Mulberry Creek Farm CSA

Volume 1: Issue 9 – published occasionally at the whim of the editor 9/01/09

In this issue:

Introduction & Farm Stand

Garden News

Poultry & Egg Update

Hive Hearsay

Miscellany

This week’s baskets include lettuce, peppers, carrots, tomatoes, watermelon, green beans, beets and an acorn squash.

Don’t forget to pre-order your poultry so we can have it ready with your basket! (See below for more information)

Last newsblog (don’t tell me it’s really been a month!) I told you about my new job as office manager for the TransPlant Project and of our participation in the farm stand there. The project started well and we had a number of customers stop at the stand, several of whom had become regulars. We had begun selling annual memberships, too. Then, due in part to the illness of our founder’s wife (last week they determined that it is a form of pancreatic cancer) the project was not able to sustain itself, the stand was closed and all the staff was laid off.

That was a long sentence to say that I am now able to devote full-time to farm concerns (including more regular newsblog updates?  Believe me, I have been trying to do more on the site, including more regular updates, but we’ve been having a lot of trouble here with internet reliability and keeping a good connection long enough to upload.

Of course, it also means that now both Glenn and I are, other than the farm, unemployed. So we urge you to get out there and tell your friends and neighbors how much you have enjoyed this CSA! We are planning to offer several more shares next season.

Garden News

We’re in that transitional season between summer and fall. The weather is cooling off and we anticipate more cool weather crops appearing in baskets in the coming weeks. Hydroponically grown lettuce has already been enjoyed. Unfortunately, we didn’t get broccoli and cauliflower planted quite soon enough and the amount of rain we have received this summer has played havoc with several of our crops (we had some onions and potatoes rot in the ground and spinach and other fall greens got drowned before they really took off) so we will possibly be looking to other farms we trust to provide you with a few things from time to time to keep your baskets full and well-rounded.

Our final planting of sweet corn will be ready to harvest within the next week or two and winter squashes and pumpkins are starting to ripen. We are still digging potatoes and our onions will be ready to pull soon, too. We’re still picking green beans, too.

We had hoped that the orchard opportunity would provide you with a variety of apples but the spring freeze and too few pollinators in the orchard mean we will need to go elsewhere for your fall apples.

Poultry & Egg Update

We have delicious duckling at $10 each and broiler chickens at $2 per lb. If you have expressed interest in a holiday turkey, we must have a deposit of $25 to hold your order by the 15th of this month. We have turkeys for both Thanksgiving and Christmas but both are in very limited quantity and they are going quickly. They are $5 per lb. and we will let you know a bit later what the size ranges will be. Those of you who have been to the farm have seen the birds roaming around at their leisure, able to eat grasses and bugs (and grapes, and young spinach …)

Our spring pullets are nearing egg laying age and we will, very soon, be overwhelmed with eggs. If you or anyone you know is interested in an egg share or half share, please call. We pro-rate the egg shares based on the number of weeks left in the season (the next full season begins mid-October). We offer a discount if you return your cartons. A few of you already enjoy eggs and we constantly hear how much you enjoy these eggs! You may also choose to order eggs by the dozen at $3/doz. from time to time.

Hog and Hive Hearsay

Last newsblog I mentioned that the honey would be ready to harvest “soon” and soon is rapidly approaching. The trouble now is “how to harvest?” We need to find a honey extractor within our budget – know anyone who has a spare lying around?

Our trio of Mulefoot Hogs along with three Pomeranian geese arrived a few weeks ago and are enjoying their new home. Although the pigs miss the cookies and pancakes they were used to eating, they are getting lots of fresh garden veggies. We also anticipate piglets in mid-December and they will be for sale by mid-February either to raise for breeding or to feed-out. Please visit our Mulefoot Hog page to learn more about these fascinating animals!

Miscellany

Jams and Jellies are still here! We are adding more varieties all the time (there are grapes on the stove as I write awaiting processing). We will be shiping soon, for those at a distance within Ohio who have ordered. Again, all come in 8 oz. traditional jelly jars and, in fact, we are constantly on the trail to find Ball/Kerr/Mason etc. jars, particularly in the ½ pint (8 oz.) and pint (16 oz.) sizes. We will offer 5c per jar in good condition and an additional 5c if the jar is returned with a ring in good condition and another 5c if the label has been completely removed. We’re open to barter arrangements, too (which, at the moment, is about all we can do!)

Currant-ly our varieties include:

Jams: peach, peach-rhubarb, regular and seedless blackberry, regular and seedless raspberry, red plum, golden plum, plum wine, apricot

Jellies: currant, gooseberry, grape, apple, mulberry, elderberry

We also have apple butter and hopefully (cross your fingers for our pear crop) will be able to offer pear-butter, as well.

As always … eat local!

Peace –

Gail

Volume 1: Issue 9 – published occasionally at the whim of the editor 8/02/09

In this issue:

Introduction & Farm Stand

Garden News

Poultry & Egg Update

Hive Hearsay

Miscellany

This past week’s basket included onion(s), lettuce, beet greens, Swiss chard, tomatoes, bell and banana peppers, sweet corn, green beans, basil, parsley, and garlic. This coming week will see more tomatoes, peppers, and corn, shallots and more onions, and (I think) potatoes, among other things, depending on what’s ready.

Intro

Things have been very busy here on the farm! I have the new job, but it seems that it’s not a lot easier getting updates to the computer and then online. We’re progressing, however! I am the office manager for a brand new non-profit organization called the TransPlant Project “which aims to create a more self-reliant, socially just and ecologically sound community by providing education and employment for ex-offenders, as they transition from incarceration to restored citizenship, and provide fresh, safe, affordable and locally grown food and flowers using the best green business practices.” There was an article about the project in the Dayton Daily News several weeks ago and a link to that article is on the home page of this site.

The headquarters of the TransPlant Project is also the location of our Farm 2 Fork Fresh Market. Up to now, Farm 2 Fork Fresh has existed only in the form of a CSA (community supported agriculture – see the About Us page here for a definition) through Dorothy Lane Market. Mulberry Creek Farm is listed in the CSA promotional material as featured. Ultimately, Farm 2 Fork Fresh will actually be a market of primarily Miami Valley Grown products at the location on N. Main. At the moment, while we are still in the renovation stage, we have a farm stand open there 7 days a week at which you will find fresh produce from Tüken’s Orchard in West Alexandria, Fulton Farms in Troy, Spring Hill Farm in New Lebanon, and, of course, Mulberry Creek Farm.

The farm stand at 8051 N. Main, Clayton (mailing address is Dayton) is open 7 days a week: 10-3 Saturday and Sunday and 10-6 M-F. I’m there a lot of the time during the week, Glenn is there on and off, and the rest of the time other TransPlant staff are there, most of whom can at least tell you which farm something came from and sometimes can tell you more. For instance, pretty much everything from Tüken’s is organic, while pretty much everything from Fulton is conventionally grown, and both seem to focus on commercial hybrid varieties that ship and shelf well. Mulberry Creek Farm uses sustainable practices (we follow organic procedures, but may use rescue only chemicals) and much of our produce are heirloom varieties (corn isn’t – you wouldn’t eat heirloom corn on the cob) so our tomatoes will have blemishes and cracks and there may be free protein crawling around in something. If you have questions about variety or practices concerning any of the farms involved, Glenn can tell you a lot.

Garden News

Big news flash: we have plenty of sweet corn and green beans for those of you interested in freezing and/or canning! Here’s the deal. We (Glenn and Maggie) will pick corn for you if you come to the farm to pick it up. Call ahead and it will be ready. If you want beans, either Glenn can pick it for a small amount added to the cost of the beans or you can arrange with him to come pick it yourself. Bulk sweet corn is $2.50/dozen and we’re still deliberating about the price of the beans – make Glenn an offer!

There is a garden out there … somewhere … its weed heaven! Glenn and his occasional and regular volunteers have been doing stellar work keeping the weeds at least somewhat managed, although lately more work has been going into building fence. What is out there is mighty tasty, if I do say so myself!

We’ve had comments nearly every week that a particular item in the share box was a first and I’ve tried to keep some recipes and cooking directions on our recipe page. For beet greens from this week: prepare them like any other green. By the way – if you’re a fan of stuffed zucchini (one of my favorite ways to prepare it) those tiny little underdeveloped things you get in the store won’t cut it. Neither will the average sized ones that have been in your share baskets! If you want a zucchini you can really do something with, please let us know. We have a bumper crop and they’re about to take over. I’ll try to get a recipe for stuffed zucchini on the site today.

Shallots are coming along and our second crop of lettuce is developing nicely. Glenn has replanted broccoli, cauliflower, spinach and other cool weather crops for fall harvesting, so there’s something to look forward to. Potatoes are starting to be dug and carrots are still going strong. Look for continued and even increased peppers and tomatoes! I’ll work on getting some tomato-based recipes on the site soon, too. Don’t let me forget!

The weather has been very good to us through the latter part of July – let’s see what God has in store for us in August to keep us faithful!

Poultry & Egg Update

We ate our first pasture-raised chicken last week – amazing flavor right through the bird, not just the goop we put on the surface. Very tasty!

I only just realized I have yet to come through with pricing on individual broilers. Well, it’s $2 per pound. We do ask that you order by the number of birds you want rather than the weight. Every chicken is a bit different in weight but they’re all reasonably close. We’ll keep you updated with more poultry options as we have them available. Again, our prices are going to be a bit higher than what you’re used to paying in the store, but our birds are also living a much healthier life out there in the grass than the commercially raised birds. See our Poultry page for more information on why this matters.

And we still have chicks and pullets available, as well. Drop us a line or, better yet, give Glenn a call for more information.

Hog and Hive Hearsay

Glenn has both honey supers on the beehive and they have begun producing honey for us! We hope to be able to harvest our first honey this month and will keep you up to date. I don’t know when we’ll be ready to begin distributing. (Our shareholders will get the first taste … after us, of course!)

We will be getting our trio of Mulefoot hogs within the next couple of weeks and Glenn and his volunteers have been hard at work creating a fenced area for them. I hope to have photos up on the site soon (and the many others we have taken since the last time I uploaded pix sometime in March!)

Miscellany

Jams and Jellies are here! We have been hard at work turning all kinds of fruit into jellies and jams. We have several varieties. All come in 8 oz. traditional jelly jars and, in fact, we are constantly on the trail to find Ball/Kerr/Mason etc. jars, particularly in the ½ pint (8 oz.) and pint (16 oz.) sizes. We will offer 5c per jar in good condition and an additional 5c if the jar is returned with a ring in good condition and another 5c if the label has been completely removed. We’re open to barter arrangements, too.

Don’t forget to check out the recipe page while you’re here – there’s often something new!

Finally … eat local!

Peace –

Gail

We're finally there!

OK ... we had planned on having a roadside stand on our place by mid-June. Then the weekend of July 4th. By the weekend after that, we'd finally accepted the fact that we won't get a farm stand on the farm this year. Sigh.

BUT we do have our produce at the TransPlant Project farm stand, which is probably more convenient for many of you, anyway. If you haven't had a chance to see what we're doing with TransPlant, check out the link to the article on our home page. It's an awesome opportunity for ministry. (Although the Big Boss keeps reminding us that TransPlant isn't a faith-based organization, we see everything as being an opportunity for ministry!)

So. TransPlant is at the former location of Yard Barber, across from Stillwater Medical Center on OH-48, 8051 N. Main, Dayton. (Dayton mailing address, location in Clayton. Go figure.)

The farm stand will be open 7 days a week and, while we'll be living into our hours, here's the initial plan:

Sat 9ish-3ish

Sun 10ish-3ish

Mon-Fri 10ish-6ish

Lots of "ish's" but it all depends on when we get each day's offerings from participating farms and when we sell out of stuff each day. Glenn or I will be there some of the time, especially since I'm the TransPlant office manager and Glenn's the volunteer site manager!

Since we're but one of the farms represented, you also get to select from stuff that we don't have, particularly fruit. Today, for instance, there were raspberries and blackberries to die for, cantaloupe and watermelon sweeter and juicier than any you'll ever get at a chain grocery, and early season apples that (I'm told) make excellent sauce.

Of course, we're well represented! Glenn is taking a load of green tomatoes tomorrow, for instance. Where else can you get green tomatoes?!? We also have marvelous slicing tomatoes and a plethora of other stuff, too.

Come on by after church! Our prices are competitive with other markets specializing in sustainably and locally grown produce.

Enjoy!

Gail

Volume 1: Issue 7 - published occasionally at the whim of the editor

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In this issue:

Important Dates and Other Important Info

Introduction

Garden News

Poultry & Egg Update

Miscellany

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Important Dates!

Last week: Did you remember to send your second installment payment?

This week: Share baskets begin at your pre-selected pick-up location.

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Other Important Info

Still available: Pastured Poultry, chicks. More below.

This week's basket contents: green onions, lettuce, turnip greens, mustard greens, radishes, peas, spinach, broccoli, strawberries and (hopefully) mulberries. More info below.

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Intro

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I'm always amazed that so much time has passed since my last newsletter posting. The changes in our lifestyle this spring have definitely impacted my ability to stay on top of farm business and communication and I thank you for being patient!

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It's mid-June and crops are insisting on being harvested! We are constantly amazed at the way God can create something wonderful out of a tiny seed, or an egg, or from a dead looking tree. We are well into summer - the meadow smells lovely, bees and birds are in the air ... as are mosquitoes and deerflies. We've been lucky so far, had a great spring and a nice early season. At times it's been a bit on the dry side, but lately we've been getting plenty of rain, almost too much! Our early-season crops are coming in nicely: spinach, lettuce, greens, peas, and other cool-weather leafy things. We'll plant many of the cooler weather crops again in time to bring you another round once the harshest summer sun is past. For now, we'll keep harvesting all our early crops each week (we pick as close to your pick-up day/time as we can so the produce in your basket is as fresh as can possibly be), and then other than that, everything's in the ground and all we're doing is cultivating, fertilizing and weeding. We're sustainable here at Mulberry Creek, which means we use no chemical fertilizers or pesticides and limit chemical use to "rescue" only, which means more labor but much better-tasting, safer, healthier food for you and your family. We hope you enjoy it.

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Glenn has recovered well from the upper back surgery he had in early May and we thank you all for your prayers and support. Maggie has finished school for the summer and is excited about first grade in the fall. She's a great help around the farm, especially with the chicks and ducklings, many of whom she has named! She loves to show visitors around, too, as some of you have discovered.

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Garden News

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We were so excited last week when we realized that our mulberry trees would be producing in time for our first share baskets! How awesome for Mulberry Creek Farm to be able to actually include fresh mulberries in our very first CSA shares! Alas, we don't know whether we will be able to after all. We've had two short but extremely hard rains in the past couple of days and most of the mulberries were knocked off the trees. We're still hoping, though! If you don't have fresh mulberries, you will have mulberry jelly (one of my personal favorites!)

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Our share baskets will be loaded up for the first time this week and here is what you can expect: green onions, lettuce, turnip greens, mustard greens, radishes, peas, spinach, broccoli, rhubarb and (hopefully) mulberries! I have been placing some recipes on this website so if you're not sure what to do with something, check there. First of all, please remember: the produce in your basket is truly farm-fresh - it's straight from the field or the tree and has not been washed or processed in any way, so you'll definitely need to wash before using!

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We also provide the bulk of fresh produce for the Dorothy Lane Market CSA shares and here is what their newsletter for this week will say:

There's so much you can do with any and all of this produce:

* Toss the salad greens with the lightest drizzle of olive oil, minced garlic, lemon juice, and a dash of sherry vinegar. You won't need a powerful dressing with greens as fresh and flavor-packed as these!

* If you've never had turnip or mustard greens, they can be used any way you use spinach - cooked or fresh in a salad. They are a marvelous source of vitamins and quite yummy!

* Ever tried a radish sandwich? Simplest early-summer sandwich ever: just mince some radishes, sprinkle with salt and pepper, add a few chopped sprigs of parsley, and place on bread smeared with your favorite butter. (European butters are nice and light for this, but Amish butter, which luckily is widely available throughout Ohio, is especially great!)

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The great thing about farm-fresh produce is you don't have to do much to it. We think you'll find, as we have, that farm-fresh produce tastes so good, you won't want to limit yourself to one or two vegetable sides along with dinner. You'll want to take fresh, fun salads in to work with you, or maybe throw some veggies into whatever pasta you're making, or experiment with stir-frys. The key word is experiment - there's no way to go wrong with ingredients this good! Here's a hint: instead of choosing a recipe out of a book and then shopping for the ingredients, take a look inside your farm-box and see what you'd like to cook with today - then find a recipe that uses it. With the many popular recipe search engines on the internet today (www.Epicurious.com and www.allrecipes.com, just to name two), it's easy to build your menu around your produce. You'll find yourself trying new recipes you never would have looked at just glancing through your cookbooks and building a shopping list! Also, have confidence in yourself - just because your risotto recipe calls for carrots doesn't mean you can't use peas or broccoli or whatever you have. You might have to watch the cooking times a little closer, but eating seasonally is about twisting your favorite recipes to contain whatever produce is at its peak. If the recipes are good ones (simple, time-tested classics, not tricky or finicky) they'll hold up under changes and be only the better for using the best ingredients.

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As always, we remember that God is in control and the weather and climate impacts the eventual harvest. For instance, the extreme cold we had this winter wiped out our peach crop, the freeze we had in mid-May took out over half the apples, and the heavy rains we've received lately have downsized our mulberries and flooded some of the fields where new seeds are trying to grow. On the other hand, these same conditions have produced salad greens and other early veggies "out the wazoo"! We just never know what's going to happen. To adapt an old phrase, don't count your berries or beets before they're picked! And please keep your gardens and trees on your prayer list.

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Poultry & Egg Update

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Now that incubation season has slowed, egg production is up. There are still summer egg shares available so let us know if you'd like to add a dozen eggs to your share basket. You can't get better eggs than these in the store!

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We have had huge success with incubating both duck and chicken eggs and have a plethora of poultry on the hill growing toward being available for your dining pleasure later in the summer and fall. Dressed chickens will be available by mid-summer, and ducks and turkeys will be available in time for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas. We have poultry shares available (see the poultry page for more detail) and will be accepting orders for single broiler chickens, too. If you're interested in your own chicks for backyard eggs, give Glenn a call. If you don't have his number, e-mail me and we'll get that to you.

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We again remind you that your early orders and payments help us more easily care for the birds in a safe and healthy manner - healthy for both the poultry and you.

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Miscellany

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Up above I mentioned that bees are in the air, which, depending as we do for them to pollinate our crops, delights us. Add to general bees, about a month ago we were able to add a beehive to the farm! I haven't had a chance to add a bee page to the website yet, but it's coming. The short story is that Glenn was able to contain a swarm of honeybees long enough to get them moved permanently into a beehive and they are madly working toward honey production. Definitely by next summer, but possibly sometime yet this year, we will have farm fresh honey. We are astonished - honey was something we'd talked about but neither of us has any previous experience managing a hive so we're learning as we go.

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The long awaited recipe page is finally a reality and there are a few egg recipes and tips as well as some yummy dessert recipes. As I have time, I'll add our favorite recipes for produce in your basket. As with everything else, if you have something that could benefit the community, drop me a line or post a comment to this blog.

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Enjoy your fresh food!

Peace -

Gail

Volume 1: Issue 3 – published occasionally at the whim of the editor       5/5/09

In this issue:

Important Dates and Other Important Info

Introduction

Garden News

Victory Garden Plots

Poultry & Egg Update

Miscellany

Important Dates!

April 15, 2009          Garden Share orders and first installment payments due

Other Important Info

Ordering deadline extended indefinitely for Pastured Poultry. More below.

Spring egg shares available until gone - amount due is pro-rated based on date order is placed.

Change in payment instructions: Checks payable to Gail Stevens Shourds. We’ve made this change for financial record-keeping reasons. If you have already made your check out to Glenn, you don’t need to re-write the check, but please take note of this change for further reference.

Intro

It’s hard to believe a month has already passed since my last posting when snow was still on the ground (so much for posting every Monday!). This week, as we enter Holy Week and approach the joyful celebration of Christ’s Resurrection, we are also celebrating the varied new life here on the farm.  There is lots growing in the greenhouse and chicks are expected to hatch any day! Field preparation has begun and peas and green onions are in the ground. Brambles and vines have been pruned, and we have been working on getting the apple orchard ready to produce, including pulling lots of ancient and huge poison ivy vines out of the trees! In fact, a good case of poison ivy postponed Glenn’s surgery and we are still awaiting a date.

Garden News

There are only a few days left to get those share orders in – Garden Share orders are due by April 15th. Shares are selling fairly quickly, so get your order in now! In the event there are shares left unsold, we will not be extending this date – any produce beyond the shares sold as of April 15th will be offered at the farm stand or farmer’s markets.

Glenn has already filled the greenhouse he built last month and is talking about putting up another one! We expect to have a wide variety of seedlings ready for the garden as soon as it’s warm enough to plant and may even have some bedding plants available for sale.

Don’t forget to check out the Garden Shares page on this site for crop and date updates. As always, we remember that God is in control and the weather and climate will impact the eventual harvest. For instance, this year has been cooler than usual and the sub-zero temperatures of a few weeks ago may have killed our entire peach crop. If you like peaches, put that on your prayer list!

Victory Garden Plots

Don’t forget to put your order in for a Victory Garden plot! See more on this website.

Poultry & Egg Update

Egg production has stabilized and we have fertilized eggs available for sale for incubation. Call Glenn directly for more information.

We have both duck and chicken eggs incubating and due to hatch soon. There may be some chicks available for sale. Again, call Glenn directly if you’re interested.

Next week we will also be receiving our first batch of meat poultry. So here is your first reminder about placing your orders ASAP for Pastured Poultry products. Dressed chickens will be available by mid-summer, and ducks and turkeys will be available in time for Thanksgiving and/or Christmas.

We again remind you that your early orders and payments help us more easily care for the birds in a safe and healthy manner – healthy for both the poultry and you.

Miscellany

Last issue I announced that we would be starting a recipe page and asked for submissions. I have started that page with the first couple recipes, including Perfect Hard-Boiled Eggs just in time for Easter!

As I stated above, Glenn’s back surgery has been post-poned until after Easter. Since we don’t yet have a new date, we don’t know how that will impact the farm, but we have faith that all the help we need will continue to be provided. Your continued prayers are appreciated.

Peace –

Gail