Garlic!
We’ll do a garlic planting on Sunday 11/1 at 1 pm. This is something kids could help with. We’ll need to clean out the beds before we plant.

Work needs
I’m working on preparing new beds for next year (including flower, raspberry and strawberry beds), weeding and composting this year’s beds, spreading leaf mulch, laying path material, pulling dead plants and trellises, putting row cover on winter greens. Please let me know if you can help at any time. I’d really like to get most everything done by Thanksgiving. Ha! Famous last words.

Gleaning
There’s still some food in the field. If you would like herbs, kale, collards, chard, komatsuna, tatsoi, carrots, beets, lettuce, spinach, green beans, you may harvest this food for yourself any time you want. This is one of the benefits of your membership in our CSA.

Soup kitchen donations
We continue to harvest for soup kitchens in Meriden and Waterbury. Their pick ups are on Thursdays. Thanks to members of Temple Kol Ami who are doing the pick ups and driving for these donations.

Wanted!
Leaves You can bring bags of leaves to improve our soil. Please put them directly into the garden inside the side gate near the road or the end gate near the herb garden. You can dump them out of the bags so you can use the bags again if you want.

Cardboard
If you have some large pieces of cardboard, please put them in the hoop house. They are REALLY useful for paths.

Congratulations

• To Kim Stoner, President of the Friends of Boulder Knoll, who has won the Conservation Partner of the Year award from the Southwest CT Soil Conservation Service. They cited her tenacious work to get an agricultural operation going on the Boulder Knoll property as one of the endeavors worthy of this award.
• To CSA members James McGrath and Kathryn Frund for being selected for the Board of Directors of Friends of Boulder Knoll. Thanks to both of you for volunteering for our community. Thanks to the existing Board members, and to Dan Groberg, who have done so much to support and promote the farm.

Recap of the produce we gave out this year.
See the attached spreadsheet. Not too bad for the first year with no tomatoes and minimal eggplant and peppers. Keep your eyes peeled for a survey about this year – pick up times, produce you wish for, work experience, communication, etc.

Thanks for all your positive support!
Brenda

Greetings!

Harvest and prep continues to be a very important work priority. This week will be sunny and  cool – a good time to pitch in if you can. 

I am anticipating the following harvest this week:

• Leeks
• Tomatoes
• Basil (regular and specialty)
• Lettuce, arugula, tatsoi salad bag
• Garlic
• Beans (if we have another harvester besides me)
• Choice could be
  • Beets
  • Carrots
  • Squash
  • Eggplant
  • Peppers
  • Tomatillos, hot pepper

Tag Sale Saturday, Sept 5. The Greg and Susan could use some help setting up early Saturday a.m. They are also taking donations of plant divisions to sell. Please call Susan @ 988-1844 or Greg @ 439-7003 if you can help in some way.

Work needs Several members have contributed above and beyond the call of duty. Thank you! There are a few members who have a bit of time to go. Please get in touch with Liz Aldred to schedule time. I’m thinking about a potato harvest for next Sunday morning. Please let me know if you can come to help – and bring the kids!

See you at the farm!
Brenda

Hi everyone –

Tag Sale –
Next Saturday, August 29, 8 am ‘til 3 pm to benefit Friends of Boulder Knoll
474 Maple Ave, Cheshire, (Greg Melville’s home) just north of Hines Hardware.

Good items still welcomed including plants from your garden.
Help at the sale would also be great!

Contact organizer Susan Fox-Erlich at  FoxErlich@aol.com or Greg Melville at gwmelville@earthlink.net.

Please spread the word and come by next Saturday for good stuff! 

This week’s share may include

• Tomatoes
• Squash
• Lettuce
• Cukes (maybe)
• Leeks
• Little sweet turnips
• Greens
• Regular Italian and specialty basil (lemon, lime or Thai)
• Choice – eggplant, tomatillos, beans, beets or carrots
• Herb garden – pick your own

Work needed: Harvest and prep Monday and Thursday

• Plant perennials in next year’s cutting garden
• Sheet mulch the cutting garden
• Transplant lettuce
• Wednesday evening around 5:30 – help unload composted manure from a truck
• Turn the 1st and 2nd compost piles
• Weed squash, broccoli, etc.

Thanks To Liz Aldred who’s doing the big job of soliciting and keeping track of work. I so appreciate it.

See you at the farm!

Brenda

Hi Boulder Knoll Community Farm CSA members –

Can you guess where this photo was taken?

Tomatoes – Well, they are looking pretty crummy, but the fruit is still delicious even if you have to cut a late blight blotch off. It’s not very deep and doesn’t affect the taste at all that I can tell. I’ll be sharing out some less than perfect tomatoes out for folks to take.

Anticipated distribution this week (if we’ve got enough harvest and prep help):

• Potatoes (The variety is Elba, a very good all-purpose spud. Check here for some recipes http://www.woodprairie.com/product/285)
• Onions (These are not fully dry yet, so use them soon as they won’t store)
• Lettuce (different summer varieties including red fire, matina, oakleaf)
• parsley
• Summer squash (Check out our recipes section for a great corn, tomato, squash dish)
• Green beans (haricots vertes) (hope you’re liking these – they’re a bear to harvest)
• Tomatoes
• Sungold cherry tomatoes
• Choice: braising greens, eggplant, tomatillos w/ hot pepper, lemon or other basil, maybe bell peppers
• Herbs – They are thriving and you’re invited to pick your own – no limit. We’ve got mint, lavender, rosemary, oregano, summer savory, lemon balm, chamomile, and others.

Thanks to members of the Frank, Perchell and Pearsall families who worked Saturday to harvest potatoes and onions. We had a good time. Without their efforts this week’s share-out would be leaner. We’ll have another potato harvest in a few weeks. 

Work needed – Please get in touch with Liz Aldred ealdred@gmail.com to schedule time in the garden or the shed. I’ll offer some early and late hours this week to avoid the heat.

It’s Harvest Season For CSA Shareholders At Boulder Knoll

July 26, 2009 by Josh Morgan, The Cheshire Herald

On a muggy Thursday morning, a group of green thumbs were busy cutting chard, picking peas, and gathering garlic at the Boulder Knoll farm.
The group was preparing bundles of fresh-picked vegetables, 12 packages in total, for shareholders of the community supported agriculture (CSA) project at Boulder Knoll. Every Monday and Thursday, crops are harvested on a two-acre portion of land that the Friends of Boulder Knoll has leased from the Town. The garden is enclosed with deer fencing and arranged in different groups, such as tomatoes, chards, kale, peas, potatoes, and herbs. The group began planting in April and has had twice-weekly harvests throughout the season, which will last until early to mid-October. Brenda Caldwell was hired to be the lead farmer of the property, but shareholders also come and help harvest, weed, or plant crops.

To continue reading, please click here.