Bittersweet News

Our first customer, Audrey

The past three years have been an adventure.

As you'll recall, we started on this organic farming journey with little experience but a lot of passion and determination. Along the way, we have helped supply local, fresh, and nutritious food to the community of Pittsburgh. We have been embraced and supported by the most amazing customers who made sure to buy our produce and eggs because they believed in what we were doing and believed in better tasting and more nutritious food. We have met wonderful fellow farmers who have helped put up a hoophouse, shared knowledge, and simply befriended us. And for all of this, we are truly thankful.

But we have decided it's time to take things to the next level. This past season we realized that farming on property we don't own isn't sustainable. Brett was spending an increasing amount of time commuting from our house in Pittsburgh to the farm in Kittanning. This led to less time at home with the family, but also less time getting things done on the farm. There was never enough time at the farm or at home. It wasn't the life we had envisioned or wanted.

Our first flock of chickens soon
after we arrived in Pennsylvania.

When we began looking at buying our own property we looked at both Pittsburgh and Buffalo. The reasons for staying Pittsburgh are obvious. As for Buffalo, this is where Kristie grew up. And even though she's been away for 15 years, the majority of her family and numerous friends still live there.

In the end, Buffalo won out. We have an incredible support system there, all encouraging us to come back to the area. As a bonus, property is more affordable. We've begun the process of searching for a place and we are confident we will find the perfect spot for us.

We will miss Pittsburgh and, more importantly, the wonderful people. This is an amazing city that's come so far from their rust belt roots and is poised to become even more awesome. We'd like to specifically give a shout out to the people who have supported our farm and helped make this place feel like home: Mark, Meg, Alex, Charlie, Nathan, Joe, Sara, John, Marty, Erik, Shauna, and Cornelius... thank you for everything!

One of best customers, Mark, and Kristie's dad and stepmom
helping put up the hoop house.

And to all of you Western New Yorkers that may be reading this, we're coming! We are looking forward to bringing our organic produce (and hopefully meat) to the area. Stay tuned!

Here we are, embarking on another adventure so soon after our last one. But in the end, we picture walking out the door and into our fields and the world seems right.

And so it begins...again

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Last Farm Stand! September 28

The time has come again where we say farewell to the season. Tomorrow will be our last farm stand for 2012. It's been a bit of a wild season, between weather, bugs, and some other growing pains. But with craziness comes the opportunity to learn and this year was full of teaching moments.

So come by tomorrow, even if it's just to say farewell to the season. We are so grateful to all of our customers who support us week to week, always reminding us why we do what we do.

Eggs will still be available for pick up at our house in Blawnox throughout the fall and winter. Just shoot us an email or call to order.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Turnips
Radishes
Fingerling Potatoes
Lettuce
Ground Cherries

Red Onions
Garlic
Dragon's Tongue Beans (from Clarion River Organics) 

Winter Squash (from Clarion River Organics)
Eggs
Tarragon Vinegar (homemade by Kristie)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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September 15 Farm Stand

Things are a little crazy around here so this post is going to be short and sweet!

But real quick, we are super honored to be representing the Farmer-Veteran Coalition at the Farm Aid event on September 22 in Hershey, PA. Therefore, we won't be opening the farm stand next weekend. So come get your goodies tomorrow!

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Turnips (New!)
Red Potatoes (New!)
Lettuce
Cherry Tomatoes
Ground Cherries
Green Beans
Zucchini

Red Onions
Garlic

Celebration Winter Squash (like a sweet Acorn) (from Clarion River Organics)
Tarragon Vinegar (homemade by Kristie)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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September 8 Farm Stand

To make an easy fresh salsa dice up or food process tomatoes, onion,
jalapeno, salt and pepper. Adjust ratios to your liking.
Optional: cilantro & a squeeze of lime.

This week we've been busy in the kitchen, eating, canning and freezing as much summer goodness as we can. We've roasted veggies, canned tomatoes, enjoyed fresh salsa, whipped up an easy greek zucchini salad, and bottled a beautiful purple basil and garlic vinegar that we should have at the farm stand in a few weeks. This is the crazy time of the year, but it's also the tastiest.

We mentioned on Facebook that we were trying out ground cherry jam in hopes to sell this weekend. Unfortunately, we just don't have the recipe down just yet. We'll keep you posted if it ends up working out. It takes a lot of ground cherries to make the jam and since they preserve so well in their husks, jam may not be the best use.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Fingerling Potatoes
Lettuce
Heirloom Tomatoes - Eva Purple Ball, Gold Medal, Red Cherry, Roma
Ground Cherries
Green peppers
Radishes
Green Beans
Swiss Chard

Zucchini

Yellow Summer Squash
Red Onions

Garlic
Tarragon Vinegar (homemade by Kristie)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey
Celebration Winter Squash (like a sweet Acorn)  (from Clarion River Organics)

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September 1 Farm Stand

"We need real farmers who grow real food, and the will to reform a broken food system. And for that, we need not only to celebrate farmers, but also to advocate for them."

The above quote is part of an awesome op-ed written by The New York Times food columnist, Mark Bittman. You should read it. And then read some more about the horrendous state of our food system. And then take a stand against it by supporting and advocating for your local farmers.

:Stepping off soap box:

Can you believe tomorrow is September? I don't even know where August went, it barely stopped to say hello. We've got loads of ground cherries so pick up a couple baskets this week and dip them in chocolate, or can up some preserves, or make this awesome-looking cupcake pie thing (tell us how it turns out)!

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Lettuce (New!)
Fingerling Potatoes
Heirloom Tomatoes - Eva Purple Ball, Gold Medal, Pink, Red Cherry, Roma
Ground Cherries
Green peppers
Radishes
Red Onions

Garlic
Tarragon Vinegar (homemade by Kristie)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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Cherry Tomato Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette

This past weekend, our farmer friends, Joe and Sara, of Five Elements Farm, invited us over for a little harvest celebration. They have a wonderful piece of property and a beautiful home they built themselves. It's their dream and a little slice of heaven and spending time out there does amazing things for the spirit.

When trying to decide what dish to bring, I knew I needed something that was quick and easy since I was going to whip it up after the farm stand. This very simple cherry tomato salad lets in-season tomatoes sing and is a great vehicle for our tarragon vinegar (but balsamic and red wine vinegar also works too). We like to add raw garlic to our dressings for all of the wonderful health benefits, but feel free to omit it if you're not keen on garlic breath.

Cherry Tomato Salad with Tarragon Vinaigrette

 

Vinaigrette
2 tablespoons of olive oil
2 tablespoons of SVF's tarragon vinegar or balsamic/red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon of dijon mustard
2 cloves of minced garlic (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste

Salad
4 cups (about one quart) of local cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 medium red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup to 1/2 cup basil, sliced thin

In a measuring cup or small bowl whisk together all of the ingredients for the vinaigrette. In a separate bowl toss the tomatoes, red onion, basil, and vinaigrette.

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August 25 Farm Stand

This week's fingerling potatoes

This past weekend we headed up to Buffalo for my (Kristie) 15-year high school reunion. Since Brett was in Iraq for the 10-year reunion, I really wanted him to join me this time so we cancelled the farm stand and made it a little getaway. It ended up being a blast; I happen to have graduated with some very awesome and fun people. But what really surprised me is how many people follow our farm through Facebook or the blog. Countless people asked me about it, told me that they think it's great what we are doing and how our posts inspire them to eat more fresh food. Seriously-I had no idea. Sometimes you put this information out there and you're not really sure who sees it or reads it. And then all of a sudden you hear about the impact that you're having on people and, man, it brings the warm and fuzzies.

So if you're reading this, we want to continue to be a source of inspiration. As you can imagine we're a bit short on time these days, but we're going to strive to provide regular fresh, helpful, and interesting content.

But back to the day to day. We'll have lots of eggs so we shouldn't sell out so quickly this week. Brett dug up some beautiful fingerling potatoes that are so tender and flavorful. There will be plenty of tomatoes, especially the red cherry, and we are also bringing back the lovely dragon's tongue wax bean from Clarion River Organics.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Fingerling Potatoes (New!)
Heirloom Tomatoes - Eva Purple Ball, Gold Medal, Pink, Red Cherry, Yellow Pear
Ground Cherries
Radishes
Swiss Chard
Kale
Red Onions

Garlic
Dragon's Tongue Beans (from Clarion River Organics)
Tarragon Vinegar (homemade by Kristie)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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August 11 Farm Stand

Mayhaps you've heard of them, mayhaps you haven't. They don't care, for they are secure in their deliciousness and absurdly long shelf life (6+ months) and know they'll be okay with or without you. That's right, they are Ground Cherries and they're nature's arrogant little bastards. But they have cause to be.  So come on out and buy them all up, they are making all the other veg feel very self-conscious and unworthy (have you ever seen an heirloom tomato cry?)

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Heirloom Tomatoes - Eva Purple Ball, Gold Medal, Pink, Red Cherry
Ground Cherries
Swiss Chard

Yukon Gold New Potatoes
Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax Peppers
Cucumbers
Garlic
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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August 4 Farm Stand

The summer produce is in! Gorgeous heirloom tomatoes, spicy hot peppers, and sweet ground cherries.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Heirloom Tomatoes (New this week!) - Eva Purple Ball, Gold Medal, Pink, Red Cherry
Anaheim Peppers (New!)

Jalapenos (New!)
Yukon Gold New Potatoes (New!)
Ground Cherries (New!)
Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax Peppers
Cucumbers
Garlic
Green Cabbage (from Clarion River Organics)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

Read more...

July 28 Farm Stand

Tiffani harvests green and hot peppers

We have a new addition to our little farm, our new intern Tiffani. She comes to us from New Orleans, looking to learn all about growing tasty, nutritious food in a sustainable way. She started this past week and has already been a tremendous help in the field, helping fertilize, maintain, and harvest the plants. She will hopefully be with us until the end of the growing season.


In other good news, Sharon Drake of the local newspaper, The Herald, wrote a great article about Brett and the farm. It doesn't seem to be online, so if you're local, make sure to check it out in this week's edition. 

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Pastured eggs

Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax Pepper

Cucumbers

Swiss Chard 

Lettuce

Garlic

White and Red Onions

Dragon Tongue's Bean, a delicious and beautiful wax bean (from Clarion River Organics)

Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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July 21 Farm Stand

Rain! Sweet, sweet, glorious rain! The farm is lapping it up and we are already seeing a difference.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Pastured eggs

Hungarian Hot Yellow Wax Pepper (New!)
Cucumbers
Swiss Chard
Lettuce

Garlic

Onions

Red New Potatoes (from Clarion River Organics)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

Read more...

July 14 Farm Stand

Just harvested garlic.

Thanks to everyone who came out last week in the stifling heat! It ended up being a great day and the sweet red raspberries were a hit!


As promised, the summer produce is coming in! We have beautiful, crisp cucumbers this week all ready for cucumber salad, cucumber soup, or just cut up as a snack. The tomatoes are starting to turn so hopefully they'll be in next week. We also harvested our garlic. The majority will be hung up to cure, but we'll have a limited supply of the fresh stuff tomorrow. 

Keep doing that rain dance! We definitely need it.

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Pastured eggs
Raspberries
Cucumbers
Swiss Chard
Lettuce
Fresh Garlic
Gold New Potatoes (from Clarion River Organics)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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Bacon and Greens over Polenta

Greens and bacon over polenta with swiss chard and radish greens

Greens. Swiss chard, kale, collard, mustard, beet, radish - whatever your fancy, they are delicious and nutritious. Greens are rich in minerals (iron, calcium, potassium, and magnesium) and vitamins, including vitamins K, C, E, and many of the B vitamins. They also provide a variety of phytonutrients including beta-carotene, lutein, and zeaxanthin, which protect our cells from damage and our eyes from age-related problems, among many other effects.


In short, you should eat them. A lot.

This recipe is quick, healthy, and yummy and a great way to use up your greens. It's also very versatile so use whatever greens you have on hand and feel free to toss in beans, or mushrooms, or spice it up with a dash of hot sauce at the end.

2 ounces bacon or pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
2 tablespoons minced garlic or garlic scapes
1/2 cup of chopped onion
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
8 cups coarsely chopped fresh greens (swiss chard, kale, mustard, collard, radish, beet)
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Polenta or brown rice
Parmesan to taste
Vinegar or hot sauce to taste.

Cook bacon in a large skillet (we like cast iron) over medium heat until crisp (about 10 minutes). Remove from pan.

Add onions and garlic to drippings in pan; sauté until soft. If you're adding in mushrooms or anything else that is better when sauteed, add now. 

Add broth; bring to a boil. (Add beans here if using)

Cook until mixture is reduced (about 5 minutes).

Add greens, salt, and pepper, tossing to coat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until greens are tender (3-10 minutes).

Add a dash or two of vinegar or hot sauce. Serve over polenta or rice. Top with parmesan.

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July 7 Farm Stand

It's raspberry season!

It was just three short years ago that we packed up our house, loaded the U-haul, and said goodbye to the crusty brown grass and triple-digit temps of Texas.

Or not.

The lack of rain coupled with this heat is bringing us back to the our days in the Lone Star State. It's been brutal - on the plants, the animals, and us (well, mainly Brett). Thankfully, we got some decent rain this week and, fortunately, it did not come with damage like many places in Virginia and the D.C. area.

On the bright side, the hoop house is finally finished and we can now focus more on the day-to-day operations of the farm. All the summer produce is looking good - cukes, tomatoes, zucchini, peppers.

It's expected to climb to 100 degrees tomorrow so we're still setting up the farm stand, but we may bow out a little early if it gets too ferocious. So come early and make sure you get some of the beautiful raspberries we have this week!

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.- 1 p.m. (or earlier) in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks

Pastured eggs
Raspberries!
Swiss Chard
Kale
Sorrel
Golden Purslane (Super high in Omega3s, great in salad)
Cabbage (from Clarion River Organics)
Local (Fox Chapel) raw honey from Hannah's Honey

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Wordless Wednesday

Black Bear checking on the hoop house progress

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No Farm Stand This Week

Brett's is ready to stick a fork in this baby.

Sorry to say, but we have to cancel this week's farm stand. Kristie's family is coming in and we are hopefully going to finish building the hoop house once and for all! Once we get it finished, the chickens can move in, allowing us to uncover the crops which can't be uncovered while the chickens are still hanging around. So it's important we get this thing up!

But we will be back next week, hopefully with lots of yummy greens, radishes, and some other goodies too.

  

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June 16 Farm Stand

Mark, Carole, and Jim ensure the sideboards are level.

The week started out with some helpful hands and hard work. This past Sunday, Kristie's dad and stepmom and two of our wonderful customers came out to help us continue construction on our hoop house. As mentioned in a previous post, we received a grant to purchase a 30' x 48' hoop house from the Farmer-Veteran Coalition. And let me tell you, we have a whole new appreciation for those who put these together. But we're in the home stretch and hope to have a few more folks out one more time to complete it. Check out Facebook for more photos of the hoop house building.

In the mean time, we're trying to keep up with all of the mowing, weeding, mulching, plucking, pruning, and harvesting. The season is in full swing!

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Pastured eggs
Garlic Scapes (make this pesto or add to salads/stir frys)
Green Garlic

Baby onions
Chive Blossom Vinegar!

Transplants for your backyard garden

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Wordless Wednesday

Chive Blossom Vinegar: the prettiest vinegar in town. Coming to a farm stand near you.

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June 9 Farm Stand

Thanks to everyone who came out last week to kick off our opening farm stand! It was great to see all of our regular customers as well as lots of new faces.

As we were packing up for the day, two men came running down the street toward us. They asked if we were closed and I said we were packing up but we still have various things available. We chatted a bit. The men worked at the pizza shop down the street. One of the men talked about how wants to have property one day where he could raise animals and would love to talk to us more about it. He purchased two dozen eggs, "so that his daughters could eat something fresh." Having a daughter ourselves, this tugged at our hearts and reminded us why we do what we do. We help people make better food choices, even if it's a little at a time. And that's what it's all about.

And with that, here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks.

Pastured eggs
Garlic Scapes (make this pesto or add to salads/stir frys)
Onion scapes (use like green onions, mild fresh flavor)
Herbs -- chives, tarragon, and dill
Transplants for your backyard garden -- tomatoes, hot peppers, swiss chard, lavender, ground cherries, and sweet marjoram.

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June 2 Farm Stand - Opening Day!

It never ceases to amaze me how fast the winter goes by. I feel like we just packed up the farm stand supplies and here we are again, brushing them off and sprucing them up. We are looking forward to a great new season, hopefully more bountiful than the last!

Here's the full list we'll have this Saturday, 9 a.m.-1 p.m. in Blawnox. We accept cash and Farmer's Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) checks. 

Tons O' Eggs! Pastured and incredibly delicious

Garlic Scapes (use to make this pesto or add to salads/stir frys)

Lettuce

Peas (false alarm, harvest not large enough)

Various transplants for your backyard garden

And an extra bonus, you'll get to see our 16-month-old bucket of smiles. She's pretty fierce with the chalk.

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Farm Stand Opens June 2!

Can you believe it’s already that time of year again? The farm stand opens in just one week! We are excited and looking forward to seeing all our regular customers and meeting new ones as well. And, per usual, we are doing our freak out dance to make sure we have plenty of goods for you guys. We will definitely have eggs, herbs, and seedlings to kick off your backyard gardening -- and hopefully some other goodies too! Like last year, we will post the list on the Thursday before the farm stand.

If you’ve just stumbled upon our blog, our farm stand is located on Freeport Road in the heart of Blawnox Borough, directly in front of the Veteran’s Memorial at the intersection of North Avenue and Freeport Road. We are open every Saturday from June through October from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. 

As you can see, our new website is not up yet, but we are thisclose to launching. Until then, we will keep posting here. Also make sure to check out our Facebook page and follow us on Twitter. We regular post photos, interesting links, farm updates, and other random tidbits.

Hope to see you all next Saturday!

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Big News! We're a Farmer-Veteran Coalition Fellow

Several months back, we heard about an organization that was helping veterans become farmers. The mission of the Farmer-Veteran Coalition (FVC) is to mobilize the food and farming community to create healthy and viable futures for America’s veterans by enlisting their help in building our green economy, rebuilding our rural communities, and securing a safe and healthy food supply for all. The coalition seeks to simultaneously assist the farming community by developing a new generation of farmers and to help our returning veterans find viable careers and means to heal on America’s farms.

We were impressed by all of the work this group was doing so we contacted them through Facebook (social media is pretty amazing) and started discussing the possibility of working with them. With Brett's Army background and the work we are doing here, they thought we would be a good candidate. Our official application was sent in early January and in late February we have been named a Newman's Own Innovator in Agriculture Fellow within the FVC Fellowship Fund program!

So what exactly does this mean? In the short term, this means they are purchasing us a 48-foot-long Gro-Max Gothic High Tunnel from FarmTek, a sponsoring partner of FVC. This is huge because it will allow us to gain year-round growing capabilities as well as fast-track our poultry and rabbit operations.

One-third of the structure will be used in Joel Salatin's (from Polyface Farm) "rabbits over chickens" function stacking method where breeding rabbits are kept in cages over laying hens. The rabbits are fed waste greens from the hoop house, the rabbit droppings fall through the wire cages to carbon rich wood chips beneath them, the hens scratch through that eating the worms and bugs that flourish in the nutrient rich compost adding their own manure. The overall aged mixture is then rebroadcast over the fallow growing beds which feeds the next plant crop. The protected growing area will also give us a place to harden off seedlings and transplants and provide a cushion if we get another wet spring like last year.

In the long term, being a FVC fellow will mean a place for support, mentoring, and networking with other veteran farmers across the country.

This is an awesome organization and we are incredibly grateful for their assistance. If you've got some extra cash, consider supporting this great non-profit organization. They're helping to heal America's veterans and America's food system.

We'd also like to take a moment to thank everyone who was a reference for us including our awesome customers Mark and Meg Rentler, fellow farmer Joe Bozelli, Brett's mom Christine Lane, and PASA Member Services Manager Leah Smith. You guys rock!

Sooo....now that we're getting an awesome, large high tunnel -- anyone out there want to come help put it together?

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Crickets, Crickets...Anyone there?

It's been quiet around here hasn't it?

One would think that we would have plenty of time to whip up lots of witty and insightful posts during the slow off-season. But see that's the problem. Our off-season isn't exactly slow. We spend all year saying: we can do that in the winter, that will get done in December, we'll have plenty of  time to do that in the off-season, etc. Our to-do list gets huge.

This winter has been filled with kitchen remodeling (we're finally done!), grant writing, PASA conference attending, business plan writing, but our biggest and most exciting  project is...wait for it...a new website! That's right, Kristie has been busy setting up a new, fancy schmancy website -- at least we think so. But as with most projects, it's taking longer than anticipated and every post we put here has to be transferred to the new site. We hope to roll it out in the next month or so and you'll be the first to know!

In the mean time, keep in mind you can keep up with us on Facebook, Twitter, and, as of now, Pinterest!

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