Week 14 is here, with only 8 more weeks of the summer CSA left. If you'd like to keep receiving the bounty until the snow flies in December, we still have a few Fall shares available. Don't wait, sign up now before they fill up!
    The days are getting shorter, which means shorter work days, which can be both a good and bad thing on the farm. Good in that we can't do too much work after the sun goes down, but bad because there's so much work to be done! We've started working on lifting potatoes, and will have some beautiful spuds for members soon. One of the biggest challenges we have is food storage. While we lease cooler space, we will have a lot of storage crops that will need a home to hold into the colder months, and our present situation of shared space only allows us so much space and can only keep things cold, and can't keep them warm when the temps drop too low. There are grants (which we find out about all too late) for food storage, and loans as well, but we are thinking of starting a go fund me project to get some of the barn repairs done, and build a walk-in cooler of our own here at the farm. These things were in the budget this spring but we ended up using much of the funds earmarked for that project for much needed irrigation supplies. We'll let everyone know when it's up and running, so if you'd like to contribute something you can.

   Celery is in shares this week again. Some is regrowing some nice dense hearts, and we have a ALOT. If you're interested in bulk celery for making stock, juicing, etc, please shoot us an email and we'll get it to you with your CSA share.  We pulled the remaining cucumber plants out of the ground to make space for more fall plantings of swiss chard, kale, escarole, lettuce, bok choi and broccoli. Our Amish Paste tomatoes made their way into regular shares this week, and if you'd like more we have plenty for canning and will be adding them to online store until they are done. They are a meatier tomato with less juice than some of the other heirlooms which make for great sauce that cooks down quicker with a higher retention rate.  Also mixed hot peppers will be available by the pound for preserving. The cilantro is finally catching up to speed and we'll have some for salsas within the next two weeks after having to reseed 4 times. 

   It has been tradition to have an annual open  house ever since our days at Grindstone. Neither farm organized one this year, partly because of the time it takes, and partly due to lack of  participation.  We all love to make time to show customers around the farm, and many other local farms have now created weekly or monthly events, which makes me feel like we're missing the bus or horrible slackers. We are currently scheming up a harvest dinner at the end close of the CSA when things slow down some. While it may not be the best time to tour the fields, it will still give everyone the opportunity to get out to the farm, enjoy some great food, and meet their farmers. We will keep you posted as we solidify this event.

   We took a break from the eggplant and peppers this week to give them time get bigger and ripen up. While peppers were on crop we had more than members really wanted last season, this year is a different story. The hot peppers are loaded but the sweet are not. Each season different crops fare differently, but they both have a lot more blossoms and fruit starting after getting some good rains. 

This week's shares are as follows:

Small: Basil, fennel, celery, broccoli florets, lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, &  summer squash.

Regular: Basil, fennel, celery, brocolini, lettuce, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, onions, summer squash, carrots and  winter squash (delicata or spaghetti)

We've been happy to hear some of the feedback from members as to how much they've been enjoying the fennel, because it is certainly one of the crops we are the most proud of this season, especially after seeing what other farms have on their market tables. Fennel is a traditional staple of the Mediterranean region, and is snacked on raw in parts of Italy. It has medicinal uses as a stomach calmative as well. One CSA member shared a recipe for using the fronds as a base for a pesto. You can also roast the fennel, which brings out it's sweetness and mellows out the anise flavor a bit. We had thought that the summer squash would be done by now, as it usually is, but it still keeps fruiting, and has stayed healthy. We will keep picking as long as they keep growing. Try freezing some to use later in soups or to make some chocolate zucchini muffins, or squash tots. (all summer squash is interchangeable in recipes, so even if you don't have dark green zucchini, the yellow squash and light green koosa squash can be used to make breads and muffins too.)  Brocolini or the broccoli are also interchangeable in recipes, and there is a lot of nutrients and flavor in the stems and leaves as well, which is why we leave the stems long and most of the leaves on.   They can also be easily blanched and frozen for later use in stir-fries and soups.  Winter squash holds very well just sitting at room temperature, and while we know it still is too warm to think about firing up the oven to cook the squash, they can be microwaved, and delicata squash can be sauteed with the tender skin left on.

Enjoy your shares this week, and keep in mind that this is truly the season of harvest. While fall crops come in summer crops are still producing, so you can expect to see much more bounty in your shares through the next few weeks.
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​The newsletter is a bit late due to our internet service malfunctioning for the past few days. But it seems to back up and running for more than five minutes now.

We also have been taking care of 3 sick kids since last week, as well as losing one more of our farm hands to Florida last week. Ed was an invaluable member of our farm team all season, and while we will miss him we wish him and his family all the best of greener pastures in Florida. 

While losing two employees over the past few weeks means a bigger workload for us, that is nothing new to us.  Our core group of Travis, myself and Dave have run the show for the last few years with a bit of part time help as it is, but it was a great help to have a couple extra sets of hands to pick, pull and plant this summer. We have one CSA member who has gone from a work share member to a part time farm hand who has been with us all summer as well.

We are not trying to gloat, but to let our members know how small their CSA foodshed really is. We farm on about 15 acres feeding 130 CSA members and 3 farmers markets in 3 counties. Your food literally passes directly from your farmers hands to your plates, and as CSA members that is something you should all be just as proud of as we are. All the woes of our modern food system; from miserable work conditions and low wages, contamination with chemicals to both the soil, water and the humans in the fields, the carbon footprint of food miles, and the undercutting of food prices through the wholesale market- all these things you help us correct on our farm every day through your support in us as your local farmers. 

It's hell weeks like this, when the internet doesn't work, the kids are sick and you're down another worker and another doesn't come in, and there's the CSA harvest, and bulk harvests of potatoes and winter squash to get to, and it rained 2 inches  after a summer of drought, and the weeds are taking over the newest plantings that we count our blessings- and that number is 130! We don't despair and guarantee the rest of the season to be just as bountiful as it has been for the last 13 weeks! We may not get to newsletters, on time, but we get the freshest organic food directly to you, which is what we are here to do. We thank you all for your role in this adventure we call farming- tis not for the faint of heart, nor the picky of stomach.

​This week's CSA shares were as follows:
Small: tomatoes, sweet peppers (if you got the small multi colored ones- those are mini bells, not hot peppers) basil, garlic, swiss chard, summer squash, mini cabbages, and fennel
Regular:   all of the above and broccoli, green kale, cucumbers, and eggplant              

We aren't sharing any recipes this week, but can suggest making some pesto, or caprese salad for these dog days of summer with some of your share contents. Or a fresh fennel salad, or a traditional Italian  greens recipe with the kale or chard and the tomatoes and garlic.  And remember to please share recipes in the comments section or on our facebook page. If you've found a recipe you love, chances are someone else will too!                    

The rain finally came, and all at once. Three inches over the past 4 days, (which is more rain than we've seen cumulatively all season long)  with a bit of washout in some of the newest plantings. Everything with established roots is looking happy and healthy with new growth. 

This week's shares:

Small: Parsley, celery, sweet peppers, tomatoes (heirlooms and cherry) pickling cucumbers, summer squash, and red bunching onions

Regular: parsley, celery, sweet peppers, tomatoes (heirloom and cherry) pickling cucumbers, red bunching onions, summer squash, mini cabbage, dandelion greens, and striped Armenian or slicing cucmbers.

We were having some technical difficulties with our internet service earlier this week, which is why the newsletter is brief without pictures and so late. 

Try making some fresh tobouli salad with your parsley, tomatoes, and onions. We like to substitute quinoa for the bulgur wheat. 

The celery is not the best we've ever grown, and we know the hearts are quite damaged, but the outside stems are great and have wonderful flavor to add to any soup stock, or salad. 

We hope everyone enjoys their shares this week.

    Week 11; that marks the 1/2 way point of the Summer Season CSA. How the summer is flying by, before we know it the leaves will be changing, the kids will be back in school and we'll be hunkering down for cooler temps. But in the meantime there's a lot more great food to come. While the summer squash is tapering off, the winter squash is ripening, especially the the spaghetti and acorns, we are even seeing color in some of the pie pumpkins. The tomatoes in the high tunnel are almost reaching the rafters, and we're thinking we may need a ladder to harvest soon. The sweet potatoes vines are a sprawling mass choking out any remaining weeds and blossoming. Storage Onions are starting to die back and will need to lifted soon, and all our new seeding are coming on nicely with direct watering. We may not have as many daikon radishes this year as the past two years, but lots more watermelon radishes. The mini bell peppers are starting to get some color, and the sunflowers are bursting with color. 

The dry weather has been a drag for many farmers in NY, so much so that state legislators are considering disaster relief for many farms who have lost production due to the dryness. Being a diversified farm  growing such a wide variety of crops, while we have lost some seedings, and some produce is a bit smaller than usual, we are in much better shape than others. I know some livestock farmers who have lost pasture, and can't cut hay, fruit farms who lost much to the late frost and even more to the dryness, and vegetable farms who have drained their wells over and over and can only pray for some rain now. While our costs of production have increased now that we have  to pay for water to irrigate and the unplanned irrigation supply expenses altogether, we are getting by much more comfortably than many other farms we've spoken with this summer. We are also set up for many more seasons no matter the weather with the 3 enclosed growing spaces, and the ability to make raised beds in rainy seasons and to water profusely in the dry times. 

Another great benefit of being diversified and organic (aside from buffers against crop loss)  is that our soils are built up with organic matter and hold the moisture we've been adding, and even the dew.  Some bugs didn't move on as they usually do (such as flea beetles) some good bugs have moved in to keep them in check. We have never introduced any beneficial insects to the farm, yet ladybugs and praying mantis's, monarch butterflies and bees are so populous here this summer. We can't walk through our upper field planting of tomatoes without  tiptoeing around the praying mantis's which are voracious eaters of pests that could spell disaster for crops. 

We bid farewell to Rich this weekend as he heads back to Florida to start seedlings for his winter growing season on his farm, and will be saying goodbye to Ed in the next week as well. Both of them have been such a blessing to have working with us this season, and have put so much into the food you're eating. We definitely couldn't have been able to grow on this much more space, and keep the weeds in check without their help this season. We're hoping to get away sometime this winter and go visit them both in Florida, and check out Rich's farm, EarthPerks Farm, and see how things grow in Florida!

This week's shares are as follows:

Small: oregano, cucumbers, sweet onions, summer squash, tomatoes (heirloom, or cherry) blueberries and garlic

Regular: all the contents of the small share but in larger quantities and eggplant, and hot peppers


We're hoping, even with the lack of cilantro (one of the direct seeded crops that didn't do well, which was replanted, and just popping up now) you can use some of your veggies to make a fresh summer salsa this week.

I made a quick off the cuff dish last night that was a big hit and used many of this week's veggies that perhaps you might give a try. I grilled some sausage, along with some peppers and onions.  Sauteed some summer squash, eggplant, garlic and oregano together and added it all to some pasta with a jar of Alfredo sauce with some extra cheeses, and everyone loved it, even those who claimed they "don't like eggplant".  We are pretty excited about the eggplant this season, it is one crop that just has not done well for us in the past, but this year they are producing quite nicely, despite the early attacks of flea and potato beetles. We choose varieties that are smaller because they take less time to ripen, and who really needs a 4lb eggplant anyway?

A reminder that there are still pickling cucumbers available by the 1/2 bushel for special order as well as other great products we are offering on the online store. Get them while they're still there, the plants look like they've done their time and are tapering off. Next week will probably the last week they're available, and then we'll be onto paste tomatoes for bulk orders. 

We hope everyone enjoys their shares this week. Happy 1/2 way through the CSA week!

   It was another beautiful, hot week on the farm with another light rain on Monday, which mostly served to wash away the dust rather than water crops. We reseeded a bunch of our fall crops in the field that didn't germinate well in earlier seedings (such as turnips, watermelon radishes and beets) due to lack of adequate soil moisture. We figured out a simplified way to run our drip irrigation right along the newly seeded beds to get them watered in right away, and are seeing success with good germination now. It might be hard to think of fall with such a nice hot summer we're having, but we are always thinking ahead, and are pleased to see so many of our fall crops thriving. These cold hardy and storage crops will hold into the winter months  and for our fall shares. If you are interested in the fall share, there are still shares available. 

We also have pickling cucumbers for sale b y the 1/2 bushel on our online store to be delivered with your CSA share, and just started picking our paste tomatoes and heirloom slicers, and likely will be offering them bulk as they come on more.

Some of of might be thinking that you have more than enough veggies and why would I order more?! If you're feeling overwhelmed with the abundance, consider preserving some of the crops to enjoy when the weather turns colder. Freezing is a simpler way of preserving your veggies than canning (and much more forgiving in the heat.)

We are in a hiatus on lettuce for the next couple weeks, which we know some of you might be relieved to see, and others might not. But that doesn't mean you can't enjoy a summer salad with your veggies. here are a couple recipe ideas for simple cold salads using this week's harvest. Cucumber fennel salad, Tomato basil salad,
and a sweet bread and butter pickle recipe to make use of of all those cucumbers (you can also try using the summer squash to make these as well!)

This week's share contents are as follows:

Small Shares: Pickling and slicing cucumbers, sweet onions, summer squash, sweet peppers, fennel, basil, and fresh carrots.

​Regular shares: Same as small shares, but larger quantities and minus the sweet peppers, with heirloom tomatoes, broccoli, and swiss chard in addition.

We hope everyone is enjoying their veggies. We are almost 1/2 way through the summer season already and expect to see many more tomatoes, peppers eggplant and a beautiful onion harvest in the coming weeks.