News from the Farm
December 2018
|
|
|
|
Dear farm friends and CSA members -
Happy holidays to you! For the animals, the late fall season means transitioning to hay and winter pastures. For the farmers, we finished bulk harvest in winter gloves, insulated overalls and hats last week as the cold deepened. We let the carrots stay in the ground until right before a major freeze which makes them incredibly sweet.
 For many of us, the holiday season means gatherings and sharing food with family, friends and neighbors. It's a season of gratitude and it can be a special time to share things you care about with people you care for.
As a year-round farm, our goal is to provide you with a full and diverse local diet of nutritious food in both the summer sun and winter snow. We continue to be grateful for the community we've built around holistically grown food. Thank you for sourcing your food from the farm, volunteering, donating goods and supporting regenerative farming this year.
Below, read about John, our livestock manager who joined the farm earlier this year; review the schedule for winter store, markets, & shares; and check out some winter recipe ideas like arugula pesto and Moroccan-spiced chicken made with farm ingredients. As always, we have many pictures from the farm and kitchen to share!
-All of us at Freedom Food Farm
|
|
The last of the carrots & fall harvests are in!
The carrots are dug & then put into storage directly after harvest - washing them before storage decreases freshness - so we stick with the natural method of storing them covered in a little soil after we harvest.
We wash our stored roots (carrots, celeriac, rutabaga, etc.) each week for the farm store & market! Winter carrots are cold-sweetened & delicious this year - be sure to get your fill: roasted, raw, juiced or in soup!
|
|
|
|
What's New!
Lamb Roast for the Holidays!
We have 1/2 legs of lamb available for the holidays. These make an incredible roast and average 3-4 lbs.
If you'd like to pick up at farmers' market: email us with your order.
_______________________________
'Tis t he season for greens. We have cold weather greens for CSA & sale: salad mix, komatsuna, boc choi, arugula, gemstone greens, baby kale & spinach. Enjoy the greens now, in the late fall chill - when they are best!
_______________________________
Grass-fed, heritage lamb & goat sausage, ground lamb, ribs and more cuts are back in stock! Make a rich sauce with sweet italian mutton sausage or a tasty potato hash with chorizo goat sausage. Try this recipe for lamb chops with your favorite winter squash.
We also have jowl bacon available! This sought-after pork cut can turn into a delicious meal. Try it as bourbon and cider braised jowl bacon steaks.
_______________________________
Berle Farm's Organic, Artisinal Cheese is in store!
Berleberg: A farmstead, raw cow milk cheese with a washed rind - creamy tang that starts with grassy undertones and finishes with a sharp, nutty bouquet. Buttery when heated!
Lovely Young Cheese of the Spring:
A young, mild farm cheese - lovely!
Haymakers: FFF favorite!
A well-balanced farmstead cheese - robust and earthy with a smooth finish. Aged for two years - makes a great table cheese.
Crowdie: A fresh, soft farmers' cheese (works great to spread like cream cheese and makes an excellent lasagana, use instead of ricotta)
Learn more about our friends at Berle Farm ~
_______________________________
FFF Farm Store & Farmers' Market Membership:
You can support the farm and get a discount on our products by purchasing a farm store - farmers' market membership. These memberships are flexible, good for anything we produce & also make great gifts!
>>Learn more here, and inquire in our farm store or at market to sign up!
_______________________________
The farm store will be closed: December 23rd - January 10th
When we re-open in 2019 our Winter CSA & winter store hours will start: Fridays, 2-6pm and Saturdays, 10-2pm.
We'll be open regular fall hours until the break!
|
|
|
Pictured above - Sweet, deadon winter cabbage in the farm store - this is one of our best cabbages, be sure to try it before we sell out!
Our heritage boar, Jake and sow, May. The hogs spent the late summer & fall in the cool woods. May is due to have piglets this January!
|
|
|
Where to find us this season:
Pawtucket Wintertime Farmers' Market:
Saturdays from 9am-1pm
Somerville Winter Farmers' Market:
>> First market is tomorrow, December 1st*!
Saturdays from 9:30am-2pm
*Note: CSA shares start December 8th at the market.
Farm Store:
We are open year-round!
Wed, Fri & Sat from 10-6 | Hours change seasonally
*Winter CSA starts January 11th*
|
|
|
*Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food*
Meet our farmers - learn about what brought them to FFF & what they love about it. In this newsletter, meet John Cordle, our livestock manager!
 John got use to farm air and animals while growing up in Sandusky, Ohio. His grandparents owned a farm, where they cultivated vegetables, hay, and raised cows. John loved it. “I just got to run around in the dirt,” he says. But the farm always felt “separate from reality.” His grandparents were farming folks, but most people grew up to be doctors and lawyers. He went to the University of Akron, Ohio to study history (he’s still a huge history nerd – talk to him about the American Revolution), and he worked as a paramedic in Columbus, OH for some years after graduating.
Farming found him again during a paramedic’s trip to Nepal – and this time it stuck. He went there to heal people, but found more work needed doing in the fields. He started farming greens, rice, and potatoes, learning to work in Nepal’s dry and wet seasons. He moved to southern Utah and farmed with Hell’s Backbone Grill, a Zagat-rated restaurant and farm run by two Buddhist women in one of the nation’s most remote towns. He worked on other farms in California and Texas, mostly specializing in dairy and goat farms. “I connect with animals. I just love the reciprocity,” John says. Vegetables are interesting and rewarding to cultivate, but there isn’t the same kind of relationship, he says. He was a vegetarian for 10 years and a vegan for a couple more, but he started eating meat again when he started farming; when he could see the animals were loved and cared for. It’s hard to pick his favorite animals to work with. He loves the slow and steady pace of cows. It’s also not uncommon to find John cuddling our farm cat, Freya.
John joined Freedom Food Farm as our livestock manager this past summer. He appreciates the diversity of production on the farm and the care with which the farm raises and rotates our animals over pasture. What they eat and how they move is special, John says: “There’s a symbiosis between the vegetable side and the animal side. Most farms don’t do that.” His favorite seasonal product is our winter squash – roasted and drenched in butter and maple syrup.
He’d like to have his own homestead someday. He envisions managing a diverse crop of vegetables and animals, but on a small scale. The lifestyle of working outside, engaging in physical labor, and cultivating the land for healthy food is one that makes sense to him – and one that he feels is making a difference in the world. Like being a paramedic, farming is an act of care that, when done right, supports the health of all the living creatures in our diverse ecosystems. “It’s definitely making an impact on the community, and on the environment around us,” he says. “I enjoy taking care of the land.”
|
|
|
Some pictures of John's friend, the farm cat (and barn queen) Freya.
|
|
|
|
Recipes from the Field & Pasture:
Featured Ingredients:
*Arugula & Sweet Potatoes*
*Lamb Chops & Chicken*
|
|
From Farm to Plate. Honestly:
Our popular elderberry spread & vegan burgers start as ingredients grown on our farm with holistic, organic practices. We are in the commercial kitchen every week this time of year - chopping, fermenting, roasting, simmering and preserving. It's a nice break from seeding, planting, weeding, harvesting, but hard work nonetheless.
The berries, sweet potatoes and more good, raw, farm-grown ingredients are then transformed by us into immune boosting artisan spread & handcrafted veggie burgers.
We take a lot of care in every step of production from starting the seeds, harvesting the fruit (elderberries are a serious challenge), crafting the recipes and in the end bring you the most real, delicious, nutrient-dense food we can.
>> Check out the pictures above from our farmer - chefs in the kitchen & the finished product!
|
|
|
|
Row covered field at dusk - we are still harvesting field greens under this layer of lightweight, protective fabric! It keeps our crops warm, but let's in light + water.
|
|
|
|
|
