There will be no corn this weekend!!We're sorry to say that the corn from the last corn patch of the year is not quite mature enough to be picked this weekend. It should be fine for next weekend. We will keep you posted |
Now's the time to order corn for freezing or canning and any special chicken orders!Hi Everyone!We have two more weekends for corn. If you have been thinking about putting some up, let us know today, for this weekend, or next week, for next weekend, if you would like to order a few dozen. The time has come to freeze or throw out the pot! Also it looks like our next batch of fresh chicken will be in the cooler next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. If you would like to order anything different than our whole and whole cut up chicken, let us know now. Remember, cut up chicken can be packaged any way you like and cut or deboned any way. Of course a whole cut up chicken with boneless breast will cost more than a chicken with the bone in breast. Call or email if you have any questions. I will send out a quick email beginning of next week with definite days and times for the chicken. Thank you all for whatever you did to help bring on the beautiful rain we received last weekend. It was perfect! It helped a lot. I must admit the couple of rain dance videos we received from some of our customers, though, I'm sure helpful, were quite frightening. This weekend's bounty:Sweet cornKale Mild salad mix (lettuces) Beets Honey Chicken Eggs Arugula Butternut Squash Green Beans Basil Radishes We are attempting to find replacement hens for some of our older egg layers. It seems next to impossible to find any that haven't had the tips of their beaks singed off. Growers do that when they're day old chicks to avoid dangerous pecking when hens are grown in crowded conditions. We certainly prefer a hen with a whole beak. Vicky said she thought losing the end of the chicks beak is horrible and has to be painful. I rebutted, "Have you ever heard of a bris!" | ||
 |
| |
Open this weekend Saturday and Sunday 10-6We're hoping for a significant rain this weekend. We really haven't received any rain since the first week in August. Great if you're not a farmer, the pits if you are. We find ourselves in that transition time between summer's bounty and the fall's offerings. This week we were taking out the tomato plants, removing and moving some blueberry plants to combine all the healthier plants in one area, ripping out most of the grapes and tilling and planting our cover crop. The cover crop, which is winter rye btw, helps with erosion during the fall and winter and when tilled back into the soil in the spring, adds organic matter. It's so dry here, that while I was out tilling, I was recreating a scene from the great dust bowl from the thirties! When I was finished I, of course, came traipsing into the house looking like a giant dirty dust bunny with half the field covering me. Vicky really was very understanding about it. I believe she yelled,"What are you doing?" I replied,"Getting a drink, I'm parched!" "There's seven hoses outside, get a drink out there," she ordered. "Good grief you look like you were shot with a dust gun! You might want to take the dust mask off your face too before you attempt a drink !"Cybil Preston stopped by this week with a new supply of her Cybee's raw honey, so the shelves have been re-stocked. The sweet corn is still coming, but much of our fall veggies are struggling a bit. A rain dance would be helpful, if you know one, or feel free to adlib one, the neighbors won't mind. This weekend's bounty:CornButternut Squash Radishes Honey Garlic New Arugula* (tender and a bit milder than the arugula from the older bed, which is still available if you really want a punch) Red Russian Kale* (small and tender) Chicken ( whole and cut up whole) Eggs Beets Red Potatoes Spinach* Green Beans (limited amount) *Keep in mind the greens are just maturing and will be quite limited this weekend | ||
|
| |
Hi Everyone,Well, we were gearing up for a wonderful shot of rain yesterday. We were so hopeful we would get what our fall crops needed. We heard thunder to the south. We heard thunder to the west. A customer had come from Towson and reported that it was pouring there. We had a call from a friend in Bel Air that it was raining there. A customer had been in Conowingo where there had been a deluge. Our skies were darkening over the farm. We felt a drop and then another and another and........that was pretty much it. I believe I counted 35 total drops that plunked me on the head. We couldn't believe it. We basically got nothing. It's been over a month now with no rain on the farm. One customer tried to lighten the moment by saying,"Boy these late tomatoes sure taste sweeter. I guess because of the lack of rain, huh?" I asked him to leave the premises immediately.We have harvested our Butternut Squash and a Turban squash called Buttercup. They both are quite tasty. We should have corn through the end of the month. Now this is Maple Border Farm's corn. GMO free, but not grown organically. Tomatoes are about done. We should have a limited supply while they last. This is the time of year that we are caught between the waning Summer crops and the still maturing Fall crops. NEW HOURS FOR FALL: We will be open just Saturday and Sunday through the Fall 10-6 each day. We will go back to the honor system for our eggs Monday through Friday. Until the small egg cooler is repaired, the eggs will be in one of the coke coolers and the money box on our main table in the middle of the market. This weekend's bounty:Sweet Corn Tomatoes Red Potatoes Butternut Squash Garlic Buttercup Squash Chicken-Whole and Cut up Whole Eggs Beets Honey | ||
|
| |
 |
| Luke doesn't have many teeth (does he have any?) but somehow eats up the corn! |
 |
| Auggie shows farmer Steve how to drive Hank the tractor |
The chicken is in the house!! Although we have already sold a bunch of our fresh chicken there is still plenty more to be had. We will start putting what's left in the freezer Saturday morning. Many of the largest wholes and cut ups have been sold, but we still have plenty of whole birds from 2.5 to 4.5 pounds and cut ups from 1.7 to 3.7 pounds. We also have chicken livers and hearts packaged in one pound bags. For you folks that like to make your own stock we have some backs and feet as well. I want to apologize to the customers that came in around noon Wednesday to pick up their birds and they weren't here yet. They were ready for pick up a little later than noon and I had forgotten I had a dentist appointment at one. As anyone in his right mind would have, I seriously considered cancelling the dental appointment on the count of I had to pick up 117 chickens. I can hear the conversation now..."um hi it's Steve Rouse. I have an appointment in an hour. Um, I'm going to have to postpone it. I have chickens I have to pick up that are, um bagged and ready. I mean, they're dead and ready. I mean they were alive and not ready, but now, oh never mind, see you at one." Plus I got thinking, do I really want to upset a guy who attacks your mouth with a drill and an assortment of sharp instruments?
Tomatoes are slowing down, but surprisingly enough, the heirlooms, cherokee purples and brandywines seem to be holding on a little better than the standard big beefs. Squash is all but done, but our fall squash and cucumber experiment is coming along nicely. They are all up and the warmer weather has been their friend. We do have to say, however, that many of the other fall crops are having a hard time because we have had no rain since they have been planted. We have been watering, but it's not the same as rain water for the plants. We are doing our first taste test of this year's sweet potatoes tonight. If they taste sweet, we will have them available this weekend. If not, will wait another week and taste test again. This week's bounty:Sweet CornTomatoes Garlic Beets Chicken Eggs Local Raw Honey Red Potatoes Basil Green Beans (Picking Saturday Morning) Arugula | ||
|
| |
