Farm News September 27, 2022
The weather seems to be slipping into a decidedly more fall pattern. Cool nights, shorter days, and tinges of red, yellow, and drought-stress induced brown are in the foliage on the hills. Soon those leaves will be coming down, which makes some of us start to think about compost.
The gang loads up tons of squash to be cured in the greenhouse.
Many organic farms make compost from manure sourced from local farms. Since most of the former dairy farms in New Milford have long been repurposed to home sites, manure can be hard to come by. We are able to get a lot of leaves collected by landscapers, and that forms the basis of our compost. But before we can collect this year’s leaves, we need to make room in our composting area by piling up finished compost and fluffing up the half-done piles. We typically produce about 200 yards of finished compost a year, so this is a fairly long process.
This year we’ve added a new wrinkle to our compost. UConn researcher Dr. Huijje Gan has been testing biochar in our soils. Biochar is pyrolyzed waste wood. It’s basically charcoal, and when added to compost, it provides a boost to the microorganisms, by giving them a stable home inside all the tubes and channels of the char. When added to the soil, this biochar fortified compost helps retain nutrients and water and give a boost to the soil microbes as well. The char is stabile for many centuries, so this is a long-term improvement that may also help sequester atmospheric carbon in the soil. Dr. Gan’s preliminary results looked promising, so we looked to scale up the process. It’s a little temperamental to make char on a small scale, so we are purchasing it in bulk from a producer in Pennsylvania.
CJ, Brendan, Matt, and Paul were champs moving all of that biochar!
And when I say in bulk, I mean in bulk. We were able to get a grant from the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to apply biochar fortified compost to our soil, and we need a lot. So we bought a semi load of it. Yep, an 18-wheeler showed up last week with a “walking trailer” to dump the char. Only hitch was, the load had gotten wet in the big rains a week ago, and when the driver turned the truck hydraulics on to empty the load, it was stuck! So the driver and I shoveled off 10 yards of the 70 yard load by hand. We tried the hydraulics again but had no luck. After some discussion with the char producer, we rounded up Matt, CJ, and Brendan and started shoveling. And shoveling. After 2 hours, in a last-ditch effort, we tried the hydraulic unloader one more time and the load broke free. I have never more enjoyed watching a truck being unloaded.
Brendan adds the biochar laden compost into the spreader to mix and windrow.
After distributing some of the char on the 2023 compost, we were able set Brendan up to mix everything in a manure spreader, turning the long, skinny windrows into mini mountains of compost ready for next season. Soon we’ll have enough room to sock away leaves in November to keep the process going.
We hope you enjoy the harvest,
Paul, Rebecca, and the Fort Hill Farm Crew
Fort Hill Farm Store Feature:
With Elliott taking the lead, we’ve ramped up our Farm Store offerings this year. We’ve sourced a number of local delicacies that are otherwise out of reach. We hope these specialty crafted items are adding joy and value to the fresh produce you pick up at the farm.
Seascoast Mushrooms
As a mushroom lover, I am very excited we have been able to connect with Seacoast Mushrooms, started by Chris Pacheco. Chris grew up on his family's orchard in Rhode Island. He discovered an interest in growing mushrooms, which has blossomed into Seacoast Mushrooms. Located in Mystic, CT, they grow 10 varieties of mushrooms in carefully climate controlled shipping containers. They supply many local restaurants as well as farmers markets. We have their fantastic shiitake mushrooms for sale now!
Check out their website here - https://seacoastmushrooms.com/
Featured veg:
Sweet Orange Snacking Pepper: I know we already featured pepper en masse, but this pepper is worth noting on its own. After a couple of “meh” pepper years in a row, this season has resulted in a moderate amount of very delicious fruit! I find myself reaching for a couple of these snacking peppers instead of the usual less healthful snacks. Luca still dines on these on the way home from school, with a record of 14 peppers in a row (kid’s palates don’t lie). We hope you try a handful; you’ll be happy you did!
Brussels sprouts greens: in 2011, after we lost of lot of crops when 2 storms dumped a lot of rain, we got the tip from farmers friends that Brussels Greens were a nice crop in their own right. Ever since, we, and a growing number of customers impatiently await the moment that we take the tops off. It also bodes well that sprouts will be growing to size in the next 3 – 4 weeks. These are great used like kale or collards, and have that unique Brussels flavor to boot. These are great used like kale or collards, and have that unique Brussels flavor to boot. We like to braise them with sautéed garlic, and then we often add toasted sesame oil, tamari, ginger, and some beans to make a hearty meal. Alternatively, bacon and leeks would be a perfect accompaniment for these greens too.
Also available:
Head lettuce, arugula, salad mix (limited), pea shoots, carrots, red and French Breakfast radishes, curly and lacinato kale, rainbow chard, escarole, cilantro, basil, parsley, chives, rosemary, oregano, sage, thyme, radicchio, red, Chioggia, and gold beets, scallions, red and yellow storage onions (farmstand only), red cabbage and purple Chinese cabbage, garlic, jalapeño, poblano, & shishito peppers, green bell peppers, limited eggplant (slow this year!), Lunchbox, red, yellow Italian, and orange snacking peppers, heirloom (limited), beefsteak tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, Kennebec, Red Gold, Blue Gold, Dark Red Norland, and Satina Gold, Magic Molly blue fingerlings, & gold fingerling potatoes, Carnival and Starry Night winter squash (at farmstand), leeks, fresh ginger
Coming Soon:
sweet potatoes
Pick Your Own:
~Perennial Herbs:
chives, oregano, sage, and thyme
~Flowers:
Flowers are in still going, and the dahlias have stolen the show!
Recipes
Suggested by Rebecca Batchie
For more recipes, check out the Fort Hill Farm Recipe Database
Raw Sweet Pepper Dressing
From the Rawtarian
We at the farm think the orange snacking peppers are too sweet to cook with, and literally always snack on them raw. Here’s another option to highlight their sweetness (other than slicing them on salads).
INGREDIENTS
1 red bell pepper (sub with 4 orange snacking pepper)
1 clove garlic
1/2 tablespoon ginger
1/2 cup olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Directions
1. Blend all ingredients until smooth.
2. Enjoy immediately or store in fridge for up to 4 days.