Alpacas of Springbrook Farm, Stow MA

PO Box 626; 1 Apple Blossom Way

Stow MA 01775

978.897.5969

www.springbrookalpacas.com

This alpaca farm is in the most random place. To get here, you drive through McMansion land and then, all of a sudden: ALPACAS!!! They were really cute. And very interested in watching us--like we were at the zoo and they were visitors.

Springbrook Farm breeds these award-winning alpacas, so if you're in the market for one, they've got 'em. Besides breeding and selling alpacas, they also have a farm store where they sell various alpaca items (yarn, blankets, etc.) It's on a residential property, or at least across the street, so it's a good idea to contact them ahead of time if you'd like to visit the store. It wasn't open when we visited, so we'll have to go back (I emailed them and they were very nice). We just wandered around and watched the alpacas watch us.

You can also have your birthday party here, if you are 3-6 years old. Too bad I can't pass for six...

Cape Ann Fresh Catch, Gloucester MA

Gloucester Fishermen's Wives Association/Cape Ann Fresh Catch

PO Box 831, Gloucester, MA 01930

http://namanet.org/csf/cape-ann-fresh-catch

http://www.gfwa.org

February is the month of season endings for me this year. Another CSA, actually this one is a CSF (community supported fishery), season has ended. Last summer my family joined the Cape Ann Fresh Catch CSF. I had recently finished reading Bottomfeeder, by Taras Grescoe, which is a book about the state of the world's fish population, and had woefully decided my days of guilt-free fish enjoyment were over. Not so! Enter the Gloucester Fisherman's Wives Association (GFWA) who started the program. It is supported by MIT SeaGrant and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance, and brings together the fishing community, local residents, and business to allow people to eat responsibly-caught fish while promoting safety for the people out there catching all that delicious fish. The GFWA does a much better job describing this on their website, so have a look for yourself.

Each season is about 10 weeks long and you get a weekly share of fish. And when I say fish, expect to walk up to the truck and get a bag with one (or two) cod, or six big soles. With heads and tails intact, but usually gutted. Although, the sole needs to be gutted at home so you really get whole fish those weeks. This is really fresh fish!

I knew this when I first signed up, but I still did a double-take when I was handed an entire cod. My face must have given me away because the guy who handed me the fish asked me if I had any plans for what I was going to do with it. "Well, I'm going to go home and learn how to fillet a fish, I think!" "Naw," he said," just cook it whole. Put some slits in it and stuff in some garlic and herbs. Brush it with olive oil and then throw it on the grill."

Delicious!

And much easier than filleting. Although, I have to say that since that first day I've gotten pretty good at it. It helps that there's a link to a video on how to fillet a fish on their website. After filleting, you get all those left-over bones to use for making fish stock for soups, too. Yum.

This winter we also got Gulf of Maine shrimp. Seriously good stuff. With heads, of course. And bright blue shrimp roe! (Click on the picture above to see a close-up of the roe). But, you just twist the heads off those suckers, quickly sauté them in olive oil, garlic, lemon, and parsley and there's dinner. We had them tonight and they were fantastic. And I also made shrimp bisque with leftover shells from previous weeks. It was surprisingly easy; although, it's not often that you have pounds of leftover shrimp shells in your freezer. Lucky for me, I had way too many and needed a way to get rid of them.

So now we have a little break from fish--the next season starts in May. Check out the website if you are interested in signing up. They have a bunch of pick-up sites (ours is in Acton), so you can look for one near you. Or, maybe even set up a new one if you can get enough people in your area interested. And don't worry--they are full of preparation ideas if you're not quite sure what to do with what they're handing you each week. Just ask when you get it, or check the website. Or ask me: I've baked, fried, smoked, grilled and poached my way through a ton if it.

Gibbet Hill Farm, Groton MA

Gibbet Hill Farm

6 Lowell Road, Groton MA 01450

www.gibbethill.com

I received an email last week about Gibbet Hill's new vegetable CSA. Wow--it seems like CSAs are popping up all over the place! When I first moved back to this area from my beloved Happy Valley, I was unable to find a vegetable CSA nearby (well, one that I wanted to join, anyway, but we won't go into that at the moment). Now it seems that there are three within biking distance of my house--I love it!

The deal with this new one is that last year, Gibbet Hill started growing produce to use in their restaurants. Apparently, it was a success, so now they are offering a 50-member vegetable CSA, starting this year. Here's a link to some information from their website. A cool thing about this CSA is that, since it's grown in conjunction with their restaurant, you may find some prepared items made with produce from the farm in your weekly share (think pickles).

Even if you don't join their CSA, definitely stop in for dinner, or at least drinks and appetizers. Two thumbs-up from me on this place.

Introducing the localgrub calendar

Here is the official localgrub calendar. I'm going to use this to list all the events I can find that are centered around (or at least vaguely related to) local food in the Central Mass/Metrowest area of the state. Isn't Google wonderful?! :) No, I don't work for them, but they allow me to do so many useful free things online and that makes me like them a lot.

If you come across anything interesting that I haven't included, please send me an email so I can add it.

Drumlin Farm, Lincoln MA

Drumlin Farm

208 South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773

http://www.massaudubon.org/drumlin

Today was the last pick up for Drumlin Farm's winter vegetable CSA. So sad. This is the first time I've belonged to a winter CSA and it's been nice having fresh local vegetables all winter. I don't know if I can wait until June when Springdell Farm's summer vegetable CSA begins.

How can they grow vegetables in the winter in New England? Well, they don't. At least for this one--Drumlin Farm also has winter greens CSA (which was full, so I couldn't join this year) and I believe that they grow them in a greenhouse. At least, I wandered into the greenhouse a few weeks ago and noticed some salad greens ready for picking so I figure that's probably where they come from.

Anyway, the winter vegetable CSA is mainly root vegetables and squash, with some kale, onions, and garlic thrown in at the beginning of the season (it started in December). These are grown during the summer/fall growing season and they store them under optimal conditions, doling out two weeks' worth at a time for those of us without root cellars. You only pick up every other week, which is convenient, as opposed to every week like during the summer/fall. We ate a lot of root vegetable soups and stews this year. And yesterday, another shareholder donated her daikon to me (lucky for me she doesn't like it). I've been craving Korean food lately, so I'm going to make a big batch of radish kimchi. Yum!

Next month Drumlin Farm will hold its annual Sap-to-Syrup Farmer's Breakfast (Saturday, March 13 and Sunday, March 14, from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm--contact the farm to reserve your spot). It's a pancake breakfast featuring their own potatoes, sausage, and maple syrup. This is the third year in a row that I've gone to this breakfast and it's been delicious and fun every time. You can go on tours of the farm and learn the origins of maple sugaring, and you can also visit the sugar house to learn about and watch the maple syrup being made. And, of course, you can buy some maple syrup to bring home with you.

Just as a heads-up, starting in a couple of weeks, maple sugar houses all around New England will open their doors for pancake breakfasts for the few shorts weeks they're producing maple syrup. Try to check at least one of them out this year--in my book, there are few things finer than New England sugaring season. If you're interested, you can find information from the Massachusetts Maple Producer's Association, the New Hampshire Maple Producers, the Vermont Maple Foundation/Vermont Maple Sugar Makers Association, the Maple Syrup Producers Association of Connecticut, and the Maine Maple Producers Association. Sorry Rhode Island, I couldn't find information about your maple syrup.

Chestnut Farms, Hardwick MA

Chestnut Farms

P.O. Box 545; 404 Turkey Street

Hardwick MA 01037

www.chestnutfarms.org

My freezer doth floweth over... with meat from Chestnut Farms! Since last May, my family has belonged to a meat CSA--how great is that? As an omnivore, I appreciate that now most of the meat I eat is humanely-raised. Twice each year, they host an open barn where you get to see just how the animals live before they end up in your freezer: Meet Your Meat, as they say. We went to the one they had last October and were pretty impressed! The farmers, Kim and Rich, really work hard and take wonderful care of all the animals. And, they are pretty tasty, too. How it works is that once a month we pick up a cooler of frozen assorted meat from a pick-up spot (there are several--ours is in Harvard center). It's a mystery cooler full of surprise cuts. In the summer months, there were many cuts suited for grilling; now that it's winter, we've gotten a lot of cuts good for stewing. We've gotten all types of meat: ground beef/pork/lamb, bacon, sausage, filet mignon (only once but, man, was it delicious!), ribs, rack of lamb, ham steak, chicken breast, pork loin, etc., etc. We also ordered a Thanksgiving turkey (not included in the monthly share) which was fantastic. Everything has been absolutely top notch. I would highly recommend this farm if you are looking to join a meat CSA.

I am under the impression that this is the only meat CSA in the state, but don't quote me on that. However, there is a new one at Springdell Farm, in Littleton, MA, starting this year. So, now that makes two. Springdell Farm started a vegetable CSA last year and we signed up for this coming season. Once the crops are ready for eating, I'll post an update on that.