It's a new year! We made it!
While we are all still very much in the thick of all that COVID-19 has dealt us for the year, we've turned the corner into a new year and find ourselves looking into all the possibilities of 2021 with lots of awe and gratitude. I feel like I say the word "planning" a million times in my winter emails, and much of what we're working on is pretty boring spreadsheet planning, marketing planning, staffing planning. But. As anyone who's got the garden jitters and opened a seed catalogue in the early spring knows, there is so much hope that comes along with all this planning. And while there are plenty of boring details to hammer out, we're also spending time with molding some ideas that feel really joyful and I hope they bring some happiness your way too!
Re-opening and expanding the U-pick! A spring plant sale fundraiser! Better farm maps for tours and learning!
New farm merch! New regional public pick-ups!
New partner farms for exciting add-ons to make local food more accessible!
So much good stuff and hope and growth coming down the road! And we're really excited to share it with you!
Stay-tuned as we launch all our plans for 2021 in the coming weeks and months!
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**Reminder** Deliveries are back on the bi-weekly schedule following this delivery. The deliver days for the remainder of the season are listed at the bottom of this email.
*Side note - we had some software bugs interfere with uploading and attaching photos into Harvie for extras and veggies and Harvie could not fix it in time for this email - please read all descriptions**
Vegetable of the Week - Sweet potatoes!!!
Ok you all know what to do with sweet potatoes and we know that you have been waiting for them! These sweets are not your average, uber-uniform, grocery store yams. These are hand-dug, lovingly tended, drought affected, sometimes twisty and a little weird sweet potatoes. And they taste great. The secret about sweet potatoes is that you don't need to take the skins off for them to be amazing.
Did you know that sweet potatoes are in the morning glory family, which makes it closely related to bind weed which is a super annoying (but not too common weed on the farm). And it has beautiful flowers - shockingly, they look like morning glories...
If you are looking for something to spice up your winter meals, I highly recommend this recipe for sweet potatoes:
https://cookieandkate.com/spicy-thai-peanut-sauce-over-roasted-sweet-potatoes-and-rice/
Which leads me right into my other recommendation for spicing up winter veggies meals - spring rolls!
When you load up spring rolls (see recipe below), you actually use a lot of winter veggies! Carrots! Chinese Cabbage or Cabbage!
You can also add grated kohlrabi or winter radishes or turnips. I like to treat myself to cilantro from the grocery store, but then everything else is from our farm, it's amazing all the deep winter goodness you can squeeze into a spring roll, and how just a little taste of cilantro kicks everything into summer gear. The amazing thing is that you don't really need to follow a recipe, you can grate anything and toss it in your roll!
https://cookieandkate.com/fresh-spring-rolls-recipe/
Wrapping them takes practice - don't get discouraged if you struggle - remember it all taste amazing drizzled in peanut sauce anyway!
Pantry Item of the Week:
30 Acres Ruby Kraut
Deep purple color with a savory tang of garlic and subtle herbiness of bay leaves, the crisp crunch of this kraut packs delicious flavors in every bite while it’s active cultures kick-in an added bonus of probiotic power.
Add kraut as a delicious topping to local bratwurst, top off your avocado toast with it, toss it on sandwiches, tacos, eggs… the list is endless! Or, if you can’t decide, grab a fork and dig in!
Farmed and fermented by Thirty Acre Farm in Bremen Maine.
Awesome Extras This Week
We've got more pasta! Local Apples are back! Coffee coffee coffee!
*Side note - we had some software bugs interfere with uploading and attaching photos into Harvie for extras and veggies and Harvie could not fix it in time for this email - please read all descriptions**
- Grey Pearmain Heirloom Apples from The Apple Farm in Fairfield, ME - greenish-yellow apple with a rosy pink blush. If you close your eyes and take a bite, you might think you were eating a crisp, delicious pear! Apples are not certified organic and are instead IPM meaning that growers use some, but limited sprays to maintain a healthy crop. $6.00/2lb. bag
This fresh pasta is made fresh the Monday before delivery by The Maine Meal in Skowhegan. The freshness and the local ingredients really make the flavor and texture stand out. It's truly delicious! Each bag is 1 full lb., which is about enough for four adult servings (assuming you have other items in the meal such as a side or salad). The fresh pasta keeps for 7-10 days, but stores frozen for months. The bag it comes in is resealable, so you can eat some and freeze the rest. It is really amazingly convenient, local, and wonderfully tasty!
- Spinach Tagliatelle - long ribbons of wheat pasta made with local eggs, similar to fettucine. Great with all sauces! $9.50/lb
- Plain Trecce - a traditional spiral shaped pasta, that is in short pieces and resembles a braid. Contour on trecce's surface allows each piece to hold more sauce for delicious eating! $9.50/lb
To compliment your delicious pasta, the cheese of the week is Winter Hill Farm's aged Terzetto. It is nutty and complex and washed in Allagash beer. It is wonderful with crackers or grated over pasta. It is definitely a farm fave! $9.50/block
- Heiwa Organic Tofu - Local, organic Tofu, made fresh in Rockland Maine - great for stir fries! $5.00/block
- Winter Hill Farm Farmstead Yogurt - The best Maine yogurt hands down. Made in small batches on their farm in Freeport, this whole milk cream-on-top yogurt is addictive! $9.00/quart
- Winter Hill Farm Whole Raw Milk 1/2 Gallon - Milked at their micro dairy, this raw, whole milk is cream-on-top wonderful. $5.50/half gallon
- Moses Dyer Dark Roast Coffee Beans 1lb bag - Extra dark roast coffee, fair trade, and roasted in Harpswell, ME. $15/bag
- Moses Dyer Medium Roast Coffee Beans 1lb bag - Medium roast coffee, fair trade, and roasted in Harpswell, ME. $15/bag
