Market

Hello There, 

Pre-Christmas farmer's market tomorrow. I am loaded up with salad and spinach from the greenhouses. Also a few other treats as well. Late season Kale that we picked and bagged. Leaves are small, tender, and really sweet from the freezing temps. Baby leeks and sweet winter radish also. I will two very tasty soups as well.

Greenhouse lettuces

Winter Sugar Spinach

To market to market with a fat pig..........

Good Morning, Soup, Leeks, Spinach, Salad, and sweet frosted radish.....here are a few photos from the greenhouses during the second warmest November on record!

                                          Freshly Dug Fall Leeks.......

                                          Green House Number 1 loaded with winter salad.

                                          Greenhouse number 2 with Winter Sugar Spinach  not quite sweet enough yet since we have not had enough cold weather.

                                          Brand new Greenhouse number 3.....loaded with spinach

                                          The Mad River Food Hub Kitchen where I will be making soup, pesto, salsa, marinara and other goodies. 

Market, Soup, and Wisdom teeth extraction.

Well hello there! I am still trying to gear down from the normal growing season. Laura has saved my lazy ass once again. Things are going well but there has been a great deal  of adjustment trying to switch into a proper processing/cooking facility.
My middle child had her wisdom teeth out yesterday, all I have to say is OUCH, it was the correct thing to do but man!
So market tomorrow and I will have alot of tasty soup (potato leek and beef and bean) along with salad and spinach. I will have a few late season baby leeks and some radish. The radishes are big and sweet. This is due to them being frosted a few times. Man are they good.
As for eggs.....well I sold off my flock. I just needed a break. 300 birds was too much for my time and my tiny operation.
Soup is going well up at the Mad River Food Hub and getting better. Just have to figure out the regulations around everything.
Anybody have a restaurant space they want to rent out to a seasoned professional? Let me know.
Well have to go get a few more things done and pull another cork. Joe

Ok next holiday on tap..............

So one inch of rain on the way this evening into tomorrow. Yes, Rain no snow yet. Thinking I should go mow the lawn for the hell of it. Turkey day at the beach was really nice. Weather was great, traffic coming home was not. We seemed to keep getting stuck in Camden and couldn't get any further. Finally took a break went to the IHOP then took back roads North until we were clear of traffic. Another 7 hour drive that took 10 hours. That is not counting the side trips we took to visit a college and see my spouses childhood home. Ahh well.
Greenhouses look great for this time of the year. The new one is loaded with spinach and will be ready for harvest in a few weeks.
On another note it is so nice having only 28 chickens instead of 400. I miss the eggs but not everything else that went with them.
Winter CSA appears to be going well and we have our second delivery this Thurs. First winter market starts this Saturday up at Vermont College from 10am to 2pm. Hope to see you there. I will have plenty of greens for sale and some very tasty soup.
As for the holidays this year the family has decided that we are staying home with just us. My oldest will be home from college and we hope to do a bit of skiing. Too many long car rides this year already and the thought of traveling for the holiday is not appealing.  Should be alot of fun. Means we will actually decorate and enjoy the house. I will even put up some outdoor lights.
I will get some photo's up of the greenhouses in the next few days. Stay tuned.  Joe

Ahhh... A short break is near.......

Well the mild weather continues and so does the work around here. Alot of extra things are all done and put into place for next spring. Still need to cover the small greenhouse and get the wood pile in the house. Blowing my back and hip muscle out for the last 6 days has been an aggravating and very painful experience. I just do not bounce anymore.......
Heading south for a crazy turkey day. The wife's family (25 of us) in a 4 bedroom condo.........on an air mattress.......with a tiny kitchen.......
Plenty of harvesting going on the next 2 days to get ready for market. Looking good. Should all of the following...
Salad, spinach, kale, chard, radish, turnip, braising greens, soup, pesto, salsa verde, cilantro, fresh horseradish,
and rapini.
Gotta go prep some soup.

19 Degrees and the farm is looking good........

Good Morning, The pace of farm life is finally shifting gears and I am getting some time to sit and think. Real good hard frost up here this morning and then into spring like weather for the next 5 days or so. Really getting alot done around here and things are getting put away correctly for once. Still some finish work on the greenhouses to be done but they are all up and running and planted. Late season grasshoppers are the issue in the salad and spinach. Damn things are inflicting some damage. Deer population is enjoying my winter rye as usual. Really makes me wonder if cover cropping is worth it.
Really going to have to figure out something to for me outside soil fertility next year. Need to get some soil samples done this fall as well.
I should be able to start processing sometime next week at the Mad River Food Hub, this is going to be great! A full blown professional kitchen to move the soup business into! Should be very interesting.
Next market is the Thanksgiving one on the 19th of Nov. Then a short break and the winter markets start on the first Sat. of Dec. That would be the 3rd.
Lot's of planning to do this winter. This was the last year of large scale infrastructure for a while. A few other projects on tap but nothing pressing. We built 2 new greenhouses this year. A new 30x96 and a seedling shed that is 21x24. Still need to get a heater into the seedling shed but have not quite figured that one out yet.
Really need to work on developing the Food Hub. Very positive feedback for the most part and a number of logistical issues to get figured out. Plenty of vendors to source product from. Trying to figure out how to use all of them and make it worth thier while. In trying to do that I end up having to raise the price of the share which we do not want to do.  The value would be there but the price point gets difficult.

Winter is coming and soup is warming up

Good Morning,
Last Montp. outdoor market today. Really hoping the weather holds out until about 1:30pm. Greenhouses are planted and covered. Just need to finish doors and hardware.
Wood pile is still not in the basement. Computer needs a new motherboard and it's brand new! I was told they will replace it for free but not the computer! Whatever happened to customer service.
This winter is going to be very interesting around here. The economy has finally caught up with my family here in Vermont. My wife lost her job this week. Still trying to process this latest event. So anyone know of a business looking for a good scientific editor let me know.
Guess I need to make more soup and grow more salad. Really not sure how this is going to play out. The really nasty surprise is that she was given a severance package but due to our fine tax code and something called "supplemental tax" about 40% of her final pay is going to be taken in tax deductions.
Winter CSA shares are still available for a few more weeks and then we will be closing off sign ups. Things are looking good just need to get some spread sheets finished and some details figured out. We will have a drop site in Montp. on Main St. Finallizing the details for that.....stay tuned.
Soups today at market.....
a Hearty Lentil soup with chicken, sausage, tomato, and wild mushrooms
also the Thai Coconut Curry with roasted squash.
Gotta go...............

A soggy market today.....nice hot soup!

Hello All,
Off to market with plenty of spinach and salad. I will also have a few other items as well. This season is winding down and we have been working extremely hard to get the third greenhouse built and planted. Trying to do it right so we do not have to come back and fix things but the pressure is great to hurry up and get it planted as well.
Sold all the chickens to Dog River Farm except for about 30 of them. The ones I kept are Buff Brahmas. Really quiet docile birds. It is so nice and quiet up here again.
Soup season is upon us and I am getting ready to move into the Mad River Food Hub. A former student of mine has collaborated with the building owner and after a great deal of very hard work has set up a proper processing facility. This is all really exciting and going to allow me to increase production and realize a more efficient production model as well as improve my access to local ingredients. All pretty exciting.

The new frame is almost all up! Ends walls and Plastic skin next.

Market Day....wind, rain and Cheddar Ale Soup

Having a coffee and getting ready to head to market. I will be bringing a Cheddar Ale soup with Grafton Cheddar and Otter Creek Ale in it. Also a spicy black bean chili with tomatillos in it. Plenty of salad, arugala and spinach also along with some other late season fresh vegetables.
As for the doings here at the farm this week a great deal of progress was made getting projects done....both houses are skinned and my neighbor Dave is getting the doors built and hung. The crew and I managed to get all the ground posts in for the new house. So the frame should go up early next week and I should have it planted by the end of the month. Now to figure out how to make some money with all this infrastructure.
Bye

Farm news and a few dry days......

Good Morning,
Well scrambling to get the greenhouses repaired, skinned and a new one built. Really pushing hard to meet the deadline of hard frost and short days. Plenty of clean up and trying to get things to bed for the season. Garlic is getting planted this week and spinach is getting harvested.
Chickens are slowing down with day length getting shorter. CSA is still open with plenty of shares left if you are considering it.
Wood pile has started to move closer to the basement but has a ways to go still. Actually managed to get some stones down in the back yard and shrink that large pile. It may turn into a patio still.
Giant holes in the ceiling still from where the pipe burst and came pouring down onto the desk and wood floors.
Well gotta go, pack out orders and get things going today.

Off to Market with some Arugala Pesto, Verde Sauce, Green Chili Stew....

The forecasting a "raw" day for today so I have made some very tasty and hot farm goodies to eat if you brave the weather and make it to market. There is a reward for the effort. Made a real nice beef and roasted green chili stew. Not too spicy and great flavor. I flame roasted a bunch of New Mexico Green Chilis that I roasted. Also I have a real nice very spicy Tomatillo verde sauce. Might be a good day to make enchiladas and stay inside.
Arugala pesto with roasted garlic also. Goes great on some toasted seeded baguette from Red Hen Bakery.
Lots of spinach, salad, and arugala also.
See you in a bit.
Off to get ready and then this afternoon I have to go pickup my apple squeezinz. Going to try and make a big batch of hard cider this year.

Fall Foliage and what the hell is going to happen next........

Good Morning Folks,
Well guess what.....it's raining!
So Tink my spouse's tiny white dog is going to survive the coyote attack. Thanks to the gifted hands of a very well compensated dog surgeon. I think he is coming back home today, hopefully dipped in gold.
Yesterday morning started off as a fine day for agriculture and quickly became a morning in water damage control. As I headed to make the morning esspresso I was greeted with a stream of water pouring out of the ceiling onto the desk. Luckily my computer and cell phone were spared. So a few hours later after covering everything in plastic and tearing out stinking wet dry wall I discover that the work done by one of Vermont's fine craftsmen failed. Looking like a half assed job of soldering a joint in my cold water line. The irony is not lost on me when I stop to think that I pay a plumber $125/hr while I toil away for roughly $10/hr and get grief whenever I try and raise the prices on my produce. Never mind that my costs increase every year as well. 8 years ago the price of green beans was $2/lb and the price is still at that today. Meanwhile property taxes go up, insurance, gas, employee wages and the taxes I pay on those wages.......it all keeps going up. But those green beans had not better cost more than $2/lb.
Yes I am a wee bit bitter, perhaps it is the poorly made coffee that I am consuming. Oh yeah the other dog was up all night scratching his fleas next to the bed..............
Greenhouses are ready for skinning and I have a bunch of helping hands coming up on Sunday from the Yestermorow Design School. Weather looking like it might actually happen. Seedling shed is finished and loaded with seeded flats. Just need to get the heater bought and installed.  The new greenhouse frame is laying in the door yard and that project will get tackled next week.

Winter CSA shares are selling slowly but it's early. Looking to be a good one. I cannot quite put my finger on it but I am really looking forward to a very harsh winter with lot's of snow..........................

To the right is the current state of affairs around here...

A few minutes to think......just a few.......

Good Morning,
Well we almost finished the new seedling shed yesterday. Spent about an hour trying to find the edge of the large plastic sheet so we could pull it down and cover the house. Finally realized the manufacturer never cut the sheet and had sent me a very long tube of plastic. Argh!! Talk about frustration and then the added labor. Things do look good in there though. Going to finish up today and get after dismantling the smallest house and cutting a tree or two down. Need to start prepping the new site for the 3rd and final large greenhouse. End walls and plastic will go on next week for the two existing ones.
Soup season is starting around here as well. Trying to get geared up for that. I was cooking at my kitchen site on Monday and managed to set off the fire alarm while caramelizing some onions. I would have preferred to meet the local fire department on different terms but they were nice about it and nothing was actually on fire.
I have a new computer..........and managed to get my accounting data back. Now all I have to do is get caught up on about 5 weeks of book keeping. What a daunting mess that is.
Here is my latest rant related to farming and the local food movement........................Vermont get's hit with a hurricane; many farmer's were wiped out. Those of us who were not have been impacted all season by the slow economy and the bad weather. We are small businesses that are very cash flow sensitive. Now here is the part that really pisses me off. All these local restaurants that claim to buy local and they don't ( you know who you are, I see the produce truck delivering all that California produce) and when you do buy something from us you don't pay us on time! Some of you are 90 days out on invoices, bounce checks to us, or make us chase you to get paid! This summer has been tough on all of us but why is the assumption made that the farmer can get paid last? We have employees and bills just like you and my bank (like yours) does not extend credit on my mortgage or understand late payment. When I come in to eat in your restaurant I am expected to pay for my meal at the time I eat it. Not 30,60,90 days later! Think about that please.

Now for my daily plug for our winter CSA. Head on over to the blog or website and consider giving us a try this winter.  centralvermontfoodhub.com

Winter Spinach in one of the greenhouses.

Frost on the Pumpkin this morning!

Good Morning,
Off to market this morning with the first soup of the season. Calling it "Vermont Gumbo." Quite tasty for a cool crisp day. Harvest our first peaches yesterday. Man are they good. Apples and pears are coming as well.
All the plastic is off the greenhouses and the new frame has been delivered. Way too much work but just going to have to get it done. Tomatoes are finally done. We could have kept harvesting but at this time of the year the flavor is just not there. Plenty of late season peppers, eggplant, baby fall spinach, and plenty of other goodies.
will be giving away the chicken flock soon. After running the numbers and looking at everything I have going on they just need to go. Too much time, labor, and money going into them way too little return on investment. Perhaps I will reconsider next year when I can have a better management system for them.
Plenty of ground cherries for market today along with the sweet baby stuffing bell peppers.
Off to load the truck hope to see at the market. For the few of you still reading this thing we are offering winter CSA shares. Sales have started and they are doing well. If your interested head on over to centralvermontfood.com for more info.
Thanks
Joe

Farming, Flooding, Food.........time to get into gear around here.

Well my posts have been infrequent and sparse so here goes...
Plastic is off one greenhouse and getting ready to do the end walls and recover it. Then need to recover the other one.
New greenhouse is coming and I am waiting on the permits for it. Plenty of late blight in all the tomatoes so the canning crops is a failure again. If did not like them so much I would give up on them. This 3 years in row that they have failed.
Also going to raise the grade in one greenhouse. Time to get rid of all the moisture in there.
Put away 70 old laying hens on friday. Man what a chore.
Need to get the tomato sauce into the freezer and get the next batch going.
On another note my computer is not liquid proof. It is dead and at the repair shop. I have no access to any of my stuff on it. Arggh! Thus the reliance on my iphone and all the bad spelling and brief responses.
The next big thing coming is another large amount of rain over the next 36 hours. This could be another kick in the teeth coming.
On a very bright note I want to thank all of my market customers for coming out and supporting the market and the farmer's. It really made me feel good with all the care and concern you showed asking me how I was doing and the farm. Thank you!
Trying to sort everything out and get readjusted for the winter CSA.
Gotta go..

Rain and a bit thinking time....

So heavy rain all day today. Things are buttoned up and waiting to see when the dreaded late blight will arrive here. Canning tomatoes are a week or so away from really producing. This translates into lots of tomato sauce for this winter.
New greenhouse is on order and lots of new plastic for everything. Trying to get all this work set up and get after it in the next week or two.
Market was good yesterday. Thanks to all who attended. Found out that I have a bit to learn about ripe watermelons. I replaced a few yesterday. I think I am going to stick with cantaloupes in the future.
Winter CSA is going to get rolled out this week and start taking members for it.

Hurricane farmers market..........get out and support your farmer's..buy everything they have...it might be gone on Monday

Hi Folks.
I am ready for market and waiting to see what the next natural disaster will bring.  All I have to say to you my loyal followers and customers is get out there and buy!!! It may all be gone in the next few weeks due to disease,fungus, and drowning. Hope to see you tomorrow before the storm hits.   Joe

August pause to say goodbye to the summer.....then get all those projects finished

Well it is the end of August and we have a hurricane coming through on Sunday. An appropriate end to the way this season started. I am sure it will be challenging but nothing like the hurricanes I rode in Houston, Texas.
We have started flipping the greenhouses over to fall/winter production. We are a bit ahead of schedule in that area for the first time. Need to get the little greenhouse finished, order all the new plastic and the new greenhouse. Going to try and put up another 30x96 this fall.
Great greenhouse melons this year. In particular the french charentaise. They have been exquisite. The family has been eating them like crazy. Nice to have them before Sept.
Well I have to go get orders pulled together. Things are at a point that I should be writing frequently again. I will try and get some pictures up of the greenhouses.

Market Today with a nice Chilled Cucumber soup.

Good Morning,
Cloudy with a hint of rain out there this morning. The plants could use about an inch of water, it is so dry with this heat. Plenty of goodies for the market today.
Farm is chugging along, tomatoes are coming in. Gotta pick them.

Seeds in just in time for the rain.

Little storm coming through. Need the moisture in my sandy soils. Especially for the lettuce. Tomatoes and cukes are coming, cukes might actually come in full tilt this week. Summer squash is being just strange this year.
I confirmed with my neighbor and he did get rid of his bee hives last fall. Boy do I notice the difference in the lack of pollination around here.
Watermelon and Cantaloupe are looking great in the greenhouses. Hoping for a bumper crop.
ciao

Heat and weeds........

Well summer is on this week. Plenty of heat and weeds. Things are taking off and we are scrambling to keep up. Time to shift gears and really get going. Also need to start thinking about winter planting already. Need to find another chest freezer, mine finally gave up the ghost. Processing of basil and tomatoes will be starting soon for the winter CSA.
Chickens are extremely vocal this year. It does not bode well for them when fall arrives and I have time to cull out the old birds. A "new" rooster has decided to try and start crowing at 4:30 now. Ouch.
Well gotta go harvest while it's still cool out.

What a nice day to go to the market! Montp. 9-1pm

Good Morning,
Sun is up, just the right amount of rain last night and the plants are finally coming into their prime.
Plenty of cucumbers, baby zuchinni, gold bar squash, radish, and other fun stuff. I might even have a few pints of sungold cherry tomatoes today.
Bought some bumble bees to pollinate the greenhouses.....opened up the boxes and watched them fly out the door never to return. Ouch! Bugs of differant sorts continue  to be a plague up here but things are doing well. Trying to grow salad and spinach this summer is a huge challenge, it's odd but I am better at growing it during the winter.
Extra basil in the pesto today and the salsa is extra spicy as well. I put a few extra red jalapenos into it.

Check it out. Local farmer on the television!

http://www.fox44now.com/story/15029249/local-produce-makes-comeback-in-vermont

I will on at 10pm tonight. Channel 2 up here for those of you with cable.

4th of July Weekend....nice sunny weather on tap.

Good Morning Veggie  Fans,
Some nice weather on tap the next few days. The plants are finally showing it as well. First cherry tomatoes are coloring up in the greenhouses along the first diseases of the season. We have identified early blight and botrytis in some of the greenhouse tom's already.
Harvesting a few more cukes and summer squash today for market. Should be a good market I have produced some wicked pissa salsa and pesto. The pesto is extra cheesy this week. Plenty of cilantro and garlic in the salsa with a touch of chili powder and cumin.
Beetles continue to be a huge pain around here. In particular the ones in the greenhouses that come out at night to feed on my plants. Wreaking havoc in the basil and on the tiny pepper plants. Need to buy some nematodes.
CSA continues to go well and each week we learn something new in the area of supply chain logisitics and managment. (Thats a really polite way to see we manage to screw something up with the deliveries every week) Fortunately we have some great members who are very understanding and I think the quality of what we are doing buys us a bit of forgiveness. We are trying to get geared up for a winter CSA and figure out how to manage that one. Thinking every other week delivery or you can pick up at the Farmer's market on Saturdays. It may not be such a good idea.
Gotta go feed the hens and load the truck. Hope to see you at market today.

A waiting game and a crap shoot, farming, who needs Vegas?

Good Morning,
Well the weather this week is superb. Sun and just the right amount of heat. Plants are growing rapidly now that they have the chance, so are the bugs and weeds though too.
The biggest worry is disease. All this cold wet weather is sure to produce some kind of nasty blight, that said Cukes are trying to really come in as well as the summer squash. This would be great and about 2-3 weeks early. The heat is really helping with these. Eggplants are flowering as well as the peppers. I put these out in the field this year on black plastic to avoid the annual aphid fest that takes place on them in the greenhouses. Seems to be working so far.
All the tomatoes are loaded with fruit and really needing some sun and heat to bring the fruit to ripen. The plants look the best they have in years and we increased the planting density to 12" spacing this year. Pruning has been a weekly chore but it is paying off. Saturated media tests of the individual greenhouse beds was very informative and helpful.
Asiatic Chafer beetles continue to be a big annual problem in the greenhouses. They live under the surface and only come out at night to feed and feed on anything and everything in there. They are doing lots of root damamge as well. Trying to get info on them but the only I can find is for golf course turf. Going to buy in a bunch of nematodes and see if I can get rid of them that way.
Sighted one woodchuck the other evening....one there is one.........
Outdoor canning tomatoes have set fruit and look superb. This is usually the growing point some diseas comes in and ruins them. We shall see. Hoping to make a lot of salsa and tomato sauce this year.
Market continues to be tepid and sales are way down from May. It is obvious by everyones market pricing that this has been a difficult year so far.  I even saw shelling peas at $8.50/lb!!!! Quarts of berries are at $7 each. Wholesale demand is high due to lack of product being available.
All in all things are good just waiting for everything to ripen......I guess it's time to go fishing.

Market Today! Montpelier. Asparagus, Green Garlic Pesto, and more

Good Morning,
Posts have hit that summer time lull. Real busy on and off the farm with all types of fun projects. The farm looks the best it has ever looked thanks to my great help this year. Laura and Diane are really making the place look proper this year.
Cukes have started to come in as well as the Zukes. Garlic scapes have been picked and the basil is ready so I made some basil and herb green garlic pesto for market today.
Tomatoes are coming along and should be ready soon. Hopefully in about 2 weeks. Melons in the greenhouses have finally taken and look healthy. Could just use a bit more sun than we have been getting.
Watching for disease with all this rain and cool temps.  Deer have started to come inside the fence a bit, need to stop that.
Snapping turtles are on the move as well as painted box turtles. In about 80 days I will be the adopted father of about baby snapping turtles in greenhouse 1.
As for balls of dry grass on the ground that buzz at you---they are bumblebee nests. Almost found that out the hard way.
See you all at market I hope.
Joe

A few thoughts and observations on the farm

The rain is welcome. Ironic I know. The hot dry weather of last weekend dried my soils out so fast I had to irrigate though. Also after ploughing under a number of items for the 3rd time the rain has my new seeds germinating in 3 days.
This is one of those years where I am worried I do not have supplemental heat in my greenhouses to dry off the tomato plants each day. Things look very healthy and are being well tended to by the crew. Really need a bit of warmth and sun to make things pop. They are ready, perhaps by the end of the week.
Asparagus continues to crank right along but would control is a must in there. Thinking about bringing in 20 yards of compost just to dress out the three beds.
Market continues to go well and thanks to all of you for the support during a very interesting season so far.
The CSA is going well I just wish we could get the little things worked out with the deliveries, I truly hate mistakes with your shares.
Time to throw another log on the fire.................

Stuff is growing.....finally.

Hey so how about that guy Weiner sending around pictures of his weiner? Just had to put that one out there. So on to vegetables.
Cukes are sizing up. Asparagus is finishing up. Summer squash is setting fruit, potatoes need hilling and the something is eating the basil.
Garlic scapes are starting which means the first fresh classic pesto of the season.
I will have asparagus pesto this week at market. Should be damn tasty.
Gotta go. CSA delivery today.

Drying out up here finally. Here comes growing season.

Hi,
Well things are moving along up here. Tilled under my 3rd planting of spinach and replanted the beds with some starts I had. Easily double or triple the work this spring to get things going. Just uncovered the summer squash and they look great! Should be ready 2-3 weeks early. Other things in the field are not doing so well. Trying to cultivate to get rid of the compaction and crust on the surface. Greenhouses continue to produce but I am really pushing things in there and need to make the final transistion to summer crops and get the salad outside.  What a growing season so far but I am doing better than most others so should not complain. Market continues to be very solid and I appreciate all my regular and new customers in such a trying growing year. Your support is much appreciated and noted. Thank you.
CSA started this week and came off fairly well. We had a few hiccups but nothing we cannot fix. Talk to you all soon, going to go take a nap before I go to bed.

Holy Crap Farmer's Market has relocated due to flooding.

College and State St.

Farmer's Market Has to Move Due to Flooding Tomorrow

Hello All,
Just a heads up that we have had to move the market to the parking lot next to where we have the winter market at the top of State St and College. Our regular location is under water and may be under more water depending in what happens this evening with the rain.
Thanks
Joe

Well that was fun last night......

Ahhh more rain, just what the farm needed. Great light show and now my help is trapped in Montpelier waiting for the toilet to explode due to flash flooding in the city. Makes me wonder if I have to deliver product today in a row boat. Well forging ahead.....plastic went down yesterday in preparation for actually trying to plant stuff outside next week. Things going in ---tomatillos for salsa, field tomatoes for sauce, sweet peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, and ground cherries. Lots of other stuff getting started and direct seeded as well.
Glad we took advantage of the  2 days of "dry" weather and got alot of prep and planting done. What a crazy beginning to the season, complete with tornado warnings.
On a lighter and slightly more dangerous note the snapping turtle migration and egg laying season has begun. For some reason every year about this time we have quite a few of them coming through the farm and trying to lay eggs in the greenhouses, compost pile, and other places. As a general rule we attempt to redirect them to the stream and hope the move on.
Well need to go inspect the grounds, check on the chickens and then try and make deliveries today.....

Rain or Shine, probably rain, we will be at the market tomorrow with plenty of goodies. Basil pesto, Asparagus, Salad, Eggs, Japanese Salad Turnips, and Radish.

Market Today! 9-1pm Asparagus, Ramp Pesto, Asparagus Soup

Good Morning,
Another brutally soggy day on tap. Hoping the rain holds off until the market finishes up. So the last batch of Wild Ramp Pesto until next years ramp season returns. Probably start making asparagus pesto next week.
Plenty of bunched asparagus today and a real nice Asparagus Potato Sorrel soup.
Salad turnips are in and really nice eaten sliced thin, raw, with rice wine vinegar. Sautee the greens up with some lemon, butter and salt.
Gotta go load the truck, see you in a bit. Joe

Aqua culture in Vermont.....

Good Morning,
Rain continues to come down and the fields are unworkable. The purchase of another large greenhouse is confirmed by the weather we are having this spring. The two I have are the only things producing right now. Light sandy soils and lots of rain mean plenty of nutrient leaching and yellow spinach. Peas started to come up and are now just kind of rotting in the soil. We did manage to put in some field tomatoes yesterday and cover them with some "walls o water". We will see how that goes. Small greenhouse is planted with cherry tomatoes and all the other starts are in the ground so far.  Having to do a lot of transplanting this year so far instead of direct seeding. Painful on the labor end of things and the time it takes. Ah well at least we are not flooding out up here like some of my less fortunate peers. New seedling greenhouse is coming along. We have started to tie it in to the garage and get it sealed up. If you have signed up for the Food Hub CSA please head over to our blog for it and try and follow it as we get going. I will be posting recipes, news, and updates over there. Thanks Joe

http://centralvtfoodhub.blogspot.com/

Here we go...

Finally planting outside today. Dry enough to get things in the ground and even start harvesting asparagus today. Broccoli and summer squash going in. Help is coming at 6 am. Time to get some work done. Peas are starting to come up in one bed. the outside spinach looks like a fail....again. Flea beetles are in the bok choi, and some of the tomato starts are going to get pulled and replaced. Hopefully we will get the potatoes in over the next day or so as well. Baseboards on the greenhouse now to just get the end walls built and I might be able to use it this summer.
Market again this saturday and the weather is looking to hold pretty well.
bye.

Great First market of the summer...

The weather was great, sun was out, people were happy and so was I.  Wild Ramp pesto was the hit of the day. Nice to be back outside. Hopefully the weather will continue to cooperate and dry things out a bit around here.
Sold a few more CSA shares and I think we are sold out for the season. Need to tally things up this week and finish the planning.

One of those years where sandy soil is a good thing....

Good Morning, Heading north today to go check on the camp and see if it is under water. It sits on Lake Champlain. I will try and get some photos if it has not floated away.
Cucumbers are in the ground and most of the tomatoes are in. A bit more planting to do in there still.
Fields are really wet and trying to get out onto them is still not possible. CSA starts in about 4 weeks. Farmer's market is this Saturday downtown at our summer location at Elm St. and State. St.
Finally got out and did some ramp digging yesterday. I should have plenty of wild ramps for market this Saturday and am going to attempt making some wild ramp pesto. Should be pretty darn good, I have some frozen basil puree from last fall, the ramps, some cheese, and a bit of lemon and salt.
Should have soup for the market this Saturday as well since the weather looks like it will not be cooperating too much. Weather next week is looking grand, sunny and warm. Need to get my broccoli into the ground along with a lot of other goodies. So .....row, row, row your boat............ 

Rainy and not so nice out today....

Soggy is the word of the day. I think I might try my hand at making mud pies. Not sure if they will sell but I have ample product to make them with. The only thing growing well outside right now is the lawn.  I need to get Broccoli in and the early summer squash. First summer market is this Saturday. We open at 9 am and go until 1pm. Should have plenty of salad mix, radish, maybe some baby turnips, ramps, chives, still debating whether to bring soup or not. We shall see.

Have a great day and stay dry out there.

Sunny and real nice out today......

Going to put baseboards onto the new greenhouse, put some stone down on the patio, and perhaps find some time to watch the grass grow a bit. First summer market is next weekend!? Hoping the weather will cooperate and make it a good one.
Need to try and get some work done with seedlings. Today, do some potting on and get the wet hay moved into the compost pile and get that cooking.
Try and get lots of other seeds started.
Headin' outside.......

Work day--mostly herding chickens and uncovering garlic

Another drizzle filled day, but at least its int he 70's. Herding chickens today and getting them moved to summer quarters. They are into everything and its time to start farming outside.
Tree branch fell on the car as I was driving yesterday, not a fun experience. Just a bit slower and it would have come through the windshield. Greenhouses are almost "flipped" and its time to start planting tomatoes. Cuke and zuke starts are looking good and the basil has germinated. Still about 2-3 weeks behind last year.
Soup sales remain solid mostly due to the bad weather. I am not selling soup at the Co-Op anymore. It was just not working out. Shifting everything to the new CSA we have started. Which should be sold out by next week. Should be interesting.
All the day to day stuff is getting done, its just the large projects that need attention. Trying to get to them over the next 2 weeks. Here is a photo of the new seedling shed. Yes that is some of the 2 inches of snow we had last Saturday.

Where is the sun? Damn chickens are incessantly curious......

Recovering from last nights "catering" event. I under estimated the amount of hungry concert goers at last nights Patty Casey show. Sold 4 gallons of soup in about 15 minutes. At least now we have something to go on for next year....everyone was very understanding and gracious. At least the salad held out until the last 10 minutes or so.
A bit of seeding done today trying to get a bit more done. Thinking I might have figured how to finish up the new greenhouse. Try and get after that this week.

Happy Easter.

Well something had to give....oh its snowing......again...

Snowing out, something about "free fertilizer and ions" comes to mind. Ah well. I took my soup out of the Coop the other day. Just needed to get something off my plate and direct retail grocery was turning out to need more of my time than I can allow right now. Ah well. Started pulling more salad yesterday, trying to get things "flipped" and back into production. Aphids are having a party in there right now. Need to get them under control. Going to try nematodes here once the soil gets nice and warm.
Busy selling CSA shares and trying to figure out the polite email response to new members trying to get the rest of the information we need for share delivery, etc. Need to figure out what is wrong with the webpage and my bad communication. Learning curve is steep on this one.
Actually got a bunch of beds tilled yesterday and composted a bunch of beds. Now to get stuff into them and get the "summer" season on track.

"Spring" and on the dirt....

So finally working outside yesterday, actually tilled a couple of beds. Covered them with plastic to see if I can run the soil temp up quicker and get them planted with early stuff. Chickens remain impressively stupid and curious. A very dangerous combination. Renovated one asparagus beds last night as well and finally managed to pull out a huge rock I have been working around for the last 7 years. Now to get it out of the field without causing more damage to the asparagus crowns. New greenhouse frame is up just need to get the carpentry done and get it covered. Chicken enclosure fence posts went up yesterday as well. Need to get them reigned in so we can start planting and I stop finding eggs everywhere.
Off to Canada to buy Ag supplies today...............

To market to market with a fat pig.............

Last market of the "winter" today 10-2 at VCFA gym. Cold up here this morning but not as cold as predicted. Salad, Spinach, Black Bean Sirloin Chili, Vegetable Minestroni, and plenty of wicked happy hen eggs. New greenhouse is coming along, I will try and get a few photos up as we go. Seeds getting started, the fields are drying out and the snow is gone.
I will be selling CSA shares at market today so stop by and ask questions.

CSA, SOUP, STUPID CHICKENS, TOO DAMN COLD STILL!

Well here I sit watching the thermometer dip towards 20 with 15 degrees on tap for tonight. My summer starts are not going to be happy, in particular the tomatoes. Ground posts were set yesterday for the new seedling shed. Trying to get the bows and purlins up this afternoon. Deliveries need to get done this morning. Just spinach heading out the door along with some black bean chili and a vegetable & stars pasta
soup with plenty of herbs. The last "winter market" of the season is tomorrow. Hope to see a bunch of you there. Plenty of eggs, spinach, and some salad. I might even have a few bunches of radishes. Need to go check on them today. Summer Market starts in 3 weeks the first Saturday of May down at our standard location at Elm St on State. Really hoping things warm up a bit by then. Finally took the snowblower off the tractor yesterday and hoping to get onto my fields and start prepping them next week. A fine crop of rocks has come up once again. Looking to prep the asparagus beds also and get after the weeds in there early. Compost pile has finally become accessible so its time to start top dressing everything in the greenhouses. Chickens are going to get moved to summer "pasture" pretty soon too.
CSA sales are picking up and its looking like we are going to sell out pretty soon. This is a good thing.

Rain and Chickens and Farmy Stuff

Good Morning, Well slipped on the ice, landed on my ass and really screwed up my wrist. Not a good thing. Plenty of rain means the snow goes away, finally, but what a muddy mess. Chickens continue to live under the coop instead of in it? Seedlings are moving along, the farm is coming to life slowly. A number of things to do but still too many off farm distractions. Time to start saying no to many of the requests I get and tend to things around here.
Hoping to get the over wintered fava beans unmulched and see how they do this spring.  Greenhouse plastic tear is patched with tyvek tape. We will see how that holds up. New plastic going on this August for sure.
Have a good day and stay dry.........

High winds are here---thus the name of my farm.

High screamin winds last night. Woke up this morning and the plastic on one greenhouse is split down one seem about 30 feet long. Another thing to deal with today......this has been a season/winter with lots of little annoying things to deal with. A few large problems but for the most part I am getting nit-picked like crazy with small issues. Lot's of deliveries today and plenty of potting on to get done. More seeds to get started as well. I should be able to get onto my fields by next week, the advantage of sandy soil.
CSA sales are picking up and we are getting ready for a great first year of our new model. Should be interesting and a lot of fun.  Last "winter" market this Saturday at the VCFA gym. Just think last year at this time we had held both markets outdoors because it was in the 80's! We will take a 3 week break and the summer market starts downtown the first Saturday of May.
Gotta go deal with stuff. Joe

Chickens are rototilling....snow is melting...work is piling up.

Good Morning, Plenty of rain and real warm temps today. Great for moving my starts out into the greenhouses and hardening them off. The peeps are in with the big birds and continue to be fairly dumb and not get the program the big girls follow. Mainly going into the coop and greenhouses at sunset. Ah well. Off to make soup, harvest greens, and figure out how to build my new greenhouse. Hope to get it built and covered this week.
So how about 38 billion in budget cuts? Not hearing anything about closing subsidies for the oil companies, substantive financial reform, or touching military spending..........very distressing. Once again the poor are taking the hit.  The middle class continues to disappear and income disparity grows larger and larger. We are looking like our 3rd world neighbors to the south.

So long snow. The rabbit ate my tomatoes.........

Well this season is looking to be more challenging by the day. Awesome warm weather on tap for the next several days and I have contracted the nastiest cold I have had in a while. It is now taking up residence in my lungs. Talk about feeling raw. Snow just won't melt up here, Gah! Went down to water my 5 week old tomato starts and discovered that the house rabbit had decided baby tomatoes were edible. She took out about 150 or so of my starts. What a bummer, have to go hunt for some now. CSA shares are starting to sell well and it seems we will hit our target of 100 members this season. Should be awesome. Demand for locally grown/produced  food in genereral remains high but issues with the economy still causing problems. Non-profits getting hit real hard still. Also the government shut down last night?! So does that mean the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan just stop "working" and come home? I will be spending the weekend doing paperwork (too damn much of it) and watering the greenhouses like crazy.
Still marveling at my tractor and trying to figure out how I managed to do things around here without it for 8 years. Latched onto a very large improperly located lilac bush yesterday and it was gone 3 minutes later, even shook the dirt off the root ball with the loader. I can start erecting my new seedling greenhouse and put it into service. The sooner the better.

Finally some Spring like temps on the way.

A nice time yesterday at Green Mtn Coffee Roasters meeting people, tasting soup, and talkin about our CSA. Visited the Alchemist afterwards since we were in the neighborhood and had a brew. Things are looking good to finally get the farming season into gear over the next few days. Need to get the plants out from under the grow lights and into the greenhouses. The new peeps have to go outside in the next couple of days. They are just too big for their current quarters. Off to make soup. Thinking a nice spring Spinach and Potato with carmelized onions and some fennel seed.

Rain and warm temps woohoo! CSA Shares

Well good riddance to the month of March! Temps were 20 degrees below normal the whole month causing all kinds of problems in the greenhouses. On tap the next few days is warmer weather and rain. I would love to see my fields this week and get the snowblower off the back of my tractor. Need to spend all day harvesting spinach and salad that has started to go to seed way too early. Busy trying to replant stuff as fast as we can.
My daughter did a great job with a soup tasting at the Coop this Saturday. Sold out the case and had a lot of interest in our new CSA. The same at the farmer's market. I am thinking the shares will sell out by the middle of this month. I will be at Green Mountain Coffee Roasters on Wend. for the wellness fair selling CSA shares also.
Going to try putting a temporary high tunnel outside and get some early greens going on the field.
Thinking about a Cuban Black Bean soup and a Split Pea for Tues.

Farmers Market Today-Come Eat, Play, Hangout, Buy Local!

Market Today Carrot Ginger Coconut soup and Herbed Roasted Chicken Potato Soup

 Of Course Plenty of Eggs, Salad, and Tender Spinach.

Winter versus Spring- Really hoping spring kicks it's ass......

So the snowblower is parked in the garage ready to go, most of the market work is done just so I can spend the day moving snow and keeping an eye on the greenhouses. Plenty of wet heavy snow on tap for today and then 4 days of wet rainy weather with some warm temps finally. Really hoping I can see my fields by wend of next week and start going on stuff. The colder than normal month of March has really confused the plants in the greenhouses and given the aphids an earlier than normal start. The intensity of the sun heats the greenhouses up regardless of the outside temp so I am seeing temps from 70-80 degrees in there even with venting. Then when the sun goes down and it is 10 degrees outside the nigh time temps drop to 20 or so under the remay. Not good. So we have been tearing stuff out and replanting with plugs like crazy trying to replace plants that should normally hold out until mid april. This is farming.
Please head on over and check out the CSA at centralvermontfoodhub.com. I realize the weather and snow tends to keep everyone from thinking summer vegetables but the shares tend to disappear fast and we are limiting the number we sell this year since it is a startup and we want to get it right.

Market on Saturday at VCFA in the gym hope to see you there. My daughter Olivia will be doing a soup tasting at Hunger Mtn Co-Op from 11-2 Saturday also. Joe

Winter just refusing to let go..Carrot Ginger Coconut

Good Morning, What a nice day yesterday, hope everyone enjoyed it. New link on the blog to the CSA I have started. Check it out. I think it is very unique and a going to be a great value. Herb Roasted Chicken soup with Potato getting made today along with a nice tropical sounding Carrot/Ginger/Coconut.  Short post, gotta go.

                                              A Polish Turban Top

A cruel April Fool's Joke is in the works here on the farm.

Good Morning, So for Friday we are to get something like 7-14 inches of snow. Ahrg! Ah well, still have the snow blower on the back of the tractor but this stuff really slows down CSA sales at a critical time of year for the farm. Off to make soup tomorrow. Thinking about a Carrot Ginger with Coconut. We will be doing a tasting at Hunger Mtn Coop this Saturday and I will have it at the farmers market in Montp as well. Red Hen will have it on sale also. So today's chore list is to clean up the peep enclosures, get some transplants of lettuce into the ground, wash some pots and pans, and start mucking out the chicken coop while it is thawed out still.  The peppers finally started to germinate today. Now if I can just coax the eggplant and ground cherries along the rest should go fairly well.

                                                         Red Swiss Chard

Slow growth and low temps

Yeah so the month of March is just killing me with below normal temps. It has managed to kill some seedlings as well. A number of people I talked to in the last couple of weeks are very winter weary. It's been a cold tough one this year. Its really tough when I drive to Burlington and all the snow is gone up there and I have 2 feet of it here still. Plants are up and running just wish April would hurry up and come and with it a real shift in the weather pattern.  Interest in the CSA seems to be picking up, "winter" market this Saturday in Montpelier and my middle daughter Olivia will be handling a soup tasting and demo at Hunger Mtn CoOp this Saturday from 11-2pm. I am off to try and cut some spinach for some small orders.
Trying to figure out which tasty soups will get made and delivered tomorrow as well.  Joe

Clam Chowduh heading out the door.

Soups today are a classic Clam Chowder without Bacon. I used smoked salt instead.  A nice Jacobs Cattle Bean Soup with plenty of Tomato, Basil and Garlic in it.  It will be at Hunger Mtn CoOp and Red Hen Bakery. The Bakery has my eggs and spinach for sale now too.
Farming slowly trudges along around here. Everyone including the chickens need to see some lawn soon. Seedling are coming up in the greenhouses and under the grow lights and progress is getting made. This time of year is such a pain because trying to get stuff done is so inefficient. Finally repaired a crosstie in one of the greenhouses yesterday. Got some harvesting done. Trying to get things cleaned and organized as we go. The new peeps are all feathered out and should really be out on pasture but we still have 2 feet of snow around here and no warm temps in the forecast for a few more days.

Getting the last of some paperwork done and still need to get the CSA schedule figured out. Well need to label some stuff and get going.

So its time to announce the CSA for this season

Hello All, This post is for you followers here in Washington County. I am teaming up with George Gross at Dog River Farm just on the other side of Montpelier from me to form a csa. We are calling ourselves the Central Vermont Food Hub. The website and blog page are up and running, you can even purchase a share online. We have several goals in creating this CSA. Develop and promote Washington County growers and producers. Give all of us a new and stable market that is really local. Our CSA will deliver to your work site with a small number of subscribers (5). This cuts down on fossil fuel consumption. Instead of 100 cars driving out to the farm, we hope to have one truck making stops at our work place. The fun part is that we are not just offering vegetables. We will be including Red Hen Bread, Pesto, Marinara, Gazpacho, Chilled Cucumber Dill soup,Maple Syrup, Eggs, and other locally made products as we find them. The bulk of the shares will still be great summer produce but with some extra value added by sourcing other great local products. You will still have to do some cooking and prep, but I will still be sending out culinary guidance on the CSA's blog page on a weekly basis. So check out the website, etc.
centralvermontfoodhub.com

Any questions please give me a call, tweet, comment, email, etc. Thanks Joe

New Greenhouse is here.

Hello All,
My new seeding house was just delivered today. Can't wait to scrape the snow away and get it built. Should be a real nice place to hand out and get seeds going this time of year. Thinking I should get a jack hammer to get down through the frost line so I can set my ground posts. Soup making tomorrow. Have not decided what they should be yet. Weather is looking to be good for soup eating though, a bit unfortunate on some level. Ah well, gotta go water the seedlings.

Have some soup with this snow!

Good Morning,  Thai curry coconut squash soup and a fine herbed cream of chicken with rice going out the door this morning. Things are sprouting in the greenhouses and we have started harvesting spinach and salad mix in earnest this week. All that fine weather last week really helped. Now if it would just return and stay. My new greenhouse shows up tomorrow. It's a small one that I will be setting up as a seedling house. Hoping to have enough room in it to put a couple of comfortable chairs on one end to enjoy some early/late season sunshine and warmth. Tomato, eggplant and peppers are seeded. Now the wait for germination, here goes the season. Really curious to see if my over wintered fava beans made it and will produce a fine early crop for this season.

Claytonia, Miner's Lettuce, Winter Purslane

Montpelier Market Today! 10-2

Good Morning, Putting the finishing touches on a tasty cream of mushroom soup. Just added some pesto to an Italian sausage and Potato soup. They are both looking good. Sugar on Snow today at the market as well. I have plenty of spinach and salad mix. The warm weather and sun means the bags of greens are getting heavier and the price is staying the same. Hope to see you at the market.

Joe

Spring has sprung Soup going out this morning.

Good Morning, What a day yesterday! I actually found a bit of time to locate my beach chair, a beer, and sit in the door way of one of the greenhouses and just soak up some sun and warm temps. Man did it feel good! Every fall I look forward to winter and I am ready for spring right now.
So Cream of Mushroom soup is off to the Co-Op this morning. I am trying a smaller container of two servings to see if I can entice people to try a bit more soup.

Blue Russian Kale

March in Vermont aka Soggy Bottom month.

Rain, snow, rain, soggy bottom sitting on the tractor trying to move all the slush and muck. 

Snow! Holy Crap! Almost lost the greenhouses

Whew! What a day. Went outside thinking I had a bit of snow to move away from the greenhouses and discovered between 2-3 feet of it had drifted up on the south facing sides. Went into the houses and the trusses and cross ties were under serious load stress. Got the snow moved and one house just unloaded all at once. Crazy watching everything just flex back into place. The second house took alot more effort to get the roof cleaned off. No snow on the north side at all. Same think happened with the valentines day storm a few years back. So I guess once again I am a great testimonial for Ed Persons' Greenhouses. Also the snow blower that I bought for the tractor easily paid for itself several times today. 

Soup heading out the door in the morning, I will let you know what it is. I am exhausted.

Market Today! Wet weather Great Soup and Salad.

Heading to market with a great Miso Vegetable soup w/ Wild Rice and a very meatatarian braised beed minestrone. Alot of rain on tap so a great day to be indoors listenting to music and eating great food.  Plenty of sweet sugar spinach and mesclun today as well. Wicked Happy Hen Eggs also.
Joe

March 3rd Sunny and Soupy! Market This Sat. 10-2

Hello All,
Just finished an awesome brown rice miso soup and an Oxtail Minestrone. All headed to market this Saturday.
Gotta go pick spinach in the greenhouses, it may be 24 outside but its 70 in the houses. Great Tshirt weather for this time of year.
Joe

March 1st Farm and Soup in like a Lion?

Good Morning, Well getting ready for market already. Spinach is looking good and just cut 70lbs yesterday. Have to wash and bag today and then deliver at midnight since I have to go to Burlington to pick the kids up. They go to florida and I shovel snow. Hmm? Salad is waking up but not as quick as I would like, or my customers for that matter. Working on forming a Central Vermont Food Hub based/focused in Washington County. Have to see how that goes. One more project.
Soil tests are back for each row in each greenhouse. Ouch. A real surprise at what is not in there.

Finally soups for today--Smoked Split Pea (no meat), Cream of Parsnip w/ Cider, Tomato Orzo w/ herbs..
Available at Hunger Mtn CoOp, Red Hen Bakery.

Tigger Melons  Exceptional Perfume mild flavor

Winter Storm Warning Fresh Soups!! Vt Grown and Made!

Hi,
Heading out the door to deliver fresh soups to Hunger Mtn Coop and Red Hen. Having some fun and made a Cream of "Loaded Baked Potato" yup it has all the goodies in it. The other soup is a Jacobs Cattle Bean Minestroni. Plenty of tomato and basil in it and the beans have great flavor they are an old heirloom.

Spinach harvesting starts this weekend, the heat and sun of this week have really moved it along. The salad house is still a bit behind but getting there.

Sun just keeps coming, chickens just keep laying

As long as I can make it through the very cold mudroom and into the greenhouse I can spend the whole day in the greenhouse. Sunny and 80 degrees in there. Seeded radishes, salad turnips, and some new greens. Weeding in Feb. is something I am still trying to get used to. Easier now than in June though. Thinking about a cream of baked potato soup for Friday. Not sure what the other one will be yet.

Summer in the greenhouses! woohoo!

Well what a day. Just collected 21lbs of salad mix in the greenhouse. It was 85 degrees in there! Meanwhile outside it was 21 degrees. Ahh feels good to be workin the dirt in a tshirt!   Peeps are doing very well. I have only lost 4 so far. Spinach house is lookin great. A fair amount of loss in the lettuce house. Need to get replacements goin and start resetting some of the beds.

Market today----What happened to spring? Soups On!!!

Good Morning, Wow, snow and 40 mph wind gusts up here this morning. Winter is back for a few more weeks I think. Headed to market today.
Bringing some of the best tasting spinach I have had all winter. Limited amount still though since things are still trying to get going in there. The warm temps the last few days have really helped things along though. No salad today. It just was not there nor was my backside. Plenty of eggs and two great tasting soups.

Gingered Coconut & Sweet Potato w/ Peanuts

Lemon Ginger Chicken Soup w/ Brown Rice.

Also Fermented food workshops today at market.

Spinach!!!! In Feb!!!!!

Wow, What a day! Procrastinating a bit on the harvesting to enjoy the sun and warmth. So market tomorrow for those of you who have not escaped to some exotic winter break spot. Last year I was flying to Huntingtonbeach, Calf. at this time. Ah well.
Great soups at the Co-Op ----Cream of Tomato with mostly tomato in it. Try some saltines on it.
                                              -African Sweet Potato and Peanut, unique and really tasty, some chilis and ginger in it make it tasty.
At Red Hen and for the Market tomorrow the same. Remember 10-2pm Saturday at the VCFA gym.

New peeps arrived this morning at 6 am and doing very well. The heat helps with getting them adjusted.
Spinach is looking good, salad house is looking pretty rough or still asleep. I have not decided yet.

Feb.15th Soups and Some post Valentines day musings

Good Morning, Well spring is in the air, kinda anyhow. Rain yesterday, then high wind, and a bit of snow. Warming up later this week and even more rain on Thurs. and Fri. Now on to the news.... Still no flats started and a new seedling shed still in NH. Thinking road trip next week to go get it. Spinach is coming to life and looking quite good. Salad is hanging in there but bouncing back a bit slower. Went through all my seeds yesterday and got them organized. Now to get some semblance of a growing plan done and soil testing for the greenhouses done.
Soups are looking to be tasty and decadent for the one and quite healthy for the other. So arriving at the Co-op today Grafton Cheddar and Broccoli soup, and  Cabbage,Tomato with Bacon. Same ones available at Red Hen also.
I have been working slowly on the website as well. Some new photos are up. The new peeps ship tomorrow and arrive Thurs. or Fri. 

FEB. 11TH Soups and Salad happenings

Greenhouses are looking good. The spinach house in particular. Sunny and 70 in there today and it was 16 outside with a pretty wind blowing. Soil temp change is amazing. The surface down to 2 inches was at 60 and at 3-4 it was at 40. Perhaps all spinach next year and no lettuce. Who knows. Well for soups tomorrow
the Co-Op will have Cream of Mushroom (vegetarian but rich) and a Chipotle Black Bean Chili (vegan) that has a bit of Otter Creek Ale in it. Both are very tasty. Red Hen will have the Cream of Mushroom also and classic Chili. I am willing to get a bit of feedback on the soups if you have some or would like to make a request. I am already working on the chilled summer soup menu. Hopefully the strawberry growers will do better this year and I can make the chilled berry soup that did not happen last year.

                                                       Salad House Feb. 4th

The list of things to do around here just never seems to get smaller. Items do get crossed off but always something moving right into it's place. Debating weather to shovel the roof's off. Should be fine and walking on the shingles when they are frozen is a whole different set of issues. New peeps show up end of next week. Always a good sign. Trying to get setup for seed starting. Bought a new seeding greenhouse, that has to get picked up and built as well. It was suggested I jack hammer through the frost line to get it built before spring.