Category: Note from the Farmer

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Farmer’s Note — Week 16

Dear CSA Member
What a treat this week has been. Beautiful fall weather. The leaves are just starting to change and we are so fortunate that we can be part of this spectacular transformation each year.

Lacinato Kale is a favorite kale variety. Long, thin leaves in a bluish green color. The flavor is just a bit more subtle than some of the kale varieties.

Tomatillos were requested by a couple of members and we went through the patch again. They are just perfect for Salsa Verde. Add a couple of Serrano Peppers for heat.

Greens of Mustard are quite tender and can be used fresh or lightly sautéed. Radishes from the fall planting. We planted them in the spring as well but they were washed out in a heavy rain. Makes them even better in the fall. Most are French Breakfast which are longer and white with pink to red. There are a couple of Cherriette Radishes that seemed to sneak into the patch. Those are the round, red radishes. Both varieites are delicious this time of year. The greens are also edible if you like a peppery green.

Cabbage keeps coming and is in the share again. CSA member Myles sent this funny link https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/52568/46-state-fairs-and-what-makes-them-special. So glad that our cabbages are a more manageable size. Entire homes would be full of cabbage at the rate they are growing this season!

This week there are Tomatillos by the 10 pound bag, Bartlett Pears and Gala Apples available through the online Marketplace along with Honey, Maple and Coffee. New photos have also been posted on the farm Face Book page. Take a look.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 15

Dear CSA Member

Fall weather and we are all soaking it up. I have to say we are a bit weary after the long season and the change in season is welcomed. We look forward to the hearty vegetables that fall brings.

This year we increased the number of fall transplants to give a bit of variety to the fall greens. The fall transplanting of Boc Choi is ready and beautiful. The cooler, wet weather has been perfect for Boc Choi. Mustard Greens were also transplanted at the same time the Boc Choi was and is tender and mild tasting. They can be used fresh or gently cooked.  Try adding them to a salad with a sweet-tangy salad dressing like the recipe for Mixed Greens’ Salad with Apples and Maple-Walnut Oil Dressing that can be found on the farm website Recipe Section, Mustard. Almost seems like spring time once again.

Part of being a CSA member is receiving the abundance of harvest. This year cabbage is in that category. We planted the same amount of transplants as other years, but it seems that not one was lost. Cabbage again this week. We need to keep harvesting and it just keeps coming.

Potatoes are also a bumper crop.  The cool and very wet summer were perfect conditions for potatoes to grow. What a treat to eat freshly dug potatoes. The skin is just as delicious as the rest of the potato. If you start to have a surplus of potatoes, keep them in your refrigerator vegetable drawer.  They will last and last.

There was a small child’s purple sweat shirt and a hot plate with a winter scene left at the farm visit. If either is yours, please let me know and I will sent them back with the CSA shares.

This week there are Bartlett Pears and Gala Apples available through the online Marketplace along with Honey, Maple and Coffee. New photos have also been posted on the farm Face Book page. Take a look.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week #14

Dear CSA Member:

 Fall weather has been creeping in.  It was almost cold this morning.  We are bound to have warm days again, but the seasons are changing.  The sound of the insects is loud and constant.  The sun is shining brightly but just does not have the intensity that we felt during the last month.
The garden is also moving to a new season.  There will still be a few of the summer vegetables that we will pick until the patch is finished.  The fall vegetables are almost calling to us to be picked.  We have dug carrots this week and potatoes.  The root crops have been growing from early spring time and are now mature.  The carrots still have that delicious real carrot flavor but are a bit sweeter.  The cold weather gives many of the vegetables either a brighter color or slightly sweeter flavor.
There are a limited number of 1/2 bushel boxes of green beans available through the CSA Marketplace.  If you would like to freeze beans for the winter, this will be the last of the green beans.  Green beans will also be in the CSA share this week.
Enjoy the last of the summer vegetables as we move into fall.  Thank you to all who were able to visit on Saturday.  If you have photos that you would be willing to share, please send them to info@stoneledgefarmny.org and I will post as many as I can on the farm Facebook page.
 
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm.
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Farmer’s Note — Week 13

Dear CSA Member

This coming Saturday is the Fall Farm Festival. I am including the information again this week and hope you will be able to attend.

This week is a Coffee Share week so please pick up your Coffee if you have a share. There are still Peaches, Tomatoes and Hot Peppers in bulk from the online CSA Marketplace.

The Fall Farm Festival is September 7, 2013 from 11:30-3. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. Come and meet your farmers, walk the fields where your vegetables are grown. Bring a dish to share and your own place setting. The farm will provide a barbecue, roast corn and portobello mushrooms, vegetarian chili, fresh fruit and coffee. Thank you to Paradise to Go, https://paradistogo.com/ for preparing the barbecue and chili.

There will be wagon rides, walks around the farm, freshly dug carrots to pick from the field to take home, help build a scarecrow, pick a bouquet of flowers. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick.

Other local farms and businesses will be in attendance and have products for sale.

Heather Ridge Farm www.Heather-ridge-farm.com or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Ridge-Farm will have fiber items, socks from their own flock of Dorset & Icelandic sheep and llama wool, beeswax candles for sale. To view all of their products go to their website. If you are interested in placing a larger meat order, please contact Heather Ridge at
HeatherRidgeFarm@aol.com. Eat local. Stock up on meat and poultry by ordering from Heather Ridge Farm and pick up your order at the farm visit.

Gary Wiltbank Farm with his beautiful Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms. Gary is an avid Mushroom Farmer and will be happy to answer all of your Mushroom questions.

Banana Moon Baking Company, Arlene Deahl, bananamoonbaking@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/BananaMoonBakingCompany. Specialty Cookies, Cakes and Pies. Arlene is a CSA member and imaginative baker. Her cookies are delicious. Can’t wait to try the Dark Chocolate Chipotle XXL Cookie!

We will have all of our Marketplace items for sale as well: Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee by the pound. We also have Stoneledge Farm shirts that we all wear for sale. Long sleeved, short sleeved and no sleeved. Dave Cammer, Maple Producer will be in attendance to answer your Maple Syrup questions.

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to the farm. Hope to see you at the farm.

Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 12

Dear CSA Member

Tomatoes. If you can‘t use all of the tomatoes you receive with your CSA share they are easy to freeze. A number of years ago a CSA member told me about her freezing method for tomatoes. Before that time I had always blanched them, taken the skins off and then put them in freezer bags. She said that her mom would wash the tomatoes, cut the tomatoes in 1/2 or 1/4 and put them in freezer bags. When they were ready to use the tomatoes were thawed and the skins would slip right off. It really does work great.

There is a whole list of produce that we have available in bulk this week from the online Marketplace. We have tomatoes by the 25 pound box if there are members that would like to preserve for the wintertime. Hot Peppers, Genovese Basil from our farm. Peaches and Blackberries from neighboring orchard and farm. The Peaches are conventionally grown, the Blackberries are no spray but not Certified Organic.

Members asked to have the list of what will be in the upcoming share and also the bulk order produce available. I will post on the farm website Farm Blog a good guess of the upcoming Share and the list of the bulk produce. You can place a Marketplace order anytime during the week and your order will be delivered with the next CSA share delivery.

The Fall Farm Visit is coming fast. The visit is scheduled for September 7 from 11:30-3. Use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. Please bring a dish to share and your own place setting. We will have a barbecue along with roast corn, portobello mushrooms and a Vegetarian Chili. Fresh fruit, water and coffee will also be available. We will have wagon rides around the fields, Scarecrow making, pick a bouquet of flowers and a bunch of carrots to take home. Our own Marketplace items will be available for purchase. There will be three other local farms and businesses at the visit: Heather Ridge Farm Contact Heather Ridge to place an order before the festival or pick up some of their fiber products, beeswax candles and other products at the festival. Info at https://heather-ridge-farm.com/ or www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Ridge-Farm. Wiltbank Farm Gary Wiltbank with baskets of Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms.
Banana Moon Baking Company https://www.facebook.com/BananaMoonBakingCompany with their delicious home made baked goods..

Hope to see you on the 7th at the Fall Farm Festival.
Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 11

Dear CSA Member

Green Beans, Red Wing Onions, Bright Lights Swiss Chard, Sun Gold Cherry Tomatoes. A rainbow of colors. The calendar says August but the temperature has felt more like late September. Wonderful summer vegetables still fill the shares.

There are 1/2 bushel boxes of Eggplant and also 25 pound boxes of Plum Tomatoes for purchase through the online CSA Marketplace again this week. The Plum Tomatoes have been picked a bit firm so you will need to let them ripen for a day or two. There are a limited number of boxes of each so if you would like to order for this week, please place your online order.

The Marketplace has proven to be a bit tricky to find on the website. I am working with the programmers to develop a quicker link but for now to access the Marketplace please follow the steps below:
Log into your account from the farm website homepage
Click on Marketplace on the upper menu bar
Click on 2013 in the box
Click again on Marketplace on the upper menu bar
Select the items you would like to order and complete the payment screens.

Farm Fall Festival September 7 11:30-3:00. More information on the farm website Farm Blog www.stoneledgefarmny.org and on the farm Face Book page https://www.facebook.com/StoneledgeFarm. Hope you can attend.

Enjoy the summer and the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 10

Dear CSA Member

A special note this week about our Fall Farm Festival. Please mark your calendars, we hope you will be able to attend. The Fall Farm Festival is September 7, 2013 from 11:30-3. Please use the 145 Garcia Lane, Leeds, NY 12451 address. Come and meet your farmers, walk the fields where your vegetables are grown. Bring a dish to share and your own place setting. The farm will provide a barbecue, roast corn and portobello mushrooms, vegetarian chili, fresh fruit and coffee. Thank you to Paradise to Go, for preparing the barbecue and chili.

There will be wagon rides, walks around the farm, freshly dug carrots to pick from the field to take home, help build a scarecrow, pick a bouquet of flowers. If you would like to take flowers home, please bring your own scissors and something that will keep the flowers until you get home. Wet paper towels or newspapers in a plastic bag will usually do the trick.

Other local farms and businesses will be in attendance and have products for sale. Heather Ridge Farm will have fiber items, socks from their own flock of Dorset & Icelandic sheep and llama wool and beeswax candles, www.Heather-ridge-farm.com or https://www.facebook.com/pages/Heather-Ridge-Farm.”

Gary Wiltbank Farm with his beautiful Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms. Gary is an avid Mushroom Farmer and will be happy to answer all of your Mushroom questions.

Banana Moon Baking Company Arlene Deahl, bananamoonbaking@gmail.com or https://www.facebook.com/BananaMoonBakingCompany. Specialty Cookies, Cakes and Pies. Arlene is a CSA member and imaginative baker. Her cookies are delicious. Can’t wait to try the Dark Chocolate Chipotle XXL Cookie!

We will have all of our Marketplace items for sale as well: Honey, Maple Syrup, Coffee by the pound. Dave Cammer, Maple Producer will be in attendance to answer your Maple Syrup questions.

If you have any questions, please send an e-mail to the farm. Hope to see you at the farm.

Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 9

Dear CSA Member

We have been blessed with beautiful summer weather the last couple of days. Sunshine without the intense heat and humidity. What we hope summer will be.

We are back in the greenhouses seeding transplants for the fall. Transplanting started in February and as the transplants grow and are large enough to move into the field more seeds are planted and take their place in the greenhouse. The seeding continues through this last seeding in August. It has been a long stretch of seeding, tending and transplanting into the garden.

The Walla Walla onions that you are receiving this week in your share were some of the first seeds we started late in the winter. One seed at a time per cell in the flat. Each onion has been seeded by hand, watered and tended in the greenhouse until it was the size of a really thick, tall piece of grass. Each onion was then transplanted by hand into the field. Watered, weeded and tended in the field until they were big enough to harvest. The Walla Walla are a sweet summer onion. They will not store and should be used up during the week and kept in the refrigerator.

Carrots with their greens, just beautiful. I do not know if you can eat the greens. Some say yes, some say no. I would stick to the safer route and not eat the greens. They do smell great though. The carrots will stay best if you remove the greens from the carrot root. A bouquet of carrot greens? Not sure what other good use there may be unless you have a rabbit for a pet.

White Russian Kale. I have become a fan of raw Kale salad. There is a recipe on the recipe section of the farm website, Recipe, Kale listing.

If you have a recipe you would like to share, please send it to the farm. The Chelsea CSA is also gathering recipes for a CSA Recipe Book that they are working on. If you have a recipe that you would be willing to share for the book, please go to the following link : https://www.chelseacsa.org/news/csa-cookbook-call-for-recipes/.

Tomatoes, Eggplant, Summer Savory and Basil round out the share. Summer is great.

This week is a Coffee Share delivery. Please remember to pick up your Coffee Share.

The tomato harvest is going to be very good this year. We are sending a very nice share already. Members inquired last season about purchasing in bulk to freeze or can. This week due to the great harvest there will be a limited number of 25 pound boxes of field run tomatoes and also 1/2 bushel 10 bunch boxes Genovese Basil that can be ordered from the online Marketplace. The orders will need to be placed by Friday. The products will be available Tuesday online from the Marketplace.

Enjoy the Vegetables
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 8

Dear CSA Member

Intense heat to intense rain to some really nice weather. The unexpected rainfall was over 6 inches. It has been so hot and dry that most just soaked into the soil. Since then the skies were clear and the temperatures were very pleasant. More rain as we were starting to pick your shares. It seems at times we are in the tropics rather than upstate New York.

The vegetables are moving into their summer stride. Tomatoes are just starting to ripen. What a treat to slice into the first of the season tomato. Eggplant, basil, onions, scallions, parsley. It is a delicious week for the summertime favorites.

The first of Red Ace Beets with their Greens. Take the greens from the beet root and use as a cooking green. A member forwarded a recipe for Chickpea and Greens Patties which can be found on the farm website, Recipe Section, Swiss Chard all the way at the end. Beet Greens would be a great substitute for Swiss Chard in this recipe. The beet root should be cooked separately because of the size and time it will take to cook through. Please send your recipe favorites. The Recipe section of the farm website is filling up with great recipes sent by CSA members.

Marketplace orders will be delivered with your CSA share if you would like Coffee, Honey or Maple Syrup. Mushrooms are also available through the Marketplace.

This week Cremini Mushrooms for the Mushroom Share and Peaches, Nectarines and Sugar Plums for the Fruit Share.

Make a note that the Fall Farm Festival will be September 7. It is a great day to come and visit the farm, meet all of us at Stoneledge Farm, meet other CSA members, walk the fields and see where your vegetables are grown. Heather Ridge Farm www.Heather-ridge-farm.com and Gary Wiltbank Farm with his Shiitake and Oyster Mushrooms will have displays and products available. We will have a barbecue and ask members to bring a dish to share and their own place setting. More to come. We hope you will be able to attend.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah for everyone at Stoneledge Farm

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Farmer’s Note — Week 7

Dear CSA Member,

This has been a brutal week to be a farmer.  It is the same for anyone who has to work outside no matter the weather.  Each day it has gotten hotter and more humid.  It must easily be near 100 degrees in the field.  Plenty of water to drink, but the work is hard and we can not stop.

The vegetables are still soaking it all up and producing very well. I thought that last week would be the cucumber week, but the cucumbers have rallied again and the harvest is even greater than last week. A benefit of being a CSA member is sharing in the bounty of a harvest. Each year it varies crop to crop.  This year the cucumbers are outstanding. Cucumber soup, cold cucumber salads, refrigerator pickles. Cucumber and yogurt are a natural combination during the heat of the summer. There are recipes on the farm website Recipe section.

During this extreme heat make sure you get your share home, rinsed and in the refrigerator as soon as possible.  All of the vegetables are fresh, but cannot withstand the heat.

All being said, it is summer.  I guess we should expect a good dose of hot weather.

Enjoy the vegetables.
Deborah
for everyone at Stoneledge Farm