Good source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and antioxidants
Heart healthy
Help regulate blood sugar
Uses
Garnish for soups or roasted vegetables
Add to cucumber salad
Add to sauces and salad dressing
Use when cooking fish, lamb or eggs
And of course – for pickles!
Caution
Those who are allergic to coriander, fennel, anise, caraway, asafetida, or celery might experience an allergic reaction to dill
Safe for Cats: Yes
Safe for Dogs: Yes
Notes From The Field | October 23, 2022
Notes From The Field | October 23, 2022 Warm Up by Farmer Derek
Frosty sunrise.
This beautiful autumn continues even though we did endure four straight mornings of almost-heavy frost and one or two mornings of possibly subfreezing temperatures. All of our crops currently growing are cold and frost tolerant and didn't mind the dip in temperature. Any lingering annual summer weeds bit the dust, or more accurately, froze up real good. Frost and light freezes sweeten the crops as they convert starches to sugars while they deal with the cold. We did have to adapt and adjust our harvest schedule since the frost didn't burn off fully until after 9am.
I am very thankful for our 15 years of farming experience during weather and temperature fluctuations this time of the season. Knowing that we didn't have to cover any of the crops with floating row cover really saved us a lot of time and effort (and oftentimes frustration). We put a lot of trust in the forecast low but always do assume it will get colder on the farm than the forecasts show. So we are careful but don't want to engage in unnecessary tasks. Years ago I did make a decision to put up more tunnels for growing on the shoulder ends of the season to purposely avoid dealing with row cover out in the field. I guess we had enough frustrating experiences with it and wanted the guaranteed protection of the tunnel instead of the gamble with the covers in the field. A lot of the time the cold is preceded by and concurrent with extremely windy events. Billowing cover on top of plants can inflict more damage than frost on uncovered plants.
This beautiful autumn continues even though we did endure four straight mornings of almost-heavy frost and one or two mornings of possibly subfreezing temperatures. All of our crops currently growing are cold and frost tolerant and didn't mind the dip in temperature. Any lingering annual summer weeds bit the dust, or more accurately, froze up real good. Frost and light freezes sweeten the crops as they convert starches to sugars while they deal with the cold. We did have to adapt and adjust our harvest schedule since the frost didn't burn off fully until after 9am.
I am very thankful for our 15 years of farming experience during weather and temperature fluctuations this time of the season. Knowing that we didn't have to cover any of the crops with floating row cover really saved us a lot of time and effort (and oftentimes frustration). We put a lot of trust in the forecast low but always do assume it will get colder on the farm than the forecasts show. So we are careful but don't want to engage in unnecessary tasks. Years ago I did make a decision to put up more tunnels for growing on the shoulder ends of the season to purposely avoid dealing with row cover out in the field. I guess we had enough frustrating experiences with it and wanted the guaranteed protection of the tunnel instead of the gamble with the covers in the field. A lot of the time the cold is preceded by and concurrent with extremely windy events. Billowing cover on top of plants can inflict more damage than frost on uncovered plants.
Hey, go Phillies!
October 23, 2022
October 23, 2022 Reminder: Registration Open for 2022 Late Fall, 2023 Main Season by Farmer Derek
Kitten on farmer.
Sign up for your continued share of the harvest!
The 5-week Late Fall CSA commences the week of November 21 and wraps up the week of December 19. Follow this link to join.
2023 Main Season CSA will run 28 weeks from Mid-May through Thanksgiving. Sign up and pay in full by 12/31/22 to receive the current 5% discount on share prices. Follow this link to join.
The 5-week Late Fall CSA commences the week of November 21 and wraps up the week of December 19. Follow this link to join.
2023 Main Season CSA will run 28 weeks from Mid-May through Thanksgiving. Sign up and pay in full by 12/31/22 to receive the current 5% discount on share prices. Follow this link to join.
October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022 Workshifts for Week of 10/17/22 by Farmer Derek
Farmers Craig, Gabby, and Sarah preparing soil in the greenhouse for the very final round of 2022 transplants.
There will be weekly work opportunities through the first week of November. Over the next few weeks we'll be harvesting roots and tubers, pulling weeds, splitting garlic bulbs into cloves, and transplanting and mulching those cloves.
Dividing garlic bulbs into cloves will be easy-on-the-body work in the barn and will take place over a few shifts during the latter half of October and/or early November.
If you signed up for a CSA share with work discount but are unable to work please consider remitting payment in lieu of work sooner rather that later.
Farmers Craig, Gabby, and Sarah preparing soil in the greenhouse for the very final round of 2022 transplants.
There will be weekly work opportunities through the first week of November. Over the next few weeks we'll be harvesting roots and tubers, pulling weeds, splitting garlic bulbs into cloves, and transplanting and mulching those cloves.
Dividing garlic bulbs into cloves will be easy-on-the-body work in the barn and will take place over a few shifts during the latter half of October and/or early November.
If you signed up for a CSA share with work discount but are unable to work please consider remitting payment in lieu of work sooner rather that later.
Expected Harvest | October 16, 2022 Fall Feast by Farmer Derek
Autumn farmscape.
Harvest #22 (Week B) should include bok choy, celery, potatoes, cauliflower, salad radishes, hakurei turnips, beets, kohlrabi, winter squash, onions, lettuce, romaine, garlic, arugula, swiss chard, red mustard, kale, and italian dandelion. Some items will be a choice. U-pick should include herbs and flowers.
Harvest #22 (Week B) should include bok choy, celery, potatoes, cauliflower, salad radishes, hakurei turnips, beets, kohlrabi, winter squash, onions, lettuce, romaine, garlic, arugula, swiss chard, red mustard, kale, and italian dandelion. Some items will be a choice. U-pick should include herbs and flowers.
October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022 Reminder: Registration Open for 2022 Late Fall, 2023 Main Season by Farmer Derek
Autumn color scheme.
Sign up for your continued share of the harvest!
The 5-week Late Fall CSA commences the week of November 21 and wraps up the week of December 19. Follow this link to join.
2023 Main Season CSA will run 28 weeks from Mid-May through Thanksgiving. Sign up and pay in full by 12/31/22 to receive the current 5% discount on share prices. Follow this link to join.
The 5-week Late Fall CSA commences the week of November 21 and wraps up the week of December 19. Follow this link to join.
2023 Main Season CSA will run 28 weeks from Mid-May through Thanksgiving. Sign up and pay in full by 12/31/22 to receive the current 5% discount on share prices. Follow this link to join.
October 16, 2022
October 16, 2022 Herb of the Week: Echinacea by Gia Yaccarino
Greenhouse receiving its new skin.
Echinacea (Purple coneflower) (Echinacea spp)
Benefits
Supports the immune system
May reduce anxiety
Helps regulate blood sugar
High in antioxidants
Uses
You can make a tea with the petals and leaves, use one to two teaspoons of the dry material per one cup of water. Steep in boiling water for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Caution
Echinacea might worsen autoimmune mediated disease such as RA, MS and Lupus
Those allergic to daisies, chrysanthemums, marigolds, ragweed might experience an allergic reaction to Echinacea
You can make a tea with the petals and leaves, use one to two teaspoons of the dry material per one cup of water. Steep in boiling water for fifteen to twenty minutes.
Caution
Echinacea might worsen autoimmune mediated disease such as RA, MS and Lupus
Those allergic to daisies, chrysanthemums, marigolds, ragweed might experience an allergic reaction to Echinacea
Safe for Cats: Yes
Safe for Dogs: Yes
Notes From The Field | October 16, 2022
Notes From The Field | October 16, 2022 Out of the Fields by Farmer Derek
We missed the opportunity to take pictures while harvesting sweet potatoes but here is proof that they're no longer in the soil. Following harvest, we sowed the final round of cover crop seeds (winter rye) and incorporated them with the disc harrow. The sweet potatoes need to 'cure' in heated storage for a couple of weeks where they'll slowly convert starches to sugars.
I know I think and say this way too often, but I do love this time of year. It's the combination of perfect weather for working in, the colors of the farmscape, the worklist getting shorter, the fields looking nice and tidy, and the shrinking of the farm footprint that we need to be conscious of right now. It's also the comfort that comes with stowing a good harvest of roots, tubers, and storage crops to carry us through many weeks of CSA distribution. Yields of almost all crops this fall have been ideally satisfying. I can't think of one crop I'm disappointed with. On the other hand, I don't think anything is what I would call a 'bumper', more just a perfect amount below that threshold. Our goal over the next five weeks of Main Season and the following five weeks of Late Fall will be to distribute shares that are an ideal balance between fresh greens and lettuces, roots and tubers, necessary alliums, and specialty crops like fennel, celery, cabbage, and napa, all while trying to give you as much choice as possible in the pick up room.
Our list of storage crops to pull out of the ground continues to shrink. With the aforementioned sweet potatoes successfully retrieved, what's left includes rutabaga (everybody's favorite!); the final round of beets; more storage radishes (if needed); napa, red, and savoy cabbages; and hopefully carrots (sown late after an unexpected initial germination failure).
While in storage crops still need to be maintained. Moisture and temperature requirements vary. We are fortunate to have three separate crop storage facilities. Sweet potatoes are currently curing at 75 degrees in their own room with the remnants of the winter squash harvest. Potatoes and onions share a cold and dry storage room set at 45 degrees. All other storage crops go in our moist and cold cooler, set at 38 degrees. In there we still monitor the crops and occasionally hose them down with water. Space constraints are still an issue. Each unit is the size of an old horse stall, because that's what they were. Rumor has it that when there is a full moon on Halloween on a Friday a horse named Anchor runs out of the barn with a cabbage, a squash, and a potato on its back.
We missed the opportunity to take pictures while harvesting sweet potatoes but here is proof that they're no longer in the soil. Following harvest, we sowed the final round of cover crop seeds (winter rye) and incorporated them with the disc harrow. The sweet potatoes need to 'cure' in heated storage for a couple of weeks where they'll slowly convert starches to sugars.
I know I think and say this way too often, but I do love this time of year. It's the combination of perfect weather for working in, the colors of the farmscape, the worklist getting shorter, the fields looking nice and tidy, and the shrinking of the farm footprint that we need to be conscious of right now. It's also the comfort that comes with stowing a good harvest of roots, tubers, and storage crops to carry us through many weeks of CSA distribution. Yields of almost all crops this fall have been ideally satisfying. I can't think of one crop I'm disappointed with. On the other hand, I don't think anything is what I would call a 'bumper', more just a perfect amount below that threshold. Our goal over the next five weeks of Main Season and the following five weeks of Late Fall will be to distribute shares that are an ideal balance between fresh greens and lettuces, roots and tubers, necessary alliums, and specialty crops like fennel, celery, cabbage, and napa, all while trying to give you as much choice as possible in the pick up room.
Our list of storage crops to pull out of the ground continues to shrink. With the aforementioned sweet potatoes successfully retrieved, what's left includes rutabaga (everybody's favorite!); the final round of beets; more storage radishes (if needed); napa, red, and savoy cabbages; and hopefully carrots (sown late after an unexpected initial germination failure).
While in storage crops still need to be maintained. Moisture and temperature requirements vary. We are fortunate to have three separate crop storage facilities. Sweet potatoes are currently curing at 75 degrees in their own room with the remnants of the winter squash harvest. Potatoes and onions share a cold and dry storage room set at 45 degrees. All other storage crops go in our moist and cold cooler, set at 38 degrees. In there we still monitor the crops and occasionally hose them down with water. Space constraints are still an issue. Each unit is the size of an old horse stall, because that's what they were. Rumor has it that when there is a full moon on Halloween on a Friday a horse named Anchor runs out of the barn with a cabbage, a squash, and a potato on its back.
October 9, 2022
October 9, 2022 Herb of the Week: Fennel by Gia Yaccarino
Fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)
FYI
The entire plant can be eaten: bulb, fronds and seeds
Fennel may cause an allergic reaction for those allergic to celery, carrot or mugwort
Due to fennel’s estrogenic effects – avoid if you have a hormone sensitive condition such as breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, or uterine fibroids
Fennel may cause an allergic reaction for those allergic to celery, carrot or mugwort
Due to fennel’s estrogenic effects – avoid if you have a hormone sensitive condition such as breast cancer, uterine cancer, ovarian cancer, endometriosis, or uterine fibroids
Safe for Dogs: Yes – aids in digestion and supports the immune system for dogs
October 9, 2022
October 9, 2022 Workshifts for Week of 10/10/22 by Farmer Derek
Farmers Sarah and Gabby harvesting hakurei turnips on a beautiful fall morning.
There will be weekly work opportunities through the first week of November. Over the next month we'll be harvesting roots and tubers, pulling weeds, splitting garlic bulbs into cloves, and transplanting and mulching those cloves.
We'll be harvesting sweet potatoes on Tuesday and Wednesday this week - help us if you're able to!
Dividing garlic bulbs into cloves will be easy-on-the-body work in the barn and will take place over a few shifts during the latter half of October and/or early November.
If you signed up for a CSA share with work discount but are unable to work please consider remitting payment in lieu of work sooner rather that later.
Farmers Sarah and Gabby harvesting hakurei turnips on a beautiful fall morning.
There will be weekly work opportunities through the first week of November. Over the next month we'll be harvesting roots and tubers, pulling weeds, splitting garlic bulbs into cloves, and transplanting and mulching those cloves.
We'll be harvesting sweet potatoes on Tuesday and Wednesday this week - help us if you're able to!
Dividing garlic bulbs into cloves will be easy-on-the-body work in the barn and will take place over a few shifts during the latter half of October and/or early November.
If you signed up for a CSA share with work discount but are unable to work please consider remitting payment in lieu of work sooner rather that later.
