Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Farm Update


As many of you know, we didn't plant a huge amount of produce this year. We really wanted to see how operating the farm with just road customers and customers from our mailing list would work before jumping in with both feet and deciding what the future would hold, the CSA or what we're experimenting with this year. We will make that decision at the end of the season. Any comments from any of you would be appreciated and could certainly have an effect on which direction we go.

We may not have planted our usual amount and variety of things this year, but as far as the tomatoes we did. The tomatoes are beginning to come in nicely and we offer all of them for $1.49 per pound. The heirloom varieties we have are: Cherokee Purple, Paul Robeson, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Caspian Pink, Amish Paste and I'm sure I'm forgetting a couple. The more traditional tomatoes we have are: Big Beef, Better Boy, Early Girl, Celebrity, Roma, San Marzano.

We will have corn this weekend from the Miller Farm in White Hall, Friday afternoon through Sunday.

A few blueberries remain to pick, but this will probably be the last week.

Available this week:

Tomatoes
Carrots
Potatoes
Onions
Cantaloupe
Beets
Green Beans
Turnips
Blueberries

Plenty of our chicken in the freezer and next week we will have fresh again.

Vicky and Steve

Wednesday, July 25, 2012

Farm Update


The tomatoes are ripening a little at a time and many folks are trying an heirloom tomato for the first time. We have had Cherokee purples and a few Brandywines and mortgage lifters. They aren't the beautiful perfect tomato that has been picked green and gassed to ripen in transit to your grocery store and tastes like nothing. They have the most incredible fresh tomato taste you can find. We are getting a few more each day.

If you're still in the blueberry picking mood, the last couple rows of bushes have a lot of berries on them and they seem a little less tart than they were a week ago. Don't waste time getting over here though, this should be it for blueberries.

Now available

Blueberries
Tomatoes
Green Beans
Zucchini
Potatoes
Turnip
Carrots
Beets
Green Peppers
Jimmy Nardello sweet frying peppers
Onions

Believe it or not, we will begin to plant crops for fall in the next couple of weeks. Things like lettuces, spinach, radish, kale, broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, Chinese cabbage, potatoes, etc.

We should have some cantaloupes and honeydews soon.

Don't forget we will have corn from Friday afternoon through Sunday this weekend.

Vicky and Steve

Thursday, July 19, 2012

Farm Update and Corn this Weekend


What is with the tomatoes???? It seems like every one we talk to is in the same boat we are, the tomatoes just won't ripen. My best educated guess is that it's just been to many unending days of extreme heat. Yes, tomatoes love the hot weather, but 95-100 degrees day after day may be too much. The plants are loaded with beautiful green tomatoes, but the ripe ones are very slow to come.

We will have corn Friday afternoon through Sunday (or until it's all gone). The delicious silver king white sweet corn comes from our friends at Maple Border Farm in While Hall.

We have a freezer full of our chicken, whole, whole cut up, legs and wings, but have sold out of breasts and thighs. The next date for fresh chicken will be 8/9 and we'll have another bunch of breasts and thighs then.

Also available now at the farm:

Green Beans
Summer Squash
Zucchini
Turnips
Beets
Herbs
Potatoes (numerous varieties)
Onions
Green Peppers
Tomatoes ( limited supply)

See you soon!

Vicky and Steve

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Fresh Chicken and Farm Update


We will have our latest batch of fresh chicken beginning Thursday at noon and running through Sunday evening. Whole, whole cut up, boneless breasts, wings, thighs, legs, along with some organ meat as well. We always have chicken available, but these are the times you can get it fresh not frozen.

There has been some blueberry picking the last few days as the late producing bushes are slowly ripening. If you want to come and pick, call first and I'll take a look for you before you come.

The green beans have arrived and are beautiful. We are sold out at the moment, but will pick Friday.

We are getting a few more tomatoes each day and hope to have a few to sell this weekend, that is if we can stop eating them!

We have pulled some of our carrots and they are now available and the potatoes, oh the potatoes, probably the best crop of potatoes in 5 years! Our large sweet onions are beginning to find their way into the crates along with green peppers.

So available now:

Carrots
Potatoes (Yukon Gold, Prairie Blush, Kennebec, Buttes, for baking, and Red Norlands)
Green Beans
Beets
Summer Squash
Garlic
Onions
Cucumbers
Herbs
Blueberries (you pick)
Green Peppers
The first of the tomatoes hopefully this weekend.

Please call the farm if you have any questions 410-215-6776

Thanks!


Vicky and Steve

Friday, July 6, 2012

Farm Update


If there is a God please come and take some of these squash, zucchini and cucumbers off our hands. We even tried zucchini smoothies, just to use some up!

The late season blueberries are sure taking their time ripening, but it looks like there could be some picking this weekend. I was up there a few minutes ago and there's a decent amount with more ripening each day.

Vicky is on the warpath as it looks like, from initial reports from the front, that the rabbit army has attacked many of the early tomatoes. Just a bite or two out of many. I told her not to worry because once the tomatoes really start coming, not even the rabbits will be able to keep up.

Just a reminder that we will have another fresh chicken weekend beginning next Thursday afternoon 7/12. We keep the chicken fresh in the coolers until Sunday when it goes into the freezer.

Produce available now at the farm:

Prairie Blush Potatoes (yukon gold/red)
Garlic (we grow Music garlic)
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Zephyr (yellow zucchini with a green bottom)
Spring Onions (getting larger and beautiful)
Cucumbers
Blueberries (you pick)
Beets
Herbs (basil, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, oregano)
Turnips
Arugula

Hope to see you Down on the Farm!


Vicky and Steve

Monday, July 2, 2012

Potatoes!!


Vicky mentioned she was making chicken marsala with Rousedale farm chicken breasts, of course, and wanted me to check on our potatoes out in the field as she wanted to make mashed potatoes. We've been suffering with store bought potatoes ever since our stash from last summer ran out. Let me tell you, there is a difference. Once you have fresh organic potatoes even the store bought organics just don't cut it. Well, the potato plants have been starting to die back a bit, which is a sure sign that the spuds in the ground are about ready, so with shovel in hand I headed up to check. The first plant I dug up was loaded with beautiful Prairie Blush potatoes. These are our personal favorite, a cross between a red and Yukon gold. These were developed at Wood Prairie Farm, an organic potato farm in Maine. When the Prairie Blush was first entered in the new potato category at a potato convention at the convention center in, believe it or not, Baltimore a few years ago, it won first place!! They are really good. Anyway, she was thrilled when I came back with a basket full of potatoes and I was thrilled eating them for dinner.

Available now:

Prairie Blush Potatoes
Beets (both "cylindra" shaped like a log and regular)
Zucchini
Yellow Squash
Cucumbers
Turnips
Garlic
Arugula

I think we may have blueberries again by the weekend, green beans in about a week, and tomatoes in a week to ten days.

Vicky and Steve