More bok choy is on the way! This is similar to napa cabbage salad, yummy with sesame seed and sunflower seeds also. I would recomend slicing the larger ribs of the bok choy like celery for this salad.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Farm Tour and Charleston Farmers Market Growers Associaiton
Happy Spring Everyone!
Things are moving right along at the farm, and we have several crops ready to pick. The spinach this years is great- it must be this prolonged cool weather. We are hosting a Charleston Farmers Market Growers Association farm tour this Saturday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. The CFMGA pledges to grow 100% of what they sell, no resale of produce. We will tour the farm and answer any questions you may have about local produce.
We will have produce ready for a pick-up after the tour (maybe 30 min, depends on the discussions) and you can take your first 2011 share home with you. For those of you that cannot make it on Saturday, you can pick-up your produce on Sunday afternoon, I was thinking between 1-3 (let me know if it does not work for you). Once we meet with everyone, and get things started I think it would be a good idea to have you come out to the farm every other Sunday for produce, and I will bring it to town on the alternate Sunday's - we can share the travel expense that way - let me know what you think of that.
Shares this week should include:
Salad mix (lettuce, baby beet greens, bok choi, spinach, baby kale, baby Swiss chard)
Bok Choi for stir fry, whole babies
Spinach
Lettuce
Asparagus (we should have enough for everyone, if not we will do half of you next week)
Hope to see everyone this weekend!
Kim
Things are moving right along at the farm, and we have several crops ready to pick. The spinach this years is great- it must be this prolonged cool weather. We are hosting a Charleston Farmers Market Growers Association farm tour this Saturday, May 21 at 10:00 a.m. The CFMGA pledges to grow 100% of what they sell, no resale of produce. We will tour the farm and answer any questions you may have about local produce.
We will have produce ready for a pick-up after the tour (maybe 30 min, depends on the discussions) and you can take your first 2011 share home with you. For those of you that cannot make it on Saturday, you can pick-up your produce on Sunday afternoon, I was thinking between 1-3 (let me know if it does not work for you). Once we meet with everyone, and get things started I think it would be a good idea to have you come out to the farm every other Sunday for produce, and I will bring it to town on the alternate Sunday's - we can share the travel expense that way - let me know what you think of that.
Shares this week should include:
Salad mix (lettuce, baby beet greens, bok choi, spinach, baby kale, baby Swiss chard)
Bok Choi for stir fry, whole babies
Spinach
Lettuce
Asparagus (we should have enough for everyone, if not we will do half of you next week)
Hope to see everyone this weekend!
Kim
Thursday, April 7, 2011
Spring has arrived!
It seems as if spring has had a hard time getting here this year. The soil had a hard time drying out due to the cool weather. We were lucky to have out potatoes in by the end of March, and over half of the garden is planted.
In the ground so far:
beets, carrots, peas, potatoes, spinach, onions, leeks, bok choi, pac choi, kale, chard, lettuce, arugula, and raab.
The greenhouse is full of plants, many ready to go out. We set out 350 cabbage plants last night. My dad also had the big tractor out to plant the sweetcorn, it is early but we decided to gamble it. We could have some of the earliest SC in the county, or it could rot in the ground with cool cold weather. I am hoping for the first. I have a good feeling and it plants better with the larger equipment, 8 rows at a time.
Many of our warm weather crop are seedlings and will be ready to go out in a couple weeks. Everything looks so good so far!
We got some exciting news, NRCS is funding us a hoop house, 20' x 50' and I will be purchasing it this week. This hoop house will extend our season, primarily for growing greens into the winter. Last year we purchased 2 low tunnel systems and overwintered mustard, kale, broccoli, cabbage and napa cabbage. It overwintered and is ready to pick right now. If I can do that with 2 - 4' x 50' hoops, imaging what we can do with a big one. We also purchased a used greenhouse, 20' x 50' a few weeks ago from a retiring farm in Casey. It was the coldest day ever for my dad and Ken and I to load that up. We have almost outgrown our greenhouse, so this big one is my dream come true 10 times over. Very exciting.
All the chicks arrived from the hatchery, and we have a really cool assortment of pullets - egg layers. We also have 14 turkeys, bronze breasted. And they have been hatching out of our incubator non-stop for several weeks. We are overrun with birds right now, and they are smelly, stinking up my sunroom.
We are filling up fast, and have a few spots open, then it will be to wait and see what the weather brings!
See ya all soon!
In the ground so far:
beets, carrots, peas, potatoes, spinach, onions, leeks, bok choi, pac choi, kale, chard, lettuce, arugula, and raab.
The greenhouse is full of plants, many ready to go out. We set out 350 cabbage plants last night. My dad also had the big tractor out to plant the sweetcorn, it is early but we decided to gamble it. We could have some of the earliest SC in the county, or it could rot in the ground with cool cold weather. I am hoping for the first. I have a good feeling and it plants better with the larger equipment, 8 rows at a time.
Many of our warm weather crop are seedlings and will be ready to go out in a couple weeks. Everything looks so good so far!
We got some exciting news, NRCS is funding us a hoop house, 20' x 50' and I will be purchasing it this week. This hoop house will extend our season, primarily for growing greens into the winter. Last year we purchased 2 low tunnel systems and overwintered mustard, kale, broccoli, cabbage and napa cabbage. It overwintered and is ready to pick right now. If I can do that with 2 - 4' x 50' hoops, imaging what we can do with a big one. We also purchased a used greenhouse, 20' x 50' a few weeks ago from a retiring farm in Casey. It was the coldest day ever for my dad and Ken and I to load that up. We have almost outgrown our greenhouse, so this big one is my dream come true 10 times over. Very exciting.
All the chicks arrived from the hatchery, and we have a really cool assortment of pullets - egg layers. We also have 14 turkeys, bronze breasted. And they have been hatching out of our incubator non-stop for several weeks. We are overrun with birds right now, and they are smelly, stinking up my sunroom.
We are filling up fast, and have a few spots open, then it will be to wait and see what the weather brings!
See ya all soon!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Groundhog day Greetings!
What a storm! Our house is surrounded by huge Siberian Elm's planted way to close to the house. All night long we heard the frozen branches dropping on the house. Our road is drifted over and no sign of a snow plow. It's hard to imagine in a few short weeks we will be getting ready to plant potatoes, cabbage and broccoli. However, the greenhouse was 100 degrees just a few days ago because it was so sunny out. We have 15 flats of onions started on the sun room - they are just popping out. Next we will start the broccoli and cabbage. I am skipping all cauliflower this year. I have tried to grow it for the past 7 years and I have had maybe 3 good heads, I'm throwing in the towel. We are going to try some celeriac root and celery, Dr. Gordon Tucker gave me a nice big packet of celery seed he brought back from his trip to China. I grew celery about 5 years ago and it grew nicely but not very big. Celeriac root is a really ugly root that grows on top of the soil and is supposed to be great to cook with. I think they will be best suited for the black soil of the kitchen garden.
Our big mama sheep is getting ready to lamb any day now, she is huge. It will be our first lambing, and the weather could not be worse! I hope she hangs on a little while longer.
CSA Memberships are rolling in as people look forward to spring. If we do the Charleston Farmers market this year, we will be there on Saturday. It's going to be an exciting busy season!
Our big mama sheep is getting ready to lamb any day now, she is huge. It will be our first lambing, and the weather could not be worse! I hope she hangs on a little while longer.
CSA Memberships are rolling in as people look forward to spring. If we do the Charleston Farmers market this year, we will be there on Saturday. It's going to be an exciting busy season!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Happy New Year!!!
The holidays are past and what glorious weather we had the last week of December. I was finally able to get outside and see how the veggies are doing under the battered low hoops. To my amazement, several of the crops are alive and healthy, especially the kale. The ground was thawed just enough to dig the leftover carrots, and the abandoned parsnips. The ground was rock hard until some mid-November rains came so they have been resting in the ground waiting.
Seeds were ordered last week, and the bulk of the seed order is coming from FEDCO seeds out of Waterville, ME. They offer a huge variety of certified organic and sustainable seed. I like the candid information in the extremely detailed black and white paper catalog.
The remaining order will come from High Mowing Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange.
We reduced our potato order to 150 pounds and will revisit some french fingerlings (which I hope have improved in the past few years) Adirondack Blue, rose gold and Yukon gold which are my favorite. Not only are the Yukon's reliable for nice babies and large bakers early on, but they are so buttery and delicious. There is nothing like new potatoes, so earthy and fresh.
We are trying something new on the farm this year, sweet potatoes. On a fall visit to a friends farm in southern Illinois, I helped them plant a little garlic and pulled a few lost orange tubers out of the ground. I have been hesitant to grow them mostly because you order the "slips" or little semi-bare rooted plants (or vine cuttings barely rooted in a tray) and it all seems like a risky hassle. I like to start everything myself, even the onions I start exceed the sets I was buying in size and quality. I went ahead and ordered 100 sweet potato plants, I hope that is plenty for our members and my family, and hope for some seed stock roots for the following year.
It is going to be a good year. Right now we are looking at doing a farm pick-up early in the week, then the Charleston Farmers Market and a pick-up there, then depending on how many need to pick-up in Mattoon, a pick-up there possibly Thursday evening. I am craving spring veggies, thinking about sugar snap peas is a good motivator! Hope to see everyone soon!
One month old onions from last year, time to start again!
Seeds were ordered last week, and the bulk of the seed order is coming from FEDCO seeds out of Waterville, ME. They offer a huge variety of certified organic and sustainable seed. I like the candid information in the extremely detailed black and white paper catalog.
The remaining order will come from High Mowing Seeds and Seed Savers Exchange.
We reduced our potato order to 150 pounds and will revisit some french fingerlings (which I hope have improved in the past few years) Adirondack Blue, rose gold and Yukon gold which are my favorite. Not only are the Yukon's reliable for nice babies and large bakers early on, but they are so buttery and delicious. There is nothing like new potatoes, so earthy and fresh.
We are trying something new on the farm this year, sweet potatoes. On a fall visit to a friends farm in southern Illinois, I helped them plant a little garlic and pulled a few lost orange tubers out of the ground. I have been hesitant to grow them mostly because you order the "slips" or little semi-bare rooted plants (or vine cuttings barely rooted in a tray) and it all seems like a risky hassle. I like to start everything myself, even the onions I start exceed the sets I was buying in size and quality. I went ahead and ordered 100 sweet potato plants, I hope that is plenty for our members and my family, and hope for some seed stock roots for the following year.
It is going to be a good year. Right now we are looking at doing a farm pick-up early in the week, then the Charleston Farmers Market and a pick-up there, then depending on how many need to pick-up in Mattoon, a pick-up there possibly Thursday evening. I am craving spring veggies, thinking about sugar snap peas is a good motivator! Hope to see everyone soon!
One month old onions from last year, time to start again!
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Winter 2010
It looks and feels as winter is here. Everything is harder in the winter - frozen water, frozen doors and frozen faces and fingers. The rewards of winter are worth it - relaxing by the toasty wood stove, baking lots of stews, soups and fresh bread.
A few weeks ago, we processed our meat birds, all 15 of them. What a chore that was, but now our freezer is filled with happy, healthy, free-range organic birds. Lettuce, cabbage, napa cabbage, kale, mustard greens, endive and broccoli are growing happy under the low tunnels. I hope they survive the low 20 degree weather on it's way. The goats and sheep have been venturing up to the house when I let them free range, and have finished off the lettuce and Chinese cabbage in the kitchen garden. They enjoyed my winter cover crops of oats and winter peas in the main garden. If I could keep them out of the road I would let them out everyday.
Several of the spring seed catalogs came in the mail last week - soon it will be time to start the onions!
I am late to go and do the chores this morning as everything is covered in a blanket of frosty snow and the wind is blowing fiercely. The eggs might just freeze today if I don't go get them!
A few weeks ago, we processed our meat birds, all 15 of them. What a chore that was, but now our freezer is filled with happy, healthy, free-range organic birds. Lettuce, cabbage, napa cabbage, kale, mustard greens, endive and broccoli are growing happy under the low tunnels. I hope they survive the low 20 degree weather on it's way. The goats and sheep have been venturing up to the house when I let them free range, and have finished off the lettuce and Chinese cabbage in the kitchen garden. They enjoyed my winter cover crops of oats and winter peas in the main garden. If I could keep them out of the road I would let them out everyday.
Several of the spring seed catalogs came in the mail last week - soon it will be time to start the onions!
I am late to go and do the chores this morning as everything is covered in a blanket of frosty snow and the wind is blowing fiercely. The eggs might just freeze today if I don't go get them!
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