Green Goodness

With our CSA boxes each week there is a weekly newsletter that Andy writes out long had and then Rue and Susan...the 'Englishers' down the road type and print it out what Andy has written about.  This newsletter then makes it way back to Cedarmore Farm in time to be folded and placed in each CSA box.

 

So...last week at the time of writing it was raining. Then a little stretch of dry weather came and Andy and his helpers scurried out to the fields where they were able to get some work done.  They have just finished their second planting of beans and they were able to get down some mulch so that the tomatoes, cantaloupes, cucumbers and sweet potatoes can be planted. It has been more wet than normal but if they are able to get just a little window where they can plant it isn't too bad.

 

 

For those of you that are new...the green leaves with the colored stems are Swiss chard (my all time favorite vegetable)

 

A little faming mishap...way back in February on one of those cold wintery night, there was a farmer that forgot to wake up to stoke the fire to keep the greenhouse plants nice warm...oops, no broccoli now for our boxes.  But the good news is that there has been a second planting and it should be ready to harvest in a few weeks.  And the strawberries should be ripe about then also.

RecipeOf The Week: Zucchini Bread

Zucchini Bread

 

3 eggs

1 1/2 cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla

1 cup of oil

1 teaspoon of cinnamon

3 cups grated, unpeeled zucchini

1 1/2 cups of raisins

3 cups of flour

1 teaspoon of baking powder

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of salt

 

Beat the eggs then add the sugar, vanilla, oil, and cinnamon.  Mix in the squash and raisins.  Combine and add remaining ingredients.  Mix well.  Bake in two 9X5 loaf pans at 350 degrees for 1 to 1 1/4 hours or until done.

Rain, Rain, and More Rain

It sure is wet on the farm.  I think they might have gotten more rain that we have here in

'the city'.  According to Andy the produce seems to be doing fine...but the weeds are doing just as well!  And that is not a good thing for anyone's garden.  The real challenge now is trying to find the window to work where it isn't raining and not to muddy to work the fields.  Hopefully in the near future the sun will come out and the winds will blow to help dry things out so more produce can get in the ground and time for Andy and crew 'to get after those weeds'.

 

The zucchini is ripening really well.  I have had a few comments about how early we are getting the zucchini.  I say, bring it on...you can never have enough zucchini bread in the freezer!

zucchini, zucchini bread, kale, green onions, lettuce, radishes, peach butter, and a dozen eggs

 

This week we have a bunch of kale.  Yum!  It is the purplish stemmed, long stemmed greenish stuff.  Lizzie was able to get us a recipe for kale and chicken soup that sounds pretty good.  We like to make kale chips also.  Just google it or type it into the search box at the right...so easy and delicious!  Does anyone else have a recipe using kale they would like to share with the rest of us?

 

The produce supply is picking up but Andy still feels that the boxes are still a little light.  Since they have plenty of eggs to share...we all get to have some in our boxes.  Nothing like a good organic brown egg!  This could be the last week we see any extras in our boxes.  It was great while it lasted.  And what a nice gesture from Cedarmore Farm.

 

Recipe Of The Week: Kale and Chicken Soup

Kale and Chicken Soup

 

3 green onions thinly sliced

2 Tablespoons of Olive oil

2 medium potatoes, peeled and cubed

5 cups of chicken broth

4 cups of diced cooked chicken

1 teaspoon of thyme

1/8 teaspoon of pepper

2 bunches of kale, steamed and chopped

 

Saute onions in the oil for two minutes.  Add potatoes and broth.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes or until potatoes are tender.  Add chicken, thyme, and pepper.  continue to simmer, add kale.  Cook five minutes or until kale is soft.

Another Box Of Goodies

zucchini, green onions, radishes, asparagus, greens, cookies and tomato sauce

 

Word from Andy and Lizzie today in our boxes is that the weather is beautiful and the warm sunshine is helping with the growth of the produce.  This week they had to supplement our boxes with a baked good and a canned good.

 

Andy wants us to know the reason behind the slow start to the produce.  The month of March is key.  We had a cool, wet March and that resulted in not getting things planted.  The ground was way to wet for tilling and plowing.  If the ground is to wet when it is plowed the soil becomes compacted.  Nothing grows well in compacted soil.  They simply had to wait until the weather permitted them to work in the fields.  In the seven years that Andy and Lizzie have lived here, this has been the most challenging. And as a result of this problem, Andy is going to try a different cover crop this fall.  Some farmers have had good success using this cover crop.  It seems to help the ground dry out a little quicker...meaning hopefully that he will be able to get into the fields to work sooner in the season.

 

First Week Of 2013

The first box of the season! And as you can see the box is pretty light on the produce this week.  But there are some really good things that are a surprise to help fill the box..

 

green onions, rhubarb, maple syrup, bread, pickles, eggs, ramsons

 

It is so difficult these few first week of the CSA to fill the boxes to overflowing.  But I promise you that those days are coming.  Andy has some asparagus but not enough for everyone this go around.  They are always trying to be fair and give everyone their equal share.  Sometimes it take a few weeks with the way things grow at the beginning of the season. The extras that we have in our boxes, like bread, eggs and maple syrup, would not be in our boxes.  These things can be ordered each week.  Just make sure to  give them about three days notice before your delivery date. It is pretty simple to order...email cedarmore farm with your order and Rue will see that Andy gets your request. Then you will be billed at the end of the month for the extra items. This box contains a loaf od bread that was baked by some of the girls in the community.  The eggs come from Andy and Lizzies young chickens.  When the chickens mature the eggs will be larger.  We enjoy our egg share.  Nothing like a good yellow egg.  They are beautiful!  And taste just as good, and I am not an egg eater, so that is saying something. 

 

Please remember to return you empty boxs, egg containers and empty jars to your pick up location next week, as they are reused week to week.  And please try to remember to keep the pick up location as orderly as possible.  Unfold and stack your empty boxes in an out of the way place.

 

Andy and Lizzie think that the vegetable will pick up in a week or so.  They are growing lots of  good things but because of the weather that we have had, the vegetables are a little behind.  Andy's last words in the weekly newsletter...'Thank you all for joining us this year.  We hope you enjoy the food as well as the experience.  We'll do our best to make this a good buy for you."

I always have a bit of trouble remembering year to year what some of the vegetables are.  Usually Andy leaves me a little note in my box or I email Rue for some vegetable ID.  These are what the Amish call ramsons.  When I look them up in my vegetable identifier book, they are called ramps or wild leeks.  They look a little to some like a green onion.  But they have a more assertive garlic-onion flavor.  I am going to use them like I would an onion.

Lizzie knows my soft spot.  Well, maybe actually maybe Mark's...pumpkin bars with frosting and nuts...one of his favorites!

Recipe Of The Week: Rhubarb Topping

Rhubarb Topping

 

1 and 1/2 cups of chopped rhubarb

1/4 cup of granulated sugar

1 Tablespoon of water

 

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved.  Reduce heat and simmer, uncover, stirring occasionally until slightly thickened and rhubarb is in threads.  Let it cool (Yummy on muffins, vanilla ice cream, or yogurt.)

 

 



Our First Boxes Will Be Here Soon

 Cedarmore Farm Information Sheet

 

  We want to let you know that your first pick up of the 2013 CSA season will be this coming Tuesday April 30th.

 

   Just a short update to let everyone know how things are going here on the farm.  As Andy has mentioned before we are having a late spring.  At this point most of the crops are about two weeks behind schedule.  There is a lot of stuff growing out there but they are just going to be off to a slow start.  Your first few weeks of the season will be very lean as far as produce is concerned.  However, they will be putting in maple syrup, canned goods, eggs or whatever they have plenty of to make up for the shortage in produce.  In next week's produce  box newsletter Andy will give a more detailed explanation on why the crops are running late this season.  In the meantime, please relax and rest assured their crops are looking very good, only they are running a few weeks late this year.

 



Pick Up Information

If you are going to be out of town and are unable to pick up your box on a certain pick-up date, you can notify us ahead of time. They will skip your share that week and double your share the following week. You are allowed to do this up to three times during the 2012 season.  If you have something come up at the last minute and can not pick up your share at the scheduled time please notify by email and they will contact the pick up location and do their best  to arrange a time that you can pick it up. Andy and Lizzie want to do everything that they can to insure that everyone gets their produce, eggs and canned or baked goods.When you go to your pick-up location to pick up your CSA box, eggs or whatever else you have to pick up, please take time to be sure to pick up your stuff and leave the other people's stuff there. This can cause a lot of confusion and problems if you pick up the wrong stuff. If you are having someone else pick up your share please make sure and let them know that your name will be on the produce box. Eggs should be in a box or crate and will also have your name on them.

   They do ask that you bring back your empty box from the previous week and flatten it and stack it neatly. It will help them out if you return empty egg cartons and berry boxes also. Besides helping keep the CSA costs down, returning containers for reuse helps lessen the impact on the environment as well.

 

Farm Tour Day

   Andy and Lizzie wants everyone to know that members are welcome to come out and visit the farm. Just let them know when you would like to come out and they will set up a time with you. Just email or use snail mail to get in touch with them.  They also have a farm tour day tentatively  scheduled for June 29th. They will be sending you more information on this later in the season.

  If you have any questions please let them know by writing or emailing.  Thank you and we are all  looking forward to the season.

 

Cedarmore Farm

12612 Turley Lane

Hillsboro, OH 45133

 

cedarmorefarm@tdisp.com

A Quick Trip To The Barn

I went out to the barn to see the animals and got a lesson on tack.  Each leather piece has a specific job.  Each time the tack is taken off the horse it is replaced the same way to the wall...the same way it was taken off.  Andy says all farmers do it the same way. That way if one farmer goes to a different farmers barn, he doesn't have to look for what he needs.  It is in the same place it would be in his barn.

 

 

I thought this floppy horned cow was funny.

Rows, and rows and rows of garlic.

Spring News From The Farm

The following is the newsletter that Andy had sent to all the CSA Shareholders. 

 

 Cedarmore Farm Spring Newsletter

 

  Greetings everyone! Spring is finally here! At least that's what the purple martins are telling me now that they've arrived from their winter homes. We spotted the first ones two days ago and they've been hanging out by the gourds that we've provided for them. They are probably 10 days later than they were last year which makes sense. Everything else seems to be later this year too.

 

  We've had a wet and colder than normal March, delaying us in getting our crops planted. At this time we are about 2 weeks behind schedule. We still need one more day of sun and no rain in order to be able to get back into the fields to work the ground and plant. The farmer in me is getting really anxious to get out there and get some stuff planted. But it simply doesn't pay to work the ground while it's wet. It causes compaction in the soil and then nothing does well.

  Hopefully the weather will remain dry for enough days for us to get very busy working the ground and planting and everything that goes with it.

 

 I mentioned that we are about 2 weeks behind schedule. Now some of you are probably wondering how that will affect the harvest. At this point my guess is that the first few weeks of the season will be rather lean. However I've been farming long enough to know that if we get good enough weather in April we could easily gain back everything that's been delayed up until now. Like I said it will depend on the weather like farming always does. We will do what we can to make this a good buy for you.

 

  On a positive note we had a very good year for maple syrup. All the freezing and thawing we had this winter made for a lot of maple syrup. Perhaps we'll have to substitute some maple syrup if we don't have the desirable amount of produce those first few weeks.

 

  For those of you who visit the  Cedarmore farm blog you'll notice that the Spring and all season shares we are now selling begin on the last week of May which makes a 6 week Spring season instead of our normal 10 weeks. We want to let all those who have purchased Spring and all season shares know that your start date will still be April 30th for Tuesday pick ups and May 3rd for Friday pick ups and you will get a full 10 weeks of the Spring share. We are currently selling a 6 week Spring share because of the crops being delayed by the cold wet weather.

 

  The little greenhouse which we built back in January is still working out very well. We have a large wood stove set up in it so everything is growing well although it is nearly overflowing with plants that are ready to plant out. We are also building another larger greenhouse to plant tomato plants into. This one should be ready to go in a few days. Thank  You again all of you for your donations last year to help us replace the one that was lost in the big wind storm last Summer. We really appreciate your help and have used the money toward these two greenhouses. Wishing you all a happy and enjoyable season with us this year.

 

  Thank You,

   Andy H. Hershberger

I am so looking forward to the first delivery that is coming up really soon.  I'm planning a trip to the farm in a few weeks and I will be excited to see the differences in the fields and in the greenhouses.