First Day Success for Community Supported Agriculture!

Reminder: Open days this week: Thursday (8am - 7pm), Friday (9am - 6pm), Saturday (9am - 3pm)

I went to the farm today and saw many green growing plants! It is always so nice to see how alive everything is.

Delaney was there, but she tells me that college is keeping her busy and she won't be working at the Farm Stand this year. I also understand that Ana has new opportunities that will keep her away from the Farm Stand. Instead, we'll have John! I didn't get to meet him yet, but give him a hearty welcome.

Pete reminded me there are two young farmers partnering with the farm. Dakota and Mira are currently concentrating on raising chickens (the eating kind). They built an incredible chicken house by hand.

Dakota and Mira's hand-crafted chicken coop

Today at the Farm Stand: I saw chives, kale, pac choi and lettuce. Pac choi is a neat green that can be quickly stir fried. The early offerings are rounded out with kale, which we all know and love, and lettuce.

Next week: As weather conditions permit, as well as absence of excessive pests and deer, the hope is to harvest squash, snap peas, spinach, and arugula.

Don't forget to look for early flowers and herbs.

Want to be a Member? Consider joining by using the Farm Card membership. You can join online or just show up at the Farm Stand at 187 Plains Road, New Paltz, and sign up in person.

See you at the Farm!

Food Share

Hi folks, this is Leigh with the long blog post and lots of pictures. As always, click on the pictures for larger view and feel free to click the "comments" button at the bottom.

At my Thursday pick up there were lovely strawberries, snap peas, lettuce, onions, carrots, and spinach. It was raining super-hard (as I suspect you know!) and Pete mentioned that strawberries may run out since the fields were too wet to harvest more today. So, please understand that every day is different on the farm. The share items available may be slightly different from day to day during a week. Of course, Pete tries to make sure that there is plenty for everyone, but there are many variables that can affect availability. For example, this rain makes it difficult to harvest certain crops. At other times, planting may take precedence over picking, growth may be inhibited by overcast weather, pests can affect the harvest, or staff may be unavailable to pick. So, please understand if not everything is available every day. With that little blurb, here are some pictures of the wonderful food:

The rain may affect strawberry harvest this week.

Snap peas

Carrots...the tops are great for slow cooked soup (IMHO)

Spinach

Farm Card

If you're wanting to become a member the easiest way is to get a Farm Card.

If you have any questions about the Farm Card, please ask someone at the farm stand. They can explain the entire system -- it's actually quite easy once you try it. It's a way to become a member without having to pay the entire cost up front. And, it helps the farm to have incremental income during the season. You'll be able to buy just what you need each week, so on the weeks you have company you can get more and on the weeks when you know you won't cook, you can get less.

Local Market Items

Besides all the lovely share items, there are lots of local market items you can purchase separately.  Here are just a few:

much Mor bread (100% organic grain)

Yummy muffins...my picture doesn't do them justice

Honey from GJP Honey Farm in Gardiner!

Kombucha (Chai)

Pika's Quiche

People at the Farm!

The dog seems to be hoarding a carrot...hmmm...smart dog.

These kids were just too cute for words. They were loving the puddles!

Ian and his sister Delaney:

And, last, but not least, Delaney and Ana hard at work:

Next time, watch for pictures of more cicadas if you can stand it, and maybe a surprising slug photograph.