​

Hi Reader,

Imagine growing up in your father's pizza restaurant with your eyes barely on the level to see the veggies being chopped on the steel food prep table.

Did your dad throw a pie dough and spin it in the air to stretch out into the perfect circle?

Mass grew up that way in Brooklyn and later he came to PA to help his dad in the pizza shop in Tamaqua.

Imagine growing up with the name Massimiliano. You better get good and something - and fast!

As his artistry with pizza developed, his love for food drew him to the land and a longing for connection to the farm. Finding himself a place to live in New Tripoli six years ago began to bring connections to his life that make his food more meaningful.

When Wray brought Mass to the farm to meet Farmer Reuben, all three of them were buzzing with potential which was teased out and tested at a private wedding rehearsal dinner, our Pizza Night and our Homestead Conference this past summer.

Yes. You've met our Massimiliano's Homestead pizzas here at Willow Haven Farm.

Mass more than thrilled to be part of our farm community. He buys amazing ingredients from us to make pizzas at his own events and he loved meeting our farm members at all the events this summer.

Our Pizza Events are over for the year and we the brick oven is slowing down to a winter schedule.

Does that mean no more artisan pizza from the brick oven with the deep flavor of sourdough and smokey crisp edges?

No, it's not over! All this potential is too good to put on pause so these amazing pizzas are now being baked to perfection, frozen immediately for freshness and available for you to heat and eat!

​

Reuben and the farm team tested the reheating process just this afternoon. The Mushroom Truffle Gorgonzola pizza was amazing and the Artisanal Margherita pizza was perfect!

Available Now!

Now you can bring the convenience of frozen pizzas home without sacrificing on flavor and quality ingredients! Great for busy lifestyles, making gourmet pizza accessible at any time.

Ingredients for Mushroom Truffle Gorgonzola Pizza: Whole milk mozzarella, primordia oyster mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, king trumpet mushrooms, cremini mushrooms, black truffle olive oil, Gorgonzola cheese, fresh garlic, sea salt, black pepper, fresh basil

Directions with baking stone: Pre-heat baking stone to desired temp. Higher for more crisp, lower for even heat. Place pizza on stone. Heat for 5-10 minutes depending on desired crisp.

Directions with tray: Remove from package. Place pizza on baking tray for 5-10 minutes at the highest possible temperature until desired crispness.

How to Buy Massimiliano's Homestead Pizza

1. Come to the Farm Store tomorrow 9 am to 3 pm.
   1. open Fridays and Saturdays until Christmas
2. Add to your Market Box:
   1. Members are customizing their local grocery orders until 7 pm on Sunday. Join to start your membership or log in to add Ready to Heat Pizza to your Market Box.

​

Nature's Drill

Out in the field the food is still growing.

Growing HUGE!

Some of our broccoli is the size of my head - maybe that's why it is called a "head" of broccoli.

Did you know that one daikon radish could be as big as a child?

​

To truly get the most value out of your farm membership you should definitely get daikon radish to eat the delicious greens and to cube your radish tuber for roasting or fermenting.

This radish is a serious multi-tasker in the field and in the kitchen. Let me tell you more from the field where we are picking them.

​

I cubed up the radish the Farmgirl K carried all the way to the house. It filled a serving bowl and I sprinkled generously with salt and pepper. Some of the kids ate them raw this way at supper time and afterward we poured more salt water over to brine them. We'll have brined radish pickles in a few days.

Farm members are always learning something new about how their food grows, experimenting with new foods and preparing them in new ways.

What can you make with a couple daikon radish this week?

---

From the Farmer's Book Shelf: Nathan Coulter

He's just a kid growing up on a farm with early automobiles and a team of mules. Nathan and his brother work in the fields with their grandpa, uncle, father and a couple of neighbors until they are exhausted each evening. And yet, there is still energy to walk to town on a Saturday or go hunting or fishing. To get spending money, the boys work extra digging fence post holes so they can have fun at the Fourth of July Festival.

These boys learn to work long and hard and fast to keep up with their father.

Wendell Berry doesn't romanticize farm life while he explores the personalities and how they handle the difficult circumstances and the hardships of life: death, aging, barn fires and estranged siblings. Though each member has their faults, each plays a part in supporting others on the farm and in the community.

Is working hard, being tougher and more stubborn the key to surviving on a farm?

Berry shows that if this is the highest value, unforgiveness and broken relationships and are the result.

There has to be more and I look forward to finishing the book. Will there be hope for the future? What does Nathan learn? What kind of man will he become?

I'm grateful that Farmer Reuben, though he tests and pushes our boys to be fast and strong and persevere in their work, he never pushes them so far that they break. It's amazing to watch them become healthy young men.

---

So you see, I did get to read this week in the midst of cooking, schooling and farming. I think I'll finish the book this weekend and I'll have to choose a new book from the Farmer's Book Shelf.

Our farm members know that we are doing the work, both in the field and in the office, to make REAL, HEALTHY food available to them every time they customize their Market Box Delivery.

NOW is a great time to become a farm member. Our Fall and Winter season is full of amazing food that never stops even though other CSAs and farmer's markets are closing.

​

👇Buy the best farm made frozen pizza in the Lehigh Valley this week! 👇

Brick Oven Pizza - Ready to Heat!

​

​

We'll keep farming for you!

Reuben and Tessa DeMaster
​Willow Haven Farm​

​

P.S. Find out how a Market Box can fit into your life. Need help deciding what size to get? This free download will help you decide What Size Market Box will fit your life.

​

Prep Your Herbal Remedies for Winter

To help you become even more self-reliant, we've invited Clinical Herbalist, Jim Furey, to return for a workshop day. These two workshops will focus on what you can make now to have ready for the dark days of January and February to help your family combat winter illness.

📆 Workshop Day: December 2nd
🕙 Time: 10 AM - 3 PM
💫 Featuring: Clinical Herbalist, Jim Furey ​
💡 2 Workshops: $29 each for farm members. $35 for non members.

🌿Stay tuned for more information, coming soon!
All details will be posted at: willowhavenfarmpa.com/events. ​

👇You can get on the waitlist for this event by letting me know here. 👇

(the button link is fixed!)

I'm Interested in the Herb Workshops

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

Thinking of unsubscribing? CSA members need to stay connected to our emails but you can limit them to just vital information about your membership by clicking here. ​