Farm News August 30, 2022
Last week was a perfect distillation of the ups and downs of being a farmer. It’s a roller coaster existence. We’re in the end of summer bonanza of veggies—corn, slicing, heirloom and cherry tomatoes, lettuce, squash, cukes, big, sweet onions, crunch peppers, which is the upside to this story. On Thursday Rebecca, Brendan, and Shell got up extra early, packed our 16-foot box truck nearly to the limit, and set off for Westport. Around 8:00 AM I got a call from Brendan, and my heart always ends up in my throat when someone in a truck gives me a call when driving to a delivery or to market.
In the heat of the summer, we’re just grateful to have any lettuce at all. Faye scored big with this gargantuan pink summer crisp lettuce specimen.
That’s because most farmers are forced into a tight game when it comes to equipment. New equipment has always been expensive, and along with everything else, has become even more pricey in the last year. We also have a usage problem. We put our box trucks on the road only 3 or 4 times a week to go to markets, make deliveries to wholesale customers, haul equipment to be repaired, and pick up supplies. But we don’t use our truck assets the way a delivery company would, using the truck every day for 5 or 6 days a week, so we end up scouring Craigs List and other classifieds to find the best used equipment we can. Our box trucks range in age from 12 years to a whopping 23 years old. We are very diligent in keeping them in good repair and do checks on a weekly basis to make sure they are safe and ready to operate. But trucks that old tend to break down occasionally, and when I heard Brendan describing a loss of power and shaking in the truck, we all guessed we were in for a long day. Because the worst break downs are right before a big farmers’ market.
The crew gets busy planting fall kale where a few rows of tomatoes once were.
Rebecca was at the wheel, and soon found she was losing power and had to pull over to the side of the road, just one mile short of the market site. I jumped into our 14-foot box truck and started driving to the Westport Farmers Market. Of course, I hit traffic on the way, and by the time I got there, we were already super late. We backed the 14-foot truck to the 16-foot truck and started to frantically transfer the veggies when we got our first break of the day: Ken Boardman showed up in his wagon and asked if he could help. Ken and his wife Barbara have been part of our farm’s CSA since pretty much the beginning of Fort Hill Farm. So, the five of us moved one truck to the other as quickly as we could, and Rebecca, Brendan and Shell lumbered off to the market, where lines of hungry shoppers had already started forming around the empty space where we normally set up. Our Westport crew went to work as fast as they could, dispensing with pretty veg displays in favor of slapping crates on the table. Other vendors pitched in to help us as well. But as Rebecca will tell you, when you get behind at a market, you never catch up, so it was a long day for our dedicated market crew. We’d like to thank everyone who pitched in to help, and all our Westport customers for their patience as we did the best we could with a stressful situation.
Broccoli is back for the moment!
Ken shuttled me back and forth to the truck several times to get the last of the crates that we couldn’t pack into the smaller truck, and then I slumped down on a guard rail across from the disabled truck and waited for a tow. In my 30’s, I used to see these kinds of situations as mini adventures, but now in our 50’s, Rebecca and I are finding that it’s just a ton of stress to deal with this kind of misadventure. We’re getting the 16-foot truck fixed – it was a cracked fuel line, causing the diesel engine to sip air instead of fuel - a fairly easy repair. But in the big picture, we are kind of stuck in a quandary of how to pay competitive wages to our crew, keep produce prices reasonable, work a reasonable number of hours, and still find a way to upgrade our equipment. Back to the drawing board this winter!
We hope you enjoy the farm and the harvest,
Paul and Rebecca for the Fort Hill Farm crew
Featured veg:
Dark Red Norland potatoes: a classic that I’ve been impatiently waiting for. This is our favorite waxy potato for salad potato. It’s yummy almost any way you cook them - baked and smashed or roasted… leave the skins on for a striking effect. Store for at least a month in a dark, dry place at room temperature. Do not refrigerate spuds!
Savoy cabbage: this sweet and mild flavored cabbage has crinkly leaves, which are perfect for catching any dressing or vinaigrette that comes its way. Mix with red cabbage for double-pack anti-carcinogenic fighting power. Store up to 3 weeks in the fridge crisper.
Also available:
Head lettuce, arugula, salad mix, pea shoots, carrots, red and French Breakfast radishes, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, cilantro, basil, parsley, dill, chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, radicchio, red, Chioggia, and gold beets, scallions, Ailsa Craig and Red Torpedo onions, summer squash, cucumbers, red and Savoy cabbage, garlic, jalapeño, poblano, & shishito peppers, green bell peppers, limited eggplant (slow to come in this year!), lunchbox and sweet Italian peppers, heirloom, beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Red Gold, Blue Gold, and Satina Gold potatoes, the end of cantaloupe & yellow watermelon, sweet corn, fresh ginger
Coming Soon:
sweet peppers
Pick Your Own:
~Sunflowers:
bring joy and are ready to come home with you
~Perennial Herbs:
chives, oregano, sage, and thyme
~Flowers:
Flowers are in full swing and on sale!
~Green and Wax Beans:
Sadly the beans are done for the season, the last of them having succumbed to the Mexican Bean beetle.
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Cabbage, Mushroom, and Bacon Pasta
Recipe By Greg DuPree, via Southern Living
Ingredients
4 thick-cut bacon slices, chopped
12 ounces uncooked bucatini pasta
8 ounces baby portobello mushrooms, sliced
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 cups shredded savoy cabbage (about 1/2 head of cabbage)
2 ounces cream cheese, softened
2 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
1 ounce Parmesan cheese, shredded (about 1/4 cup)
Directions
Step 1
Bring a large saucepan filled with water to a boil over high.
Step 2
While water comes to a boil, cook bacon in a large skillet over medium, stirring occasionally, until crisp, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, reserving drippings in skillet.
Step 3
Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain well, reserving 1 cup pasta cooking water.
Step 4
Add mushrooms to skillet, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Increase heat to medium-high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 8 minutes. Add cabbage and cook until cabbage wilts and just begins to caramelize, about 4 minutes. Add cream cheese and 1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water and stir until smooth. Fold in cooked pasta, and cook until heated through, about 2 minutes. (Stir in more cooking water if needed.) Divide evenly among 4 bowls, and top with cooked bacon, thyme, and Parmesan.