The fall CSA sign-up is finally underway!  In an attempt to slow down our life a little bit, though, we do reduce the number of CSA pick-up options.  The fall options are the following:  Monday evening or Tuesday at the farm, Tuesday at the Pen Bay Hospital Café, or Sunday at the Rockland UU.  It appears, though,  that there is enough interest from the Brunswick region to organize a CSA carpool route.  Please email me with any questions, or if you’d like to join but these times don’t work for you.

If you or someone you know uses EBT (food stamps), we’ve received a grant that will cover half of the cost of your fall CSA shares (both the vegetables and the add-ons).  This is the last time this grant will be available, so make sure to get in touch if you’d like to utilize it.  Also, if you work for a Maine Health facility (Pen Bay or Miles Hospital), you are eligible for a $50 rebate for the fall CSA as well as the summer CSA.  Let me know if you’d like me to send you more details.

We’re having a broccoli bumper crop that we wanted to share with you, but I included instructions for  freezing broccoli and cauliflower in case you feel overwhelmed!  Now available for bulk purchasing:  broccoli (15lb/$25), carrots (15lb/$25), green beans (5lb/$10), and kale/chard (10bu/$15).

We’ve gotten a lot of questions about the cost of attending the October 9th fundraiser at the farm, and we finally have some answers.  The entrance fee is by donation ($1 to $1000!).  We will have farm tours at 1 and 3pm, with a cow milking after the last tour.  We’re hoping to have a tractor rides, face painting, and live music, all included with your entrance donation.  Food will range from $1 (Capt’n Eli’s root beer) to $10 (individual pizzas with toppings from the farm).  Desserts and salads will be $1 to $4, and everything from Hatchet Cove Farm t-shirts to CDs from our wonderful musician friend Josephine Cameron will be on sale as part of the benefit.

If you would like to bake treats for the desert table, just let me know.  I will also send out a link, next week, for those of you who are interested in volunteering at the event.  Every place that I’ve called for donations, from our local co-ops to the less-than-local distributers, has been extremely generous and our list of contributors grows daily.  Now we just need to keep our fingers crossed for some beautiful fall weather!

Have a great week, and hope to see you soon!

Reba and the HCF crew

Week 15 (of 18) veggies:  Broccoli, Carrots, Cauliflower, Turnip, Winterbor Kale, Cucumber, Red Onion, Bok Choy, Celery

This week’s recipes:  Barley, Kale and Kidney Bean Stew, How to Freeze Broccoli or Cauliflower