So the weather wasn’t with us once again.  A couple weeks ago, the slaughterhouse called to ask if we could push out the delivery of the cows for one week.  That meant we would bring them today – Sunday December 20th… day of the blizzard – instead of last Sunday.  So we called our friend Yogi who helps us with the transport, and he said ‘no problem’.  No problem?

Yesterday he dropped off the trailer and we backed it up to the pasture so we could feed the cows inside it and get them used to getting in it.  Turns out it also works as a shelter – although not a great one.  But there was no way they were traveling today.  We got permission to bring them tomorrow, and then after an hour or so of working to get the truck out this morning, we headed over to Fuller to check on the poor, cold, wet cows, feed them, and plow out for tomorrow.  Luckily we had our super tractor, which did the job, and then Dave drove it home through snow and cold to finish the plowing here.

I guess it’s good news that they go tomorrow and we won’t need to treck over there every day and wade through 17 inches of snow to feed them.  We still have the chickens to take care of, but starting in January our kind landlords, who live across the street from the farm, have agreed to handle those in exchange for the eggs.

And in two weeks we will be awash in delicious cuts of beef!

We had a little ‘barn party’ on Tuesday for the 25 or so people who came to pick up their Thanksgiving share.  We spent two days harvesting – two rainy days of course… reminiscent of the summer – and filled the barn with root vegetables, greens, and more.  The turkeys went off for harvest Tuesday morning and were back to the farm by 3:00 – the largest weighing in at 40 pounds!!  Next year, we’ll get them later and maybe feed them less.  Leftovers are always good, but 40 pounds?

The share was made up of 1 pac choi, 2 big bunches of carrots, a half pound bag of arugula and a half pound bag of mixed lettuce, 2 heads of cabbage, 4 garlic, 2 pounds of leeks, 3 pounds of turnips, 1 bunch of kale or mustard greens, 10 pounds of potatoes, 6 pounds of squash and 1 dozen eggs!  Much of this will keep if you didn’t manage to use it all for your Thanksgiving feast.

We have one more field harvest to go – for the December market, and then no more field work!  We’ve been lucky with the mild November.  Looking at the field you’d think it’s late September.  But digging carrots, leeks and turnips, and cutting and washing arugula and lettuce on a cold rainy day is not the best part of farming.  Thanks so much to the many volunteers who helped harvest and to my Aunt Lynn for helping set up and manage the pick-up.  We hope you all enjoy the bounty!

Thanksgiving in historic Plymouth, MA will be rich this year with local vegetables, pies, and other carefully prepared food made with ingredients from surrounding towns.  In addition to the parade held every year the weekend before Thanksgiving, this year offered the very first Harvest Market, supported by our very own Plymouth market manager, Barbara Anglin, and sponsored by CSA members Edible South Shore.

Unfortunately, I was off at school this weekend, so I was unable to attend, take pictures, and tell the story.  But Dave was kind enough, after a weekend of hard labor, to bring the camera and take a few shots.

Turnout was excellent!  And he said 5 or 6 CSA members showed up to visit and pick up some veggies.  We were rich in potatoes, leeks, eggs, carrots, turnip, arugula, squash, and honey and I hear the tent was packed!  This was the first market of our first season of winter markets.  The rest will be held the third Thursday of every month at Plimoth Plantation, followed by a movie and drinks.  Check out the Plymouth Farmers’ Market website for more information.