Clark Park Market Report, 17 May

Monday, May 19, 2008

The Clark Park Farmers’ Market continues to be excitingly springy.  I bought four pints of strawberries, a pound of rhubarb, a bag of baby spinach, and two bunches of purple kale.  Other available produce included basil plants, dandelion greens, rainbow chard, and scallions, plus some remaining storage crops and the usual selections of meats, dairy, and baked goods.  I think I saw a new-for-the-season stall just north of the Betty’s Tasty Buttons stand, but I didn’t catch their name--anyone else know who they were?

Lancaster Farm Fresh #2

Tuesday, May 13, 2008

This is our second farmshare from Lancaster Farm Fresh, and below is the list Amy Crystle sent us to say what’s in it and who grew it:

1 lb Bloomsdale Spinach grown by Organic Willow Acres

1 pint strawberries grown by Green Valley Organics

2 bunches red radishes grown by Misty Meadow Acres

1 head Romaine lettuce grown by Riverview Organics

1 bunch scallions grown by Farmdale Organics

1 8oz pkg Cremini mushrooms grown by Mother Earth Organics

1 6oz pkg Portabella mushrooms grown by Mother Earth Organics

2 heads butterhead lettuce grown by Goshen View Organics

Of course, this is a two-box week, so double that!  M washed, steamed, and froze one pound of spinach.  It’s strange to feel that we’re just emerging from winter eating, and here we are, freezing food for next February. 

Spinach was one of the foods I thought we could stand more of in the freezer next year, so we’ll put up both pounds of it.  We still have fresh spinach from last week’s share, so we get to eat it, too!  The strawberries were AMAZING, and I ate them after a dinner of New Jersey asparagus and salad from the box.  The zing of the radishes was still on my tongue, and it mixed in beautiful and interesting ways with the sweet tartness of the strawbs.

Ahoy!  The season begins!

Farmers’-Market Saturday

Sunday, May 11, 2008

When I got home from yesterday’s farmers’ market with a bunch of asparagus, I decided to try a version of the asparagus quiche that I’ve been seeing around the internet.  Mine contains spring onions and spring garlic as well as asparagus, and local yogurt instead of milk and cheese. 

Other foods (aside from the asparagus and spring garlic) available at the Clark Park market included rhubarb, kale, chard, dandelion greens, spinach, various lettuces and other salad greens, storage crops such as onions, potatoes, carrots, and cabbage, some jerusalem artichokes, mushrooms...and the usual assortment of meats, dairy products, baked goods, and chocolate.  The fresh flower stand is back, too, as is the booth of flowers and herbs to plant.  It’s really feeling like spring!

New CSA: North Star

Friday, March 07, 2008

Everyone is scrambling right now to choose the right CSA program.  It’s really cool that there are so many to choose from, and I’m pleased to say that we can throw another into the mix: North Star Orchards now has a produce CSA!

Lisa from North Star tells us “Our Fruit Share CSA(now entering its fifth year) has been very successful…people just love it!  So we’ve been increasing the memberships for that every year....Last year, we started diversifying our farm more by planting vegetables.  Naturally, CSA seemed the way to go with them, so we’ve started offering a Veggie Share this year as well, with a full range of veggies and two different share size options.”

The pick up locations for North Star’s produce CSA are Eagle, Havertown, Cochranville, and Philadelphia (Head House Square).  The share will run for 22 weeks beginning June 2. A full share is $700; half shares are available for $450.

Something I’ve not seen from any other CSA is North Star’s “Special Recipe Week”, where share owners will be provided with the ingredients and recipe - like tomato sauce during the height of tomato season.  That’s kind of a cool idea.

Obviously, CSA programs are a great way for farmers to ensure they get a fair price for their work, but consumers make out, too - simple from the perspective of freshness and variety.  Lisa says,

We like doing CSA because the produce is basically pre-sold.  This allows us to grow more heritage, heirloom, and sensitive (ie. can’t hold up well at market) varieties that people cannot get at regular market outlets.  We also know that the produce will be spoken for, even if it’s a rainy day…whereas at the regular farmers’ market, many folks won’t come to shop and a lot of produce gets wasted.

Staying connected with customers is very important to us.  Although we don’t get to necessarily see our CSA members because they pick up their shares at various sites, we do keep in contact with them by sending out a weekly email which details what’s in the share, what’s unusual about it, and how to use it….as well as including various articles about farm goings-on.  We often ask for feedback about various varieties or ask for recipes, etc.  To us, this connection with the people who are eating our fruit and veggies is very important…and makes the hard work in spring and summer so worthwhile!

I’ve long been a fan of North Star’s fruit - I’m sure the quality of their vegetables is outstanding, as well!  But if you’re interested, act quickly - shares are limited this year.

Farm to City CSA announcement

Thursday, March 06, 2008

For anyone considering joining either Lancaster Farm Fresh or Red Earth Farm CSAs for the season, an announcement:

2008 LANCASTER FARM FRESH CSA MEMBERSHIP

This Saturday March 8, at noon, our web site will accept applications for shares in the Lancaster Farm Fresh CSA, 2008 season.

You can apply for this CSA anytime after noon March 8. You will be able to pay by PayPal, or you can send a check to the address given at the bottom of the application form.

Go to: http://farmtocity.org, click on Community Supported Agriculture, then on Lancaster Farm Fresh. The application form link will appear on the left panel of the web page entitled Lancaster Farm Fresh.

We can accept approximately 200 members for this CSA. We will accept members up to this limit in the order applications are received, provided we also receive payment within a week after the application date for those paying by check.

2008 RED EARTH FARM CSA MEMBERSHIP

In a week or so we will open our website for membership in the Red Earth Farm CSA. The exact date and time of the opening will be posted soon on this CSAs web page:

http://farmtocity.org, click on Community Supported Agriculture, then on Red Earth Farm. A message at the top of the page entitled Red Earth Farm will be updated occasionally. When the application period begins, the application form link will appear on the left panel of the web page.

The same rule applies for accepting members based on time and date of application and payment within a week. We can accept 30 or fewer members to the Red Earth Farm CSA. Last year 50 shares sold in about 6 hours after we opened the web site.

Decisions, decisions: choosing a CSA program

Thursday, January 10, 2008

It’s around that time when people who have opted to participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs have to choose a program and buy a share.  Last Summer, contributors wrote about their CSA shares through Lancaster Farm Fresh, Blooming Glen Farm, and Red Earth Farm.  There are a huge number of CSA programs in the area, though - when I plugged in my zip code to Local Harvest, 31 listings popped up!  No doubt, there are many other CSA programs not listed on Local Harvest, too.

If you’re not familiar with the concept of a CSA, the quick and dirty is that you pay the farmer up front for a share in what the farmer produces during the typical produce farming season and then you pick up your share for the week at a specific location.  The benefits to the farmer are that he/she/they get a fair price for the food they grow and it enables them to maintain their farms far better than more traditional sales models.  The benefits to you (the CSA member) are insane amounts of super fresh produce (usually picked within hours of your share pick up) that is often grown organically and sustainably, plus you know exactly where your food is coming from.  Sometimes you can find a CSA who offers other things for sale through the share program - eggs, meat, and milk, for instance.

Sadly, many CSA programs get overlooked simply because they have no online presence.  The information about crops typically included, price, duration of share period, pick up locations, etc. might not be readily available on the farm’s website and we move on until we find a program that does have all that stuff easily accessible.  I’m as guilty of that as anyone - I picked my CSA program last year not based on reputation or crops typically included in a share, but simply because Lancaster Farm Fresh had the most information available online and the pick up spot was super convenient for me.

I think the majority of FTP contributors are really happy with the CSA programs they participated in last year (and years prior).  I had a pretty good experience with Lancaster Farm Fresh, but variety is the spice of life and all that - I think we’re going to try something new this year.  Right now we’re waffling between Landisdale Farm’s CSA program (that offers a pick up on Saturday mornings at the Clark Park Farmer’s Market) and the CSA program at Red Hill Farm (the share is picked up at the farm, which isn’t too far away from our house...I’m just not sure yet what day of the week it is).  Obviously, I still have lots of homework to do before the final decision is made!

Now that I’ve gone one season participating in a CSA, I can’t imagine not being in one.  I truly loathe the grocery store, and I like the surprise of not knowing exactly what you’ll get in your share from week to week.  It definitely encouraged me to be more creative, try new recipes, and spend time preserving what I couldn’t eat in a week.

No doubt one day all of our local CSA programs will have an online presence with plenty of information immediately available.  Until that time, though, we’re going to have to do things the old fashioned way: pick up the phone.

CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Sniff, sniff.

Well, here it is.  The last Blooming Glen Farm pickup of the season:

I just don’t understand how it could be over.  What am I going to do without all of this super-tasty, local, fresh, healthy produce in my kitchen every week?  I’ve totally taken this season for granted.  I don’t even think about how to use the produce anymore.  When I get home, I preserve (usually freeze) whatever I won’t be able to use within the next week or two and the rest gets incorporated into meals with barely a second thought.

Well that was on the good weeks anyway.  There may have been an occasion or two… or maybe several, when something were deposited half-rotten to the compost bin because I couldn’t use it in time.  But actually, that brings me to an excellent point.

The quantity of produce for the price of a share has been unbelievable.  It would be interesting to see an actual price-per-pound, though just a quick glance at the photo album could assure anyone that $780 for 24 weeks of produce is a great deal.  I split my share each week with my sister.  There are four adults and one child between the two homes, and we were able to stuff ourselves with fresh veggies and fruits every day, and still have enough left over for freezing and canning.  It’s hard to imagine, but we’ll still be enjoying this season’s bounty throughout the winter.

Not to mention the fact that the variety of produce was unbeatable and everything was grown naturally and sustainably.  By people I know.  Oh, and did I mention that we enjoyed fresh flowers more than half those weeks?

Belonging to a CSA definitely requires a bit of extra time and energy, as does any new method or way of doing something.  Once that habit is formed though, it really does become second nature. This was my second season at Blooming Glen and already I’ve learned and changed and incorporated so much!  Things like…

How to cook daikon, watermelon, French breakfast, black and regular radishes.

That Swiss Chard on a sandwich is quite tasty.

That yes, children actually can get sick of pick-your-owns;

and yes, so too can parents.

The differences between a sunshine, blue hubbard, delicata, bon bon and butternut winter squash.

That freezing string beans and summer squash is ridiculously easy,

but freezing sweet peppers is sinfully easy.

Trish’s secrets to keep flowers producing in the garden and looking beautiful in the vase.

That beets and carrots keep quite a while as long as you remove the greens.

That chopping it up nice and fine and adding it to macaroni recipes is an easy way to get kale into my son’s diet.

That there are perhaps a bazillion different varieties of cherry tomatoes.

And that Tom knows every single one of them.

That my family simply cannot not eat an entire head of cabbage before it goes bad.

That watermelon looks just as good in yellow as it does in pink.

What to do with celeriac.

The mystery and romance that is an heirloom tomato.

That simply is the best way to prepare fresh vegetables.

That soccer moms, DINKs, single parents, singletons, yuppies, hippies, teachers, administrators, entrepreneurs, Women Builders, EMTs, corporate CEOs, nonprofit workers and retirees all belong to my CSA.

That green tomatoes are great in stir fries, relishes and salads.

That my sister and I are so literal at times.

How to put up tomatoes.

That greens like turnip, beet and collards are really, really tasty and can be used in everything.

That my son can be bought not only with sweet potatoes, but also sunshine winter squash.

That there are some pretty adorable cows in Perkasie.

The differences between scallions, onions, sweet onions, garlic, garlic scapes, leeks and shallots.

That no matter how hard I try, I will probably never like radicchio.

That stir fries and scramblers are a CSA member’s best friends.

To not peel root vegetables if you can help it.

There is nothing on this planet that tastes better than a just-picked ripe tomato.

Surely, there are more.  Perhaps I’ll add to this list as the winter months creep in, our preserved CSA food supply dwindles and we can barely remember the feel of humidity on our skin as we pick quarts string beans, strawberries and basil.

Sigh.  Missing you oh-so-terribly already, Blooming Glen!

Would you like to get melodramatic over produce, too?  Find a CSA farm near you at Local Harvest!

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm (last for 2007)

Last share of the season! Here’s what we got:

Double order of sweet potatoes (stockpiling for Thanksgiving)
Lacinato kale
Cauliflower
Parsnips
Turnips (roasting parsnips and turnips are good this time of year)

The butternut squash is from last week’s Winter Harvest order. My guy loved the butternut squash risotto that I had made last week, so I’ll probably be making it again this week.

This is my 2nd year having a Red Earth Farm share, and I plan on resubscribing next year. They have consistently good produce, well handled, with lots of variety. That I can choose my share from week to week is a nice bonus as well. They have been getting better and better with knowing what crops work-- this year had fewer substitutions than the last. My only complaint this time around is that the site hosts have not been easy to work with-- but I think that’s a very minor point, as the communications with the farmers themselves have been wonderful. I look forward to being a Red Earth Farm member next year!

Winter Harvest Begins

Friday, November 02, 2007

I got my first order from the Philadelphia Winter Harvest yesterday. Winter Harvest is a buying club, run via Farm to City, that allows you to choose local produce, meats, dairy, and baked goods, among other things, during the winter and early spring. Items are paid for through a debit system from the member’s account. The order is then shipped to a pickup location on the weeks you specify per month.

The prices are a little too steep for me to purchase something every week, but I’ve seen other members buy things in great quantity. Last year, there were some problems with my orders that resulted in last-minute cancellations. As a result, I had some leftover credit and used it towards this month. I ended up inadvertently duplicating my order from my CSA, which resulted in more butternut squash and apple cider than I had intended. I love both, so it works out just fine.

This year, I hope to save up some money to buy some local meats. Stay tuned throughout the winter for updates!

CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Thursday, November 01, 2007

This week is the second to last pick up of the season.  How sad!

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

Looking at that incredible harvest and all those vibrant colors, it’s so hard to believe that in just a few days, we’ll be receiving the last share of 2007. 

Blooming Glen has some great cheerleaders and received fabulous press and publicity, which all seems to have contributed to a flood of requests for 2008 CSA subscription registration.  What a wonderful testament to the farmers’ hard work, dedication and passion - and too, to the supporters and members of the community.  Knowing that so many families, when given the choice, prefer naturally grown food from a local farm is reassuring and smile-inducing.  I do hope that Blooming Glen’s continued success and their neighbor’s continued support inspires the CSA model to grow in this area.

As they say, “If you build it, they will come!”

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Wednesday, October 31, 2007

The penultimate share of the season for me had:

bok choy (because I love this stuff)
arugula
butternut squash (these two for a butternut squash risotto I plan to make)
broccoli
sweet potatoes
garlic

The apple cider, from Bauman’s, was a bonus for sending in a response to the CSA’s survey. Delightfully thirst-quenching!

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Friday, October 26, 2007

The CSA is winding down for the season. There are only two weeks left after today. It’s the end of October but you wouldn’t know it from the variety of peppers still available on the order form. The order for next week is the first order in months that doesn’t have some sort of tomato on it. Here’s what was in this week’s box.

1 lb of green snap beans
2 large sweet potatoes
1 bunch Lacinato (dinosaur) kale
5 mixed sweet peppers
2 heads of broccoli
1 bunch Fuyo Shumi (baby Pac Choi)
1 bunch Swiss chard
2 8 oz bags salad greens mix

This week was a fruit share week and the bag had 8 or 9 each of apples and pears and a quart of apple cider.

Next week we get butternut squash. Finally.

CSA Weekly Report: Red Earth Farm

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

We’re winding down for this season. The last two weeks of shares have brought fall items, despite the unseasonably warmer weather. I’ve gotten turnips, potatoes, cabbages, broccoli, and cauliflower.

I’ve also decided to try some Asian greens that are new to me. Hon tsai tai was a mild green, similar to spinach, that I used for a stir-fry. Fuyo shumi is a variety of bok choy, and I will make a simple saute from this. The tot soi I have will most likely be incorporated in a stir-fry as well (yeah, my wok is getting a lot of use lately!). I have some komatsuna (pictured above, from Evergreen Seeds) that I have yet to try.

Two weeks of shares to go.

CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

We got some pretty cool radishes this week.  Our choice of Daikon, watermelon, or the mysterious Nero Tondo, which is described as “round, black, hot” by our farmers.

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

My sister thought the kale was looking especially happy this week, and I have to agree!

CSA Weekly Report: Blooming Glen Farm

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

(Click photo to read notes at flick’r regarding names and quantities of this week’s share.)

And an extra view this week: