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End of July Bloglet

Tue, 27 Jul 2010 16:12:00 -0400

Hello Friends!

Can you believe this is the last pick-up week in July? I can't! It's hard to believe school will start in just a few weeks.

I have just finished going through all the order forms, deposits, and other farm records to see where we stand. If I show a balance due, you should have received an e-mail from me. Additionally, if I discovered that there's a discrepancy somewhere I also sent an e-mail. So if you're not sure whether you're paid up and *didn't* get a note from me, go ahead and e-mail me. Also, if you think you should be getting something that you're not (notably chicken) and didn't get a note, let me know that, too.

Remember, the final installment due date is August 15th. You can add chicken, eggs, jelly/jam, or honey to your order any time, just let us know. Please try to let me know by noon the day of your pick-up. If you can't or forget, call before 4 and we'll try to have it there for you.

August chickens: Around Fair time it's always hard to get into the processor and the only time Glenn could get our birds scheduled was Friday the 13th. That means that if you want your chicken fresh, you'll need to let us know. We'll place all the birds in the freezer as soon as they come from the processor unless you arrange ahead of time to pick up on Saturday or Sunday.

We're in the mid-summer "slump" meaning that some crops, like corn and beans, are winding down until the next planting comes on, while others, like tomatoes and peppers, are winding up.

This week's garden share contents (subject to change, of course):

* green beans - they're winding down so they won't be as plentiful this week. They should set on again but, from the farmer's mouth, "it's hard to say".

* sweet corn - at some point in the next month, there will be a week or two without corn but then it will return, hopefully until the end of the season.

* summer squash / zucchini - it's starting to wind down for now (do I hear cheers from some of you?) but expect more later in the season

* cabbage

* tomatoes

* peppers

* herbs - basil and parsley. By the way, those of you with herb beds of your own who have herbs to spare, let us know! I'm sure your partner shareholders would enjoy a sampling. So you know, we have 27 half shares each week.

* garlic - as before, if you don't use your garlic right away, be sure to let it dry in a fairly dark and coolish place where it can get plenty of air.

* Swiss chard (maybe)

* broccoli (maybe)

* blackberries for those who have not yet received them - then we'll start the cycle over again and go until they're done. And don't try giving me that old "we haven't got ours yet" because I'm keeping track. By the way, we're giving you about 2 cups which is enough to make a Crazy Crust Cobbler on the recipe page! It goes great with ice cream. And we've also heard from several of you that you've enjoyed them on cereal, with milk, in a salad, or just plain.

As the weather cools, we expect to be able to return to some of those cooler weather crops along with the late summer crops that are coming on now. If only we had a little rain ...

Thanks for supporting your local sustainable farms!

Gail

Full NewsBlog

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:17:00 -0400

Mulberry Creek Farm NewsBlog

published occasionally at the whim of the editor

Volume 2: Issue 5 – 7/20/10

In this issue:

Introduction

Garden News: This week’s shares

Poultry Products

Hog Hearsay

Jams, Jellies and Honey

Miscellany: Our move

Recipe of the Month: Zucchini

Question of the Month: Do I need to refrigerate my eggs?

It really is hard to believe July is over half done and we’re shopping for school supplies! But here we are in mid-summer, battling insects that bite, sting, chew, or pester and weeds that seem to flourish more and more. We’re once again over-run with chickens and are well into the swing of the weekly garden share cycle: harvest, weigh, count, bag, distribute, repeat.

Garden News

Thus far, you who receive garden shares seem to be enjoying your weekly share of our produce, although I think many of us are having to dig deep to find new and exciting ways to prepare zucchini! (Down below is a great looking recipe sent in by one of our members last week. If you have one, send it along!) Of course, one of the steepest learning curves for many of us when choosing to eat locally is learning to eat seasonally which means accepting what’s growing right now rather than hitting the supermarket for something that’s out of season here but shipped in from far, far away.

Tomatoes and peppers are coming on but, unfortunately, the lettuce is done for the time being. We’re getting fall crops in the ground between rains so we can anticipate more cool weather greens, like lettuce, later in the season.

Here’s what we’re planning for this week’s shares (always, of course, subject to the weather and other uncontrollable circumstances!):

Sweet Corn

Green Beans

Tomatoes (our tomatoes are heirloom varieties so will look quite different than those in the store. If you’re curious and we forget to tell you about them, just ask!)

Bell Peppers

Onions

Zucchini

Summer Squash

Cauliflower / Broccoli

Herbs (probably limited to basil and oregano)

And a few more of you will receive berries this week.

By the way, now that tomatoes, peppers and onions are here, there’s a pretty good recipe for Pico de Gallo on the recipe page, (which is basically fresh salsa if you’re not familiar with it).

Don’t forget to help out now and then on Wednesdays (or any other time – just let us know when would be a good time and we’ll work something out). It’s been hot, but the garden keeps on producing your nummies and would love to meet you! We’ll set you to weeding, harvesting, or even preparing items for shares. (If you come out and help, you get to take yours home early and probably even get something extra, too!) While we prefer that you give us a buzz first, if you want to just show up, that’s fine, too.

Poultry Products

We’ll be processing chickens again within the next 2 or 3 weeks so if you want to pre-order a chicken or add to what you already get, let me know. Generally, we try to take enough birds at a time to cover the monthly poultry shares and have a few on hand for single sales. Again, chickens are $8 each.

Some news on our live birds: our Royal Palm turkey breeding trio and a fair number of their poults moved to Wisconsin several weeks ago. We do still have a variety of live turkey poults available. We lost our Narragansett tom turkey to wounds sustained in that dog attack in early June and will be looking for a replacement tom. We still have the year+ old Blue Slate and Bourbon Red toms available for $35 each.

We’ll be incubating both Dominique and Rhode Island Red chickens within the next few weeks. We have available now a variety of chicks nearing laying age. Day old chicks are $2, adult chickens are $6 each.

Eggs: No news is good news! Egg production is pretty steady and the chickens are being quite cooperative. Again, if you need a dozen, let me know or ask when you get here. We’re trying to have an extra dozen or two on hand at pick-up.

Hog Hearsay

Over the next week, we’ll be saying goodbye to several of our spring piglets. Three are moving to a farm just north of Milwaukee, Wisconsin this weekend and three will relocate to South Carolina early next week.

The remaining 7 will be fed out and sold as pork. Some have been spoken for but we still have a few available. They’ll be slaughtered sometime before Christmas. Although we’ll have moved by then, if you’re interested in a hog or a half-hog, let me know. You’ll pay the processing fee plus $3.50 per pound hanging weight. What that means is that once the pig has been killed and dressed, the butcher will hang it on a special scale to weigh it, hence ‘hanging’ weight.

If you’ve never tasted heritage pastured pork before, well, let me just say that this is what pork should be, not that “other white meat” cardboard stuff you get in the store. Pork isn’t supposed to be white! Think about the difference between a store chicken and one you get from us (or another similar farm) and you get the idea.

A whole hog requires a $75 deposit and the remaining balance due at the time of pick-up. A half hog requires a $40 deposit with the same payment due at time of pick-up.

Expect an average Mulberry Creek hog to have a hanging weight of 100-120 pounds.

Jams, Jellies and Honey

We have made a honey extractor and extracted our first 25 (or so) pounds of honey this year! It’s so much easier than doing it the old fashioned way in front of the open oven. Our honey is raw which means that we’ve done nothing to it other than remove it from the comb. No heat, no preservatives or additives, etc. Just plain, raw honey. It’s $5 for a ½ pint, $15 for a quart.

Don’t forget, we have lots (and lots) of jellies and jams! I guess it’s high time I re-posted the list of flavors. And we can promise you that there’s no “who knows what” in it. Just juice, sugar, and pectin (which is naturally occurring and helps it jell). We don’t make what we don’t eat, so at the moment we don’t have any sugar free jellies except Yellow Plum. Everything is $4 a jar except the Seedless Blackberry and Seedless Red Raspberry which are $5 each.

Here are the flavors. Hope I didn’t miss anything!

Apple Butter

Apple Jelly

Apricot Jam

Cherry Pie Jelly

Currant Jam

Elderberry Jelly

Gooseberry Jam

Grape Jelly

Red or White Mulberry Jelly

Mulberry Syrup

Peach Jam

Plum Jams: Purple Plum, Red Plum, Yellow Plum, Yellow Plum Wine, Sugar-Free Yellow Plum (and this has NO sweetener whatsoever)

Raspberry Jam

Raspberry-Currant Jam

Rhubarb-Peach Jam

White Mulberry Jam

Seedless Blackberry Jam

Seedless Red Raspberry Jam

Please let me know by noon the day of your pick-up if you’d like honey, jam or jelly and which flavor(s). If you don’t specify size for honey, I’ll assume you want a ½ pint. By the way, as you begin thinking toward the holidays yet 5 months away, these items make great gifts!

Miscellany

I’d hoped to have most of our stuff packed up for the move by now, but we’ve been so busy picking beans and corn and doing other farm related tasks that by the time I have time to pack a box, I don’t have the energy! I think we can put a hold on boxes for the moment, but we still need packing material. I know I’m going to go through what we’ve got pretty quickly. Thanks, everyone, for boxes and packing material!

Many of you already know that none of us will be moving until October. We’d planned that Maggie and I would move in time for school to start, but it’s just not going to happen – there are a couple reasons for that. So we will all be here through the remainder of the season! We’ll move in mid-October as soon as the garden share season is over but we’ll be back around Thanksgiving with turkeys (and perhaps pork).

Recipe Corner:

Wondering what to do with all that zucchini and summer squash? Here are some tips:

• Make zucchini bread! (You can also use summer squash in addition to or instead of zucchini.)

• Freeze it for use this winter. We love to sauté a bit of frozen summer squash or zucchini with some onion and herbs for a wonderful side-dish when the snow is thick on the ground. Just wash off the outside of the fruit, cut off the ends, cut the fruit into bite sized pieces, blanch for three minutes, put them in plastic freezer boxes, label and freeze. Alternatively, you can grate it for use in zucchini bread later but you’ll only want to blanch this for about a minute and a half. If you need more information about how to blanch veggies for freezing, check out the preservation tips on the recipe page.

• Here’s a recipe sent in by MCF member Connie Gilhooly: Almond and Zucchini Soup

1 cup whole almonds

2 medium zucchini

4 cloves garlic

2 T butter (I used olive oil)

4 cups basic chicken or vegetable broth

1/2 cup dry white wine

1/2 cup cream (I used plain Greek yogurt.)

salt

pepper

3-4 slices bacon (optional --- I did not use.)

1. Preheat oven to 275 degrees. Place the almonds in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake them for about 20 minutes, until you can smell the roasted aroma. Set them aside to cool.

2. Meanwhile, cook the bacon and set it aside to drain on paper towels. Grate the zucchini (I just cut up, didn't grate since it all goes in the blender later.)and mince the garlic. Rub the almonds in a dry dishtowel to remove the skins; then grind the almonds in a food processor. (The almonds I had were already sliced. I put them in the oven for 15. Did not do the dishtowel thing. Used a blender to grind them. All was well! )

3. In a soup pot, melt the butter on medium. Stir in the zucchini and garlic and cook for 5 minutes, stirring almost constantly. Pour in the broth and the wine and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Stir in the almonds and remove from heat.

4. Allow the soup to cool slightly. In a blender or food process, puree the mixture and then put it back into the soup pot. Stir in the cream and add salt to taste. Reheat gently but thoroughly; do not allow it to boil. Crumble the bacon. Garnish each serving with a sprinkling of freshly ground black pepper and the crumbled bacon.

Random Question of the Month: Do I need to refrigerate my eggs?

First, I’ll say that we have a bunch of egg info on the Food Safety page of the web site (brown vs. white eggs, how fresh is fresh, etc.) There is work to do (of course!) but there’s some basic good information there as well as links to some other relevant sites. So – on to the question at hand: is refrigeration necessary?

There are two answers to this. The USDA and FDA say eggs must be kept refrigerated “at a temperature of 45°F or below. Keep the eggs in their carton and place them in the coldest part of the refrigerator, not in the door.”

The second answer we’ll let you decide – this is a repeat from a small part of the food safety page: Here are a few thoughts based on our personal practice and observation.

1. A hen sits on an egg for 21 days without it going bad.

2. People survived (thrived) for centuries eating eggs that came out of a bowl sitting on the kitchen counter or table. We eat eggs all the time that have never been refrigerated. The trick is to actually cook the eggs before you consume them.

3. If you cook the egg thoroughly, you're not likely to get sick from it. (Egg related illness seems to come almost entirely from eating eggs that have not been cooked through or at all, including stuff that raw eggs are in, like cookie dough.) COOK YOUR EGGS THOROUGHLY!

4. If it floats, don't eat it! If it smells funky, don't eat it! (If you want to check an egg, put it in a bowl then fill the bowl with enough water to cover the egg(s). If the egg just sits there, it’s fine. My practice is that if it bobs a bit but remains touching the bottom of the bowl, I’ll use it for hard boiling or baking.)

TIPS:

* Once eggs are refrigerated, they need to remain refrigerated.

* Fresh eggs keep longer than hard boiled eggs, but hard boiling an egg will extend it's life. Another way to say this is that if you take two eggs that were laid today and hard boil one then stuck them both in the fridge, the hard boiled one would go bad first. But if you take that non-boiled egg and a week or two down the road boil it, it will last a bit longer.

* Successful hard boiled eggs need to be at least a week old. Very fresh eggs won't peel well, no matter what tricks you use.

(By the way, our website says we put the eggs in the fridge as soon as they’re cleaned up which isn’t strictly true – generally, as soon as they’re cleaned up you come to get them. 99% of the time the eggs you pick up have never seen the inside of a fridge but they’re no more than a couple days old and our semi-underground stone kitchen is pretty cool even on the hottest days.)

Thanks for eating local!

Peace -

Gail

Garden Shares July 14-15

Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:10:00 -0400

It's Wednesday morning so I'd better get this posted because there's lots to do here on the farm today!

The cooler temperatures and all the rain we had this week really helped some of our crops. Last week it was looking like the lettuce was done - it was getting a bit bitter. But some of it has made a rebound - yay! Also the herbs have really taken off this week.

There are some crops we aren't getting enough of in any given week to give some to everyone so we're trying to give some to a few of you each week. Over the course of the summer everyone should come out pretty evenly. For instance, those of you who received cauliflower last week will not receive it this week, and those who didn't will. And this week we have just enough blackberries for a handful of you but they should continue to bear for quite some time.

A reminder to those of you who pick up on alternating weeks: From time to time we have an item for only one week. If you see something on the list for your off week that you really want, please feel free to let me know. If it's something that will turn up again the following week, all's well. But if it happens to be a one week only item, some things will keep in the fridge for a week and we may be able to save it for you.

Thus far we haven't had to go to another farm to shore up our shares, but that may yet come to pass. Rest assured, if we have to go elsewhere for a few extra heads of cabbage or whatever, we will let you know.

Don't forget, there are recipes and preservation tips on the recipe page and we're always delighted to receive new tips and ideas on how you enjoy your fresh produce, chicken, eggs or whatever. Check out the forums and add your suggestion. You can also e-mail me and I'll post it as soon as I get a chance (which may be January!).

So this week's list:

* Sweet corn (as I said in an e-mail earlier this week, each half share will receive 6 ears of corn each week until corn is done. If you would like more for a larger crowd or to put up, give us a heads up. Also, we're trying to be out under the canopy most afternoons with corn and whatever else we have on hand so if you want more and forgot to let us know ahead of time, just ask - we'll probably have some on hand! Corn is $4 per dozen.)

* Green beans (Again, each half share will receive 1/2 - 1 lb each week until we run out. If you need more, let us know. Beans are $1.50 / lb.)

* Zucchini

* Summer squash (We hope.)

* Carrots

* Cauliflower / Broccoli

* Lettuce (Glenn didn't tell me what kind but Maggie will let you know at pick-up.)

* Green onions

* Herbs: Basil, Parsley, Cilantro (There won't be enough cilantro to make pesto, but there will be enough to use in a dish. We do have a bumper crop of basil so if you'd like more than the bit we've been giving you, let me know. I'll get back to you with a price.)

* Blackberries (Again, only a few of you will get blackberries each week. We'll just start at the top of the list and work our way down.)

Thanks for supporting locally grown foods!

Better Late Than Never

Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:51:00 -0400

I know we're down to the wire ... in fact, I should be out finishing up shares for this evening but thought it's too early in the season for me to stop getting weekly share lists out ... although I'm sure that will eventually come to pass!

Before I forget, for those of you with monthly chicken shares, we're taking chickens to be processed tonight after pick-ups. Unfortunately, we can't choose when we take them to be processed and have to take them when there's an available spot at the processor. So Thursday's shareholders will get your chickens fresh at pick-up tomorrow. Wednesday people: you can either stop by the farm tomorrow before 4:30 to get yours fresh or if you don't mind them going into the freezer, you can just get them next week. If you have a question, just call. Anyone else who wants a fresh chicken Thursday evening, let me know. We'll have a dozen or so extras processed.

The heat continues to play havoc with the crops and has been heaven for the weeds and bugs! We have had to dust a few things and will try to remember to let you know what's been dusted. I'll put it here, but don't hesitate to ask at pick-up!

So here's the dope.

* lettuce - we're down to just a bit of the Ruby Red and even it may be getting a bit on the bitter side. The lettuce has not like the heat *at all*. We are planning on having more in the fall, though, once it cools off.

* carrots - just a few this week but hopefully we'll have more in the weeks to come.

* garlic - it's just bee harvested so hasn't dried completely. It can be used any time, but you might want to set it in a dry, dark place to let it dry completely.

* beets - again, just a few and more to come.

* zucchini

* summer squash

* green beans

* cabbage - the cabbage has been dusted, but it was just at the end of last week so only the outer leaves may have any dust on them. We also rinsed the cabbage off so most of the dust will be gone. (We thought you'd opt for a little dust over a lot of cabbage worms!)

* broccoli / cauliflower

* basil

* oregano

* Sweet Corn!

Thanks for eating local!

Garden Shares for June 30-July 1

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 13:45:00 -0400

It's early afternoon on Tuesday so this list is subject to change (as always!) but as of right now this is what we're looking at for this week's shares:

* Lettuce - 3 kinds again, but instead of the Black Seed Simpson, which did *not* like the heat, you'll get Romaine along with the Ruby Red and Buttercrunch

* Green Onions

* Radishes (this is a maybe - they didn't like the heat either so we're not sure how many we'll have)

* Green Beans

* Yellow Wax Beans

* Zucchini

* Yellow Summer Squash

* Kohlrabi

* Swiss Chard

* Cauliflower

* Snow Peas

* Basil

See below for some of what's coming!

As always, there are a few recipes on the recipe page - if you're not sure what to do with something just ask! There are also instructions for freezing many of your fresh veggies (a very simple process that will give you local summer flavor in the depth of winter).

Please remember that we are a farm not a supermarket. There is mud out here and it sometimes gets on your produce - we rinse those things that can be rinsed (see note below on beans) but there will be some dirt, possibly weed leavings, including thistle parts, and an occasional bug. Also, as I've stated previously, all shares in a given week are identical. We harvest everything that's ready that week and split it between that week's shares. When you miss, we do like knowing ahead of time so your share doesn't go to waste. If you forgot or something came up, just give us a call. Much of the time you can swing by within a day or so to pick it up. Lately, we've been called to Indiana to deal with getting things settled at the new place and we do appreciate your patience with our having to scoot out as soon as the last Thursday share is picked-up (thanks for coming early :)!) We must do this again this week as we're meeting with the power company first thing Friday morning.

NOTE on beans: once you rinse your beans, you'll need to use them right away. Water, even condensation, will shorten their shelf life considerably. In fact, you'll find that a lot of Mulberry Creek Farm produce doesn't keep as long as grocery store produce. That's largely because of the difference in varieties. We use traditional or heirloom varieties as much as we can while groceries sell produce that was developed for travel ability and long shelf life. (Of course, we think it also cuts down on flavor and nutrition!)

Preview of coming attractions - sometime in the next couple weeks we expect to be sharing broccoli, cabbage, carrots, beets, bell peppers, and sweet corn! You'll see early crops diminish, especially due to the extreme early heat this year. Lots of these early crops prefer cooler weather and it's speeding their season end considerably. Garden peas are already done, this will be the end of snow peas and radishes, lettuce varieties are shifting and spinach (due largely to the extreme early heat) is struggling. Eating locally means eating seasonally which can be quite an adventure!

Thanks for being willing to try new things and for sharing your culinary adventures with us! We do look forward to hearing those stories.

See you soon!

Gail

Garden Share Reminder

Wed, 23 Jun 2010 09:06:00 -0400

Just a reminder to everyone receiving garden shares:

Several folks have made special requests for "please don't include" this or for extra that.

All shares are identical. It's pretty impossible for us to keep track of who doesn't want what. When you come to pick-up, tell us then - just say "no thanks". If you want a lot of something extra, a heads up is nice. When someone says "no thanks" to something, we're happy to hand that item over to someone else who will use it. We'll also have extra on hand to sell from time to time (for instance, this week we will have a few pounds of wax beans), especially if it's something that needs to be picked when it needs to be picked. Other things, like lettuce and other high risk veggies, we pick when it's needed.

Thanks!

This Week's Garden Shares

Tue, 22 Jun 2010 20:32:00 -0400

As of Tuesday evening, we are planning the following for this week's shares:

Lettuce, 3 kinds

Garden Peas

Snow Peas

Yellow Wax Beans

Radishes

Green Onions

Zucchini

Yellow Squash

Rhubarb (frozen - we've been saving it for you!)

Garden Share Pick-Ups

Fri, 18 Jun 2010 08:24:00 -0400

Garden share pick-ups are Wednesdays from 4-7pm at the farm and Thursdays from 5:30-6:30 at Grace UMC on Salem Ave. in Dayton. If you need directions to either, feel free to contact us. The Grace pick-up is in the north parking lot under the trees. The farm pick-up is under the canopy at the end of the lane.

A couple folks didn't make it out this week - did you forget? Did something come up? Did you not realize we started this week? Give us a call and we'll take the next steps. We're pretty flexible about making arrangements for you to come to the farm to pick-up your shares within a couple days after regular pick-ups. And if you come out to lend a hand, you can take your share home with you and save the extra trip!

Thanks for eating local!

MCF NewsBlog

Tue, 15 Jun 2010 15:25:00 -0400

Mulberry Creek Farm NewsBlog

published occasionally at the whim of the editor

Volume 2: Issue 4 – 6/15/10

In this issue:

Introduction

2010 Summer Share Details: Please double check again!

Garden News: This week’s shares

Poultry Products

Hog Hearsay

Jams, Jellies and Honey

Recipe Corner

Question of the Month: Do I need to wash my produce?

Miscellany: Move Update

The summer season is here! Shares begin this week for most. If you are an alternating week shareholder, please double check to see if you start this week or next. Also, jot down that we can always use plastic grocery bags (in fact, we really need plastic grocery bags!) and gallon ziplock bags. Please don’t forget to return those egg cartons – and as canning season starts, we’re happy to take jars of any size (jelly, pint, quart, etc).

In the last NewsBlog I included share confirmations. I have a new version based on orders and clarifications received. Be sure to double check before you head off to your pick-up!

Please don’t forget the second third of installment payments is due at or before your first share pick-up! I’ll try to get individual e-mails out today.

Also, if you’re continuing eggs from the spring, please remember that the new egg season starts this week. We need your order to confirm your share.

I have garden share pick-ups scheduled as follows. If you’d like to switch, we need to know by Wednesday morning. If you cannot pick-up in a given week, please let us know by Wednesday morning. If possible, we’re happy to make other arrangements for you to pick-up at the farm.

Summer 2010 Garden Shares Details

Pick-up every Wednesday at the Farm, 4-7pm:

Aker, Brown, English, Gilhooley, Glidden, Moore, Novicki, Shapiro, Sterling, Stubbs, Vance, Welch, Whitehead

Pick up at the farm alternating weeks starting June 16: Becker, Duffy, Kovacs

Pick up at the farm alternating weeks starting June 23: Spriggs-Trobridge, Sterling

If this will be problematic, please contact me ASAP! We need to split our alternating shareholders between weeks. If you’d rather switch to weekly pick-up, let me know that right away.

Pick up every Thursday at Grace UMC, Salem Ave, Dayton, 5:30-6:30pm:

Campbell-Blake, Fairchild, Ramey, Sinnokrak, Temkin

(If you notified me via e-mail and the change is not reflected here, it's because I posted this before I read your e-mail. But you might want to double check :)

Egg, poultry, honey, jelly etc orders will be included with garden shares.

Confirmed Summer egg customers:

Half: Brown, Cowley, Duffy, Dakin, Glidden, Hitchcock, Manson, Sinnokrak, Spriggs-Trobridge, Temkin, Welch, Wilson, Vance

Full: Becker, Campbell-Blake, Dodds, English, Thomas

(If you have not yet paid, please do so when you pick up this week. Thanks! If you're not on this list and should be or are and shouldn't, e-mail me ASAP! Separate e-mail going out.)

We need to know immediately if anyone still prefers the UTS/Trotwood location for garden share pick-up. UTS egg only drop-off will be at 5pm, Thursdays.

If your scheduled pick-up/drop-off time and location don’t work for you and you need to switch, please let me know ASAP. Farm pick-ups can be pretty flexible. Also, please remember that shares not picked-up will be distributed at our discretion. If you simply forgot or got side-tracked, just call. We’re usually open to you swinging by the farm within a day or two of a missed pick-up.

Any questions/comments/concerns, let me know.

Garden News

Here’s what we’re planning for this week’s shares (always subject to the weather and other uncontrollable circumstances!):

Lettuce – 3 varieties

Spinach

Garden peas

Snow peas

Green onions

Radishes

Zucchini or Yellow Summer Squash

Turnips

Cilantro and/or basil

The early shares are very heavy in salad greens but within the next couple weeks we’ll also have green beans, kohlrabi, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, carrots and other greens. Expect sweet corn and tomatoes around mid-July.

In between rain storms, we’re trying to stay slightly ahead of the weeds. We’ve resorted to mowing between rows and just trying to keep the big stuff down! We still have more to plant as soon as it dries out enough.

Don’t forget to come on out any Wednesday to lend a hand – we’ll set you to weeding, harvesting, or even preparing items for shares. (If you come out and help, you get to take yours home early and probably even get something extra, too!) While we prefer that you give us a buzz first, if you want to just show up, that’s fine, too.

Poultry Products

Life on the farm can be tough, especially when dealing with livestock and the cycle of life. Occasionally we lose a chicken or two to predators (who also have to eat) and we have lost several of our turkey hens the same way. Last week a dog or dogs got into the pen where we were keeping our goslings and ducklings and killed all but two of the ducklings. The goslings had been doing so well! Some of our larger birds were roughed up but seem to be doing OK. So, it will be some time before we can offer goose or duckling. We still have plenty of chickens, though, including several in the freezer, and the turkey poults have not been harmed.

Live birds are available: Day old chicks are $2, adult chickens are $6 each. We have Rhode Island Red, Dominique, and White Rock chicks, and various adult birds. Royal Palm turkey poults are $10 and up. We are also offering our Royal Palm breeding trio (a tom and 2 hens) for $150, and one each Blue Slate and Bourbon Red toms for $35 each. Our adult turkeys are all over a year old and have proven reproductively. Live birds are local pick-up only.

Eggs: New season starts this week – if we haven’t received your order, please be sure we know that you want to continue!

Some of you have stated that even a half-share of eggs is too many. Let me remind you that you are welcome to purchase eggs whenever you need them. If you’re a farm pick-up, just ask when you get here. If you come to a drop-off location, let us know by Thursday afternoon and we’ll be happy to bring eggs along. Eggs are $3 per dozen.

Hog Hearsay

Our babies arrived Memorial Day weekend! Nova gave birth to 7 healthy piglets that are all growing well. Luna gave birth to 12 and 7 are growing well. Significant interest has been shown in all the girls and several of the boys although as of this writing we have yet to receive any deposits. Weanlings will be available for transport the end of July and are $250 each for registered gilts and boars or $50 for unregistered barrows. A breeding trio (1 boar and 2 gilts, from different mothers) goes for $600. We operate on a “first deposit received” basis. Our reservation form is on the website or I’m happy to e-mail one to you. Even when ordering barrows, we do need a reservation and payment up front. All boars unreserved as breeding stock by July 10 will be castrated.

If you are interested in pastured heritage pork, let us know. You can purchase a barrow (a hog going for meat) and raise it yourself, or you can purchase one or part of one and we can raise it for you. Barrows go for $50 if you raise it. If we raise your hog (or half hog) and have it processed, you’ll pay the processing fee plus $3.50 per pound (carcass weight). A whole hog requires a $75 deposit and the remaining balance due at the time of pick-up. A half hog requires a $40 deposit with the same payment due at time of pick-up.

Pork will be ready sometime this fall. Expect an average barrow at time of processing to have a carcass weight of 100-120 pounds. I’ll try to get a flyer out on pork soon.

Jams, Jellies and Honey

Every time I turn around, we’re capturing or building up another hive. Also, berries are beginning to ripen so jelly and jam season is upon us. This year, if we have plenty of a particular kind of jelly, I’ll be making saft with much of the berry juice. Saft is a Swedish berry juice concentrate that’s pretty much just juice and sugar – no corn syrup or other additives. Whether we offer any for sale is still up in the air since this will be a new venture for us.

If you need honey, jam or jelly, let us know prior to your pick-up and we’ll have it ready for you. And don’t forget, we will ship these items.

Recipe Corner

There's so much you can do with any and all of this produce! With this week’s share, try tossing some snow peas and summer squash chunks in with your salad. Or add snow peas, summer squash, and turnip chunks to your favorite stir fry.

The following was published in the Farm2Fork Fresh newsletter at Dorothy Lane Market, summer 2009:

* 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!)

Rinsing Vegetables to be Critter Free

Fill a bowl, the sink, some container with cool/lukewarm (not cold, not hot) water, add a couple teaspoonsful – a quarter cup of salt. Use your discretion – the more buggy something may be, the more salt you may want to use. I generally just dump a bunch in, myself. Soak your vegetables for 5-10 minutes then rinse well under running water. With veggies with lots of nooks and crannies, such as broccoli, swish them well after they soak and before you rinse them to help evict those critters.

Vegetable Preservation: see the section on preserving veggies on the Recipe page of the website.

Cooking with Snow Peas

We include two varieties of peas with this week’s shares. Garden peas, peas in the pod, may be eaten whole or shelled then prepared as you prefer. Snow peas, the flat ones, are eaten whole. They are delicious fresh, in a salad, steamed, stir-fried and are a great sugar pea for freezing for later use.

For a recipe for Lemon Butter Snow Peas: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Lemon-Butter-Snow-Peas/Detail.aspx

Cooking with Turnips

First, the greens are delicious. Clean them and use them like spinach.

The fruit of the turnip is little known these days but is worth giving a try. Turnips are a lot like potatoes in substance and many people just eat them mashed – there are a plethora of mashed turnip recipes online – but Glenn loves them peeled and fresh – try slicing them into your salad or stir fry. Go ahead and try turnip salad (instead of potato salad – get it?) or turnip slaw. Just use your favorite potato salad or coleslaw recipe and substitute turnips for potatoes or cabbage. Or chunk them, dip them in your favorite seasoning and roast them or fry them like potatoes.

Have a recipe to share? Send it along to the website forum. When I get a chance, I’ll post it on the website recipe page and I may include it here! By the way, I’m working on getting cooking tips that have been included in blogs onto the recipe page. If you remember seeing something last year that you just can’t find, let me know and I’ll track it down.

Random Question of the Month: Do I need to wash produce?

Absolutely! Although we don’t use chemicals (any more than absolutely necessary, and it hasn’t been necessary yet this year), our neighbors upwind do. In addition, our produce grows out there in the midst of nature where lots of critters and their body functions have access to it. While we will rinse off the bulk of dirt and so forth, there will be some amount of dirt and even some creepy crawlies from time to time. So please do at least rinse your produce unless you like grit and free protein!

Miscellany

We’re still in the sorting out stage and have started packing some items. We’re in need of boxes and, especially, packing material (newspaper, etc). If you have any to spare, let us know. Also, if you’re so inclined, I wouldn’t mind help now and then with some of the packing.

We’re still waiting for the ground to dry up enough at the new place to get the septic system in and the trailer on site. In the meantime, we camp in the old chicken house when we make a trip down – it’s great fun!

I hope you’re as excited as we are to have fresh sustainably raised vegetables on the table again. Eat local!

Peace -

Gail

Memorial Day Weekend NewsBlog

Thu, 27 May 2010 08:58:00 -0400

Mulberry Creek Farm NewsBlog - published occasionally at the whim of the editor

Volume 2: Issue 3 – 5/20/10

In this issue:

Introduction

2010 Summer Share Confirmation: Please double check yours

2010 Summer Share Drop-Off Locations: Please check your slot

Garden News: Winners of sign-up bonuses

Poultry Products: Need to hear from spring egg shareholders

Hog Hearsay: New piglets coming soon!

Jams, Jellies and Honey: More honey expected

Miscellany: Our move

Question of the Month: Is Mulberry Creek Farm organic?

Introduction:

It has been a very busy spring here on the farm! It’s hard to believe May is nearly over and our Garden Share season is just around the corner.

In the last Newsblog I mentioned that I was working on website updates and, like most indoor activities, it’s been mostly on hold while we get your crops planted and do our best to keep the weeds at bay. That has been quite an undertaking with the rain coming as it has – the weeds are growing like crazy and it’s often too wet to do much about it. Of course, the crops are also growing like crazy. As a reminder, we do love having extra help from our members – remember, it’s your farm, too! Our regular workday is Wednesday. We do ask that you give us a holler to let us know when you plan to come. Just remember that farming continues on rain or shine. If Wednesdays don’t work for you, let us know. We’d be happy to work out a different arrangement. (And, don’t forget, generally when you come to lend a hand, that hand doesn’t leave empty!)

2010 Summer Share Confirmation

Recently I sent out an e-mail about summer shares and I’m reposting it here just in case you missed it. If you already got it, skip on to the next section! Following is the list of everyone from whom we've received orders and checks for the 2010 season. Check the list to be sure I have you down correctly. If you're on the list, we have received a check from you however if you're on the installment plan, I'll send a reminder e-mail with your remaining amount due. Also, if you’ve sent an order for garden share, eggs, poultry, or anything else and have not received an e-mail from me saying your order arrived, please contact me ASAP.

BTW - the summer share season will begin Wednesday, June 16. If your egg share is for the spring and you want one for the summer, don't forget to send in your order! Also, Glenn has processed our spring chickens and everyone should have received spring orders by now. I have not included duck or turkey on this list or winter garden shares.

Summer 2010 Garden Shares:

Family: Aker, Brown, English

Couple weekly: Campbell-Blake, Fairchild, Gilhooly, Glidden, Manson, Novicki, Ramey, Shapiro, Sinnokrak, Stubbs, Temkin, Vance, Welch, Wilson

Couple alternating: Becker, Duffy, Kovacs, Spriggs-Trobridge, Sterling

Summer 2010 Egg Shares:

Half: Brown, Duffy, Glidden, Manson, Sinnokrak, Spriggs-Trobridge, Wilson

Summer 2010 Poultry Shares:

per week (coinciding with summer share season): Wilson

biweekly/2 per month: Campbell-Blake

per month: Becker, Gilhooly, Welch

Any questions, let me know.

Summer Share Drop-Off / Pick-Up Locations

Last year we had four locations: the farm, United Theological Seminary in Trotwood, Five Rivers Vineyard in Englewood, and Hoffman UMC in West Milton. Because of the different demographics with this year's participants in the CSA, we need to make some changes. We need at least three weekly customers for any given location but, unfortunately, not enough of you requested the West Milton location and we ask you to select a different pick-up location. It is entirely possible that we will not have enough for the Englewood location, either. That makes the farm the only location north of Trotwood, but we will consider adding a pick-up day at the farm if Wednesday afternoon/evening is problematic. The Trotwood location is safe as there are several people in that area. We have mentioned the possibility of adding drop-off locations in the Dayton View Triangle and Huber Heights / Beavercreek and I’ll address that further down.

Here are the drop-off locations with current arrangements. If you did not select a location, the default is the farm:

West Milton (please select a different location): Manson

Englewood (Sunday, 12-1): Cowley, Thomas, Powers

Trotwood (United Theological Seminary parking lot, Thursday, 4-5): Campbell-Blake, Dodds, Fairchild, Forbess, Kuker, Park, Ramey, Temkin

Farm (Wednesday, 4-7): Aker, Becker, Brown, Dakin, Duffy, English, Gilhooley, Glidden, Hitchcock, Kovacs, Moore, Novicki, Shapiro, Sinnokrak, Spriggs-Trobridge, Sterling, Stubbs, Vance, Welch, Whitehead, Wilson

We do remind you that CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture. We are together a part of a community. As much as we'd like to find a drop-off location in the Dayton View Triangle and/or near the base, Glenn and I are very busy planting, weeding and so forth and depend on your help. We'll be happy to follow up with any contact information you provide for potential pick-up locations, but we ask that you do the initial contacting. I do have one contact for a possibility in the Dayton View Triangle, and will send an e-mail to interested share-holders when I know more. Possibly interested shareholders are as follows: Dayton View Triangle: Becker, Fairchild, Ramey ; Huber Heights/Beavercreek: Brown, Duffy, Powers, Sinnokrak, Stubbs, Temkin

You might like to know what we need in a drop-off location. First, of course, the owner of the property needs to be open to the idea. Glenn will only be able to be on hand at the farm and Trotwood points so for any others we need to be able to drop off your baskets each week and leave them at the drop-off location for you to pick up. Of course, if you happen to get there right when baskets are dropped off, Glenn will be happy to talk with you. With that in mind, drop-off locations need to be relatively secure and out of the sun and it would be best if there were someone on hand to give assistance as needed (carrying, loading etc).

Garden News

Several of last years’ members will get something free for bringing in new members. Your option is to have a week free (per your new member) or eggs / chickens. So far our members who have received or will receive a bonus are: Dakin, Dodds, English, Ramey, Temkin, Vance, and last year’s members, Berman’s (if I can track them down!). If you have not yet received your bonus, let me know what you’d like. If you already told me, please tell me again so I’m clear! We’ll get it all worked out as the summer rolls along, but don’t let me forget!

This year we are planting an additional 6 acres. I am still overwhelmed at the idea of 10 or 11 acres of vegetables to tend. The rain pattern this spring has made it weed heaven out there. Additionally, as I write, we’re still working on getting everything planted.

Last newsblog I told you about Glenn’s larger and sturdier greenhouse. Well, some of you have already heard about the greenhouse disaster (especially if you follow us on Facebook). Only a week after it was completed, we had very strong winds – remember the first weekend in April? The greenhouse collapsed. Fortunately, we didn’t loose many plants and got the greenhouse back up pretty easily. Then we had more wind, on and off, with the greenhouse collapsing every time. Now we know why we don’t see PVC and plastic greenhouses in this part of the world. Too much high wind! Thankfully, we got the use out of it we needed and plants are thriving.

So far we have a lot of crops planted – mostly early greens and root crops, but also peas, beans, corn, herbs, tomatoes and some peppers. We have to wait for it to dry out enough to get the rest of the tomatoes, peppers, and vining crops in. If you have some spare time, we could sure use the help, especially if you have some experience in transplanting sets. A couple blogs ago I listed everything we intend to plant and I don’t think it’s changed significantly.

Poultry Products

It’s been exciting to have our first 6 Pomeranian goslings and watching them grow up! Last newsblog I mentioned that we had gathered 11 eggs prior to Pinky’s disappearance. Only 6 hatched successfully, which is about average from what we’ve been able to tell. Pinky was eaten by coyotes. We were able to obtain another goose from a farm that had lost all its ganders, though, and Maggie named her Pinky, too. Unfortunately, not long ago coyotes got one of our two ganders, Goofy. So now we’re down to the adult pair and the six goslings. We keep careful watch on them, but they’re impossible to contain. For those of you who have asked about goose for Christmas, we won’t be processing any until our flock is built up. These are a critically rare breed and their preservation comes first.

We also have a small flock of turkey poults – can’t beat it if you’ve never had pastured heritage turkey for your holiday meal! Send in a deposit now to reserve yours. I have no idea how quickly they’ll sell out and we have several potential customers interested in purchasing live birds. Just as an aside for those who are interested in these things, we’re going to downsize to only one breed of turkey, the Narragansett. It’s difficult keeping the breeds separated during their laying season forcing us to confine them. Additionally, the tom turkeys all fight constantly with each other. If you’ve been out at the farm and noticed our bare-breasted turkeys, that’s why. If we stick to one breed, life will be a lot simpler for everyone. Narragansett turkeys are one of the best tasting out there and were one of the most popular breeds for the old fashioned farm. They are critically rare, too, which puts them higher on our interest list than other breeds.

We will have a few ducklings available, so if you’re interested, they’ll be ready before the holidays.

We have processed a batch of 20 chickens and have more broiler birds growing to meet the orders for a chicken a week or month. Glenn is continuing to incubate broilers to keep up with the meat demand so if you haven’t tried one yet, give it a thought. Rarely do we have negative feedback. We will always send out a flash when we have fresh poultry, but remember, our poultry will be fresh for only a couple days after processing then everything as yet unspoken for will go into the freezer.

Egg Update: Egg production has been steady this spring with only occasional dips or bumps in laying. We have enough egg share customers that if everyone who is getting eggs now re-orders for the summer, we won’t have room for new customers. This is a great problem to have! However, whether you do or don’t intend to continue eggs once the spring season ends on June 15, please let me know ASAP. Here are the shareholders I need to hear back from:

Half: Becker, Cowley, Forbess, Gilhooley, Kuker, Powers, Temkin

Full: Campbell-Blake, Dodds, English, Moore, Park

I am assuming that you all want to continue with your eggs but they do need to be reordered. If we do not hear from you by June 10, we will assume that you intend to discontinue your eggs. The shares are paid for by season, Feb-Jun, Jun-Oct, Oct-Feb. We do egg shares by season because some people want to alter the amount they get from one season to another. If you thought you paid for the full summer when you ordered, let me know right away and I’ll double check.

Once again, as the spring season nears it’s end, while I believe we’re on track with everyone now, we may still owe eggs to some of you from those blizzard weeks back in February. Please don’t let us forget. Drop me a line ASAP.

Hog Hearsay

Our December piglets are growing! Shrek, Donkey, Fiona, and Luana are all strong and healthy and will be reaching pig puberty soon. We won’t intentionally breed them for a while yet, though. In fact, we’d like to trade one or both of our boars for boars from more distant lines to strengthen the gene pool.

Both Luna and Nova are due any minute! We’re getting very excited about having another bunch of piglets to care for. By the time summer season begins, you’ll be able to see the new babies (however, we recommend bringing footwear suitable for the farm, especially if it has rained.) We will again be offering the litters for sale to others interested in Mulefoot preservation and they’ll be weaned at the end of July and able to be transported.

Jams, Jellies and Honey

We’ve been having bee adventures this spring! Our one hive from last year made enough honey during last summer that they had plenty for the winter and actually a lot left over by spring. They are a strong and thriving hive.

I don’t know whether I’ve mentioned our other hives. We have a hive in the big catalpa tree at the end of our little walk and we have two hives who took up residence in the walls of the house some time ago that we have been working on extracting a bit at a time. In case you may wonder why we don’t just call an exterminator, honey bees were almost wiped out a few years ago and are only just making a comeback. Honeybees are crucial to agriculture, regardless of whether it’s sustainable, organic, conventional, or whatever. The bees pollinate fruit trees, tomatoes, squash, and pretty much anything that flowers. So we’re trying our best to get them out of the house and into hive supers, those white bee boxes. Thus far we have four additional hives contained.

That being said, if you have an allergy to bees and are coming to the farm, please let us know. The bees are more active than usual with all the disturbance. We are planning to set up our pick-up spot well away from the house this year because of this.

On jams and jellies, see the previous newsblog!

Miscellany

This month’s “miscellany” is actually pretty big news. Glenn, Maggie and I will be selling our farm and moving back to Glenn’s family farm. We are in great hopes that someone likeminded will purchase Mulberry Creek Farm including the CSA and continue the relationship with you.

This was a very difficult decision to make. It has some to do with the fact that Glenn’s back simply cannot handle the work that he is required to do to maintain the farm and build the outbuildings, never mind that the house needs major work. He is simply not up to it. It also has to do with God. We responded to God’s call on us to plant a church and laid out fleece to help us determine the specifics. God has made it abundantly clear to us that we are to do our ministry work in Spencer County, Indiana, not Montgomery County, Ohio.

Maggie and I will be moving in time for her to begin the school year in her new school in mid-August, but Glenn will remain here through the end of the summer garden season - unless, of course, someone wants to buy the farm and take over the CSA. We’re still trying to decide exactly how to handle the winter shares that have already been purchased. Holiday turkey orders will still be honored – we may need to travel this far to get our turkeys processed, anyway.

We thank you for the prayers and encouragement many of you have already given and we ask that they continue. We also ask for boxes!

Random Question of the Month: Is Mulberry Creek Farm organic?

We are frequently asked whether we are organic and often see communication from shareholders referring to our organic produce. We practice sustainable farming and use as many organic practices as possible. We use pesticide and herbicide only as a last resort/rescue and our fertilizer is organic. However, we are not an organic farm – although we use many organic practices, we cannot legally call our vegetables organic unless we’re Certified Organic. We are sustainable. As always, if you have questions, just ask.

One of the big pieces of sustainable farming is that it’s high maintenance. Because we don’t use pesticides or herbicides, we have lots of weeds and bugs. (A lot of organic produce is grown in greenhouses where weeds and bugs can be controlled. Even “vine-ripened” produce is usually grown in a greenhouse!) Weeding is something that we can always use help with, and some of the creepy crawlies we get can actually be physically removed and we need help with that as well. While most CSAs require shareholders to spend a few hours working on the farm, we do not. We chose to leave working on the farm voluntary because we recognize that not everyone is physically able to work. However we do encourage you to join us occasionally for an hour or two. Those of you who have done so have made positive comments about the interaction with your garden. We have one family who come every Wednesday for about an hour and seem to look forward to the time. As I stated in the introduction, our regular work day is Wednesday, but if that doesn’t fit with your schedule, just let us know and we’ll be happy to work something else out. There’s always something to do, rain or shine.

As always, please e-mail us or call us with any questions, concerns, comments, etc that you have. Those of you who are new to us are encouraged to browse back through recent newsblogs. Those of you who’ve been around for any amount of time know that we’re more than happy to discuss all things farming pretty much any time. We have recently been described as “chatty” – we won’t deny it! We love discussing and sharing the things about which we are passionate!

Eat local!

Peace - Gail