Category: Note from the Farmer

Dear CSA Member,

The first week of delivery is always full of activity. Picking, packing, counting and re-counting to make sure all of the shares are delivered correctly. It has been a brutally hot and dry spring time although as we start the pick the rain has finally come to the farm.  Extremes seem to be the new normal. The temperatures fluctuated from 22 degrees to 85 degrees within a week staying in the 80’s and there was really no rain all the month of May and beyond.  

Greens will fill the bulk of the share. The tender, spicy greens Suehlihung Green Mustard, Boc Choi and Chinese Cabbage can be chopped thinly added to a salad or quickly cooked in a wok. Mustard Greens are a spicy green that will cook quickly so do not over cook. The greens will have some small round holes in the leaves. The heat and dry conditions were perfect for an insect pest called the Flea Beetle to thrive.  We have worked very diligently to keep the numbers of beetles under control using all of the Organic methods available, but the beetles always outnumber us and there will be some damage to the leaves.  It is cosmetic damage only and will not in any way affect the flavor of the greens.  The freshness of the greens can not be matched and you will notice the intensity of the flavor.

Fresh Red Tide and Tropicana Lettuces and Arugula for your salad. The Mustard and Mizuna are also so tender they are great chopped finely and added to a salad.

The CSA Marketplace is open and you can log into your CSA Member Account to order Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee and Chocolate. Mushrooms are also available weekly from the Marketplace.  Mushroom orders must be received by Friday 11 AM. All of the products that we offer on the Marketplace are grown or produced on small family farms. Support family farmers locally, in Central America and Grenada with your Marketplace order.

Optional Shares: Mushrooms this week are White Button   
Coffee Share will be delivered. Please remember to pick up your Optional Share if you have ordered  a Mushroom Share or a Coffee Share.

Members will ask, where is the Fruit Share?   Fruit Shares start the 5th CSA delivery when local fruit is available.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Members

The 2015 CSA season is quickly approaching. There is still time to add optional Fruit, Mushroom and Coffee Shares to your Vegetable Share order if you have not done so. Optional shares can be added until May 31. Please add them now if you would like for this season.

The Fruit Share will start the 5th Vegetable Share delivery. The fruit is local, conventionally grown using IPM (Integrated Pest Management).

The Mushroom Share will start with the first delivery and will be delivered every week. There are five types of mushrooms: White Button, Crimini, Portobello, Shiitake, Oyster that will be delivered with one type delivered per week. The Mushrooms are locally, naturally grown.

The Coffee Share is one delivery of Coffee per month on the first delivery of the month, two pounds per delivery. The Coffee is Organic, Fair Trade and Kosher all roasted locally before delivery.

To add optional shares to your order log into your CSA Member Account and select CSA Shares.

The first delivery of the season will be June 9.

Looking forward to a great season.
Deborah Stoneledge Farm LLC

May 2015

Spring has finally arrived and the fields are filling with transplants and new seedings. There are a multitude of jobs going on at once. Juan, Julian, Junior, Geo, Alan and Adam are planting onions, Peter is plowing, Pete Sr and I are trying to keep up moving transplants. It is a great time of year. See us at https://www.facebook.com/StoneledgeFarm#.

Thank you if you have already ordered a share for the 2015 season. If you have a Vegetable Share and would like to add a Fruit, Mushroom or Coffee Share please log into your account and add the optional shares. We will not be adding optional shares after the CSA delivery begins.

If you have not ordered your CSA share, please log into your member account and place your order. If you have questions please send an e-mail to info@stoneledge.farm and we will be in touch.

CSA Delivery start date: June 9 Tuesday

Looking forward to a bountiful season.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Stoneledge Farm LLC
info@stoneledge.farm
www.stoneledge.farm
359 Ross Ruland Road
South Cairo, NY 12482

LIKE us at https://www.facebook.com/StoneledgeFarm

Dear CSA Member

Another CSA season is coming to an end. The cycle of planning, planting, tending, harvest continues. As we finish the harvest, next seasons’ seed catalogs are arriving and our thoughts are moving toward planning for 2015. All of our supplies for next season are already ordered and we will be sitting down to map out next years field plans deciding where each crop should be planted. Peter has been very busy seeding the fields as they are harvested with cover crops to protect the soil over the winter and add nutrients and organic matter next spring when they are plowed. The life of the farm changes as the seasons change.

We are reminded of our many blessings and give thanks as we look back at the bountiful harvest and the shapes, sizes, colors, flavors of the last season. Thank you for being part of the CSA during the last year. Happy, healthy Winter season.

Enjoy the harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Registration for the 2015 season will open very soon. I hope to have everything ready within a week. You will receive an e-mail notification when 2015 CSA season registration opens. Thank you again for being part of Stoneledge Farm CSA community.

If you would like to place a last order from the CSA Marketplace, please order before Monday 10AM. Thank you.

Dear CSA Member

A cold very wet week. The rain is needed in the fall to fill the creeks and rivers but it makes picking and packing heavy and chilly.   

Red potatoes, freshly dug and packed for your share. The skin is tender and the color beautiful. Lacinato Kale, a member favorite, Red Ace Beets and Butternut Winter Squash. A fall feast. This variety of Butternut is very dry fleshed and a bit of Maple Syrup will be perfect to moisten the cooked squash and give that unequaled Upstate New York flavor to the dish. There is still Maple Syrup available through the online CSA Marketplace in grades A and B. Grade A is a bit milder, Grade B is generally used for cooking or for those that like a stronger maple flavor.  

The lettuce is still looking good. We have not had a killing frost yet and will continue to pick fall lettuce. It will take extra rinsing again this week.  The rains have been heavy once again.  

The complete updated Bulk Vegetables list of items available through the online CSA Marketplace can be found on the Farm Blog section: Potatoes, Turnips, Beets, Carrots, Collards, Kale all available in bulk size. Mutsu, Golden Delicious, Rome and Empire Apples, Bosc Pears in Bulk Fruit.  Coffee, Chocolate, Maple and Mushrooms are available.  The honey is just about gone. There are 1 pound jars remaining but that number is limited. The beekeeper is leaving more honey for the bees to help them survive the winter. 

Enjoy the harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

The weeks seem to fly by when we get to this time of the CSA harvest season. We planted fall lettuce this year but with the very dry conditions we had all of September the lettuce took a very long time to grow. It is finally big enough and we are picking it for your share this week before the frost. It will taste good to have fresh lettuce once again. Remember back to the spring when lettuce seemed to be taking over your refrigerator. During the last week the rains have been very heavy so the lettuces will need extra washing at home before you use them.   The plants lie so close to the ground that the rain splashes soil between the leaves. They have been rinsed but they will need to be washed well again. Take the end from the lettuce so the leaves are loose. Soak in a bowl of water, drain and repeat.  

Boc Choi as a second late summer planting as well. The Boc Choi is delicious in the fall.

If you are interested in stocking up for the winter with Coffee, Maple Syrup, Chocolate, please log into your CSA member account from the farm website home page and place an online CSA Marketplace order.  There is a very limited supply of Honey and the other items also go quickly as we near the end of the season. The bulk vegetables and fruit for this week will be posted on the farm website Farm Blog by Saturday PM.  

Enjoy the harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member,

The leaves on the trees are beautiful. Some of the oak trees that are always last to turn are just starting to show color. The acorns are falling in storms and the turkeys and deer are feasting. It seems that everyone is stocking up for the winter ahead.

Another bountiful fall share coming this week. Potatoes, Carrots, Celery, Acorn Winter Squash, Collards and new this week Red Cabbage. Bunching Onions, Cherriette Radishes and Thyme to fill out the share.  

There is a delicious recipe on the farm website Recipe link, Featured Recipe this week: “Mrs. Mosher’s Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage”. Mrs. Mosher lived down the road from the farm when I was very young and we all looked forward to fall when she would make her famous Sweet and Sour Red Cabbage.  

Also on the Recipe page you will find a link for cookbooks. Member Amy has shared a number of delicious recipes from the book Food in Jars: Preserving in Small Batches Year-Round. The recipes are very good and in a quantity that is enough without being too much. If you have a favorite recipe, please send it to me so I can add it to our every growing recipe collection.

Bulk Marketplace item list can be found on the farm website www.stoneledge.farm Farm Blog link.  The weeks are passing quickly and if you would like to stock up on Maple or Honey for the winter it would be great to order early. Honey especially is in short supply.

Enjoy the harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Dear CSA Member

It has been a warm and sunny start to fall. We really need some rain and there was a nice rain storm that passed through yesterday. Almost an inch of rain. Just what we needed.

The root crops continue to be spectacular and this week there is a beautiful rosy red turnip, Scarlet Queen.  The greens are still very nice and can be cut from the turnip bulb and used as a cooking green.  

The potatoes are wonderful as well. Such a tasty treat to have freshly dug potatoes. We dig them, wash them and pack them for your shares. You really could not get any fresher.  

Ancho Peppers and Cilantro before the frost. It seemed like a fitting end to the summer vegetables. There are CSA members that are busy in their kitchens brewing hot sauce the likes I have not seen before. The pictures look stunning.  

There are Certified Organic Potatoes, Kale, Cabbage, Hot Peppers in bulk available for CSA members through the online CSA Marketplace.  Bosc Pears and Jona Gold Apples.  The fruit is local, conventionally grown.  Honey, Maple Syrup, Chocolate and Coffee always available online as well.

THIS WEEK IS A COFFEE SHARE DELIVERY. COFFEE SHARE MEMBERS PLEASE REMEMBER TO PICK UP YOUR COFFEE.

Enjoy the harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm