Potluck and CSA sign-ups

Our first annual potluck is almost here! 

Don't forget to join us on Saturday, Oct 5th from noon-2pm for the CSA potluck.  Please bring a dish to pass with one copy of the recipe (we will make additional copies) so it can be shared with other CSA members.  The farm will provide cider and if you forget your place setting, we will have some extras.  We will eat outside at the picnic tables; feel free to bring an extra picnic blanket.  If it is rainy we will meet inside the main farm house.  The farmers are really looking forward to hanging out with you in a relaxed setting and chatting with you about how the season went and to listen to your ideas for next season!

The potluck will also be the first day that you can sign up for the CSA next year!  All during the month of October, our current CSA members get first pick of rejoining the Moose Hill Farm CSA.  And, because we love growing food for you folks so much (!!), if you sign up during the month of October you have your pick of receiving a free flower share next year or $25 off the value of the share. Yay for the pioneer members of Moose Hill Farm!  Thanks so much for supporting us!

This coming week in the share you will enjoy lettuce, choice of spinach or broccoli, turnips, garlic, peppers, eggplant, leeks and potatoes. 

Farmer Molly and the crew

P.S. This week's posting is early because Farmer Molly finally gets to take a vacation next week!!

Fall Farm Stand Days

Now that autumn is officially here, we would like to share some fun fall festivities!

In lieu of offering a Winter CSA share, we are going to be holding 2 special farm stand days in November.  Come out to the farm on Saturdays, November 2nd and16th, from 9am-2pm for all your favorite fall vegetables!  The farm stand is open to all so invite your family, friends and neighbors.  More details to come in the upcoming weeks...in the meantime, don't forget about our CSA potluck on October 5th from noon-2pm.  Bring a dish to pass and the recipe to share with fellow CSA members - the farm will supply local apple cider.  Hope to see you there!

This week you will enjoy arugula, Swiss Chard, kale, spinach, a choice of herbs, beets, peppers, eggplant, onions, tomatillos, hot peppers and as many ground cherries as you can find!  The flower share will last until the first frost. 

"To stay in one place and watch the seasons come and go is tantamount to constant travel: one is traveling with the earth." ~Marguerite Yourcenar 

Farmer Molly and the crew

First Annual CSA potluck!

Come join us for a potluck picnic on the farm!

We will be holding our first ever CSA poltuck on October 5th from 12-2pm.  Come share a tasty recipe made from Moose Hill Farm veggies and celebrate with us a great first year on the farm!  We will be outside at the picnic tables if it is sunny and inside the big white house if it is raining.  Bring a copy of your recipe and we will make extra copies for people to swap. We are hoping to have a kids activity too - stay tuned for that!  Please bring your own place settings and an extra pincic blanket if you can.  We can't wait to have lunch with you!!

This week in your share you will enjoy a choice of lettuce mix or arugula, spinach, a choice of kale or chard, a choice of herbs, fennel, leeks, beets, peppers, eggplant and tomatillos.  Pick as many cherry tomatoes as you like - the first frost may come any day now!

Farmer Molly and the crew

"A Place at the Table"

Over the weekend, I had the chance to watch a great documentary from the makers of "Food, Inc."  It is called "A Place at the Table."  It tackles the concept of food insecurity in America in a very eye-opening and heartfelt way.  It helps bring to light the concept of being obese and malnourished at the same time and also the troubling issue of food deserts.  It also does an excellent job of highlighting the major flaws with the Farm Bill and the role of food stamps and healthy school lunches in this country...very timely as we have still not passed the Farm Bill. 

It made me feel very grateful and proud to be a part of a farm that donates fresh, nutritious produce to our local food banks; a commodity that is rarely part of food pantry distributions.  We also made the decision in starting up this farm to sell food to our local Sharon school system to get more fresh produce into the diets of our children - I am happy to report that we will start selling veggies to the schools next week now that they are back in session.  So thank you for joining a CSA that is trying to make a small difference in the lives of others and in our nation's food system!

This week you will enjoy a choice of herbs, lettuce mix, arugula, bok choi, kale, chard, hot peppers, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, tomatillos.  There are still lots of cherry tomatoes, beans and ground cherries to pick in the fields. 

Farmer Molly and the crew

The Definition of 'Farm"

If you ever have to look up the definition of the word "farm," you can find some really uninspiring meanings.



A shot of Blue Hill behind the farm

According to Wikipedia, "A farm is an area of land...including various structures, devoted primarily to the practice of producing and managing food..."  Ask.com says a farm is "an area of land and its buildings used for growing crops and rearing animals..."  By these definitions, Moose Hill Farm became a successful farm this year.  But I think we need to change our definition of "farm" to be so much more.  If we are to be part of a vibrant local food movement; a movement that will help create significant and long-standing benefits to our food system, we have to go much deeper.  What is missing from the standard definition of "farm" is the people.  When people look forward to walking out to the fields to have a quiet moment picking flowers; or when parents bring their children to the farm on non-CSA pick-up days to say "hi" to the chickens; or when CSA members bring friends and family with them to show them the farm that they enjoy coming to each week...then we have a successful farm.  We need people to care about this particular piece of land in a very special way, and I see that happening here everyday.  So the next time someone asks me if I helped to start a farm this year, I can say "absolutely".  And to celebrate this, we would like to invite you to a potluck on October 5th, from noon-2pm, so save the date!  We would love to finally have the chance to sit and visit with you...we'll have more details for you in the coming weeks!

Chickens in the shade of trees...the way it should be.

This week you will enjoy a choice of herbs, lettuce mix, arugula, mizuna, leeks, a mix of potatoes, cucumbers and summer squash, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, hot peppers and there are lots of cherry tomatoes, ground cherries and gourmet beans (purple and yellow with purple streaks) for waiting for you in the PYO.  More sunflowers for flower share members to enjoy, too.

Farmer Molly and the crew