Mulberry Creek Farm CSA

Mulberry Creek Farm NewsBlog

Volume 1: Issue 12 – published occasionally at the whim of the editor 11/08/09

In this issue:

Introduction

Garden News

Turkeys, Chickens and Ducks

Egg Update

Hog & Hive Hearsay

Jams & Jellies

Miscellany

Can you believe it’s November already? There are days, like yesterday, that it feels like September and we’ve continued to harvest what hasn’t been frost-killed.

Summer shares are long past and we’d like your feedback. Please take a few minutes to answer these questions (via e-mail, or from the contacts page on this site):

1. Was the Mulberry Creek Summer Garden Share what you expected?

2. Did you feel that you got value for your cost?

3. What was the best part about participating with us this year?

4. What would you like to see us do differently next year? (additional crops, pick-up times/locations, whatever)

5. Are you planning on purchasing a share next summer?

6. Will you recommend us to anyone else?

Garden News: Fall / Winter Shares Update

Some of you have already purchased a winter share from us for either Thanksgiving or Christmas or both. We really should have called them Holiday shares, shouldn’t we? Oh, well. Anyway, I sent most of this information in an e-mail a few weeks ago, but here’s the update.

There will be two pick-ups for Fall/Winter garden shares, one the week before Thanksgiving and one the week before Christmas. (If you would like to arrange December pick-up for a different week, we’d be happy to do that, if at all possible.) Due to the size of the shares we'd prefer that you to come to the farm for pick-up, however if this would be a hardship, we (as our customers know) are pretty flexible. Please contact us to arrange for your pick-up day and time. (If you are also getting a turkey, you might want to wait until the 21st or later.)

There is only one size, but most items are good keepers. Shares are $60 for one, $120 for both.

As with our summer garden shares, a full share should provide side dishes for a family of four. In this case, a share should provide several side dishes for a family of four for the holiday table. Or for whenever you'd like to eat them! There are still a few shares available so if you’ve been on the fence, read on for what those shares look like. When I sent the e-mail we had not yet had a hard freeze and weren’t sure what would stand. I can report basket contents now with some confidence! As always, if we cannot provide the item on the list, we will be sure to include something in its place.

From Mulberry Creek Farm:

4-5 kinds of winter squash (great as pie, baked, casseroled, or just as decoration)

both red and white potatoes

carrots

turnips

leeks

celery

greens (beet tops, chard, turnip greens, kale)

parsley

garlic

horseradish

and a couple surprises!

We’ll also add pie pumpkins, apples and onions from another farm and broccoli and sweet potatoes if they’re available.

I’ll try to include a sheet of recipes and cooking instructions for some items, but there are already several on the recipes page on this site. If you have one to share, please post it to the forum!

If you have not yet ordered and would like to, let me know and I’ll get the order form to you. Or simply dowload the order form from the link on the home page of this site.

Turkeys, Chickens, and Ducks

Turkeys are scheduled for the processer late the week before Thanksgiving so will be available for pick-up any time from the 21st on. Once we have them back, I’ll send out a list of weights on the available birds to those who have ordered. Please give us a call to arrange pick-up time and location as well as make your selection as to size. First to call gets first pick of the available selection.

Once all the share-holders have selected their bird, we’ll post a list of the sizes of birds remaining. As a reminder, a $25 deposit will hold your turkey, and they are $5 per lb.

Once again, if you ordered a turkey but have not yet sent us an actual order form, please do so ASAP! We don’t want you to get lost in the shuffle. It’s a lot easier to track orders with the order forms than with checks (which sometimes get deposited before I can get them jotted down).

IMPORTANT: Do not try to roast your Mulberry Creek Farm Heritage Turkey the same way you have roasted your store turkeys in the past! If you do, you will end up with an over-cooked dry bird. There are links on the recipes page for how to prepare a heritage bird. I will try to get instructions printed out for you to pick-up with your bird.

We will have a few turkeys available for Christmas as well.

It will be some time before we have freshly processed chickens again but there are several in the freezer at $8 each. Maggie thinks they're great!

Those of you who ordered birds with a Thanksgiving Winter Share will be able to pick them up at the same time.

We have re-worked the poultry shares so you can actually buy a share for a chicken or duck a week or every other week, etc. Glenn is processing the ducks himself so please give us a few days notice when you want one. Ducks are $10 each and would make a delightful addition to the holiday table or any other time.

Egg Update

Egg production is up! Our spring pullets have reached maturity and are laying regularly. The Winter Egg Share season has already started but if you’d be interested in a dozen or more a week (or every other week for a half share), let us know. The link to the order form is on the home page. It’s a MS Word document so if you have problems downloading/printing it, if you send me a note I can e-mail or snail mail you one.

Here are the particulars:

Full share (1 dozen per week): $50

Half share (1 doz every other wk): $25

“Re-Use My Cartons” (discounted to $45 full share, $22 half share)

Total is due at time of order. Ask us about other payment arrangements.

The Winter egg season runs from October 15 – February 14. We will continue to accept orders until there are no more available and will pro-rate each week that has already passed when you place your order.

Hog and Hive Hearsay

The big news in the hog department is that we are expecting! Both Luna and Nova are due around the 14th of December. We will be sure to send a note around when the piglets arrive and will be delighted to receive visitors as soon as it’s safe.

Many of the piglets will be for sale for either breeding purposes or to feed out for pork. We are working on getting a reservation form up but purchasers can expect to pay around $200 per pig. Mulefoot Hogs are the rarest of swine breeds and Mulefoot pork is considered a gourmet meat. We can’t wait to try some!

Our bees have slowed for the winter and are in the initial stages of bee hibernation. We do have some raw honey available for sale: $5 per 8 ounces. We hope to be able to expand to two or three hives next summer and anticipate being able to offer more honey and honey products later on. We were amazed that we were able to harvest honey this quickly! Our bees are hard little workers and the honey is de-lish!

Jams and Jellies

Jams and Jellies are still here! We will be processing more this winter and will consider some flavor mixes based on what we have available. We are able to ship within Ohio so if you’re interested contact us for pricing. We must have payment prior to shipping.

All jams and jellies 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!) If you bring us jars and we fail to give you something in return, please remind us!

Everything is $4 per jar except the seedless varieties which are $5 per jar.

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

We have been asked numerous times about strawberry jam. Glenn has planted a strawberry patch and we hope to be able to offer U-Pick Strawberries next summer as well as a variety of strawberry products.

Miscellany

The barn is coming along in spite of any number of set-backs. The two side “sheds” are framed, roofed, and partially sided. One side will be the hen house (and other poultry) and the other will contain equipment storage and, most importantly, farrowing stalls for the hogs. Glenn is working on getting dirt fill for the hogs bedrooms and also getting more done on the hen house. The middle section, which will be 2 floors and house our storage and work-space, will have to wait for next summer. Find me on Facebook to see photos under 2009 Building Projects. I’m having a hard time getting images uploaded to this site but will be working on that.

In fact, I will be working on website maintenance and updating this coming indoor season. If you have input, feedback, etc. please pop me a line.

I’m sure there is more to share but I better get this posted! Thanks as always for your continued support!

And finally … eat local!

Peace –

Gail