Category: Note from the Farmer

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A Note from the Farmer

May 2014

Dear CSA Member

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 and Luis are planting onions, Peter is plowing, Tyson is discing, Pete Sr and I are moving transplants. It is a great time of year.

We hope that you will be able to come and visit the farm during the upcoming CSA Spring Farm Visit, May 31 from 11-3. Please bring a picnic lunch and drinks. Walk the fields, enjoy lunch together, visit with the farmers and crew at Stoneledge Farm that grow your produce. There should also be an opportunity to help with a bit of transplanting.

We will have local mushrooms on the grill and Chili from Heather Ridge Farm along with our coffee to round out the lunch. Blue Banana Bakery https://www.facebook.com/BananaMoonBakingCompany will also be in attendance with their products for sale. We will have Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee and new this season, Grenada Chocolate Factory Chocolate for sale as well.

Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. We will be by the big grey barns. Hope to see you on the 31st.

Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

You may notice that we have a new address for both our website and e-mail. The old versions still work, the new one is fewer characters.
Website: www.stoneledge.farm
E-mail: info@stoneledge.farm

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

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A note from the Farmer

April 2014

Dear CSA Member

The greenhouses have been filled and now we are working to move the heartier seedlings into the hoop houses to make more room and are already starting on the second group of seedlings to go into the heated greenhouses. The warmer weather has finally settled in. Peter started plowing this morning and we will be transplanting the hearty spring seedlings by the end of the month. The never ending cycle of the farm.

It is also Maple season. New photos on the farm Face Book page https://www.facebook.com/StoneledgeFarm of the Bearkill Road Maple Products, Maple Syrup operation. Maple will be available for order by CSA members from the online CSA Marketplace once the delivery season has started.

The shares for the 2014 season are selling quickly. Some of the CSA sites are already full for the season. Why not pass on the news about CSA to your circle of friends, neighbors or fellow workers? If you have placed an order you will have received a confirmation e-mail once the order was completed. To check your CSA Membership log into your account from the farm website home page and click on “My Account”.

The SPRING FARM VISIT is scheduled for May 31 from 11-3, 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds NY 12451 address.Please bring your own picnic lunch and drinks. We will have Heather Ridge Chili and Bulich Farm Mushrooms on the grill. The visit is a great opportunity to meet all of us at Stoneledge Farm, see where and how your shares are grown and even have a chance to get your hands into the soil helping to transplant young seedlings. Heather Ridge Farm will have their products available for sale as well. Please go to the Heather Ridge Farm website for more product information www.Heather-ridge-farm.com.

As always, if you have any questions please send an e-mail to the farm at
info@stoneledgefarmny.org and we will be back in touch.

For everyone at Stoneledge Farm
Deborah

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A Note from the Farmer

Winter 2014

Good Afternoon

What a winter. Really cold winter temperatures followed by days of snow.  The last snow fall was beautiful as it covered the farm.

As the winter moves along, our thoughts and plans are looking ahead to the upcoming 2014 season. Seeds are ordered and have been delivered. The seed packets line the bench. The potting soil sits high on pallets in the greenhouses and the seeding trays seem to be calling to us. We will start the first transplants in the greenhouses the last week of February. We can not wait to get started.

Thank you for your membership and your commitment to eating seasonally and locally. If you have not ordered your 2014 CSA shares, registration is now open. To order your CSA share log into your CSA Member Account from the farm website home page www.stoneledgefarmny.org. Click on the CSA Member Login. If you have friends, neighbors that might be interested in joining, why not pass the farm website along to them.

Looking forward to a great CSA season.

Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #24 — Farmer’s Note

Dear CSA Member,

This week was cold. The Brussels Sprouts were covered with ice in the morning as the picking began. The sun finally reaches over the tree line and the fields warm.

This week is the last delivery of the 2013 season. It has been a great year and we thank you for your CSA membership. As our delivery season comes to an end we are thankful for your membership and support of local, organic agriculture. Thank you for being part of the Stoneledge Farm CSA. It has been a very good year and we look forward to next season with new plans and great expectations.

Very happy holiday season and a wonderful wintertime.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Week #23 — Farmer’s Note

Dear CSA Member,

Boy is it cold. There was even snow this afternoon although it was short lived. There is one more delivery after this week in the 2013 CSA season. As our delivery season comes to an end we are already working on the 2014 season. Seeds will be ordered, fertilizer, potting soil, the list goes on and on. We are very busy right into the heart of winter. There is a list of winter chores that grows each day.

I hope to have the registration open during the next couple of weeks. The programmers have been upgrading the system to make improvements and all of the testing should be completed soon. I will send an e-mail message once registration is opened for the 2014 season.

New this week is Celeriac. A root crop that has a rough exterior but a delicious interior. Peel the skin and use as you would celery in soups and stews. The Celeriac will impart a wonderful celery like flavor. There are also salad recipes using Celeriac on the farm website Recipe section.

If you would like to stock up for the winter there are potatoes, beets and carrots available in bulk through the online Marketplace. There is still a good supply of coffee through the Marketplace as well.

Make a big pot of soup and keep warm!
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note– Week 22

Dear CSA Member,

Wind, rain, falling leaves and it is cold. The fall is coming to a close and the landscape is now moving from bright color to grays. The garden is still producing even as the seasons start another change.

It is the season for root crops. The root crops have been growing underground all throughout the season and now fill the shares. Heavy and hearty: Bolero Carrots, Potatoes, Beets, Purple Globe Turnips. The leafy greens of fall, Flat Leaf Parsley and Red Russian Kale which seem to grow more vibrant in the cold.

Popcorn will be in the share this week. It was picked about 3 weeks ago and has been drying in the greenhouse. It will need to dry another 3 weeks in your home. I did try a cob to see if the kernels would pop and had great success but I think it may be worth letting the corn dry a bit more before trying to pop. The kernels need to be fully dry or they will not pop properly. It will be hard to wait but worth it. When the pop corn is ready to pop take the the kernels from the cob. Once you get a row started it is easy to pick the other rows off the cob. Add about 1 tablespoon of oil to the bottom of a pan with a lid. Add 1/2 cup of kernels to the pan, put on the lid-very important! Turn to medium high heat and listen for the pop. When the popping slows and then stops take from the heat right away. The yellow of the corn was so bright that the kernels looked like they had butter on them even without. Add salt, butter or let your imagination go. Enjoy.

On the Marketplace are bulk options for Potatoes, Carrots and Beets. Honey is getting low as is the Maple Syrup. This is Week #22 so there are only two more deliveries after this week. The Coffee is perfect for these cold wintry days and you might want to stock up on some of the other products before the season ends.

Enjoy the vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 21

Dear CSA Member

Fall staples: potatoes, carrots, beets and garlic this week. We are in the final weeks of our 2013 CSA season and as the weather gets colder, the vegetables get heartier. The colors of the vegetables are so vibrant as the cold weather hits. The root crops even seem to get sweeter with a bit of frost.

Members have been sharing delicious recipes that I have been adding to the farm website Recipe section. If you have a favorite, please pass it on so it can be added. If you have a favorite website or blog that you think other CSA members would enjoy, please send that along as well.

Marketplace items are still available if you would like to place an order and stock up for the winter. Honey, maple, coffee will all keep well. Please don’t wait until the last minute because some items will sell out. New this week are 15 pound bags of Potatoes, Carrots and Beets.

Tuesday the 29th of October we will be planting garlic and members are invited to come to the farm and help if they would like. We are trying to work around the weather and we were not able to make the planting day a weekend. We needed to pick the best day weather wise to plant the garlic. If you are planning on coming to help please bring your own lunch and drinks, dress warmly it has been cold and windy. We will meet at 9 AM at the barn at 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 and we work until 4. If you can’t make it, the garlic will be safely planted, covered and will spend the winter in the field. We will see it early next spring once again as it is one of the first plants to push their green leaves from the ground.

Keep warm and enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 20

Dear CSA Member,

We are now into the last weeks of the CSA season. It has been unseasonably warm during the last week, and it felt more like early summer than fall. We will take the warm weather though. Picking and washing the root crops can be a really cold task when the weather is frosty.

This week you can expect carrots, potatoes, turnips, kohlrabi, broccoli, radishes, winter squash and the first garlic. We have been holding onto the garlic until the end of the season because it needed a chance to cure and we knew it would store into the last weeks of delivery. Over 1/3 of the garlic harvest has been divided into individual cloves for seed stock. We will be planting the garlic soon and members are invited to come and help. I will send out an e-mail when we get a bit closer to planting. We have had to wait a bit this year to plant the garlic because the weather has been so warm. We do not want to plant the garlic and have the cloves start to grow in the warmth. They need to settle in over the winter without sprouting.

Did you know that turnips can be eaten raw? Peel, cut into sticks and drizzle with olive oil. Give it a try! It was amazing to notice, as we were washing the heavy turnips, that they float. Did you know that turnips were originally the vegetable carved for Halloween? Some are so big that you might want to revive the custom this year.

This is also the last of the lettuce. We are expecting a frost this week and lettuce will not withstand the cold. It has been a treat to have such delicious late season salads. If you wash the lettuce well and spin dry in a salad spinner, the leaves will stay fresh.

I have posted a Stoneledge Farm crew photo on the farm Facebook page — you can see the wonderful, hardworking and committed group we had the privilege to work with this past season.

Enjoy the wonderful fall harvest.

Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

Veggies

Butternut winter squash-1
Turnips-2
Lettuce-2 heads
Broccoli-1
Radish-1 bunch
Potatoes-2 pounds
Garlic-2 heads
Kohlrabi -1 bunch (This is the fall planting of kohlrabi. They are sweet and delicious.)
Sage-1 bunch
Carrots-1 pound
Hot Peppers:Jalapenos-take if you like

Fruit Share

One bag with Empire apples, Jonagold apples, Bosc pears

Mushroom Share

Shiitake

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Farmer’s Note — Week 19

Dear CSA Member

The woods surrounding the farm are full of giant oaks and we use a twig from the oak tree in the farm logo. The oaks are always last to change color and they have just started to turn. The ground is scattered with acorns from the oak trees and the squirrels are running from tree to tree.  Deer and turkeys walk the back wood line and stop to eat as they slowly make their way.  While the other trees have lost most of their leaves last week during the heavy rains and wind, the oaks are still full.

Lettuces, Napa Cabbage, Boc Choi, Dill before a frost.  We are going to run out of warm weather eventually and want to make sure that we pick all of the most tender plants.  Beets, Leeks and Broccoli don’t mind the cold.

The weeks are slipping away and supplies of some Marketplace products will be getting limited.  Please place your orders for honey, maple and coffee if you would like to stock up for the winter months.

Enjoy the wonderful warm fall weather we have been having and the wonderful harvest.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 18

Dear CSA Member

We are into the heart of the harvest. Each week the garden continues to provide and the vegetables seem to fill the cooler and the barn to overfilling. I am sure that you can appreciate the bounty as your bags are heavy with the harvest after picking up your share. 

Purple Top Turnips with their Greens this week. The turnips were not seeded all that long ago, just before the Fall Farm Visit. They grow quickly in the cooler weather. The tops are a delicious green cooked separately from the turnip. Take the greens from the turnip and use them first. They are a bit like Mustard Greens. Some like to cook turnips with potatoes and mash them together.
 
Rosemary as the herb. It is one of the most difficult herbs to get to germinate but I have had good luck this spring in the greenhouse. The plants were really slow to grow for a long time but finally took and grew very well. If you do not use all of the Rosemary fresh, hang to dry and then store to use later. It is so fragrant and just delicious with potatoes.

There are Anjou Pears and Chardonnay Grapes available through the online Marketplace in bulk.  Honey, Maple and Coffee are available through the Marketplace.  Grade B syrup is almost gone and Grade A is running very low. If you are going to order Maple Syrup you should place your order soon.
 
Enjoy the bounty.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm