Season Extension In Maine is Growing!

Farm Manager Sarah Marshall pauses during high tunnel 

construction (Spring '14).

Season extension - using high tunnels, hoop houses, or other mechanisms for growing more types of crops by enabling farmers to start sooner in the spring and to grow longer into the winter and/or year round - has meant better quality and a better variety of Maine-grown produce. This means consumers like you and me have a beautiful and bountiful array of local produce options to choose from these days, whether it be at the farmers' market, farm stand, or even in the grocery store.

The University of Maine has supported and continues to advocate for an expansion of season extension farms, and the USDA's NRCS (Natural Resource Conservation Service) has enabled numerous growers in Maine and around the country to do the same through grant-funded, season extension infrastructure. From a macro perspective, the increase of season extension growing means improved state self-sufficiency - basically Maine is able to grow more of the food its residents eat.

Hussein, Holly, and Sarah Bostick install the high 

tunnel's front plastic (Spring '14)

Four Fresh Start farmers received a NRCS grant to build a high tunnel this year in order to expand the farm's ability to grow crops like peppers, basil, eggplants, and tomatoes for wholesale markets that include restaurants, specialty food buyers, summer camps, schools, and large food distributors.

The high tunnel has and will continue to enable these producers to sell to more markets, where food doesn't just need to taste farm fresh, but also needs to look beautiful enough to impress chefs, food service directors, and consumers specialty markets like Rosemont and Forage.

Hungarian hot wax (above) and
purple bell pepper (below)

Long-growing crops need hot weather and are often prone to blight and pest damage, (especially when farmers grow chemical free, as we do at Fresh Start Farms). But season extension is helping with this as well.

The high tunnel enables Fresh Start Farms to start growing tomatoes earlier in the season, as well as protect them from some of the issues that often plague those coming straight out of farmers' fields. This high tunnel is also what has allowed Habiba Noor to crank out some of the shiniest purple and green bell peppers, and spicy Hungarian hot wax peppers I have ever seen!

Just some food for thought - something to consider and appreciate when buying, ordering, or eating local food!

Speaking of eating local food, please join us for our final Twilight Dinner event of the summer THIS THURSDAY. Here are the full details:

Our final Twilight Dinner:
August 28th at 6:30pm - Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, chef Christina Seeley with Emmet Helrich of Local 188 in Portland. Pairings by Bunker Brewing Company. BYOB optional. Sponsor: Maine Brew Bus - Click HERE for tickets!

Complete Twilight Dinner info. can be found at our website:http://cultivatingcommunity.org/calendar/twilight-dinners.html

What goes into growing your garlic?

The cycle of growing garlic is one that teaches the art of patience and trust. Many don't know what goes into growing this culinary staple that in some form, appears at farmers' markets and in CSA bags throughout the summer and fall. Here is the life cycle of garlic at Fresh Start Farms

One clove of garlic will turn into one head of garlic....but the process is drawn out over an entire year.

Soon-to-be-cut garlic scape

Each fall near the end of October, the farmers sit down with bushel baskets full of their biggest and best heads of garlic and break them down into individual cloves. The soil is prepared with the tractor and some good organic fertilizer or compost. Each clove is planted in 4-foot wide bed with three rows to a bed, 6 inches between each clove within a row. The whole bed is covered in a few inches of mulch hay, which acts as a protective blanket against the cold and as a shield against emerging weeds in the spring.

Garlic bulbs pulled from the field to dry

The little cloves of garlic hunker down for the winter, saving the strength that they need to burst forth from the surface in early spring. The first garlic often emerges in March and speeds upwards, upwards towards the sun incredibly quickly until it begins to produce flowers, or scapes, which you received in your CSA bag in July. 

By harvesting the scapes, the garlic plant redirects its energy from seed production into clove production, resulting in larger heads and cloves of garlic.

Garlic ready for market

More or less a month after garlic scapes are harvested, it is time to harvest the garlic. All the plants come out of the ground on the "perfect day" and are laid out to dry in a greenhouse or barn or other warm dry place for approximately 3 to 4 weeks. When the plants' stalks, roots, and wrappers are entirely dry, the garlic heads can be cut from their stalks and cleaned. At this point, the garlic is ready to spend the winter in your kitchen! Depending on the variety, garlic that is stored in a cool dry (not your refrigerator) place, should remain good for 5-9 months.

Member-to-member culinary share:

Need some inspiration in the kitchen? check out this member's CSA meal.

Fresh dill jasmine rice with chard and chickpeas.
"A great use for all that chard and dill I've received over the past few weeks!"

Upcoming events to note:

Our final Twilight Dinner:
August 28th at 6:30pm - Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, chef Christina Seeley with Emmet Helrich of Local 188 in Portland. Pairings by Bunker Brewing Company. BYOB optional. Sponsor: Maine Brew Bus - Click HERE for tickets!

Complete Twilight Dinner info. can be found at our website: http://cultivatingcommunity.org/calendar/twilight-dinners.html

Monthly farm visits for CSA members and volunteers:
Friday, August 22 from 9:00a – 11:00a in Lisbon
Friday, September 26 from 12:00p – 2:00p in Lisbon (Please note updated time)
Friday, October 3 from 12:00p – 2:00p in Lisbon

RSVP with Ashley if you would like to attend: fsf@cultivatingcommunity.org & (207) 761-GROW

Try this recipe generator to invigorate your CSA cooking!

Cooking tips for the week:

A coworker passed along this interesting link from the New York Times Magazine: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/08/02/magazine/bittman-farmers-market-recipe-generator.html?_r=0#/?id=strawberry-orange-soup_0-0-0.

This recipe tool is neat if you're looking for new and creative ways to eat the zucchini/summer squash, cucumbers, and cauliflower that have started to appear in your CSA bags already!

Check it out and let us know if you come up with something good!

Cultivating Community events:

Twilight Dinners:

August 7th at 6:30pm - Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, chef Leslie Oster of Aurora Provisions in Portland. Parings by Allagash Brewing Company. BYOB optional. Sponsor: Allagash Brewing Company - Click HERE for tickets!

August 28th at 6:30pm - Twilight Dinner at Turkey Hill Farm in Cape Elizabeth, chef Christina Seeley with Emmet Helrich of Local 188 in Portland. Pairings by Bunker Brewing Company. BYOB optional. Sponsor: Maine Brew Bus - Click HERE for tickets!

Complete Twilight Dinner info. can be found at our website: http://cultivatingcommunity.org/calendar/twilight-dinners.html

Monthly farm visits for CSA members and volunteers:

Friday, August 22 from 9:00a – 11:00a in Lisbon
Friday, September 26 from 9:00a – 11:00a in Lisbon
Friday, October 3 from 12:00p – 2:00p in Lisbon 

RSVP with Ashley if you would like to attend: fsf@cultivatingcommunity.org & (207) 761-GROW