If something doesn't work, sometimes else will. We didn't need that insurance and we are able to pay that forward through a substantial donation of fresh produce. It feels really good.

Speaking of having too much lettuce and radish . . . we've got lots this week! It's hot, salads are a great idea! Last chance for true heads of romaine until fall, they just can't take the summer heat.

We also just harvested the best red cabbage we have EVER grown. The heads are beautiful. A nice coleslaw is a great choice on a hot summer evening - and the leftovers are great too!

Also, PLEASE eat the zucchini and squash. I know, there are so many jokes about it, but seriously: you don't have to get fancy, just grill it and eat it. Or try one of these recipes on our zucchini recipe page.

Fellow flower lovers, this week is all about the humble and cheery sunflower. The bouquets this week are bursting with an assortment of sunflowers and friends. It’s a true celebration bouquet with bright yellow and gold blooms of sunnies, along with the purple and green towered beauty of lemon mint monarda and wild bee balm. There’s a little pop of deeper green with pineapple sage and still more gold hues of rudbeckia. Listen, this might just be the biggest bouquet we’ve made- John and I were having trouble keeping our grip on them as we bunched these. It’s all the fault of the fat sunflower stems, but still- they’re really something!

And on the other side of things, we have some sweet mini bouquets for sale this week. These flowers, while a bit too short to add to our full sized bouquets, are just too beautiful to let go by in the field. The bouquets are perfectly sized for a pint mason jar, and we’ve conveniently put them in mason jars for you. They have a fun mix of shapes and colors that play off of each other in a lovely and fun way. 

Pint bouquet special: $12 Large Bouquets: $20

This week brings a huge sigh of relief as so many beauties I’ve been (not-so-patiently) waiting on finally begin to bloom, and I’m so pleased to have extras to offer to those of you not signed on for the flower share. We look forward to so much more to come, and yes, it is coming!!!

-Kerry

Syrup for Sale!! It's back!

Our friends Luke and Sonya of Harms Family Farm in Brookfield, MA have an abundance of syrup we are going to be selling this year. We adore the rich flavor of their Massachusetts maple syrup. We'll be selling pints, quarts and half gallons.

What's in the Vegetable Share

Choose 3: scallions, cilantro, garlic scapes (1/2 pound, last chance!), dill, head lettuce, celery, parsley, radish, basil

Choose 3: carrots, beets, head lettuce, kale, chard, arugula, red cabbage, fresh onions bunch (I forgot the write about how exceited we are about these!!!!!)

Mix 3 pounds: zucchini/squash, green cabbage, kohlrabi, fennel, cucumber (with limits again on cucumber)

Recipes

Hi! Jessica Girotti here. If you have a recipe that you love that you'd like to share with other members, or if a recipe link isn't working for you, feel free to email me at jgirotti@live.com. (Please note that I can't re-print a recipe from a cookbook that isn't already online.) Don't forget to check out the recipe pages on the Upswing website if you need more ideas.

MEXICAN COLESLAW

We've been loving this Mexican coleslaw lately. It works as a side dish or as a light meal. I skip the bagged slaw mix and just make my own.

SANTA FE SALAD WITH CILANTRO LIME PEANUT VINAIGRETTE

Whenever I go to The Cheesecake Factory I get a giant salad with chicken and corn and black beans with the most amazing cilantro-lime-peanut dressing. I love it so much that I finally googled and found this recipe so I can have it whenever I want. I use the frozen roasted corn from Whole Foods or Trader Joe’s or better yet, I roast my own on the grill. I also often leave out the chicken.

GRILLED CABBAGE WITH FENNEL AND MAPLE MUSTARD CREAM

I've got this on my meal plan for this week. I couldn't find sumac so I'm skipping it and I didn't want to spend $15 on a jar of cashew butter so I'll just throw a handful of cashews in the blender and make my own.

RADISH CARPACCIO

With this hot humid weather, I'm trying to avoid using my stove/oven at all costs. This is a gorgeous, no cook light meal with sliced radishes, feta, pistachios and mint.

GREEK LETTUCE SALAD WITH SCALLIONS AND DILL

A quick but delicious Greek salad loaded with scallions, dill and feta and tossed with a zesty lemon vinaigrette.

CHILLED BASIL AND ZUCCHINI SOUP

Perfect for a hot summer night. This basil and zucchini soup is topped with garlicky croutons. If you don't have hemp seeds, you can substitute pumpkin seeds.

Pick Up Details, Please Read

Typically your weekly share email will come out Tuesday morning.

Pick up is market-style. The produce will be out with signs telling you which vegetables to take and what the choices are. Ask the stand attendant if you have any questions.

BRING YOUR OWN BAGS TO COLLECT YOUR VEGETABLES!



Farm phone (you should probably add this to your contacts): 508-215-8378

Pick up details by location

Holliston Community Farm

34 Rogers Rd.

1pm-6pm Tuesday

Drive up the long driveway, past the yellow house and park in the parking lot beyond the farm stand wagon with the red roof. Lindsay will be there to help you with pick up.

Switching: if you let us know by Monday you can switch to the Thursday, Weston Nurseries location or to the Ashland Farmers Market on Saturday (9am-1pm, 125 front St Ashland).

Upswing Farm, Pepperell

65 Brookline St, Pepperell, MA

1pm-6pm Tuesday and Wednesday

Park in the parking lot near the greenhouses and come to the greenhouse with the wooden end-wall and open flag. Joella will be there to help you with pick up.

Switching: if you let us know by Monday you can switch to the Wednesday pick up. Or you can pick up a standard CSA box from the distribution cooler on Thursday.

Weston Nurseries, Hopkinton

1pm-6pm Thursday

We are in the back, gravel parking lot, with an entrance off of Legacy Farms Rd North. You will see our box truck and tent. Park there and Kevin or myself will be able to help you!

Switching: if you let us know by Monday you can switch to Tuesday in Holliston or Saturday at the Ashland Farmers Market (9am-1pm, 125 front St Ashland).

Share Season

Week of June 10th to Week of September 16th (15 weeks)

WHAT IF??

If you want to switch pick up locations:

Email upswingcsa@gmail.com by Monday morning

If you miss a share:

We harvest specifically for you, that is one of the benefits of the CSA. If you miss a share and let us know within 24 hour, we can hold the share for you to pick up at the farm. Otherwise the share will be donated to PACH, our local food bank.

If you want to send someone else:

Please do! Just let them know the details and you can send anyone to pick up your share!

If you are running late:

Text the farm phone and let them know, we will put a share aside for you.

If you would like to make a substitution in your share:

We try to accommodate substitutions. Please ask the stand attendant if you would like to make a substitution.

We love growing a wide variety of vegetables for our CSA members. We get to grow so many different crops and harvest them just for you. The gears are already in motion for growing our 2024 crops.

Don't forget to sign up for your Fall shares. A part of the benefit of the CSA to us is upfront payments so we can order seeds and supplies and pay our great team!!!

Mushrooms Shares

We are offering a mushroom share that coincides with your current Winter CSA Share. You will receive 1 pound or 1/2 pound of mushrooms with each distribution.

We partner with Fatmoon Farm in Westford. They grow a wide variety of delicious, certified organic mushrooms including: blue and yellow oyster, shitakii, lions mane, king trumpet, pippino and more.

Each distribution is either one variety or a mixture of varieties based on availability.

We love these mushrooms. You can also subscribe to receive mushrooms with shares for the rest of the season!

If you would like to be added to the summer mushroom share, please let us know via email: upswingCSA@gmail.com

Flower Shares Available: They make a great gift!

Summer: 15 weeks aligning with summer vegetable share. Option to choose an every/other week pick up for 7 weeks. $285 every week, $140 every other week

Fall: 4 weeks coinciding with the first 4 weeks of the fall vegetable share. 20+ varieties of dahlias plus lots of other vibrant fall blooms! $100

"The Flower Share that my son and his wife gave me for Mother’s Day is the most wonderful gift I have ever been given! Spectacular is one word for this weekly arrangement. The flowers are simply gorgeous! Every week is more beautiful."

FOR SALE THIS WEEK!

TULIPS!!: $20/bouquet,

Tomato Sauce: $12

Kimchi: $10, 2 for $18

Hot Sauce: $10

Try all 3 for $30

T-SHIRTS $20

Know someone that would like to receive weekly CSA emails but can't join the CSA? Click Here to add their name to the weekly CSA list for updates on what's going on at the farm, and to get an idea of what we will have available for retail sales!

Your Farmers,

Brittany, Kevin and the Upswing Farm Team

Also, I'm bad at spelling. I am a generalist, so as long as most of the letters are there, and there is good context, by brain prefers not to be bogged down by details. Also, I am frequently typing these emails late at night or early in the morning after or before a big day of work. I promise I'm not making spelling or grammar errors because I don't care. I really, really do care, I'm just no good at copy editing and I rarely have time to send these out for a proof read to Kevin who is still sleeping. I hope you can forgive me.