Appleton Farms Blog

Monday, April 29, 2019

New Blog!

Hi all,

Our blog has moved! Come visit us at the new site: https://appletonfarms.thetrustees.org/2019/04/29/april-news-from-the-farm/

Friday, March 1, 2019

Greenhouse Season and Sugar Season are Underway!

Greenhouse season is underway!

As we close out February, a couple recent snowfalls brighten up the farm. We’ve set our sights on spring, but mother winter has reminded us that she’s not quite ready to leave. Despite the cold, we spent time this week setting up our greenhouse in preparation for seeding onions and leeks. The first days inside are always such a thrill, pushing our hands in soil again and dropping seeds into flats. Their promise and potential has us excited for the season to come.

The past month has seen us continue to rest our bodies and take time to research best practices and improve the overall quality of what we do. In particular, we’re studying ways to improve seedling production and energy use in the greenhouse, organic disease management, and improved soil building practices. Much of what we do involves equipment and so part of the winter has entailed making repairs and repainting worn out implements. We’ve also decided to invest in a mechanical transplanter this spring, which will allow us to move away from transplanting all our seedlings by hand. Not only will this save us time, freeing us up to focus on other tasks, but it lessens some of the physical burden associated with putting plants in the ground. It’s something I’m sure the crew will be excited about!

Summer CSA membership renewals for the 2019 continue. While there’s still time to renew, our share is nearly full and we’ve begun making offers to folks on the waitlist. If you are a current member that would like to renew for the 2019 season, please do so soon, as we can no longer guarantee your spot in the share.

If you need the weblink to renew or need to be in touch with us for any other reason, please send a message with your current email to appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org. Feel free to call us with any questions at 978-356-5728 ext. 4115. We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too!

Upcoming Events at Appleton Farms

March

Saturday

Happy Hour at the Sugar Shack

Join us for Happy Hour at the Sugar Shack and experience how we turn our sweet sap into tasty syrup before sampling local beers

March

Tuesday

Tuesday Story Time on the Farm

It may be cold outside, but it's cozy in the Farm House! Join us for a regular Tuesday story time this winter.

March

Wednesday

Felted Soap Making

Learn how to make beautiful felted wool soap! Felted soap is not only beautiful, but also great for your skin and the environment!

March

Wednesday

Preschool Farm Explorers: Kids in the Kitchen

Join us for a kids in the kitchen session for preschoolers and try out some delicious kid-friendly recipes with ingredients from the farm

March

Friday

Cancelled -- Beer in the Barn: Meet the Brewer Series with True North Ale Co

It may be cold outside, but it’s cozy in the Carriage Barn, especially with a beer in hand!

March

Saturday

Sugar Shack Saturdays

Spring is coming and the sap is running! Experience the time-honored tradition of maple sugaring with Sugar Shack Saturdays at Appleton Farm

Thursday, January 31, 2019

Renewal Deadline for Current CSA Members

We want to send a reminder to current members that CSA membership renewals for the 2019 season are still open. While there’s still time to renew, we are opening signups to folks on the waitlist on February 1, so we can no longer guarantee your spot after February 1 for the 2019 season if you haven’t signed already.
Huge thanks to all of you who have already renewed!

To renew your CSA, please start here with your Trustees membership. If your Trustees membership is current, contact us at appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org and we will send a link for renewal to our current CSA members. We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too!

Winter updates from the farmers:

We received most of our seeds for the upcoming season and have the rest of our supplies ordered. Most of the field crew is hired at this point and we’re only one month away from the first the greenhouse seeding! With only one real snow storm under our belts so far, it’s hard to believe our spring work is only weeks away. We will continue to rest our bodies in weeks ahead as we energize for the upcoming season.

Late winter is a time for us to review some of our practices and systems and find places where we can make improvements. You may recall us talking about a new food safety law last season. The upgrade to our wash station was only a small part of how the new rules impact our production. The bulk of the legislation impacts us through the copious amount of records required to document daily tasks. While the law is focused on reducing food safety risks, it has forced us to streamline some of our practices and improve the way we document operations. Leah has been leading these efforts and I’m glad to report that we’re in great shape for the upcoming season!

Another major area of focus for us this offseason has been improvements to soil health. The addition of five acres for vegetable production this season will allow us to improve our crop rotations and be a bit more intentional with how we cover crop and rest fields. Our focus here is to build soils and fertility through compost applications and annual cover crops, and to rotate crop groups over different parts of the farm over time to avoid the build up of pests and diseases. The new acreage allows us to plan rotations multiple years in advance and avoid cropping some of our worn out fields. We are very excited these developments to say the least.

Upcoming Events on the Farm

Beer in the barn: NBPT Brewing
NBPT brewing will join us to tell us all about their beer and career in brewing. Live music and tasty brews to follow. We will have light snacks for sale, or bring your food from home! This is a 21+ event.
February 8^th 5:30-8:30

Beer in the barn: Saintly Cider
Saintly Cider will join us to tell us all about their cider and career in brewing. Live music and tasty brews to follow. We will have light snacks for sale, or bring your food from home! This is a 21+ event.
February 22^nd 5:30-8:30

February Vacation Programs
Check the website for all of the amazing programs during vacation week.
February 16-22

Happy to help.

Feel free to get in touch with any questions!
email: appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org
phone: 978-356-5728 ext. 4115

Andrew Lawson, CSA Manager: alawson@thetrustees.org
Sarah Kelly, CSA Coordinator: skelly@thetrustees.org

Friday, January 11, 2019

Happy New Year and Renew Now for 2019!

Renew your Appleton Farms CSA membership today!

The recent mild weather and bare fields have us dreaming of spring! But we’re happy to be spending a few weeks in the office planning out the next growing season. While we’ve been perusing seed catalogs and tweaking the crop plan, our creative juices have been flowing and there’s a growing excitement for the year to come. I think we have a couple welcome surprises in store for our CSA members for next season!

And a reminder to current members: CSA renewals for the 2019 season are open, and we are offering new payment plan options this year to help spread out the cost.
**We will open signups to the waiting list on February 1 and we cannot longer guarantee your spot for 2019 if you do not sign up by that date.

To renew your CSA, please start here with your Trustees membership. If your Trustees membership is current, contact us at appletonfarmscsa@thetrustees.org and we will send a link for renewal to our current CSA members.

We are looking forward to next season and we hope you are too!
- Andrew & Leah

Seed catalogs are here!

An update from the Appleton Farms store:

Fresh milk is back at the farm store!

We apologize for the hiatus over the past 2 weeks. We had unforeseen equipment failures & repairs were delayed by the holidays. We were only able to bottle 160 gallons this week, but next week we expect to bottle 250 gallons of milk. Please feel free to call the store anytime to confirm availability – we know the driveway can be rough this time of year. We have just graded the road to ease your journey.

If you haven’t been in the store in a while, be sure to check out our new, local products. We are happy to welcome: Beckah's Bangin Butter (small batch paleo almond butter made in Beverly, MA); Ariel’s Honey Infusions (raw Vermont honey infused with organic herbs made in Waitsfield, Vermont); & Little Acre Gourmet Ketchup (gourmet condiments made in Dover, NH). Plus, I am waiting on a fresh batch of Baer’s Best Beans (locally grown & hand-picked beans from South Hamilton, MA – organic varieties, rare heirlooms, and yummy soup mixes!)

20% off select Trustees products (Pickles, pickled beets, tomato puree, frozen pesto, meat & jerky)

Join our frequent milk-er program! Earn a stamp for each milk purchase (1 stamp per visit) and get a free 1/2 gallon of milk on your 13th visit.

Meet our cow of the month in person. We encourage visitors to stop by the dairy barn any time and chat with the staff. We milk the cows at 4 am and 4 pm daily and welcome visitors to see the dairy team in action as well as ask questions.

Thank you for shopping at Appleton Farms. Hope to see you back at the farm this week.

Best wishes,

Staci Zarimba

Store Manager

Monday, October 22, 2018

Week 20: Last Week of the Summer Share!

At long last, the cold weather has arrived and we’re starting to think about winter. We’re still harvesting carrots and parsnips and have things like kale and brussels sprouts for later picking, but most other crops have been harvested at this point. As we begin to wrap things up in the field, we continue to prepare for our winter share, which consists of three pickups in November and December. Sign up in the share room if you’re interested!

This is the last week of the summer share. Thanks for a great season with us and stay tuned for CSA membership renewals coming soon.

This week the share will include:

Lettuce
Kale varieties
Escarole
Carrots
Parsnips
Radishes
Kohl rabi
Brussels sprouts
Napa cabbage
Butternut squash
Leeks
Potatoes
Garlic
Popcorn

Despite our best efforts to keep a good stash of scissors for the pick your own field, every week many go missing. We encourage you to bring your own scissors if you plan on picking.
Our hours for pickup are on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday 12:30-6:30PM. We are also open for pick your own on Saturdays, 8AM-Noon. Shareholders are free to pick up their share any day that best suits their schedule, and do not need to commit to the same day each week. Additionally, shareholders do not need to tell us which day they will be picking up.

Vegetable of the week!

PARSNIPS are a root vegetable closely related to carrots and parsley. A long, tuberous root with cream colored skin and flesh, and a nutty flavor that sweetens with winter frosts. It can been eaten raw but is typically cooked. It’s a favorite roasted, steamed with butter, or cooked in winter soups. It’s rich in potassium and dietary fiber and is thought to help reduce blood cholesterol.

Roasted parsnips with rosemary

1 1/2 pounds parsnips, peeled and cut into 1/2-by-2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss parsnips with oil and rosemary, then season with salt and pepper. Roast until tender and golden, about 20 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Farm Store News

Best wishes from the Appleton Farms Store!

We hope you have enjoyed your CSA season. Though the barn will close for the winter, the farm store is open year round with fresh milk, cheeses, meats, eggs and local treats to delight young and old. Save the dates for these upcoming holiday festivities.

Trick or Treat with Harbor Sweets! Stop in the store on Saturday, 10/27 (as part of the Ipswich downtown trick-or-treating) and again on Halloween, 10/31 (it's a Wednesday, so you can get fresh milk while you are here) & receive a free goodie bag of Harbor Sweets chocolates with any purchase. We will also have a bowl out with free honey candy, maple candy, fruit chews & honey sticks for all visitors. (while supplies last).

'Tis the season to give thanks, and cheese! Sign up now for Thanksgiving cheese boxes. We have custom made wooden gift boxes filled with delicious Appleton Farms cheeses and other goodies for $50 or $100. Flat rate FedEx shipping anywhere in the US for only $25. Sign up by 11/1 to guarantee availability.

Dreaming of holiday pies? Pumpkin & apple & pecan. Oh my! Pre-order your pie by 11/1 to guarantee availability. This holiday season we are happy to feature frozen ready-to-bake pies from Bushel & Crumb and Ever So Humble Pies as well as gluten and dairy free options from Kim Gregory Pure Pastry.

Sign up in the store or by email appletonfarms@thetrustees.org

Save the Date: Friday, November 30th 5 PM - 9 PM Appleton Farms Barnyard Holiday Market Join us for an enchanting evening in the Carriage Barn with twinkling lights, music & local vendors offering unique holiday gifts. We will be sampling Appleton Farms signature cheeses and have holiday cheese boxes for sale.

Farm Events & Programs

Thursday, October 25, 2018

October Barnyard Story Hour

Thursday, October 25
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Family Fun, Farms & Food

Appleton Farms Cheese Making Intensive

Thursday, October 25
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Farms & Food, Lectures & Workshops

Saturday, October 27, 2018

Wagon Rides at Appleton Farms

Saturday, October 27
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Family Fun, Outdoor Recreation, Farms & Food

Pick your Poison Pumpkin Walk and Party

Saturday, October 27
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Seasonal Celebrations

Sunday, October 28, 2018

Meet a Dairy Farmer

Sunday, October 28
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Family Fun, Farms & Food

Appleton Pumpkin Trail and Smores

Sunday, October 28
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Seasonal Celebrations, Family Fun

Wagon Rides at Appleton Farms

Sunday, October 28
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Family Fun, Outdoor Recreation, Farms & Food

Monday, October 15, 2018

Week 19: Acorn Squash and Sweet Potatoes!

The theme this fall seems to be rain, rain and more rain. While we’ve been privileged to some beautiful fall foliage this year, the weather has made for less than ideal conditions. The constant moisture has made it difficult to conduct late season field operations, such as digging storage potatoes and turning over spent fields to seed cover crops. It’s also made for many soggy harvests. But our willing crew has maintained a positive attitude throughout and we’re having fun nonetheless!

We partnered with Picadilly Farm again this year to provide our shareholders with sweet potatoes, a crop we do not grow here. Their farm is owned and operated by Appleton Farms’ original CSA managers, Jenny and Bruce Wooster, who many of you know and fondly remember. We are happy to continue working with them and maintain their connection here.

This week the share will include:

Greens
Kale
Collards
Kohl rabi
Rutabaga
Green cabbage
Radicchio
Head lettuce
Carrots
Onions
Potatoes
Acorn squash
Sweet potatoes (Picadilly Farm)

Vegetable of the week!

SWEET POTATOES belong to the bindweed or morning glory family, Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are a root vegetable-unlike a white potato is, which a tuber. George Washington Carver, a famous scientist, developed 118 products from sweet potatoes including glue for postage stamps and starch for sizing cotton fabrics. Sweet potatoes are high in Beta Carotene and also an excellent source of copper, manganese, potassium, iron and vitamin B-6.

Melting Sweet Potatoes:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
2-3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 pounds sweet potatoes, sliced 1 inch thick
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
Honey, for drizzling

Heat oven to 475. Melt butter, sage, thyme, and garlic in small pot, and toss with sliced sweet potatoes, salt and pepper. Place on a large rimmed metal sheet pan and bake 15 minutes, flip, bake 15 minutes more, add broth and continue to bake until potatoes are soft and liquid is almost reduced (15 mins). Transfer to serving platter, season, and drizzle with honey.

Bonus Recipe: Sweet Potato Energy Bites
1 cup mashed sweet potato
1/2 cup almond butter
1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup raisins
1 tablespoon honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
Unsweetened shredded coconut

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl; stir until well combined. Place mixture in the fridge for at least 15 minutes to allow to firm up. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. Scoop out a heaping tablespoon of sweet potato mixture and roll into a ball. Gently roll into shredded coconut and place back into refrigerator to firm up.

Farm Store News

Only 2 more weeks left of the CSA! Oh, dear, I hope to see all your smiling faces even after the share ends. We will a lovely array of holiday offerings to keep you coming back into the New Year.

Trick or Treat with Harbor Sweets! Stop in the store on Halloween (it's a Wednesday, so you can get fresh milk while you are here) & receive a free goodie bag of Harbor Sweets chocolates and honey candy (while supplies last).

Dreaming of holiday pies? Pumpkin & apple & pecan. Oh my! Pre-order your pie by 11/1 to guarantee availability. This holiday season we are happy to feature freshly made pies from Bushel & Crumb, frozen ready-to-eat Ever So Humble Pies as well as gluten and dairy free options from Kim Gregory Pure Pastry.

Farm Events & Programs

Thursday, October 18, 2018

From the Orchard: Autumn Apple Harvest

Thursday, October 18
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Farms & Food, Lectures & Workshops

Appleton Farms Cheese Making Intensive

Thursday, October 18
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Farms & Food, Lectures & Workshops

October Barnyard Story Hour

Thursday, October 18
Appleton Farms
Hamilton and Ipswich | North Shore

Family Fun, Farms & Food

Saturday, October 20, 2018