Category

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Date: 20 Feb 2015

Comment: 0

Tag: Faces behind your Food

The Mysterious Life of a Farmer in Winter

As a farmer during this time of year, I often get the question “what do you do all winter?” I usually smile, shrug and reply, “I go down to a forty-hour week.” Admittedly this response has not led to very many follow-up questions over the years so I thought that I would finally sit down and let you in on the mysterious life of a farmer in winter. Just like everyone else this year, Jason, Pete and I are spending a lot

Date: 05 Dec 2014

Comment: 0

Tag: Faces behind your Food

The Faces Behind Your Food: Pete Solis

Over the next few months, we will be featuring a series of interviews here on the Food, Farm, and Sustainability Blog that focus on the people behind Hampshire’s Healthy Food Transition. From local farmers in the field to seasoned chefs in the campus kitchen, we will explore the faces behind our food. Today we feature Pete Solis, Livestock and Pasture Manager at the Hampshire College Farm. To read our first feature w

Date: 14 Aug 2014

Comment: 0

Fresh Vegetables, Fresh Eggs, and Fresh Ideas

In a few weeks, our campus will be repopulated with students, signalling a shift on the farm from planting and weeding to harvesting. The CSA barn will be all hustle and bustle starting on August 26th when our first crop of vegetables will be picked and washed and promptly packed away in member’s tote bags at the first share distribution. The campus CSA has been an essential facet of Hampshire College for over

Date: 02 Jul 2014

Comment: 0

A Living Laboratory at the Hampshire College Farm

The academic buildings tend to be quiet at Hampshire College during the summer. But down at the Hampshire College Farm, our 15 acres of vegetable fields and 65 acres of pasture serve as a living classroom and laboratory for the students of our 6 week Food, Farm, and Sustainability Institute. Brian Schultz, Professor of Entomology and Ecology, is currently leading students in a hands-on experiment at the farm. With th

Date: 19 Jun 2014

Comment: 1

Tag: 100% Local, edible communities, edible pioneer valley, healthy food transition

Edible Pioneer Valley features Hampshire Farm

Our fertile valley is just starting to burst with early summer produce. Farm stands are laden with plump red strawberries and farmers market stalls are stuffed with glorious greens, pea shoots, and the last of spring asparagus. With this bountiful backdrop, the relaunch of the beloved publication Edible Pioneer Valley could not come at a better time! We are thrilled that there will be a chronicle of the exciting agri

Date: 12 Jun 2014

Comment: 0

Hens Make a Home at Hampshire

It may be a dreary, rainy day at the Hampshire College Farm, but our spirits are bright because we get to spend the day with 75 baby chickens! This mix of Black Giants, Silver Laced Wyandottes, and New Hampshire Reds is just the first shipment of a total of 300 chickens that will become the new laying flock for the college. The chicks hatched yesterday and were immediately shipped out from Mt. Healthy Hatchery in Ohi

Date: 30 May 2014

Comment: 1

What’s buzzing at the farm lately? Transplants, Bees and Piglets!

It has been a busy few weeks here at the Hampshire College Farm. The student workers have been hard at work for over a week and there are muddy boots to show for it! Our vegetable crew has transplanted thousands of starts (with thousands more to go still!) into the fields including tomatoes, leeks, popcorn, and a variety of flowers for our pick-your-own fields. Those flowers will be happily pollinated by our new heal

Date: 16 May 2014

Comment: 0

A new map of the farm

The verdant beauty of the Hampshire College Farm has been translated into a new map by artist Nate Padavick of Studio SSS. An interactive version of the map will soon be posted to the farm website which will include descriptions of the structures, fields, and activities around the farm. Copies are available at the Farm Center for self guided tours, or you can schedule an educational tour with the farm staff HERE. We

Date: 16 Dec 2013

Comment: 0

Tag: baked goods, recipes

Holiday Baking, Part I: The Lash Family Stollen

It may not be officially winter yet, but it certainly feels that way. It’s cold and snowy out, and Christmas is fast approaching. Since there are no more fresh CSA vegetables to write about, we’ve decided to spend a bit of time focusing on holiday baking.

Date: 26 Nov 2013

Comment: 1

Tag: chard, CSA, healthy food, recipes, winter squash

Butternut Squash Part II: or, another great option for your Thanksgiving table

I am probably not the only one who is sad that there are no new CSA vegetables this week. I will miss my weekly trips to the CSA barn, not to mention all the lovely vegetables in my kitchen. I suspect that I'm also not the only one, though, whose CSA share will last at least a few weeks into the future.

Date: 22 Nov 2013

Comment: 2

Tag: CSA, healthy food, recipes, winter squash

Sri Lankan Butternut Curry

Butternut squash has been a staple in my kitchen for years, decades, even, I’ve used butternut squash into soup and risotto. I’ve roasted it and steamed it and pureed it. I’ve added it to pasta and salad. I’ve used it in lieu of pumpkin in bread and pie both. It is, as you probably know, extraordinarily versatile.

Date: 20 Nov 2013

Comment: 0

Tag: CSA, healthy food, recipes, sweet potatoes

The Hampshire CSA’s youngest fans

One group that has a yearly share in the Hampshire CSA is Hampshire's Early Learning Center. Each week, children come to collect the share--if you've ever wondered why there are tiny shopping carts in residence at the CSA barn, here's your answer! Casie Smith, the Early Learning Center's director, sent along some photos of her charges enjoying their share. Here's what she has to say.

Date: 15 Nov 2013

Comment: 1

Tag: carrots, CSA, healthy food, recipes

Carrot Salad, Two Ways

Carrots are another stalwart of the CSA share--there at the beginning and there at the end, there to be weighed out weekly in 2 pound increments. Unless you keep on top of them, the carrots have a way of multiplying in your refrigerator, and when you go to look for something, you find three or four identical bags, each holding 2 pounds of carrots of varying degrees of freshness.

Date: 09 Nov 2013

Comment: 1

Tag: baked goods, beets, CSA, recipes

Beets in the most unexpected places

Beets are another vegetable that hang around for the length of CSA season. You may use your beets in salads or soups. You may pickle your beets, shred your beets, roast your beets. But I'd wager that you probably haven't yet used your beets in chocolate cake. It's time for that to change.

Date: 31 Oct 2013

Comment: 6

Tag: CSA, healthy food, kale, leeks, recipes

Be More Cheerful; Eat More Kale

First things first, on this last day of October: Yay Red Sox!! And Happy (Hampshire) Halloween! It's only too bad that the weather outside is not in tune with the festive celebrations we should be having today. The weather is cooperating, though, with the recipe I'm going to post. Damp, chilly weather makes soup almost an imperative.

Date: 25 Oct 2013

Comment: 2

Tag: broccoli rabe, CSA, healthy food, recipes

Broccoli Rabe, Potato and Rosemary Pizza

I have to admit that before last week, I was a broccoli rabe neophyte. I’d heard of it but never eaten it. That has now changed, and I’m glad.

Date: 11 Oct 2013

Comment: 0

Tag: chard, CSA, healthy food, recipes, winter squash

Pasta with Roasted Winter Squash and Greens

October is the time when blogging along with the CSA gets tricky. I look at the list that Farmer Nancy puts out on Facebook and wonder whether I can possibly make a mustard green-green tomato-kohlrabi-sweet potato casserole, or some such, just to use as many vegetables as possible. Alas, no. Each week, it's a choice.

Date: 02 Oct 2013

Comment: 0

Tag: CSA, healthy food, leeks, recipes, winter squash

Roasted Winter Squash and Leek Soup

There are two things that are making me believe that fall is really here, even if the weather outside doesn't really feel like it. One is that my calendar now says October. The other is that winter squash are now plentiful at the Hampshire CSA and in our corner of the world in general.

Date: 29 Sep 2013

Comment: 3

Tag: broccoli, CSA, peppers, recipes, tomatoes

Roasted broccoli/Romesco sauce mix and match

Today's post is a mix and match in multiple ways. There are two recipes that can be eaten together or separately, which seems fitting for a post on two different aspects of fall vegetables. The broccoli carries with it the hint of cooler weather, while the Romesco sauce uses the last of the late summer produce--roasted red peppers and Roma tomatoes.

Date: 21 Sep 2013

Comment: 4

Tag: chard, CSA, healthy food, recipes

On the Many Fine Qualities of Chard

In recent years, chard has become my go-to green. Don't get me wrong--I love spinach as much as the next (spinach-loving) person. But spinach's season is brief--just a few short weeks in spring and fall for the fresh stuff, and the rest of the time you're either spinach-less or reduced to bagged spinach from the grocery or even frozen in a pinch.