Its been all about tidying up down on the field this week. With the last of the beans out of the way and the squashes stacked in the shed, a large swathe of the field was left looking a bit ragged and sorry for itself so Annkatrin & Ed (and Samson of course) spent Wednesday morning scuffling, sub-soiling and ridging to knock the weeds back and tuck-up the soil for winter (above). Over the next few weeks we’ll be sowing some rye grass on the ridges to keep the weeds down, which we’ll then plough back-in in the early spring to give a fresh burst of fertility.

This week’s box contains your first spaghetti-squash. Believe it or not it can be used just like spaghetti in pretty much any dish you fancy. Just spike it like a jacket potato, pop it in the oven at 180ºC(ish) for 45 minutes, then cut it in half, scoop out the seeds and use a fork to peel out the stringy flesh. Mix it in a bowl with some butter and a little salt & pepper and hop la – wheat-free, gluten-free, spaghetti-free spaghetti! You’ll probably notice your potatoes are absent from your box this week. Don’t worry, we haven’t run out but would just like to encourage you all to pop down to the field at some point and pick up a sack for yourselves. Unfortunately we haven’t got any space to store them – so if you DO want a bag please give Ed (07858 381539) or Chinnie (07908 683401) a call a.s.a.p to arrange for us to get them to you.

Lastly we’d just like to remind you once again about our fantastic Halloween Harvest supper bonanza taking place on the field next Saturday (30^th October) from 5pm. A celebration of everything Chagfood has achieved so far -music, games, bonfire, storytelling and cider, bring a dish to share; Adults £5, children for free. Limited space for parking so please car share.

P.S. What did the courgette say to its girlfriend? “Will you marrow me!” Tidy

It’s been a splendid week down on Longfield, with plenty of sunshine and warm autumnal weather giving a welcome boost to the last few weeks of the growing season. This week we’ve finally taken down the Runner Bean poles, leaving the field looking quite empty but also showing off your splendid Carrots, Parsnips and Brassicas at the far end of the field. This week we also put the finishing touches to our third and final polytunnel (above) which we have unimaginatively christened “PT3”. It will be mainly used for propagating seedlings in the early spring and as useful storage space for next year’s onions.

Most of you will have caught up with us at last week’s AGM, which from our point of view was a resounding success. A big THANK YOU to all those who were able to make it – it was great to have feedback from you all, positive and otherwise, and obviously we were delighted that the majority of Members are willing to support the scheme financially in order for it to remain viable. We are just putting together a revised cash-flow forecast for next growing season and will send information out shortly regarding next year’s boxes.

Last Friday Chinnie, Yssy, Susan & Ed went to Somerset to visit Charles Dowding, of No-Dig gardening fame. It was an inspiring visit to see his meticulously crafted lettuces thriving in his small but productive market garden and we came away with several useful tips on varieties and growing techniques which we intend to put to good use next year.

Lastly, we will be harvesting the rest of your potatoes over the coming days and, as we have limited storage space, would like to offer all Members a 25kg sack to pick up from the field. If you are interested please call either Ed (07858 381539) or Chinnie (07908 683401) to arrange a suitable time.

Samson the movie

We’re pleased to announce that the good people from Banyak films have just posted Samson’s first feature film online here. The film was made by Fionuula Finnerty and Mark Carolan as part of the Dartmoor Art School held in the last week of July this year and shows Samson using the Kassine to work up the field and delivering some of our early veg-boxes to the town.

This week in your box you’ll find your very first pumpkins of the season! We had a fantastic harvest down on Longfield, here Ed is showing off our prize specimen “Big Bertha”, who will be playing a leading role in next month’s Halloween festivities on the field (Saturday 30^th October). This week we also say a reluctant goodbye to the last courgettes of the season (we thought it would never happen!) along with the last beans and cucumbers.

Autumn is truly rolling on down on the field as we clear away much of the summer’s vegetation and allow our green manure to establish itself in the last few weeks of the season. You’ll be pleased to hear the leeks are making a last minute come-back from their incredibly dry start and should be putting in an appearance in the boxes within the next few weeks. We have also found some time over the past week to make a start putting up our third and final polytunnel which will be used for drying some of the autumn produce and for early propagation of next year’s crops.

We would all like to say a big THANK YOU to all members who have filled out our online questionnaire. So far we have had 19 responses out of 25 members, which is all excellent feedback. If anyone who hasn’t yet completed would like any help accessing it please feel free to give us a call.

The end of summer has truly arrived with the first frost of Autumn. On Monday morning all the pumpkin and courgette leaves were curled with frost damage as well as the beans. What a short season it is at Long Field. The last frost was at the beginning of June, which does not leave long for things like beans. It feels a tad too early to be worrying about frost but at least we’ve had a bumper crop of most things. We have harvested the myriad of squash and pumpkins, which are looking resplendent in the polytunnel. There are big fat orange ones, small green and cream striped ones, blue ones, black ones and strange turban shaped ones – all a tasty treat for the coming months. The first potatoes were lifted today using a horse drawn lifter, which saved our backs and made filling several sacks very easy. Samson is putting on his winter coat and is such a handsome chap.

We have sent out an email with 3 important messages

1. Please remember that we are holding our AGM on Thursday 7^th October at 7pm in Endecott House. All veg boxes will be there from 7 to pick up and will not be at the courtyard. Please contact us to make an alternative arrangement if you are unable to pick up from Endecott House.
2. We are holding a Harvest Festival on Saturday 30th October at Long Field from 5 ‘til late. Fancy dress, pumpkin fun, apple games, cider, music. Bring food to share, Tickets are £5, kids are free.
3. Please complete the questionnaire we have emailed by Thursday 30^th September. If anyone is not on email then please let us know and we will give you a paper copy to fill out.

And finally a recipe that mixes beetroot and chocolate! Chocolate Beetroot Brownies; 250g dark chocolate chopped, 200g unsalted butter, cubed, 250g beetroot, cooked, 3 eggs, a drop of vanilla extract, 200g caster sugar, 50g cocoa powder, 50g rice flour, 1tsp baking powder, 100g ground almond.

Put choc and butter in a large bowl and place it over a pan of simmering water, make sure the water doesn’t touch the base of the bowl. Leave to melt, then remove from the heat. Puree cooked beetroot in food processor. Add the eggs one at a time, followed by the vanilla and sugar, and mix ’til smooth. Sift the cocoa powder, rice flour and baking powder into a bowl and stir in the ground almonds stir the beetroot mixture into the melted choc and then fold in the dry ingredients. Use baking parchment to line a rectangular tin, roughly 28x18cm. Pour in the mixture and place in an oven preheated to 180c/gas mark 4. Bake for 30-35 mins until just firm to the touch. It’s important not to overcook the brownies; a skewer inserted in the centre should come out slightly sticky. Leave to cool in the tine and then cut into squares.

Samson & Ed taking part in a haypole demonstration at Chagford Show 2010

For those CCA members who didn’t make it to Chagford Show this year, you’ll be pleased to hear that Samson did a stirling job in the much anticipated haypole demonstration. The haypole itself belonged to Wilf Hutching’s father and was used up at Shapley Farm  from the turn of the 20th century. This year’s outing to the Show was the first time it has been used since the late 1940’s when a mechanical elevator took over the job.

The pole works using a spring-loaded grab which is raised and lowered as the horse pulls the drive chain. The pole is set at a slight angle so that the weight of the fully-loaded hay grab carries the hay over the top of the hay rick. Back in the day a team of four or five lads would have built up to three ricks in a day, taking down and re-errecting the pole in a different part of the field each time.

Johnny Arden, who used to farm with horses up at Stiniel above Chagford, has a great story about his friend Bunchy accidentally getting his foot caught in the grab and being hauled up in the air above the rick. ‘He was hollerin’ so loud he scared the horse see’, explains Johnny, ‘it must have taken us early half an hour to get him down again!’

Following the success of last Thursday’s inaugural delivery, and the inevitable festivities that followed, we were pleasantly surprised to wake up the next morning and find ourselves on the frontpage of the Western Morning News.

The image of Samson proudly making his first delivery (as well as Chinnie’s page-3 pose of course) evidently caught  the Westcountry public’s imagination as we’ve received calls and e-mails from people across the region congratulating us and wanting to find out more about the scheme. As well as the much appreciated publicity the WMN’s coverage has enabled us to get the message of CSA out there to more people.

Chinnie and I were both back ‘pon the field today, working in the rain for the first time in more than two-months! The novelty certainly didn’t wear off and we were both chuckling to ourselves at how much easier the weeding was after weeks of hard-baked soil.

You can read the full WMN article here.