Spring Week 5!!!

Summer weather peeks through the last of late spring; 85 degree days feel shocking.  Now we cool off a bit.  Good...the peonies will last longer.

All the vegetables are growing beautifully.  After the holiday, we plant our tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants.  We wait a bit longer than some other farms, but we believe soil temperature to be the most important consideration, and we're just about there.  Beans, summer lettuces, zucchini, cukes, etc, are all being planted this week, too.  We planted 250 blueberries last Saturday, and another 250 asparagus--we're in this for the long haul.

Fantastic article in this weeks NY Time Magazine: Bacteria is good for you!

We don't wash our produce unless heavy rains force us to; if you've noticed, it lasts a very long time in the fridge.  Our reasons are many, not least of which are enumerated in Pollan's piece.

Lots to choose from this week:   Pick 6:

Asparagus:  A THROUGH J (LAST NAMES) GET ASPARAGUS THIS WEEK!  NEXT WEEK, THE OTHER HALF GETS ASPARAGUS (THE DARIEN GROUP GOT ASPARAGUS LAST WEEK)!  

Kale Microgreens
Asian greens (kale in the mix)
Radishes
Heads of lettuce
Arugula
Pea Shoots
Chives
Sorrel
Spinach

Want a real treat?  Slice the radishes thinly, chop the greens.  Saute the radishes briefly in butter, then add the greens until they wilt.  Add liberal amounts of salt and pepper.  YOUR KIDS WILL LIKELY NOT EAT THIS, BUT SO WHAT!!!LIVE IT UP, TREAT YOURSELF, YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE!

Spring CSA Week 4!!!

Dogwood winter passed through this week, bringing frost on Monday night and a close call on Tuesday.  We look good going forward, so the time for planting summer crops--tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, etc.--is upon us. 

Lots of choice this week in the share; choose 6 of the following:

Salad mix with microgreens
Black Seeded Simpson Lettuce (a favorite heirloom)
Radishes (a fantastic season for radishes--don't forget to use the GREENS!!!
Spinach
Arugula (2nd cutting of this bed--strong but not bitter!)
Pea Shoots (link is to a pesto recipe without parmesan...very nice, had it this week)
Senposai (I love this plant--use it in place of spinach, kale, or any asian green in whatever recipe catches your fancy)
Chives (you can never have enough pesto, and it freezes beautifully)
French Sorrel (50 things to do with sorrel!!!)
Kale Raab (overwintered kale with some yellow spring flowers...yummy!)  This is all we will have of this kale until the new plants get big enough.

Enjoy!

CSA Week 3!!!!!

I reckon 25 plant species unfurled their flowers during the rain today...they must have thought they were desert plants!

I did not have to water for the first time in a month today!  All the outdoor veggie plants look mighty happy!

Greens still dominate in the share this week, although we do have a bunch of baby beets to add to the mix.  Also, a bit of rhubarb while it lasts.  Radishes for sure over the next few weeks, soon to be joined by turnips and beets.

Asparagus is coming on, and some will be available at the stand tomorrow.  I also brought in some cream-top Jersey Cow milk from Ithaca Milk (whole milk only).  Delicious.

For this week, choose 6 from:

little bunch of baby beets
salad mix
arugula
spinach
mixed asian greens
pea shoots
radish microgreens
rhubarb
lettucy mustard greens (mild, a bit of tang, fantastic!)

Enjoy!!!!!!!!

2013 Spring Csa Week 2!!!!!

The good: plenty of sun and warmer temps are kicking things into high gear.

The bad: it is very, very, very dry...I've never had to water so much in April.

The ugly: Nothing!  It's spring!

In this week's share:  Please take (read: must take!): salad mix (tender!) and pea shoots;

Choose 4 of the following: Mixed asian greens, baby spinach, arugula, Senposai (also spelled Semposai) which is a delightful cross of cabbage and komatsuna, french sorrel, heads of baby lettuce, and chives.

The Senposai is delicious raw, added to salads, or very briefly sauteed with garlic, salt and pepper.  Very high in antioxidants and vitamin C.

We've been having risotto with french sorrel often.  Simply chop up the sorrel and toss it into the risotto during its last couple of minutes of cooking.  Do the same with the pea shoots!

Pea shoots and sorrel also make great pestos--simply swap them for basil.

I'm harvesting asparagus tomorrow morning--it's not in the share, because not enough of it is ready for Thursday...it will be at the stand most days now--first come, first serve.  It is spectacular and tastes nothing like what you get from California.

I've brought in spelt berries from Cayuga Pure Organics in the Fingerlakes.  Really great source of protein with a great taste.  Try them, and try the beans!!!!  We practically lived on these beans all winter, in conjunction with what vegetables we canned and froze.

Lots of green stuff this week, but the radishes, turnips, beets, and kohlrabi are coming on strong...if I can keep up with the water!

First Spring CSA Day!!!!!!

Finally, just in time for the first CSA day, some warm weather.  It's been as consistently cold a March and April as I can recall, and until a few days ago, I thought for sure we'd have to postpone the first day...but here we go!!!  Note to self: when the sun don't shine, hoop houses ain't warm!

This first week is a tad lighter than I would like, but we'll make it up in coming weeks.  The asparagus just popped it's head out of the ground a couple of days ago!!!! That's the latest ever.

This week, enjoy tender vegetables packed with taste.  Taste!!!! The only tasty vegetables we eat all winter are ones we froze or canned last year.

This week you can choose six out of the following seven items: arugula! spinach! pea shoots! radish/kale microgreens! chives! French sorrel! parsnips  (overwintered in the field--very sweet!). 

Everything is very tender and delicious--use with minimal alteration.  The chives, sorrel, pea shoots, and arugula all make wonderful pestos. 

In the next couple of weeks we'll have asparagus (it comes on fast!), radishes, baby beets, and baby turnips, and of course, plenty of greens, including what we have this week, and also lettuce mixes, asian greens, and mustards.

Please take time to walk through the garden!  Thousands of daffodils are blooming.

We have Water Buffalo yogurt, blue cheese, Red Jacket juices, beans and polenta, and honey at the farm stand.

See you tomorrow!

Thursday, April 25 will be first spring CSA day!!!

"The very beginning is perhaps the best part of a garden. Now the breeze feels as soft and sweet as it used to be on the first spring day that I could go barefoot. The whistle of a cardinal comes from far off through the hazy air. The sun, riding higher in the sky, arouses not only the buds and seeds but also the dormant hopes of the gardener. The memory of past mistakes and failure has been washed out by winter rain. This year the garden will be the best ever."          Harlan Hubbard

It was a long, very cold March, and we're a good 2 or 3 weeks behind last year's schedule, but never fear, we will have plenty to offer in just 2 weeks--arugula, sorrel, chives, pea shoots, microgreens, possibly radishes if it warms up enough, but likely not, perhaps a salad mix, though looking at the forecast, that will likely wait until the following couple of weeks.  Asian greens are coming along, but we'll see.  Asparagus is way behind and hasn't even broken ground yet, which is the best evidence we have of how cold early spring has been.  Spinach is progressing nicely, and the first carrots and onions and beets and turnips have started.

We have vegetable seeds from Hudson Valley Seed Library at the farm stand for anyone with their own gardens.  The packages are beautiful and the varieties are all ones we grow happily.

We will have milk, butter, cheese, and eggs at the stand.

Look forward to seeing everyone in 2 weeks!  If anyone needs to pick up on a day other than Thursday, please let me know.

Winter Farm Stand

Greetings!  Another winter of not much of a winter.  More snow, please!!!!

Fed up with food at the grocery store, I've brought in some organic root veggies from the Fingerlakes region of New York.  Wonderful stuff.  I also have free range whole chickens, ground lamb (pastured), chemical free hydroponic lettuce, organic beans from the fall harvest at Cayuga Organic,  butter from grass fed cows, and deliriously good citrus from these wonderful people: http://www.tampabay.com/features/humaninterest/article955750.ece

Stop by!