Thursday, September 25, 2014

Fall Produce is Here

You've probably noticed the trees starting to turn and the weather getting cooler. If you're at the farm, you'll notice that the produce is changing too. Butternut Squash and Sweet Potatoes and the like are all coming into season. Here's what I saw at the farm stand today:
  • Peppers -- Cayenne, Jalapeno, Red Bell, and Yellow Bell, and seconds
  • Tomatoes -- Goldie Boy, Mtn Fresh, and still plenty of seconds
  • Beets
  • Chinese Eggplant
  • Salads -- Arugula, Asian Salad Mix
  • Green Beans
  • Leeks, Garlic
  • Greens -- Summer Spinach, Red Russian Kale
  • Potatoes -- Carola, Red, Sweet, and some seconds
  • Watermelon (maybe the end?)
  • Squash -- Butternut and Spaghetti
When I'm there looking at all the food, it always looks so alive to me. These pictures don't do justice, but here they are:
red russian kale
Red Russian Kale is back!

chinese eggplant
Chinese Eggplant

butternut squash
Butternut Squash

Sweet Potatoes

This is the first week for sweet potatoes. Here is Laura showing me the latest batch:
You may remember that I posted a photo of the sweet potato plants back on Aug 7th. Here is what they looked like then and then now:
sweet potato plants
Aug 7th -- full of promise!
empty field
Sep 25 -- an empty field!
Those beautiful plants produced an equally beautiful harvest of potatoes. The field looks pretty empty now though. It will get a little break before being put to work for us again.

Vendor Items

Chicken is back! There were plenty of packages of legs, breasts, and wings.

Fresh mushrooms were filling one of the fridges -- oyster & shiitake.

There was a nice supply of various goat milk cheeses and fudge (in which I indulged).  And while I was there, Delaney brought the milk, yogurt, cheese, pickle, and sauerkraut  delivery.

You're sure to find something you'll enjoy.

Laura & Ruby

I got this photo of Laura showing how much she likes the goat milk fudge. Ruby was pretty happy as well, even though she is too young to experience the pleasure of chocolatey fudgey goodness. Ah, the innocence of babes.
Laura and Ruby

Thursday, September 18, 2014

Fall is on the way, but the food is still growing

September is flying by and October will be here before you know it. Laura

Laura and little one
tells me that there is a lull in the crops at the moment. Carrots and squash will be returning. While we wait for those things to mature, we can still gorge on tomatoes and watermelons!

Here are the items available when I was there on Thursday:

  • Peppers -- red, yellow, cayenne, and jalapeno
  • Tomatoes -- mountain fresh, goldie boy, and seconds
  • Eggplant -- Italian and Japanese
  • Arugula, Asian salad green mix, parsley
  • Leeks, Scallions, Onions, Garlic
  • Potatoes -- red and carola
  • Summer spinach
  • Squash -- summer and spaghetti
  • Green beans
  • Beets
  • Watermelon
Look at how big these eggplants are -- the fat one is the Italian type and the long skinny one is the Japanese type.
Italian and Japanese eggplant
And if you are a fan of the tomato as I am, you must be enjoying the bountiful, tasty tomatoes. Here's how many Goldie Boy tomatoes I got with my share.
Goldie Boy tomatoes
Don't forget that you can also have your fill of tomato seconds -- these are especially great if you like to make sauce, soup, or otherwise cook with tomatoes.

I admit that I'm not a big fan of bell peppers, but these are beautiful peppers and I'm sure someone reading here adores them.
red and yellow peppers

Turkeys

Believe it or not, the turkeys have been getting fit and ready. It's not too early to start your Thanksgiving meal planning. You can order your Old Ford Farm turkey through Laura at the farm stand counter. The pasture-raised turkeys are given non-GMO grain and never given hormones or antibiotics of any kind. The price is $6/lb. You tell Laura your size preference and Old Ford Farm pairs you up with a bird. The pickup will be Tues Nov 25th.

Flowers

The flower garden is still very lively. Robin planted the sunflowers in stages so even though one row is peaking out, the next row is just coming into it's peak.
sunflowers
Picking flowers is free for members. If you're not a member, you can clip your own bouquet for $7. Clippers are in the bucket at the end of the rows and you can pay at the farm stand or by honor system in the bucket.

There are lots of these Black-Eyed Susan flowers.
Black-eyed Susans
The darker colored ones are my favorite. I'm not sure if they are a different variety of Black-Eyed Susan or something else. If you know, please tell me in the comments below.

You can leave a comment by clicking on the "No Comments" link. That just means no one has commented yet!

Enjoy the farm!

Friday, September 12, 2014

A Farm is like a Baby

(Hrs: Th 8-7, Fr 9-6, Sa 9-3)

Pete mentioned last week that running a farm is like having a baby -- once you have one, it never stops. This week he told me he was in a 2 week crunch -- anything he needs to do before the end of the growing season must be done in the next two weeks or he runs out of time. The change of season is upon us so time grows short.

When I was at the farm stand on Thursday, Laura told me that the cantaloupes are finished for the season. However there are lovely spaghetti squash coming in now. These are an excellent option for people looking for a gluten-free substitute for wheat spaghetti noodles.

Laura also reported that the summer squash plants are finished. Whatever yellow summer squash is at the farm stand now is pretty much the end of the summer squash. But, don't worry -- there are still some other varieties available.

Here are the items that were there Thursday morning. Your selection may be different since, despite best laid plans, availability varies day to day.

  • spaghetti squash
  • sugar baby watermelons
  • tomatoes: heirloom, goldie boy, regular style, chocolate cherry, and also Seconds!
  • carrots
  • potatoes: carola and red
  • leeks
  • greens: arugula, Asian salad mix
  • eggplant
  • scallions / onions / garlic / jalapenos / cayenne peppers / parsley
  • bell peppers: green and red
  • summer spinach
  • beets
  • green beans
  • squash: summer and green
One other tidbit Laura passed along -- although there were carrots when I was there today, that is the entire supply for now. The plants are in a lull and carrots will be out for 2-3 weeks until the next batch is ready.

Here are some pictures of what I picked up today with my share:
summer spinach

eggplants

red and green peppers

Rain

Well, if you stop to think about the nice sunny temperate weather, you may realize that all those lovely sunny days mean that we haven't had very much rain. Even though we had a few short showers, it's still very dry. Two days ago I was digging some post holes a foot deep and I was shocked that the ground was dry dry dry all the way down. The farm could use some rain, so keep your fingers crossed for a few nice showers.

Vendor Products

Delaney brought the dairy delivery while I was there.
Delaney delivers dairy
We should have a nice supply of milk, yogurt, and even butter.

Delaney
If you're looking for goat cheese or feta cheese, there was a good supply when I was there Thursday. However, quark was out of stock.

Speaking of other things out of stock -- there was one lonely package of chicken legs left. Laura told me that a fresh batch of chickens will be available in a week or two. So, hang in there for your chicken fix.

There were plenty of Full Moon Farms pastured and grass fed meats available. And, there was a great selection of Pika's quiches.

If you're a little thirsty while you're at the farm, try Booch -- this is a Kombucha drink made right here in sunny New Paltz. You'll be surprised at how refreshing this unusual flavored drink is.

Well, that's it for this week. Have a great week. Feel free to press the "Post a Comment" button and tell me what you really think!



Friday, September 5, 2014

Peel and Eat

I'm back from my trip and I'm very happy to be back at the farm. I missed being around all the growing food and abundance of scrumptious flavors.

I didn't arrive at the farm until late in the day Thursday, but here are things I saw:
  • potatoes -- red and another kind
  • onions, garlic, leeks
  • arugula, spicy asian mix
  • parsley
  • spinach
  • green bell peppers
  • sorrell
  • green beans
  • jalapeno peppers
  • beets
  • carrots
  • cucumbers
  • watermelons -- so sweet you can just peel and eat
  • spaghetti squash
  • yellow squash and summer squash
  • tomatoes -- all kinds (regular, heirloom, yellow, small, cherry)

cherry tomatoes in a dish
Cherry tomatoes in a small dish
yellow gold tomatoes
Yellow gold tomatoes -- these are super sweet
I was so pleased that there were still watermelon left this week. Right before I left town, I ate a watermelon and it was so sweet that I could eat all of the rind down to the green. Maybe I'm a bit over-zealous, but I think that you really could just "peel and eat" the watermelons just like you might peel an apple or peach. Just take off the thin outer green skin leaving the delicate light green rind intact and eat everything (minus the seeds, although they can be chewed pretty easily). OK, I know I'm at the extreme side of watermelon consumption practices, but rumor has it that a lot of nutrients are contained in the rind!

Spaghetti Squash

These spaghetti squash looked wonderful today.
If you've never cooked spaghetti squash, you should give it a try. I tend to cook it one of two ways.

The first way is to split it (preferably tip to tail) with a large sharp knife. Then use a large spoon to scoop out the seeds. I usually discard the seeds. I've never tried roasting them, but perhaps that would work. Take the halves of the squash and place them cut side down in a tray with about a half inch of water in it. You can coat the skins with oil if you want, or not. Then cook it...until it smells like squash.

The other way I cook these are to poke some holes though the skin all over the squash. If my fork doesn't go through easily, I use a knife to poke into the squash instead. Then place the entire squash on a tray and cook it at 350 degrees (or thereabouts) until it smells done. You can coat the skin with olive oil if you'd like, or just leave it au naturel. I estimate it takes maybe 30-45 minutes to cook. Once it's done, let the squash sit for 10 minutes, then split it in half and scoop out the seeds.

In both cases let it sit about 5-10 minutes before you cut it so that it cools off.

Try serving it to someone who doesn't care for squash. They might be surprised at how good this squash tastes when used in place of spaghetti pasta.

Pete's Pickles

Are you a pickle fan? Be sure to get one of Pete's pickles. They are $3/lb this week and they look wonderful.
Pete's pickles

Laura, the new John House

During the time I was out of town, there was quite the important development at the farm stand. John House received a full time job offer and reluctantly left the farm to accept this exciting position that will advance his career. He loved working at the farm stand and I believe we all enjoyed his service. We all wish John the best in his new job.

Lucky for us, his sister, Laura, is able to take his place. I met her today briefly and got some great photos. Be sure to tell her hello and give her a warm welcome. 
Laura and Pete
Laura and Pete discussing farming


Laura!
Welcome to our new Farm Stand manager, Laura.