Tomato seedlings

Now is the time of year when I can really believe that spring is here. Never mind the summer-like weather we had last week--it's time to order tomato seedlings from Verrill Farm! The deadline to order is April 2nd, so I'm actually a week early this time.

I say this every year, but this year it will happen: my garden is going to kick ass! One the the few things I've always had great luck with are tomatoes; thanks in no small part to the great quality seedlings I get from Verrill Farm every year. The other things that I've had great luck with are snap peas and Swiss chard, so those will be reappearing again this year. Besides that, I'm not sure. I think I'm going to go pretty simple this year--besides tomatoes and snap peas, it'll be mostly greens and herbs.

The photo in this post is from spring of 2010. I was digging around in the garden to get it ready and found a crop of rainbow carrots from summer 2009. They weren't quite ready in the fall, but over-wintered well and ended up being pretty tasty! (I know, nothing to do with tomatoes, but this is the best photo I can find at the moment.)

Time to make a visit to the garden center for seeds. Maybe this year will be the year when I finally have an amazing garden. If not, if it's even slightly better than last year, that's an improvement and I'll take it, thank you very much.

South Village Sugarhouse, Ashby MA

505 South Road, Ashby MA 01431

978.386.6823

southvillagesugarhouse.com

This year, we ended up at South Village Sugarhouse in Ashby MA. After inadvertently taking the scenic route (somehow, I had plugged the wrong address into Google Maps), we finally made it here at dusk. We were greeted warmly by Dave Rainville, who took us out behind the sugarhouse so Talia could see a dripping tap in the fading daylight. Having recently seen a Curious George episode where George makes maple syrup, she thought it was very exciting to see the real thing.

Dave walked us through the process and explained his set up, as we watched the sap boil away in the wood-fired evaporator. In the photo above, he is showing us all the minerals, etc., that settle out of the syrup and get filtered out before bottling.

It was lucky that we ended up getting there later than we had planned, as the batch he was working on was just about finished. Here's Dave pouring out samples for us to try. We bought a couple of quarts to bring home and replenish our dwindling maple syrup supplies.

Sweet and delicious! Someone was not in the mood for having her picture taken, but I couldn't help myself.

Here's the evaporator boiling away.

If only I had a fancy camera, this picture would have been amazing--the view of the sugarhouse as we left in the dark, with sparks flying out of the chimney as logs were tossed onto the fire. You'll just have to use your imagination. Or, better yet, stop in for a visit yourself.

Kielbasa

This month, in our share from Chestnut Farms' meat CSA, we got uncured kielbasa. Delicious! I have to say that I've never eaten much meat as adult, mostly just when I'm craving real BBQ or a good burger. However, ever since joining Chestnut Farms' meat CSA, I have been amazed at how good it is. We rarely buy meat outside our CSA share (besides chickens, in season, from Pete and Jen's Backyard Birds), so I am pretty spoiled with the flavor. Healthy, happy animals just taste better, I guess.

Maple season has begun!!!

Here is the evaporator at Drumlin Farm in Lincoln MA. And look! It's steaming! I don't know what it is about maple season, but it makes me want to jump up and down with joy. We'll be back at Drumlin Farm in a couple of weeks for their Farmer's Breakfast fundraising event. They serve pancakes covered in their own maple syrup as well as sausage and potatoes, also from the farm. And coffee and other breakfast drinks, too. I can't wait!

We just came to wander around a bit today. Besides the maple sap boiling, we also found some adorable baby goats.

Lessons on opening oysters

First of all, you need the right kind of knife.

Being oyster season (sort of, it's very near the end) I bought a dozen Cape Neddick blue point oysters to bring home and eat last night. Only to find out I couldn't open them. I know I've bought them from fish markets before, so I'm guessing they opened them for me before I left. Since I can't remember for sure, it must not have been for some time. I was able to find an oyster knife today, luckily, so we had them with dinner. The first six were ok, although a bit disappointing. The second six were delicious! I'm guessing it had to do with my skill at opening them: the first six were pretty badly (wo)man-handled, so they must have released some kind of stress hormone. Not tasty. After my practice run, I was able to open the remaining six quickly, without stressing them out, and they were as delicious as I was hoping they'd be.

One of the reasons humanely-raised animals taste so good is that they are processed by caring individuals who take care to minimize their stress. Not only does it make for happier animals, it makes for tastier ones, too.

Sorry, little oysters... next time I'll be gentle.

Lobstah!

Our fantastic CSF (community-supported fishery), Cape Ann Fresh Catch, gave us the chance to order lobsters this week. Hell yeah! We got three! Talia was pretty interested in checking it out before...

..and after the cooking process. Yum!

Carlson Orchards, Harvard MA

115 Oak Hill Road, Harvard, MA 01451

800.286.3916

carlsonorchards.com

I actually went here on a trip with my daughter's preschool. Living so close for practically my whole life, you'd think I'd have been here before; but no, I haven't. I have had their apple cider, though. I'm very picky about apple cider, and prefer unpasteurized (my hands-down favorite is from Derby's in Stow, MA), but the cider from here is good. Even if it is pasteurized. I don't know how other places do it, but their cider is heated and cooled so quickly (I think they told us the process takes only 14 seconds), that it preserves the apple flavor. Whatever it is, the end result is pretty delicious. They sell juice boxes of it, too, if you're looking for portable, kid-friendly drinks. You can find their cider in stores and farmstands around the state.

Since it's pumpkin season now, they had all their pumpkins out for sale. Before checking out this pumpkin display, I wandered around the orchard, helping to herd a pack of preschoolers. Watching them pick apples was pretty funny. Early Macs (MacIntosh), which they had, are my absolute favorites. Maybe it's because they are only crisp and tart for just so long that makes them so special. Once you get Macs that have been stored for a while, they lose their tartness and crispness and they just aren't the same. Time to eat up before it's too late!

They have a retail store here which is open year-round and sells apples, cider, locally-produced honey, jams, preserves, and frozen pies and crisps.

Smolak Farms, North Andover MA: Pumpkin Festival

315 South Bradford Street, North Andover, MA 01845

978.682.6332

smolakfarms.com

This was a fun time--the Pumpkin Festival at Smolak Farms in North Andover, MA. This place used to be a lot smaller, but they have done a lot of work to make it a destination for families. Their playground has been totally redone since we last came here (in the spring, maybe). We got to see one of our favorite local kid bands, Ben Rudnick and Friends, play. This was an added bonus (for us and our three-year-old).

It was a bit crazy, but not overwhelming. They had games, a bounce house, and  tons of food. One of the best things they had was a ride where you got into a long train of radio flyer-style wagons and got pulled around by a little tractor. They also had a big wagon/tractor ride, but we passed on that one this time. As usual, they also had delicious cider donuts. We brought home a dozen--they are so good. We didn't actually get a pumpkin, though, since we have a while to go until Halloween.

Nancy's Airfield Cafe, Stow MA

302 Boxboro Road, Stow MA 01775

978.897.3934

nancysairfieldcafe.com

We went out for breakfast at Nancy's Airfield Cafe in Stow, MA this morning. They source many of their ingredients locally, and have a list of their local providers on their website.

I usually get the vegetarian eggs benedict, which has kale (one of my favorite greens) in place of the ham. Today, however, I couldn't pass up raspberry pancakes with cinnamon pecan butter and real (of course) maple syrup.

Talia went for the breakfast bear: a bear-shaped pancake with chocolate chip eyes and a sausage patty mouth.

Verrill Farm's Corn and Tomato Festival, Concord MA

11 Wheeler Road, Concord MA 01742

978.369.4494

verrillfarm.com

Today was Verrill Farm's Corn and Tomato Festival, which I highly recommend. This is our second time going and it was as delicious as ever. Imagine about 20 different kinds of tomatoes, plus just-picked corn on the cob. You can try them as is, or in an assortment of different recipes. All outside in the sunshine while listening to live bluegrass music. For those so inclined, they also offer their own pit BBQ, as well as standard hot dog and hamburger fare.

What a wonderful day.

Tougas Farm, Northborough MA

234 Ball Street, Northborough, MA 01532

508.393.6406

tougasfarm.com

We attempted to go peach-picking at Tougas Farm, in Northborough, MA, but they were all picked out by the time we got there. So, we had to settle for blueberries. And, I'm not sorry we did. I could have stood there all day eating them off the bushes. 

Neither could Talia. We did actually buy the blueberries (lots!), but I won't deny that some product sampling took place ;).

Besides blueberries, they have tons of other kinds of fruit for picking. Or for buying already picked. I ended up buying a giant box of "seconds," filled with mostly nectarines and a few peaches. They will be transformed into jam sometime in the next few days. When winter rolls around, I can open a jar of summer to mix into a bowl of oatmeal or spread on toast.

After picking all the blueberries we could carry, we bought lunch from the farm store (sandwiches, ice cream, and a smoothie) which we ate at a picnic table. If we had planned better, we would have packed a lunch, but it was sort of last-minute. This is a great place to spend the day with kids. There is a fantastic playground, and also a petting zoo. We were there for hours, and never actually made it to the petting zoo--the playground was such a big hit. That will give us something extra to look forward to next time.

Cherry tomatoes

Cherry tomatoes from my garden! This is one of those foods that taste best when actually eaten in the garden. In our house, they rarely make it inside. If you want to eat them, you just go outside and pick yourself a snack.

I don't have a good setup to start things early from seed, so I get my tomato seedlings from Verrill Farm in Concord, MA. You can order them in March/Arpil each year for pick-up in May. This is my fourth year buying from them and I haven't had a bad tomato season yet. The first year, I lived in a semi-urban neighborhood and was concerned with the lack of bees for pollination.Since tomatoes are self-pollinating, and really only need a little vibration to get things rolling, I went out to my front yard, where all my potted tomatoes lived, electric toothbrush in hand. A little vibration to the back of each tiny yellow flower, and--magic! Baby tomatoes!

It might have been a bit crazy, and my former neighbors may have breathed a sigh of relief when I moved (with my full-grown tomato plants) late that summer, but I had a bumper crop that year!

Swiss chard

Swiss chard from my garden!  As a novice gardener, I have found these to be one of the easiest things to grow. It doesn't mind heat too much, and keeps producing until fall. This is my favorite variety, Bright Lights, because it is so colorful. I could eat a giant plate of any type of garden greens every day. Sauté them in a little olive oil with garlic, and sprinkle some lemon juice and sea salt over it just before eating. Delicious!

Oh, and they're good for you, too.

Chestnut Farms, Hardwick MA: "Meet Your Meat"

404 Turkey Street, Hardwick, MA 01037

chestnutfarms.org

We attended the semi-annual Open Barn that the farmers at Chestnut Farms hold for their (meat CSA) shareholders each June (the other is in October). As usual, the animals were the stars of the day. The baby pigs were so cute! .

At the monthly pick-ups, Kim is usually doing about sixteen things at once, so it was nice to spend time chatting in a much more relaxed atmosphere.

For me, the open barns are a chance to connect a bit with the people behind the food, and to see first hand, and appreciate, the attentiveness and care that goes into raising the food that I put on the table for my family. It costs a bit more, but is worth it for so many reasons.  Last fall, we had a bit of a budget crisis, but decided that the $22/week we spend to eat meat from Chestnut Farms was well worth the expense. We decided that a small amount of meat (10lbs/month) from responsible farmers was a way to fit it into our budget. As Kim says herself, CSAs don't work for everyone all the time. But, we are lucky that we can make it work for us right now.

Favorite local ice cream spots

One of my favorite food-related things about New England is the number of ice cream stands that open for the short summer season. We've been eating ice cream pretty regularly this summer. I'm eating for two these days, so I figure I have a good excuse :).

So far, we haven't ventured too far from home, though, and have been mostly eating at Kimball's in Westford, MA and Erikson's in Maynard, MA. Why travel too far when there is delicious ice cream available practically in our own backyard? I found a great ice cream blog with entries about both Kimball's and Erickson's.

Radishes!

The first vegetable from my garden this year--radishes!

So far, so good. Next up should be the peas.

First ice cream of the season

Kimball Farm

400 Littleton Road (Rte. 110), Westford, MA 01886

kimballfarm.com

Kimball's is open, and ice cream season has officially begun! Like true New Englanders, we braved the cold and went out for our first cone of the season. They had sides up on their big tent and a propane heater going full blast, so we didn't mind the temperature. We certainly didn't have to worry about our cones melting today!

The Good Loaf, Mont Vernon NH

The Good Loaf
75 Mont Vernon Road, Milford, New Hampshire 03055
603.672.1500
thegoodloaf.com

Today I stopped in at The Good Loaf bakery, right on Rte. 13, just north of Milford. Every time I go there, I want to fill up my car with their delicious bread. Luckily, I was able to restrain myself and left with a loaf of bread, a cup of coffee, and a pumpkin cupcake.

As you can see, I couldn't keep from sampling the cupcake before remembering to take a picture of it. Yes, it was that good.

Spring planting

The crocuses are out in our yard! Aside from maple sugaring, of course, that's one of my favorite signs that spring is really here.

Today was the first day of planting seeds for our vegetable garden: sugar snap peas, carrots, and radishes.. Talia gets her own little garden patch, too.  She did a great job planting her peas all by herself.

I say this every year, but this year I mean it--our garden is going to be amazing!

We'll see how it goes. I don't have the greenest thumb, but if I get better every year, I consider that a victory. There is nothing more delicious--or more local--than vegetables from your backyard.

Drumlin Farm, Lincoln MA

Drumlin Farm

208 South Great Road, Lincoln MA 01773

http://www.massaudubon.org/drumlin

We got a glimpse of spring in the seedling-filled greenhouse at Drumlin Farm this weekend. For the third year in a row, we (me and twelve of my relatives) went to their annual Farmer's Breakfast. After feasting on pancakes covered in their own maple syrup, as well as potatoes and sausage also from their farm, we walked around to visit the animals and see if anyone had babies yet this spring.

We lucked out and found a bunch of new baby goats. They were so cute! It was naptime for everyone, apparently, while we walked through the barn. Here are a couple of kids curled up and being periodically licked by their momma. There was also a large pig with about a month to go to deliver her litter. We'll have to go back and see them once they're born. Last year there was a barn full of adorable polka-dotted pigs.

On the way out, we visited the sugarhouse and watched them making maple syrup. They had samples of straight maple sap, which for some reason I had expected to be at least slightly sticky, but it was only just the faintest bit sweet. And, they also samples of the in-process batch of maple syrup--about 1/4 of the way done. I had to dive in and intercept my daughter's multiple attempts at extra samples. She is a big maple syrup fan.

All in all, another fun spring pancake breakfast. On deck for later this month is the open house at Dave's Sugarhouse, in Ashby, MA. That's not until the 26th, though, so I'll have to figure something out for this coming weekend.