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August 10, 2015
Week #10
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Letter from a Farmer,
We had another great week on the farm.  On Wednesday and Thursday, we harvested the acre of storage onions and laid them out in the greenhouse to dry. This meant we had to trim, clean, and sort all of the garlic that was drying in the greenhouse first.  After a morning of harvesting, washing, and packing vegetables the crew headed to the greenhouse to work on the garlic.  

On Wednesday morning, I cut off the tops on the onions with a machine Jean-Paul bought from the Netherlands.  You know onions are ready to harvest for storage when the tops of the onions loose their green color and fall over. Once 70% of the onion tops are down, the onions are ready to be pulled from the field.  In the past we topped the onions by hand with knives.  This usually took a couple of afternoons.   We didn't have the right kind of mower to top the onions.  The new machine creates suction to pull the onion leaves vertical again so the blades of the mower can cut the leaves off.  We leave about 4 inches of the onion leaves on the onions that dry up during the curing process.  With the new machine I cut off the onion tops in about 30 minutes.

Wednesday afternoon, 7 crew members rode on our OK Bedder machine to pull the onions out of the ground to dry on top of the bed in the field. (The name comes from Old Kinderhook, or OK which is attributed to Martin Van Buren and Bedder comes from Weed Bed machine.)  The OK Bedder is a machine that Jean-Paul made based on a machine from the Netherlands.  It has six "mattresses" that the crew members lay down on.  The seventh person slowly drives the tractor over the beds while they pull the onions out of the ground.  This machine keeps us off our knees and it has umbrellas to keep us in the shade.  We also call it the Copa Cabana weeder as it looks like it could just be a large poolside lounge.  The crew spent two hours pulling up the onions.  (see photos below).

Thursday the crew was out in the field with buckets as soon as the dew dried off the onions.  From 10 am to 4 pm the crew picked up onions and brought them to the greenhouse.  The wagon hauling the onions never stopped.  We took a break for a pizza party lunch and headed back to the field.  We quickly filled up one greenhouse and had to move plants and put shade cloth on the 2nd greenhouse. That is now full, too.  We still have two beds of red onions in the field.  Not sure where those are going to go...  This looks like our best onion harvest ever.  And the fastest harvest ever, too.  Good equipment and a hard working, enthusiastic crew can get a lot done in a short period of time. We were also joined by some great volunteers, Chuck O'Neil (who is Chuck Matthei's nephew,  Chuck Matthei founded Equity Trust who owns some of the land we farm) and the NPS Youth Crew; Gunnar, Nabila, Amanda, and Jamol. In a few weeks you will start sharing their hard work when we begin delivering the storage onions.                                                                                    ~Jody
The Onion Topper cutting the tops off the onion plants.
Full wagon ready to go to the greenhouse.
Spaghetti Alla Primavera
 
6 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
6 oz. button mushrooms, quartered
1 cup small broccoli florets, blanched
12 cup frozen peas, blanched
1 pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces, blanched
1 lb. spaghetti, cooked al dente
1 cup heavy cream
23 cup grated Parmesan
2 tbsp. unsalted butter
Kosher salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
2 tbsp. thinly shredded basil
12 cup lightly toasted pine nuts
Heat 5 tbsp. oil in a 12" skillet over medium heat. Add 23 of the garlic; cook until golden, about 2 minutes. Add mushrooms; cook until golden, about 3 minutes. Add broccoli, peas, and peppers; cook 3 minutes. Add pasta, cream, Parmesan, and butter, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine; transfer to a platter.
Bring remaining oil and garlic, tomatoes, and basil to a simmer over medium heat; pour over pasta; garnish with nuts.
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Classic-Spaghetti-Primavera
 
Quick Cherry Tomato Pasta Sauce

2 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced lengthwise
12 lb. cherry tomatoes
2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
Heat oil in a 12" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions to pan; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, until soft, about 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, cover with lid, and cook until soft and releasing their juices, about 8 minutes. Sprinkle with parsley before serving.  Use as a sauce on pasta or polenta.

Adapted from: http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Quick-Fish-Filets-in-Tomato-Sauce

 
Riding the OK Bedder to pull onions.
One of the two greenhouses full of onions.
COMING NEXT WEEK: sweet corn, slicing tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, bell peppers, Carmen sweet peppers, hot peppers, green beans, salad mix, head lettuce, garlic, tomatillos, cilantro, and red onions.

Fruit: Peaches or Plums
The 2nd CHICKEN SHARE will be delivered next week - Aug 18 - 21.

The 2nd BEEF SHARE will be delivered Aug 25 - 28.

Please email info@roxburyfarm.com if you would like us to hold your meat share and have it delivered on another date.

 
Andy and Annie transplanting leeks.