Week 1, Summer Intersession 2023
Hi everyone! My name is Claire, and this week was my very first week on the farm! I’m one of the new members of the fall cohort, and we’ll all be arriving in stages over the next week or so, so get ready for some new farm chroniclers! It’s wonderful to be here, and to share with you all a little bit about what’s been happening here in this season of overwhelming abundance. (And, for avid fans of the farm journal who might be confused – I am not the Claire who was on the farm over the spring and summer, she is very missed!)
I arrived at ZA on Tuesday night – after an unexpected adventure involving a very flat tire and a very stuck lug nut – and was welcomed warmly by Acacia, Nadav, and a beautiful dinner of fresh homemade ravioli. Acacia’s beloved friend Sylvan joined us on Thursday, and jumped right in helping us harvest everything for market on Friday. Zoe (of the summer cohort) also came back for the weekend before heading off to college, and arrived just in time for a Shabbat fresh produce feast. We’ve been cooking delicious meals all week with produce from the farm; shout out to Sylvan’s Michelin-quality squash gazpacho, Acacia’s adventures in recipe-free flatbread, and that one tub of quinoa that keeps on giving.
On the farm, we spent much of the week trying our best to keep up with the abundance of harvest season, which has meant long hours harvesting on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. We’ve been focused on: heirloom and cherry tomatoes (finally producing after a summer of indecision, and they’re looking beautiful!), cucumbers, patty pan squash, crookneck squash, kousa squash, three types of green beans (including broad beans longer than my head and as wide as my fingers!), shishito peppers, carrots, nasturtiums, and okra. Everything is looking beautiful, and we’re feeling grateful and a little overwhelmed by all the abundance – if anyone has creative suggestions for preserving cucumbers in ways other than pickling (we’re thinking cucumber sorbet? cucumber chips?), please reach out!
With any extra time after we finish harvesting, we’ve been working to steward the long-term health of the farm: removing mildewy squash plants in the hopes that we’ll be able to extend the life of the remaining plants; organizing the walk-in to make it easier to navigate when jam-packed with produce; and deep-cleaning the house to prepare for the fall cohort’s arrival.
Over the week to come, we look forward to a week full of rotating guests to help us through the peak of harvest season, so get excited for an extra-special cast of characters upcoming!
Claire holding our broad beans in 3 sisters — longer than her face!
Acacia holding our tomato abundance!
Nadav holding squash blossoms we harvested from several dying crookneck plants. We filled them with quinoa, ricotta, tomatoes and mushrooms!
gaz-squash-o!
