Spring Update

Spring @ Sustainable Harvest Farm

Dear Friends, Family, and Supporters,

We are very thankful for the relationships and blessings that God has put into our lives. Amanda, Finley and I are doing well and hope that you are as well.

We wanted to share our spring farm updates with you all and share some pictures from around the farm. I like bulleted lists, so I’ll share some bullets with you.

·         Over the winter I assisted in building a 24x20 greenhouse to start our plants in. We will also experiment with bringing you all fresh vine ripened tomatoes a month earlier than normal in this greenhouse.

·         We built an addition to our barn.

·         We battled beavers on 2 of the 3 fields that we raise the majority of our produce on. Each week sees a new winner. This week I’m ahead, but bloodied from battle. If we don’t beat them, we run the risk of our fields being unusable.

·         We had a wonderful goat kidding season, but unfortunately coyotes have been very hungry and have reminded me that I’m thankful that I have a day job.

·         Finley wants to drive the tractor and 4-wheeler more than I do.

·         Strawberries are looking good for the 1^st CSA baskets that should on time for May 10thish.

·         Lettuce, broccoli, Cabbage, Sugar Snap Peas, Bok Choi, Tatsoi, and a half dozen other varieties of early greens are out in the field and growing.

·         We will raise right at a dozen varieties of tomatoes for this season in an effort to provide a more flavorful yet disease resistant tomato.

·         We are scheduled to have a spring, summer, and fall supply of lettuce. It is very difficult to grow lettuce when the temperature gets warm at all.

So what goes on this time of year to guarantee you have vegetables for 22 weeks this season?

1.       Planning, planning, planning. Starting the 1^st week of February seeds start getting planted in the greenhouse

2.       Field Preparation. Fields must be fairly dry before any field preparation can begin. Any dry spell that we get of 4+ plus days I will be in some field getting it ready for planting. There are several different stages and steps to preparing a field for planting.

3.       Our 1^st plants go out into the field early March to have you those fresh vegetables for May.

4.       Once plants are in the field weeds have to be managed and believe it or not we’re already facing flea beetle damage on some of our greens. There are a number of different ways to manage that pesky pest organically. Deciding which one is most efficient, effective, and affordable is the hard task.

5.       Tractor/equipment repair and modification. I have a wonderful neighbor that is always helping me fabricate tools to use.

6.       The balance of family, regular job, farming, and church is always a challenge this time of year. You’ve put your trust in me to deliver you with fresh vegetables for 22 weeks. If that means getting waist deep in cold water to fight beavers every other day for weeks on end, I’m going to do it.

7.       That’s enough for now.

Thank you for your support!

Ford Waterstrat

Last Basket

Good Evening Friends,

We look forward to seeing you at the Farmer's Market from 8-10 AM and  at the Farm Tour Tommorow. We know that several of you all will not be able to make the farm tour. We hope that you can make it next year!

Thank you again for your support this season! We truly appreciate your support and friendship and feedback.

Sincere thanks,

Ford Waterstrat

In your basket you will find the following USDA Certified Organic Produce

October 8
2 # Sweet Potatoes	Amanda made a wonderful dish that used sweet potatoes, butternut squash, tatsoi, and regular potatoes. It was a creation that she developed the other day. We will get a variety to you before Sunday.
Bunch Of Beets	There are several varieties of beets in your basket. There is a Yellow Variety called Touchstone Gold, a Red and White variety called Chiogga, and a standard red beet. Please let me know which variety that you like and we will try and plant more of that variety next year.  Eat them raw, slice them into a salad, or bake them with your potatoes.
Tatsoi, Swiss Chard, Mustard Greens or Bok Choi	Tatsoi can be eaten raw as a salad or added into any soup, stew or other hot recipe for a nice taste.
2#Tomatoes	We had our first 2 frosts this past week. Frost kills tomato plants, so we went ahead and harvested as many of the tomatoes that we could before the frost. The tomatoes will do well to ripen a little more in the window sill. We have received feedback that our tomatoes were not the most flavorful this season. I will investigate this matter. I’m not sure if it was because all of the moisture this year, the specific tomato variety, and it could have even been a micronutrient that was not at the right proportion in the soil. I have soft skin, but feel that feedback from you all is key to providing you all with the produce that you’d like. So please, please, give us feedback .
4 Peppers	Yellow, Green, Orange, and Red
Small Bunch Broccoli
1# Potatoes	Chieftain Red.
2 Butternut squash	We hope that you try this squash into the recipe that Amanda created.

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http://sustainableharvestfarm.blogspot.com/

Good Morning CSA Friends,

  

I hope that all of you have been getting to enjoy this nice sunny weather! The cool weather is interesting!

  

Please remember to pick your basket up between 8-10 am Saturday at the farmer's market.

Farm tour is next weekend from 3-5.

  

In your basket you will find the following USDA Certified Organic Produce.

  

Attached you'll find Amanda's favorite sweet potato pie recipe.  She says it's very "potato-ish" and not overly buttery like many sweet potato casseroles (although there is plenty of butter in the recipie).  It's also good if you cut the butter in half. 

  

We also frequently make roasted sweet potatoe chips and fries by lightly coating thinly sliced strips or rounds of sweet potatoe in olive oil and roasting at 375-400 degrees for about 20-30 minutes, turning once in the middle.  Adding a little salt and rosemary OR red pepper powder make them extra tasty.

  

SIncere thanks,!

Ford Waterstrat

  

• 1 # Potatoes. A mixture of Kennebec, Chieftain Reds and Yukon Gold.
• 2 # Sweet Potatoes-my right hand man Mackey Williams helped me dig these this week. I apologize that there is still some dirt on them. They were still too moist to get all of the dirt off.
• Bunch of Beets. Three Varieties. These are beautiful. You can cook the greens down. Our favorite way to use the root part is to roast them in the oven with potatoes.\\\
• 4 Peppers
• Small head of Lettuce. A couple people that get extremely small heads of lettuce will also get a head of bok choi
• 1# Tomatoes
• 2 Butternut squash
• A bunch of Broccoli. I’ve debated on whether mentioning this to you or not, but there is a possibility that some of your heads will have some small worms in them. A mixed blessing of USDA Certified Organic Crops. Spring time has less chance of worms, but less likely chance of having a good crop.  To get rid of the worms, submerse the broccoli in salt water for 15 minutes. Worms will float to the top.

Please remember that two things have changed for this weekend's basket pick up.

1. We will be at the Laurel County Extension Office instead of the Farmer's Market
2. We will only be there from 8-10 A.M.
3. Please call me @ 859 227 5101 if you have a hard time finding the extension office.

In your basket you will find the following USDA Certified Organic Produce. (Attached is a recipe for butternut squash. I also had my students try some butternut squash muffins that were great!)

September 24

1. 1 WatermelonThese are the last of the season. :(
2. 1 Head of Bok Choitry sauting or mix it in with a salad for a unique taste
3. 1# Tomatoes
4. 4 Peppers
5.  2 heads of LettuceOak leaf Variety, Red Romaine,or Buttercrunch
6. 1 bunch of Basil
7. 1 Butternut squash

Good morning!

 

I've got a cool vegetable joke for you..

 

Why was the tomato red?......It saw the salad dressin'! one of my students told me that one. Pretty cool.

 

Get ready for new items this Saturday. Again we will only be there from 8-10 am on Saturday. If this time will not work for you, please let me know and I can set something else up for you.

 

2# Potatoes	4
2 Heads Lettuce	6
Bunchof Red, Yellow, or Red/White Beets	3
1.5# Tomatoes	3
4 Peppers	2
1 Watermelon	5

 

We're looking forward to seeing everyone at the farm tour on October 8th. I just got the last part of the deck done last night!

 

Sincere thanks,

Ford Waterstrat
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http://sustainableharvestfarm.blogspot.com/

Dear Friends,

KY's weather is the most beautiful and interesting of all the places that I've lived. It is also amazing to see how much slower things grow when we have less day light in the day. Crops are slowing way down, but that means that you will be getting ready for some wonderful produce to warm up with.

This week will probably be the last for yellow squash, zuchinni, and cucumbers. Peppers, tomatoes, and basil should continue normally until October. We will start adding new items each week probably from here on out. I hope you enjoy them.

In your Basket you will find the following USDA Certified Organic Produce

· 2# Potatoes

· 2 Acorn or Spaghetti Squash

· Pears

· 0.5 # Squash/Zuchinni

· 3 cucumbers

· 4 Bell Peppers

· 1# Tomatoes

· 1 Cantaloupe

· Basil

Other news:

1. The farm Tour is @ 3pm on October 8th- If you have not told me or emailed that you plan or don't plan to come, please let me know either way. It will be potluck style and we will line up who brings what before too long.

2. Chef Terry from St. Joseph London is going to be at the library September 12 from 5-? showing some ways to cook asian greens from our farm. I will be there too.

3. My twin brother's wedding in VT was beautiful. We're all very happy for he and his wife. Amanda and I got to visit with my family and my older brother's son. Finley won the wrestling match.

4. If any of you know of any jobs in the London area please let me know. Preferably full time jobs.

Thank you for your support!

Ford, Amanda, Finley

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http://sustainableharvestfarm.blogspot.com/

Dear friends,

I think you will really enjoy 2 new items this week. Acorn Squash and Fresh pears. The pears are from Amanda's dad (just down the road) they are not certified organic, but are still wonderful! I will attach a recipe for a wonderful creation that Amanda and my mom dreamed up.

You will have the following items in your basket.

· 2 acorn squash

· 4 pears

· 1 # of potatoes

· 4 Cucumbers

· 1.5# yellow squash, zucchinni, or yellow Zuchinni

· 6 Bell Peppers (yellow or green)

· A little okra or green beans.

· Basil

· Cherry Tomatoes

· Regular Tomatoes. This is a new variety. The tops (where the stem would attach) have some cracking. I figure most people would rather deal with the cracking than go without tomatoes!

See you in the Morning!

Ford

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http://sustainableharvestfarm.blogspot.com/