Farm Update

Down on the Farm Just got a read out on our solar panels control box that said, "What is the bright thing shining down on us?" Has it been extremely cloudy in the last month or is it me? I just looked out the window and saw a couple of the egg layer chickens laying on their backs with their wings stretched out to the side. When I went out to take a picture for our face book page, one of the chickens got up holding something with it's foot. It was sun block. She motioned with her head for me to rub some on her. Apparently they have missed the sun as well. FYI, it's tough to rub that stuff on feathers. Anyway, speaking of chickens we have our last batch of meat birds done and fresh in the cooler today through the weekend. What's not sold this week will go into the freezer. We should have birds for sale through much of the winter until we begin again in the spring. Cash, check or credit card. We are selling firewood. We have any amount you would like. We have small bundles that will give you two or three nice fires in your fireplace. I guarantee this wood will start and burn beautifully. We still have beets available Honey and eggs always. Open 10-6 each day. Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and thanks again for allowing us to be your farmer!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Don't wait to order your apples!!

Down on the Farm We hope everyone is staying warm with this unexpected blast from the north! I don't think our wood stoves have been this cranked this early ever! Let's hope this is a freakish happening and not the start of a brutal winter. Some of you have asked whether we were going to make another apple and cider run to Oyler's Organic Orchard in Pa. before Thanksgiving. Since we went through our cider in approximately 3 minutes, we have decided to make another run. HOWEVER!!!!!! TIME IS OF THE ESSENCE!! WE NEED YOUR ORDERS BY MIDNIGHT TOMORROW NIGHT 11/21! Available: York, Enterprise and Gold Rush apples at $2.75 per pound The best cider in the world at $9.50 a gallon or $6 a half gallon. For the new folks who have just signed up for our news letter there is more information on the apples and cider on our last web site post at www.rousedalefarm.com Apples are all organic, as is the cider. The cider is not pasteurized, so it has a use by date on it. However it freezes very well. We will be open Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for you to pick up and pay. Credit card, cash or check. Stay warm.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Last Week of the Season

Down on the Farm This will be the last week that our market will be open. Sunday will be the last day for 2014. It's been a blast and thank you all for choosing us to be your farmer! Apples and cider are here, so if you ordered, please pick up during business hours through Sunday. A couple of things since we will be closing at the end of business Sunday. 1...We will go back to self serve for eggs and honey. Eggs and honey will be available everyday of the week. The eggs will be in the normal egg cooler and the honey will be in the small refrigerator next to the egg cooler. We will have honey bears and jars of honey in various sizes with the price marked on them. The cash box will be located on the front of the display table. If the egg sign is not up on our road sign we are out of eggs. You can always call. 2...To purchase chicken or to pick up your chicken CSA chicken, please call or email to set up a time. 3...I will still send you emails to let you know when the fresh chicken is in etc. In the market this week: Winterbor Kale (curly) Red Russian Kale Toscano Kale Watermelon Radishes White Turnips Arugula Red Beets Golden Beets Salad Mix Green Peppers Hot Wax Peppers Jalapenos Carrots Broccoli (by the weekend) Cauliflower (by the weekend)\ Boston Marrow Squash (great for punkin pies) Eggs Honey 8 dollar t-shirts Thanks again for a wonderful 2014..down on the farm.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm It's Apple time again! Last year we took orders for apples and cider from Oyler's Organic Farms in Biglersville, PA. and we're doing it again. We will make the run to Oyler's if we get enough orders. A couple things I need to say before we get started..these are 100% organic apples which means they haven't been sprayed with the poison insecticides, fungicides and pesticides normal apples are sprayed with. They are not dipped in wax like most conventional apples are to keep them pretty. Thus these will not be the best looking apples you have ever seen, but they will be some of the best tasting apples you have ever eaten. We also will be bringing back cider. This is not pasteurized, so it won't last forever in your fridge. We froze a bunch last year and that is the way to keep it. This was probably the best tasting cider I've ever had. Only two apple varieties to choose from this year, York and Enterprise. York has a tart yet sweet taste and keeps well. The York taste gets sweeter and mellower over time and can store up to six months. The York is good for baking, cooking, apple sauce, cider, preserves, jams, dried apple slices and juice, as well as eating fresh. The York or York Imperial is one of the few apples that has survived for 180 years. That's what we call an heirloom! The Enterprise was developed in 1994. It's ancestors are the McIntosh, Rome Beauty and Golden Delicious. It's very disease resistant which makes it good for organic growing. It's quite tart but mellows with age. Will keep for up to 6 months and is good for eating fresh and cooking. The skin will be a little thicker than the York. The apples are $2.75 per pound and the cider is $9.50 a gallon or $6.00 a half gallon. Worth every penny. We need to have your order no later than Sunday 10/26. Remember 1 pound of apples is probably two, maybe three apples. We will have pick up at the farm next week Wednesday through Sunday. Just email your order and you can pay when you pick up. steve@rousedalefarm.com Enough of the Apple Story. In the market this week: Cabbage Broccoli Carrots Green Beans Winterbor Kale (curly) Red Russian Kale (more like a salad Kale) Toscano Kale (between the other two) Tomatoes (very few left) Red Beets Golden Beets Red Radishes Watermelon Radishes Green Peppers Hot Wax Peppers Jalapeno Peppers I Giant Boston Marrow Squash left Salad Mix Arugula White Turnips A few Butternut Squashes left Eggs Honey Chicken Rousedale Farm T-shirts are at end of season clearance just $8 each. Wow, what a great gift idea!!!! See you down on the farm!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm Could the Tomatoes really be coming to an end? Could it be? I have to sadly say that I believe this will be the last week for those luscious round, red, orbs for another year. Please don't be to depressed, we still have plenty for this week and lots more stuff! In the market this week: Tomatoes Boston Marrow Squash Red Bell Peppers Green Bell Peppers Almost all Yellow Bell Peppers Jalapenos Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers Arugula Lettuce Spinach Red Beets Golden Beets Red Radishes Watermelon Radishes Red Russian Kale Toscano (Dinosaur) Kale Winterbor Curly Kale Green Beans Butternut Squash White Turnips Carrots Honey Eggs We would love to see you this week!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm Vicky and I were gone last week.  Our thanks to Ginny and Harvey for taking care of the farm and the market.  Where did Vicky and I go??  A very tropical, beautiful spot called Ocean City. Have you heard of it?  It's a great time of year to hit OC.  If you luck out with nice weather, which we did, you have the beach to yourself practically, which we did, no waiting at restaurants, which we had, and a very relaxing time was had by all. It was a great time.  Vicky had oysters with practically every meal...enough said. From the "Everything's not always fun and games at the farm" department...We purchased 100 new layer hens to boost our egg numbers up a bit.  The new hens were sick on arrival.  We called in the Maryland Dept. of Ag and then a poultry vet to see what was happening.  The chickens had a virus that is extremely contagious to other chickens.  We had three choices: 1..Depopulate (kill) all the laying hens 2..Vaccinate all our layers and then feed them antibiotics 3..Let nature take it's course.. We decided on number three.  Obviously our whole point of having eggs is to have them natural without any antibiotics or medicated in any way.  The virus doesn't affect the eggs, although most of the sick chickens aren't laying anyway.  This is going to affect the amount of eggs we will be getting, but we felt this was the way to go for us.  Just wanted to let you know. We have been in contact with our friends at Oyler's Organic Orchard in P.A. to find out about getting apples, like we did last year.  They will let us know what varieties will be available in another couple of weeks.  We will let you know when we are ready to take your orders for apples and cider. In the market this week: Tomatoes Boston Marrow Squash Green Bell Peppers Red Bell Peppers Yellow Bell Peppers Jalapenos Hot Wax Peppers Arugula Lettuce Spinach Red Beets Golden Beets Red Radishes Watermelon Radishes Red Russian Kale Toscano Kale Winterbor Curly Kale Butternut Squash Japanese Eggplant Honey Eggs Chicken White Turnips Carrots If you don't see what you're looking for, please ask.  As the market isn't as busy now we are not harvesting a lot all at one time, rather a little as we go.  We probably have what you want, but may have to run out quickly and cut, pull or pick while you wait.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm The Fox 45 piece on the farm was shown on Monday night 9/15.  I thought it came out pretty good.  If you didn't see it and want to, you can go to our Facebook page and there is a link you can click on.  You can get to our Facebook page simply by clicking on "Rousedale farm on Facebook" icon on this page.  Wow!!!I just read what I just typed.  We go to pages, we click on icons, we set up links so you can click some more...10 years ago, I would have had to send out post cards to let you all know where to find the TV story about the farm! We have received 2 inches of rain in the last 18 hours. The farm really needed it bad.  I could almost hear the Fall plants moaning and groaning as I walked through the field.  In the next couple of days they all will be standing straight and have a happy look about them.  (oh my God, I need a break) Vicky has decided she wants to take over the bee keeping on the farm.  She's very focused when she takes something on.  She's been calling Cybil Preston with questions.  Cybil is a certified master bee keeper and the Maryland state bee inspector. We have Cybil's honey in our market.  Cybil is also a friend.  I'm hoping she remains one.  Vicky is reading every book I have on beekeeping.  She is taking even more books out of the library.  And she's learning through doing.  She has been feeding our bees sugar water to build up their stores of honey for the winter.  Those are the jars you see on the front of hives sometimes.  Well, if you take the jars out of their holders before the sugar water is totally gone, there will usually be a lot of bees clinging to the bottom of the jar.  This was the case two days ago and when she shook the bees off the jar, they turned on her. (it was a cold windy day, they are not happy to begin with in those conditions)  I looked out the window at just the right moment to see her sprinting across the front yard stripping her clothes off as she ran. She later explained that bees had gotten inside her hoodie and her pants.  By the time she reached the market she was down to her underwear.  I had a dollar bill ready to stick in the elastic of her underpants.  She said that it wasn't funny.  She was thankful there were no customers here at the time. In the market: Green Peppers Red Peppers Red Beets Golden Beets Red Russian Kale Curly Kale Turnips Radishes Tomatoes Sweet Corn Arugula Salad Mix Spinach(Sat & Sun ) Butternut Squash Red Mini Bell Peppers Jalapenos Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers See you soon!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm As we begin to prepare for fall here on the farm, many of the summer veggies are slowing down or done completely. Tomatoes are slowing down, onions are done completely. The winter squash is slowing down, zucchini is done completely. Corn is slowing down, garlic is done completely. I am slowing down, but I'm not done completely. We still have Fall broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, kale, lettuce, broccoli raab, and spinach still to come. Our fall planting of potatoes failed to sprout, so unfortunately we will have no more potatoes I still have no idea what happened to the TV piece Fox 45 shot here. I have left messages and emails to no avail. There are a few reasons they may not have run it: 1..The reporter got chicken poop on her high priced shoe and was mortified 2..The producers may have felt my close up shots would scare small children 3..My description of our cucumbers may have been to graphic 4..The glare from the top of my head could have ruined all the shots 5..Every time the reporter said the word Rousedale, I took a drink. In the market: Butternut Squash Spaghetti Squash Acorn Squash Green Peppers Red Mini Bell Peppers Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers Jalapeno Peppers Salad Mix Arugula Sweet Corn Tomatoes Okra Beets Honey Eggs Radishes Sweet Potatoes Remember if you want to can or freeze any corn this year, let us know a few days in advance how much you'll need and we will have it for you. Also we will be doing our organic apple buying trip soon and will be letting you know in the next few weeks what will be available and pricing. See you soon!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Week 15

Hi All,

Hard to believe we only have a couple of weeks left in this year's CSA. This week red potatoes are back in the share and we have upped the number of mini red peppers. A lot of folks have used them for ka-bobs on the grill. I thought that was a great idea for these sweet little peppers. We will have some nice greens for you this week. A small head of buttercrunch or green star leaf lettuce along with a bag of our salad mix and also a small bag of arugula. The butternut squash has been nice and remember if you want to hold out until the cooler weather to enjoy the winter squash, butternut squash will store for a long time.

This week in your share:

Red Potatoes

Sweet Potatoes

Lettuces

Arugula

Green Pepper

Mini Red Peppers

Jalapenos

Hot Wax Peppers

Beets

Butternut Squash

Radishes

Tomatoes

Sweet Corn

There's a great recipe on our web site for radishes, if you have run out of uses.

Pick up tomorrow 9a-8p

See you then,

Steve

New Recipes

Our friend Jen sent us a few recipes to share.  Enjoy!

*Turnip Potato Mash

Red potatoes

Turnips

{6 potato to 3 turnip ratio- just as a guide}

1/2 cup of heated cream

1 stick of butter

1/2 cup sour cream

salt & pepper to taste

1- slice potatoes and turnips into bite size pieces and cook in boiling water until tender (15 minutes)

2- drain and whip with electric mixer

3- add hot cream, butter, and sour cream

4- blend with mixer (you can adjust the thickness with adding more or less cream if desired)

5- salt & pepper to taste

[I made this without the cream and sour cream and it was delicious. Just a lower calorie option.]

*Garlic Scape Pesto

1 pound of garlic scapes cut into 2 inch pieces

1 1/4 cups grated parmesan cheese

1 cup olive oil

1 tablespoon lemon juice

ground black pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients in food processor until smooth.

[I made this pesto for pasta. I added kale to the boiling water when I cooked my pasta as part of the dish. Once the pasta and kale were cooked I drained them and added the desired amount of pesto. Then I cut fresh tomatoes and added them to the dish.]

*Chicken Bok Choy Soup

1 tablespoon vegetable or olive oil

1 yellow onion diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups of water

4 cups chicken or vegetable stock

6 small potatoes diced

4 carrots, sliced

6 large bok choy ribs with leaves, finely chopped

2 celery stalks, sliced

2 or more skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2 inch cubes

1 bunch of kale

1 bunch of spinach

Heat oil in a large stockpot over medium heat. Cook and stir onion and garlic in the hot oil until onion is softened (about 10 mins.). Add all other ingredients EXCEPT chicken and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until vegetables are slightly tender (about 10 mins.). Now add chicken, continue to simmer until chicken is cooked thoroughly and no longer pink in the center (at least 10 mins.).

[I boiled the chicken in the 2 cups of water on the side, in a separate pot so it was cooked by the time I had to add it to the soup which cut down on the time to make this dish. I also added some ground white and red pepper to give it a kick.]

*Radish Sautee

Radishes

Red or white potatoes

Spring onions

1 tablespoon of butter

salt & pepper to taste

(Use as many of the above as desired depending on how large of a dish you want to make.)

In a skillet over low heat add the butter, salt & pepper, radishes, and onions. Sautee for about 10 mins., until brown and desired texture is achieved. In a separate pot, boil potatoes until soft. After potatoes are cooked, add them to the sautee and mix.

Week 14 of our CSA

Hi Everyone,

Into Week 14 we go and, again, a couple of new items in your shares. Butternut Squash, watermelon and mini red bell peppers. I love to steam the butternut squash, mash it like potatoes, add butter, salt and pepper and then the secret ingredient....a little maple syrup! Bake it until slightly brown on top and enjoy the sweet treat. Speaking of sweet, the mini red bell peppers will surprise you when you taste them. They are incredibly sweet and not a lot of pepper taste. You'll also get a jalapeno in your basket of peppers this week. I've found a lot of customers in the market purchase one or two jalapenos to add to a salsa, etc.

Make sure you have sturdy handles on your bags as this weeks share will have some poundage with the "Sugar Baby" watermelon and large butternut squash.

The summer radishes are large and have some heat to them. They won't blow the top of your head off, but expect a little fire.

In your shares this week:

Butternut Squash

Watermelon

Sweet Corn

Onions

Green Pepper

Hot Wax Peppers

Jalapeno Pepper

Mini Red Belles

Tomatoes

Beets

Spinach

Radishes

Just a heads up....our hours will change a bit for the Fall beginning next week. Your pick up time will not change. Wednesdays 9a-8p.

See you tomorrow!

Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm Excitement at the farm yesterday! Reporter Melinda Roeder and cameraman Brian from Baltimore's Fox 45 dropped by for a while. Melinda told me to do what I would normally do and they would just follow me around, get some shots and chat. I was planning to do some work in one of the chicken coops. I glanced down at Melinda's open sandal type shoes and thought maybe I should change my plan. I took them out to one of the fields that we were preparing for winter. The soil had just been fertilized with chicken manure and I looked at Melinda's shoes. I made a detour to the bee hives and for some reason many of the bees were in front of the hives in the grass...and I looked at Melinda's shoes. Then I had a brilliant idea. Let's put Melinda on the tractor and teach her to drive it! She was game, so up she climbed into the driver's seat. I explained the basic fundamentals and off she went across the field. When her short trek came to an end, I, as any gentleman would, said, "let me help you down". Melinda said, "I'm fine" and proceeded to step down directly on a rotten tomato. I quickly regained some of the composure that I had just lost and said,"Ah, that's an heirloom tomato, so if you save those seeds that are now stuck to your shoes, you can plant them next year!" She passed on being a seed saver and I hosed off her shoe. The story will air probably Tuesday night. Speaking of heirloom tomatoes..it's hard to believe that they are really slowing down already. We still have plenty of tomatoes, but not as many heirlooms as a couple of weeks ago. Some of the winter squashes are beginning to ripen and come into the market. Butternut and delicata squashes are available now, but many of the summer items are beginning to fade. Green beans will return in a couple of weeks. Our last area of beans were inundated with bean beetles and most of the beans were lost. In the market: Tomatoes Butternut Squash Delicata Squash Beets Patty Pan Squash Zucchini Onions Sweet Corn Mini Red Bell Peppers Green peppers Hot Wax Peppers Radishes Cherry Tomatoes Honey Chicken Eggs Hope you all have a great holiday weekend!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Week 12

CSA'ers,

Your shares this week will include sweet potatoes and maybe a melon. Let me explain....Our sweet potatoes were harvested last week. Sweet potatoes need to cure a few weeks for the enzymes in the potato to develop the sugars for that sweet potato taste. If you cook up one of these sweet potatoes now, it won't taste like much of anything. So, as you receive sweet potatoes the next couple of weeks, I would set them aside in a cool dry spot and let them sit for 4-5 weeks. The longer you wait, the sweeter they will be.

On the melon front....We had such a hard time with our melons this year for a number of reasons, that I don't need to bore you with. The melons are coming in slowly and their numbers are not great. I thought what we would do is spread the melons, cantaloupe or watermelon, over a few weeks. That way everyone will get at least one. We will take our CSA list and the first five on the list this week will get a melon. Next week the next group and so on.

As you know the Hot Wax pepper's heat increases a bit each week. You'll also get a Long Hot pepper. The heat factor for the long hots is equivalent to a jalapeno.

This week in your share:

Potatoes (a red and white mixed quart)

Sweet Corn

Sweet Potatoes

Spring Onions

Sweet Onions

Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers

Green Pepper

Long Hot Pepper

Salad Mix

Spinach

Tomatoes

Garlic

Zucchini/summer squash

Green Beans

Melon (maybe)

Pick up Wednesday 9a-8p

See you tomorrow.

Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm Strange and interesting things consistently happen here on the farm.  Take for instance yesterday...Fall seeds were being planted.   Tomatoes were being harvested and so were beans.  Farmhand Harvey's friend Nicole visited to pick up a few things from the market and to talk to Harvey for a bit.  When she walked into the market she looked stunning.  Beautiful dress, heels, the whole thing.  I asked her why the dress up and she told me she had just been on a job interview.  After our chat, I pointed out to the bean area and said she could probably find Harvey out there.  A couple of hours had passed and I noticed Nicole's car was still in the parking lot.  I thought I had better check to make sure everything was OK.  When I got to the bean field, there they were both picking beans!  Harvey in his grubby farm clothes and Nicole in a cocktail dress and heels!  I casually commented that she was the best smelling field worker we've ever had. Harvey took offense, and immediately reached into his work bag for his Mennen's Speed Stick.  I, of course, have now instituted a new dress code for workers here at the farm.  Woman must where cocktail dresses and men in black tie. After many fierce bargaining sessions, I have caved a little to allow the guys to cut off their black pants to shorts level on the hotter days. In the Market: Tomatoes Sweet Corn Beets Turnips Green Beans Zucchini Yellow Squash Red Onions White Onions White Potatoes Red Potatoes Prairie Blush Potatoes Green Peppers Hungarian Hot Wax Peppers Jalapenos Spring Onions Cucumbers Garlic Eggplant Eggs Honey Herbs Also, I keep forgetting to mention our mint assortment.  We have mojito, chocolate, peppermint, spearmint, apple and lemon mint. We should have fresh chicken by the end of next week. See you soon!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm As many of you know, last year we had a heck of a time with raccoons. I trapped 5, over the course of a few nights, in our "catch and release" trap. It seemed to end the problem and we have had no signs of raccoon carnage on the chickens this year. We have, however, had problems with a great horned owl that has been doing some chicken hunting at dusk before the chickens are closed up for the night. It's a beautiful bird with a huge wing span, but inflicts instant death on his or her chicken of choice. I decided to try the trap on the owl. I grabbed the trap from the barn, stumbled into the edge of the forest where the coop is, put in my bait (remnants of a prior owl attack), set the trap and waited for action. After the first night..nothing. After the second night....nothing. Checking the trap on the third morning, I could tell the trap door was shut as I approached. I thought,"Wow I got 'em!" I could see something moving in the trap as I got closer. My heart pounded with anticipation. I was at the trap, I looked down and I had trapped.....a chicken!! I couldn't believe it! Apparently a chicken had made it's way into the trap the prior evening and spent the night behind bars. I figured, well at least she was safe from the owl. Tomatoes are finally coming!! A few are ripening everyday. Mostly Heirlooms at the moment. The good news is we have some tomatoes in the market! Along with the tomatoes you will find: Sweet white onions Red onions Sweet corn Red potatoes White potatoes Prairie Blush potatoes (our favorite-a cross between a red and yukon gold) Cucumbers Beets Green peppers Hungarian Hot Wax peppers( more like a banana pepper now, will get hotter as it matures) Turnips Radishes Egg Plant Summer squash Garlic Jalapeno peppers Chicken Eggs Honey We have our fresh chicken in the cooler through Saturday. We also have some frozen thighs, wings and drumsticks available.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Week 9

Hi,

Jeez, I almost forgot about the weekly CSA email. After watching the Orioles win in the 11th, I knew there was something else to be done.

Tomatoes are beginning! Just beginning, that's why there will only be one tomato in your share this week, but it's a start. It seemed so great to have that first tomato sandwich a couple of days ago. Hungarian Hot Wax peppers are in the share this week. At this stage of their growth they are not hot at all. You can use them more like a banana pepper. Once they get a little more mature they have a little bit of heat. If you get one that is beginning to turn color from the yellow green to orange or red, you will have a little heat.

This week:

Salad Mix

Green Pepper

Hot Wax Peppers

White Potatoes

Red Potatoes

Beets

White Onions

Red Onions

Cucumbers

Tomato

Sweet Corn

Garlic

See you tomorrow!

Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm We can't believe that we are winding our way to the end of July already and we're still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen!! We're predicting by the end of next week we should be able to start picking a few. We have cherry tomatoes and a very few of the heirloom tomatoes, so they're just beginning. We are a full week behind last year at this point. With all our farmhands this year, friendships develop, customs begin, nicknames pop up, etc. Tina brought a fresh picked raspberry pie a week ago Tuesday. I smartly declared Tuesday as "Pie Day" the rest of the season. We have "No Sweat" Matt2. We have "Apples" That's Jeffrey who made an apple pie week 2 of Pie Day. We have Harvey "H-Bomb" We have "The Queen" That's Annabel who's English. And Ginny received her nickname this week with much grace and a description of how and when nicknames came to be. Ginny, who can tell you something about just about anything has been dubbed "Wikiginia" a play on the on-line encyclopedia "Wikipedia" This week at the farm: Beets Salad Mix Arugula Red Potatoes White Potatoes Onions Garlic Cucumbers Summer Squash Green Peppers Jalapenos Turnips Sweet Corn Cherry Tomatoes Egg Plant Cabbage Radishes Eggs (get here early) Honey Have a great weekend!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Farm Update

Down on the Farm We are up to our ears in green beans at the moment. We have tried every bean recipe known to man. Bean pudding, bean tacos, bean ice cream, bean cheese, etc. We have tried to do a bean mosaic art piece along the drive, but the chickens ate it. We have whittled the ends off to make them sharp like darts for the new bean dart game, but contestants kept snacking on them. We have paved pathways around the farm with beans, but they don't hold up to work shoes. We have chartered an airplane out of Fallston International Airport and dropped them from the sky, but were promptly arrested for littering. So.......what we have decided to do is to have an incredible bean sale this weekend, today, Saturday and Sunday. This weekend our fabulous fresh green beans will be at almost giveaway prices. They were $3.99 per quart/pound. This weekend $1.99 per qt/pd or two for $3. You can't beat that price with a bean stick! Also at our farm market: Red Potatoes White Potatoes Kale Egg Plant Sweet Corn Cabbage Cucumbers Summer Squash Zucchini Salad Mix Spinach Arugula Green Peppers Jalapeno Peppers Carrots Beets Herbs Eggs Honey Still waiting for the tomatoes to ripen. We are supplying Fallston's new restaurant, Acappela, with a lot of our fresh produce. They even had an organic salad on the menu this week! See you down on the farm.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Week 7

Hey CSAer's,

OK, I'm putting my earplugs in, there I'm ready......You will get no turnips this week!!!! I still heard you cheering.

After our initial beet planting failed, our second planting is coming in this week. Squashes are slowing a bit. Many of our market customers have asked how we could have spinach and lettuce this time of year. The answer is, I know they don't like the hot weather, but I wanted to try anyway and found a couple of shadier spots and it's working. Pretty much just one cutting of the spinach, because it bolts (goes to seed) almost immediatley in the hot weather. You will be getting only a small amount of arugula this week, but I think this is the tastiest, most tender, perfect sized arurgula ever.

We have taken the time to rinse off many of the greens. With all the rain in the last couple of days, it was extremely dirty. You, as always, will have to wash again, but we got the first layer off for you.

This week your share includes:

Beets

White Potatoes

Red Potatoes

Summer Squash

Zucchini

Carrots

Salad Mix

Spinach

Arugula

Green Beans

Kale-Red Russian

Cucumbers

Sweet Corn-Your choice

Herbs are always available. Tomatoes coming soon!!

See you tomorrow. 9a-8p for pick up.

Steve

Farm Update

What's Going On This Week It's really interesting how different we all are. Not just our personalities, but also our physical make up. We have such a great group of Rousekateers that work on the farm with us, we consider ourselves very fortunate. There's the A girls, Amber, Abigail, Ashleigh and Annabel. Tina, of course, she's been here for a number of years. Tiffany, the early morning phantom worker. Ginny, who has been here almost a year now. Harvey, who can fix and do about anything, Jeffrey and the two Matts, Matt one and Matt two. There's some farm talk that Matt 2 may not be a humanoid. Robot? Maybe. Alien? Highly likely. Why do we wonder about Matt 2? The man never sweats! He absolutely could care less if it's a thousand degrees or 50 degrees. Today we were all out in the fields, it was hot! Everyone was moving a little slower than normal, except Matt 2. Everyone's clothing was soaking wet, except Matt 2's. I saw sweat dripping off the noses of everyone, except Matt 2. As I was walking out to the field with him after a drink break, I said to him,"Good God Matt 2 it's almost unbearable out here today!" Matt 2's reply,"It's not that bad, what is it like 82?" I said,"Dude it's 93 degrees out here in the sun and humidity. The heat index is probably above 100 degrees!" He said,"Yea, I can see you're really sweating and you might want to consider a shower soon." I've also noticed his skin never changes color, even though he's in the sun everyday. I've decided, tomorrow I'm going to push him in the farm pond. If he sparks a little and goes up in a puff of smoke, we know my hunch was right. Keep you posted. This week at the market: Sweet Corn Carrots Red Potatoes Egg Plant Sugar Snap Peas Green Beans Cabbage Zucchini Summer Squash Lacinto Kale Spinach Cucumbers Swiss Chard Herbs Honey Eggs As you know, all of our produce is grown organically. The sweet corn is from another farm and grown conventionally. We hope to have some organic corn later in the season.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Heat Index:1018 degrees! Whoa Nelly it's hot. When I lived in Maine the natives would say,"It's a real scawchaw out they-aw, a-ya." That meant it was hot, a real scorcher out there, yes. A couple of news notes: The new restaurant in Fallston, Acappella, is using some of our produce and also Hayfields Country Club in Hunt Valley! In the Rousedale market this week: Green Beans Black Raspberries Sugar Snap Peas Napa Cabbage Summer Squash Zucchini Cucumbers (regular and English) Regular Cabbage Swiss Chard Leaf Lettuce Turnips Red Russian Kale See you soon!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

Week 5

Hi Everyone,

I'll find any excuse to come inside today and get out of the heat! When everyone asked where I was going, I said I had to go and send our CSA members week 5 info. Thank you for being here for me!! 

This week you will find in your shares:

Napa Cabbage (the Kim Chi cabbage)

Cucumbers

Red Russian Kale

Leaf Lettuce

Yellow Squash

Zucchini

Zephyr (the yellow and green squash)

Turnips (best of the season so far)

Swiss Chard

Blueberries (pick your own)

Herbs (in the market so you can take whatever you would like)

We will have string beans for next week and they are delicious!!

See you tomorrow!

Steve

Week 4

I forgot to post week four and five. So....

Hi CSA'ers,

Week four is here and away we go!

A couple of new and different items this week. Some of our romaine lettuce has now grown into heads, so you will be getting a head and also a bag of another variety of Romaine leaf lettuce. Our salad mix lettuce is slow coming due to the warmer weather last week. New arugula has been planted and should be ready in three to four weeks.

This is your first week with Swiss chard. Chard is used a lot in Mediterranean cooking and is one of the healthiest greens. This week you get the plain green chard. Next week you should get the "bright lights" chard. It's beautiful with a multitude of different colored stems. Cabbage is a new addition this week. Not a lot to say about it....it's cabbage. We are also throwing in what I will call a "herb medley". It's 2 or 3 stalks of various herbs from the herb garden. Could be oregano, basil, curly parsley, Italian parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (start singing here) tarragon, lemon thyme etc. We will let you know what you have when you pick up.

Our blueberries are ripening each day and are ready to pick. You guys get first dibs on picking tomorrow. Your share will include a pint of pick your own blueberries. More are available at $4 per pound.

In your share this week:

PYO Blueberries

Zucchini

Yellow squash

Zephyr (a yellow and green summer squash maybe slightly sweeter taste)

Swiss Chard

Cabbage

Curly Kale

Romaine Head

Romaine Leaf

Radish

Turnips

The exclusive purple heirloom cauliflower

Herb Medley

Steve, Vicky and Crew

Farm Update

Here's what's happening down on the farm. It's a shocking thing when customers come into the market and ask , who ever is working at the time, if he or she is my son or daughter! It happened again today. When someone asked if Annabel, our morning shop keeper, was my daughter. Annabel is a lovely English woman with a daughter in college and two high school kids. We all laughed, guffawed, chortled, snickered, chuckled, giggled and there may have even been a titter. I was caught off guard with the question, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized my surprise shouldn't have been a surprise at all. I guess, in my mind, we were around the same age. Thus the laughter when someone suggested that she was my daughter. Imagine my devastation when I came inside to type up this newsletter and suddenly realized...the laugh was on me, she could be my daughter!! I hate surprises like that. There's nothing good that can come from them. That's why, after I'm done writing this, I'm going to take a bath in Epsom salts, try to avoid looking at my naked body in the bathroom mirror and lay down for a while. On a happier note... More good veggies are coming in at the farm. This week we have: Cucumbers Carrots Cabbage Summer Squash Zucchini Kale (curly and red Russian) Radishes Bok Choy Turnips Leaf lettuce Garlic scapes Purple heirloom cauliflower I'm off to check my AARP card for benefits.

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

CSA Week 3

Hi Everyone,

As I sit here sweating all over the keyboard, I keep reminding myself how much I love this life. 92 degrees at the moment here at the farm and most of your CSA share is being sorted and bunched or bagged by Tina and Ginny with some help from new farm helper Annabel. I, on the other hand, am planning to sneak off to the farm pond as soon as this email is complete for a nice soothing dip.

I have to make a Cauliflower statement..... When the heads of the cauliflower get sun on them they start to turn slightly purple. This would be the normal cauliflower color if it were not for the leaves curling up and around the heads to blanch them white. Many of our head's leaves did not cooperate in the blanching department. Thus a purple cast to your cauliflower. It has been tested in the Rousedale test kitchens and has been deemed to taste just like cauliflower. When you cook it, it turns a little gray. Some have roasted it where there is no color variation. Some have just cooked it their normal way and gone with it and some have made a delectible cheese sauce to mix in with it. Just want you to know it's fine and taste good. I could make up an incredible story about the heirloom purple cauliflower grown on American soil for the first time since 1754. The most nutritional vegetable ever and blah, blah, blah. I'd rather go with the truth.

In your bags this week:

The incredible heirloom Purple Cauliflower

Bok Choy

Summer Squashees (little)

Leaf Lettuce

Spinach

Curly Kale

Spring Onions

Radishes (they are big, but still excellent)

Perpetual Spinach (chard type green)

Garlic scapes

Turnips

Don't forget the availability of our herb garden as well!

See you tomorrow,

Steve

Farm Update

Here's what's happening down on the farm. Wow, what a soggy week! Sloshing around this week I noticed a couple of things. 1..Things were really starting to take off in the fields. Potatoes, tomatoes, beans, greens etc. And 2.. Our honey bees were missing pollinating the squash flowers all together. I felt that since I single handedly pollinated the squash myself last year, the bees felt that they may not be up to the pollinating standards that I achieved. As I was pontificating on the subject, Vicky said that she would help pollinate if she didn't have to listen to any more "of this!". Well, she ended up doing all the pollination and must have done a great job because we may have some yellow squash and zucchini for the weekend. She asked why I hadn't helped with the pollination this year and I told her years ago I could pollinate 15, 20 or 30 plants at a time, now after one or two I feel like I need a nap. Available at the farm: Summer squash Zucchini Kale Leaf lettuce (variety) Iceberg Lettuce Radishes Spring onions Strawberries(call first) Sugar Snap Peas Honey Eggs We are looking for a couple of things: Growers of organic produce and workers. Demand is growing all the time for clean, healthy, organic produce. We would love to have a group of community folks contributing to the farm. Let's us know if you're interested. We are also looking for people to help around the farm. Looking for: Bright eyed, bushy-tailed, self-starter, eager-beaver, situationally aware, go-get-‘em, teachable, positive, non-complaining, grateful, rejoicing, get’erdone, dependable, faithful, perseverant, and take responsibility types of individuals. With an interest in organic farming, self sufficiency and sustainability. Could be field work. Could be work in the market. Check out our face book page for "Pet of the Week" Hours:  Tuesday-Sunday 10-7.  Open at 8am Saturday.  Closed Monday

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

CSA Week 2

Hi everyone,

Week two is upon us already! Hope you feel so much healthier with all the greens you ate in the past week. I also hope you realized that you have to wash everything. I always seem to forget to tell you all to "wash everything!" when you pick up your share. Many of the greens will need a REAL good washing after the rain last night.

Many of the same items this week in your share. Asparagus is really slowing down at this point, but we should be able to get a bit to you. Turnips will be added this week. The Hakura white turnips you'll get are my favorite. Mild taste and solid. A sugary glaze. like glazed carrots, sliced and fried can't be beat!

This week:

Broccoli

Radishes (wow, they're getting bigger)

Turnips

Leaf lettuce

Iceberg Lettuce

Spinach

Red Russian Kale

Spring Onions (red and white)

Garlic Scapes

Asparagus

See you tomorrow 9-8!

Steve

Farm Update

Friday already?? Wow, where did the week go....Let's get right to business.  Well, let's not immediately.  Let's talk about farmhand Harvey who was helping me with morning chicken chores yesterday.  It had rained Tuesday night and I warned Harvey to watch his step around the outside feed barrel as it was slippery.  He was bringing in two heaping scoops of chicken feed, one in each hand, when I heard this sliding sound and then a muffled word or two.  I turned around and Harvey had righted himself from his fall, but his face looked like it was hit by a powder puff.  I've never seen a man spit so profusely in my life as he attempted to dislodge all the chicken feed that ended up in his mouth.  I asked him how it tasted, as I hadn't yet had the honor of tasting chicken feed.  He said it really didn't taste like much of anything.  So now we know. The greens are coming in at the farm this week.  Available: Arugula Iceberg Lettuce Leaf Lettuce-a romaine type Red Russian Kale Spinach Garlic Scapes Also: Radishes Spring Onions Asparagus(slowing down) Strawberries(call first) Eggs Chicken Herb Plants(last week for them) Remember if you would like honey, other than a honey bear, bring you own container and we will fill it up.  It's a little cheaper that way too!

Locally Yours, Vicky and Steve

CSA Week 1

Hi Everyone,

And the journey begins!! This is week one of our 17 week CSA. We are so happy that you have joined us this season and hope that you find our offerings to your liking.

A couple of things before we get started:

If you ever have a problem with ANYTHING concerning the CSA please tell us!

If you ever would like more of some item, let us know. If we have extra you will get it.

Pick up day is Wednesday 9-8 at the farm.

You can use our crates for your produce or your own container or bag. Our wooden half bushel crates work well. You will have the responsiblilty, however, to bring the crate back each week. There will be a $25 deposit for the use of two crates through the season that will be refunded to you at the end.

Your week one shares should (anything can happen between now and Wednesday) include:

Broccoli

Spring Onions

Radishes

Young Red Russian Kale

Spinach

Iceberg lettuce

Snap Peas

Chives

Arugula

Asparagus

We're looking forward to a great year!

Vicky, Steve and our farmhands Ginny, Tina, Amber, Abigail and Harvey