Garlic Planting

Jerusalem Artichoke harvest

Jerusalem Artichoke Harvest

Hope you’ll try these delectable treats!
Call to make an appointment to pick some up!
connie 781-588-4255

JERUSALEM ARTICHOKES

Jerusalem Artichokes, also known as Sun chokes are tubers of a type of sunflower, rather than artichokes, as the name suggests. They aren’t from Jerusalem. They are native to North America.
Scrub them and don’t peel them, because the nutrients are just below the surface of the skin.
Jerusalem Artichokes are similar in nutrition and use to potatoes.
Use them in all of the same ways you use potatoes
They are good sliced thin in a stir-fry…
you can also mash, boil, bake, grautin, roast, etc…
You can use them raw in a salad with some lemon or vinegar over them because they oxidize quickly. They pair particularly well with potatoes.
My favorite way is to slice them, drizzled them with olive oil and salt and pepper and roast them in a 400ºF oven for 45 minutes until they are golden brown. They are surprisingly sweet and kind of nutty-tasting.

Colchester Salad

Hey Connie,
It came out so pretty I wanted to send you a pic of the salad I made after leaving the farm today…

I named it “Colchester Salad” because only the chicken and the almonds didn’t come from Colchester. Even the balsamic vinaigrette has basil from the farm.

watercress
grilled chicken
strawberries
pear
goat cheese
nasturtium petals
sliced almonds
balsamic vinaigrette

September salad

Member Interview #1

Hi Laurel,
Well, I am 31 years old, married and
living in Halifax, MA. I grew up in Marshfield and have my
own private acupuncture practice there, Stone Acupuncture.
I am an acupuncturist, Chinese Herbalist and yoga teacher,
so health and wellness are very important to me. I grew up
eating well (had a hiatus from that in college) and began
to discover cooking in my early 20’s. I believe that
how a person feels in terms of health and vitality has alot
to do with their lifestyle and especially what kinds of
foods they eat. I try to eat a balanced diet, high in
fruits and veggies. I also believe in the importance of
sustainable living and have always wanted to grow my own
veggies. Not having the right type of land for it, I began
looking for an alternative. I heard of Community Supported
Agriculture and began looking into local participating
farms; this was 2 years ago. I found Colchester’s
website and thought it looked well done and homey. They
had a choice between a regular sized farm box or a Jumbo so
I asked my mother if she wanted to join with me as we share
many of the same interests, beliefs and values. She said
yes and we signed up as Colchester CSA members!
What I have loved about doing the farm box instead of say,
going to the farmer’s market, is that I get many
vegetables I would not normally buy or try. I have
discovered some great vegetarian websites (I am not
vegetarian, but you can find some really creative recipes on
these sites; one is www.twobluelemons.com)
and have really enjoyed spending summer afternoons
experimenting with vegetables! I also discovered mustard
greens which rank as #1 favorite vegetable alongside jumbo
yellow tomatoes and fresh garlic.

It isn’t just the food that makes Colchester a special
place, though… It is obvious Ron and Connie care deeply
about organic farming, sustainability and creating a
cooperative community. I love my trips to Colchester.
Picking out cheeses, getting a dozen freshly laid eggs,
picking strawberries from the patch. I hope that their
dream of the 500 mile diet comes to fruition because I am on
board!

Let me know if there is anything else I can answer or
clarify.
Take care,
Kate

Hi Laurel
I’m Kate’s mom. I’ve lived in Marshfield since 1986,
and I have a private practice in clinical psychology in
town.
I grew up in northern Virginia in a suburb of D.C. and
moved to Mass. in 1967 to go to Radcliffe. I loved the
history, the climate, and the intellectual atmosphere, and I
never went back South to live.

I love cooking and fresh food. For a short while I
was vegetarian, and I whole heartedly support its
philosophy. We were never a fast food or convenience
food family.

My father (Wayne D. Rasmussen) was the historian at the
U.S. Dept of Agriculture for decades and wrote many books
and papers about family farms, soil, conservation,
etc. He was highly respected for fighting the good
fight for sustainable agriculture. In addition, I
personally have been worried about global warming since I
learned about it in the 1970’s. Healthy food, a focus
on vegetables, my father, my concern about global warming
all made the idea of CSA’s very appealing.

Kate asked me to join her in being a member of the farm,
and I was excited to do so.

One of the things I most appreciate about the farm has to
do with my concerns about the future of climate and the
economy. I don’t know that we will always be able to
eat raspberries from Chile, etc with impunity, or for that
matter, that we will even have the opportunity. I
believe a healthy future demands a more local economy.

I also love Connie’s literary references!
Sincerely,
Karen Stone

New Feature…Members and Friends interviews:

This new feature of our blog is born of our feeling so fortunate to meet you, our friends and members!
We know that many of you would like to meet one another but the bus-i-ness of our lives and logistics may make this very difficult. However, with this technology, we can offer a brief ‘virtual’ introduction and if you would like to contact these folks yourself, let me know and I will see about making it happen. We hope that you will enjoy  learning about Colchester Neighborhood Farm friends and members!
Please let me know if you would like to be interviewed, and I will have Laurel contact you.

Making Mead

post season friends

Food Meditation

Food meditation

Rub a clove of garlic
around a wooden salad bowl.
Tear red and butter leaf lettuce.
Meditate on each leaf,

Smell morning dampness in the turned soil.
See first day’s light anoint the heads
of women on their knees row after row tearing leaves
of lettuce. Hear the flinty whine of mosquitoes
and cranky babies and the sighing mothers fanning
the air with the wilting leaves, listen.

Listen to the kneeling women.
Listen to them scold the weeds about their lives.
Listen to the stories of their men on moonless
nights risking the Rio Grande crossing
for this. Watch the women turn at the sudden
lift of wind, their eyes searching the distant hills.

Smell blue diesel fumes. Hear a truck grind
through gears. See the shining-faced driver
wave from his window, crates of lettuce
on the flat bed, shifting from side to side,
the truck bumping down the dirt road to town
and green-aproned grocers and you

bowing over a bowl of lettuce,
scent of garlic melding with dreams.
Yours are the last hands
In the salad you are serving

Barbarajene Williams