Eighteen Hundred and Froze to Death, Monthly farm tour, are stinkbugs edible and more.

The surprisingly cool temperatures have been a joy to work in this week-- it made me think of the story of the year 1816: "Eighteen-hundred and froze to death" or the Year without a Summer," a story in which truth is stranger than fiction.  

Due to low solar activity and a succession of volcanic eruptions including Mount Tambora in current day Indonesia, there was ice on lakes and rivers as far south as Pennsylvania during the summer, crops froze and failed all around the world causing massive famines and migrations of people.  Killing frosts took out people's crops even in August.

We're grateful that there is no volcanic dust winter occurring this summer, and most likely it will be hot and muggy again before Fall.  :-)  

It's bean a good harvest, we're glad to have a second planting of beans! 

Monthly Farm Tour: 

Want to get a behind the scenes look at the workings of the farm? There is a monthly farm tour on the 1st Tuesday of the month at 9am.  If you are planning to attend, please email sbreneman@yourgoodwill.org.  Tour lasts approximately 30 minutes. 
No tours during Dec/Jan/Feb due to Volcanic winter, ok, just joking about the Volcanic part) 

Homefields Presents Pressure Canning with Lisa Sanchez! 

TALKS IN THE FIELDS

Pressure canning

Saturday, August 2, 10:00 a.m.
Goodwill at Homefields’ Farm
150 Letort Road, Millersville, PA

Lisa Sanchez, Park Naturalist with Lancaster County Parks, will demonstrate pressure canning. Because there is a fee associated with County Park speakers, we will be asking for assistance from participants in the form of a $5 attendance fee collected at the door.

Email talks@homefields.org or call 717.872.2012 for more information. Please provide your name and phone number.

*Be sure to ask Lisa if stink bugs are edible* :-) 

 

 Your farmers can always find something to smile about. Here it's the onion deluge or maybe some friendly banter...

 Uh oh, look what happens when you plant ten thousand innocent little onion starts back in April!  They are in the greenhouse to cure for a week or two out of the rain.  

Serving Suggestions for the harvest this week:

Tomatoes: the tomato harvest is beginning in earnest.  Look for it to build to a peak in a few weeks and then slowly descend as fall approaches.  Mmm, tomato and cheese sandwich anyone?  

Sweet Peppers:  whether green, yellow, orange, red, or purple. bell shaped or horn shaped, we'll have a sweet pepper for you, probably quite a few, in the weeks to come.  This week they are purple or green.

Potato: this week we are harvesting Red Gold potatoes in addition to Evas.  They have a smooth texture that potato experts refer to as "waxy"  Red Golds are red-skinned with yellow flesh.  

Garlic: it is so nice to have fresh garlic. For maximum health benefit, cut and let stand for about 10 minutes to oxidize and thereby form the beneficial compounds. Not just super tasty, garlic also is known for reducing blood pressure, heart disease and cholesterol.

Carrots: carrots are really good roasted in the oven with some coconut, olive or peanut oil. Of course they are also good as carrot sticks or in salads. 

Beets:  these are good roasted or grated raw in a salad. For more work :-) look up a borscht recipe online. 

Walla Walla Sweet Onions: Mmm, what could be better than carmelized Walla Walla sweet onions?  Take a heavy frying pan, put in a big pat of butter (the pendulum now has swung in butter's favor)  and a whole mess of sliced onions and fry medium low stirring every five minutes or so until golden brown. Wow.  Then, put on top of fried egg and cover with your favorite cheese and broil.  Perfection! 

Eggplants:  We really like the long slender Asian type eggplants! They are user friendly, mild and great for grilling with soy sauce, miso etc on the grill or use in any recipe that calls for eggplant--in short, treat them the same as the Italian "bell-type" eggplants.  

Kohlrabi: sort of a mini-broccoli little crunchy dude, these are tasty raw and taste kind of like mild sweet broccoli. Usually eaten raw.  Some people peel away the outer layer.  I ate one this morning unpeeled and enjoyed it.  

 Cucumbers!:  while most people don't usually drool over cucumbers, maybe they should over these. We don't like to boast, but these cucumbers are fabulous. Check out the Poona Kheera cucumber from India--they are golden brown when ripe, very crisp and juicy and never bitter. A real winner. 

Summer Squash:  add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook unless you like soft consistency.

Scallions: These mild-mannered onion family folks give an easy onion flavor to salads, sandwiches, stir fries and more.  Or you could do the old classic buttered bread and sliced scallion treat: my grandparents talked a lot about enjoying them in spring.  "A good spring tonic" says my 101 year old grandma. 

  

Goodbyes: 

Greens: these succumbed to the heat, with the exception of chard which continue to grow through the summer heat. We like to fry these in a skillet with butter or coconut oil until crisp, add some onions and saute them as well--a superb topping for rice, fried eggs or stand alone too.

Broccoli: Broccoli is dicey as a spring crop and the heat has made it flower and diminished its quality--look for a new crop in fall. 
Garlic scapes: we hope you enjoyed the delightful flavor of these. In a couple of weeks the garlic bulbs will be ready! 
Lettuce heads: these have run their course and are stretching skyward--a precursor to bolting--flowering to make seed. 
Lettuce mix--the leaves have given it their all and are now finished.  

Green garlic: this is garlic harvested before the base swells and becomes a bulb. It has a milder flavor than bulb garlic and can be used anywhere garlic is called for. Keep refrigerated as you would green onions/scallions. 

Cilantro: this herb has run its life cycle and is "bolting" or going to seed.  

Thank You: Thank you to farm staff and trainees for a job well-done. You have planted seeds, placed transplants, watered and weeded, and brought the harvest to fruition.  Your good labors are evidenced by the heaps of onions, racks of garlic, baskets of potatoes and much more.   Thank you Bob for making beautiful and useful wooden shelves and rack for keep our boots and tools at hand. Thank you Butch for countless repair runs and fixes when things aren't functioning quite as they should.  

Thank you for being a part of the farm, we hope you are enjoying the harvest.   

Your farmers 

Where is Gumby, Potato Harvest and Garlic

Hello from the farm, 

It's another week full of twists and turns.  We started off the week Monday morning by finding out that Gumby has been stolen, disappearing sometime after 8pm Sunday night and Monday morning.  When the birds realized that Gumby was AWOL, brazen hordes of them swarmed in to feast on blueberries.  We were not happy campers.  The next day, Bob came in and rigged up a "Gumby knock--off" and we were keeping back the birds again.  We dug right into the garlic harvest and we are thrilled to have an excellent crop this year.   

We spent a good bit of time hand weeding in the sweet potatoes--it is absurd how quickly the red root and lambsquarter weeds can grow in just a week.  We continue to have an endless litany of difficulties with our farm van and are looking to replace it soon.  We also began the potato harvesting this week, looking good. :-) 

WHERE IS GUMBY? FARMER GUMBY STOLEN - $50 Goodwill Gift Card Reward for his safe return.
Goodwill at Homefields Farm's Gumby was stolen sometime Sunday after 8pm. We need him back to keep the birds away from the berries!  

If you have information related to his whereabouts, please email concerns@yourgoodwill.org. We are offering a $50 Goodwill Gift Card for his safe return. Thank you. — at Goodwill at Homefields Farm.

Pick Your Own field Update:

Please wait to pick things in the herb beds and Pick Your Own field until you see it listed on the Pick Your Own/Herb boards, so things reach the correct height, stage or maturity.

If we've overlooked something, please let us know!! :-) 

Flowers:  see flower board at distribution area
**observe that CLEOMES have thorns**

Basil: cut only the top third of stems to allow for regrowth.  

Garlic drying upstairs in the barn. Once cured this way it can keep for a long time. 

It's tater time :-)  This week's Spotlighted potato is the Eva potato. Boil or steam in salted water until soft for that "new potato" experience. We ate some at lunch and enjoyed them very much.  

Stephanie the Breadbaker:

Serving Suggestions for the harvest this week:

Garlic: it is so nice to have fresh garlic. For maximum health benefit, cut and let stand for about 10 minutes to oxidize and thereby form the beneficial compounds. Not just super tasty, garlic also is known for reducing blood pressure, heart disease and cholesterol.

Carrots: carrots are really good roasted in the oven with some coconut, olive or peanut oil. Of course they are also good as carrot sticks or in salads. 

Beets:  these are good roasted or grated raw in a salad. For more work :-) look up a borsht recipe online. 

Walla Walla Sweet Onions:Mmm, what could be better than carmelized Walla Walla sweet onions?  Take a heavy frying pan, put in a big pat of butter (the pendulum now has swung in butter's favor)  and a whole mess of sliced onions and fry medium low stirring every five minutes or so until golden brown. Wow.  Then, put on top of fried egg and cover with your favorite cheese and broil.  Perfection! 

Eggplants:  We really like the long slender Asian type eggplants! They are user friendly, mild and great for grilling with soy sauce, miso etc on the grill or use in any recipe that calls for eggplant--in short, treat them the same as the Italian "bell-type" eggplants.  

Kohlrabi: sort of a mini-broccoli little crunchy dude, these are tasty raw and taste kind of like mild sweet broccoli. Usually eaten raw.  Some people peel away the outer layer.  I ate one this morning unpeeled and enjoyed it.  

Cucumbers!:  while most people don't usually drool over cucumbers, maybe they should over these. We don't like to boast, but these cucumbers are fabulous. Check out the Poona Kheera cucumber from India--they are golden brown when ripe, very crisp and juicy and never bitter. A real winner. 

Summer Squash:  add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook unless you like soft consistency.

Scallions: These mild-mannered onion family folks give an easy onion flavor to salads, sandwiches, stir fries and more.  Or you could do the old classic buttered bread and sliced scallion treat: my grandparents talked a lot about enjoying them in spring.  "A good spring tonic" says my 101 year old grandma. 

  

Goodbyes: 

Greens: these succumbed to the heat, with the exception of chard which continue to grow through the summer heat. We like to fry these in a skillet with butter or coconut oil until crisp, add some onions and saute them as well--a superb topping for rice, fried eggs or stand alone too.

Broccoli: Broccoli is dicey as a spring crop and the heat has made it flower and diminished its quality--look for a new crop in fall. 

Garlic scapes: we hope you enjoyed the delightful flavor of these. In a couple of weeks the garlic bulbs will be ready! 

Lettuce heads: these have run their course and are stretching skyward--a precursor to bolting--flowering to make seed.

Lettuce mix--the leaves have given it their all and are now finished.  

Green garlic: this is garlic harvested before the base swells and becomes a bulb. It has a milder flavor than bulb garlic and can be used anywhere garlic is called for. Keep refrigerated as you would green onions/scallions. 

Cilantro: this herb has run its life cycle and is "bolting" or going to seed.  

Enjoy the harvest! 

Your farmers 

Notes from Your Farm: Dragon carrots, garlic harvest, overnight pickles

Hello from the farm, 

We wanted some rain, and sure enough, we got some, and then some more, but we'll not complain.  We're never bored at the farm, and as usual things are hopping.  We are harvesting carrots and garlic this week!  Carrots, if you've never grown them, are a hard-fought victory when you actually have them in hand

Carrots are difficult to germinate, take a long time to sprout, are poor weed competitors, are temperature sensitive, require extensive hoeing and hand-weeding, thinning and laborious harvesting and washing. So if all those things go well, we get carrots, and sure we enough that all happened! :-)

And...drum roll, it's garlic digging time too.  Garlic is our longest growing crop.  We plant it in October and it matures almost a year later in July.  We are pleased that our farm-made potato digger works for garlic as well.  This garlic is so good, a real culinary treat!  Enjoy. 

Cameron the Victor, shows off a Dragon carrot

 

Carrots of many colors.  Carrots were historically many colors--the orange color was popularized by Dutch vegetable growers. Carrots of other colors also contain many healthful anthocyanins. 

Pick Your Own field Update:

Please wait to pick things in the herb beds and Pick Your Own field until you see it listed on the Pick Your Own/Herb boards, so things reach the correct height, stage or maturity.

If we've overlooked something, please let us know!! :-) 

 
 

Basil: cut only the top third of stems to allow for regrowth.  



 

Stephanie the Breadbaker is making Hefezopf (a braided yeast bread) this week .  It's $6/loaf.

 

thanks to Elizabeth, Asst. Farmer for putting together a farm crew poster! 

Serving Suggestions for the harvest this week:

Carrots: carrots are really good roasted in the oven with some coconut, olive or peanut oil. Of course they are also good as carrot sticks or in salads. 

Beets:  these are good roasted or grated raw in a salad. For more work :-) look up a borsht recipe online. 

Walla Walla Sweet Onions:
Mmm, what could be better than carmelized Walla Walla sweet onions?  Take a heavy frying pan, put in a big pat of butter (the pendulum now has swung in butter's favor)  and a whole mess of sliced onions and fry medium low stirring every five minutes or so until golden brown. Wow.  Then, put on top of fried egg and cover with your favorite cheese and broil.  Perfection! 

Eggplants:  We really like the long slender Asian type eggplants! They are user friendly, mild and great for grilling with soy sauce, miso etc on the grill or use in any recipe that calls for eggplant--in short, treat them the same as the Italian "bell-type" eggplants.  

Kohlrabi: sort of a mini-broccoli little crunchy dude, these are tasty raw and taste kind of like mild sweet broccoli. Usually eaten raw.  Some people peel away the outer layer.  I ate one this morning unpeeled and enjoyed it.  

Cucumbers!:  while most people don't usually drool over cucumbers, maybe they should over these. We don't like to boast, but these cucumbers are fabulous. Check out the Poona Kheera cucumber from India--they are golden brown when ripe, very crisp and juicy and never bitter. A real winner.  See overnight pickle recipe below 

Summer Squash:  add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook unless you like soft consistency.

Scallions: These mild-mannered onion family folks give an easy onion flavor to salads, sandwiches, stir fries and more.  Or you could do the old classic buttered bread and sliced scallion treat: my grandparents talked a lot about enjoying them in spring.  "A good spring tonic" says my 101 year old grandma. 

Goodbyes: 

Beans: finished until second planting begins bearing. Frozen beans taste pretty good until you eat some of our beans and your perspective changes.  The purple ones are equally delicious--if you want to preserve the purple color, don't cook them--they turn green when heated.  The purple ones look awesome in a salad. 

Greens: these succumbed to the heat, with the exception of chard which continue to grow through the summer heat. We like to fry these in a skillet with butter or coconut oil until crisp, add some onions and saute them as well--a superb topping for rice, fried eggs or stand alone too.

Broccoli: Broccoli is dicey as a spring crop and the heat has made it flower and diminished its quality--look for a new crop in fall. 
Garlic scapes: we hope you enjoyed the delightful flavor of these. In a couple of weeks the garlic bulbs will be ready! 
Lettuce heads: these have run their course and are stretching skyward--a precursor to bolting--flowering to make seed. 
Lettuce mix--the leaves have given it their all and are now finished.  

Green garlic: this is garlic harvested before the base swells and becomes a bulb. It has a milder flavor than bulb garlic and can be used anywhere garlic is called for. Keep refrigerated as you would green onions/scallions. 

Cilantro: this herb has run its life cycle and is "bolting" or going to seed.  

Justine's Overnight Pickle Recipe 

2 qts water

1 1/4c white vinegar
1/4 c canning salt
1/4 c sugar
1 tsp pickling spice
Combine in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let cool.

While liquid is cooling, cut pickles-anyway you like- and put into a jar, large bowl...etc.
I also add fresh dill and few hole cloves of garlic.Pour the cooled liquid over the cucumbers and cover.
Put in the refrigerator for 24 hours...then enjoy!

Hope you like them!
thanks to shareholder Justine for this recipe 

Enjoy the harvest! 

Your farmers 

Notes from Your Farm: Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson, amaranth

Hello from the farm, 

Not to sound like a farmer, but boy it is dry! We sure could use some rain.  We spent a lot of time drip irrigating in the last week, which "caused" it to rain a tenth the other night, but hot windy days around 90 degrees steal a lot of moisture.   

The farm crew is going great beans.  If you've ever picked beans you know it takes considerable effort and time to amass a sizeable quantity of them.  Now imagine picking about 240 pounds of beans. That is exactly what the farm crew did. Whew! and Wow! 

Henry Ford and Harry Ferguson visit the farm

We received a message from Dave in Holtwood this week who wanted to donate a tractor to the farm program.  This iconic 1939 Ford carries the manufacturing wisdom of Henry Ford who wished to make the tractor available and affordable for everyday folk,  and Harry Ferguson the Irish inventor who developed the modern 3 point hitch system.  His hitch system patent provided for attaching farm equipment safely and effectively to the back of a tractor.  

Prior to Ferguson's design, tractors would often flip over backwards if the disk or plow struck an immovable object.  Seventy-five years later, all tractors still employ Ferguson's design.  We are very grateful to you Dave, thank you.  Thank you very much to good friend Ed Kelly for hauling it here last night. 

 Pick Your Own field Update:

Every year we grow a host of standard items in the pick your own field that have done well and that we know people appreciate a lot.  We also put in some trial and experimental things to see how they do.  This year some of the more eclectic things include: amaranth, quinoa, and peanuts among others.  

Please wait to pick things in the herb beds and Pick Your Own field until you see it listed on the Pick Your Own/Herb boards, so things reach the correct height, stage or maturity.

If we've overlooked something, please let us know!! :-) 

 We've been debating this week whether to call the Pick Your Own field "Swope Field or Coble Field," both Elizabeth and Cameron have done a mighty lot to make it what it is.  

  

 Grain Amaranth, food of the Aztecs is high in lysine and free of gluten.

Basil: cut only the top third of stems to allow for regrowth.

 

Serving Suggestions for the harvest this week:

Walla Walla Sweet Onions:
Mmm, what could be better than carmelized Walla Walla sweet onions?  Take a heavy frying pan, put in a big pat of butter (the pendulum now has swung in butter's favor)  and a whole mess of sliced onions and fry medium low stirring every five minutes or so until golden brown. Wow.  Then, put on top of fried egg and cover with your favorite cheese and broil.  Perfection! 

Eggplants:  We really like the long slender Asian type eggplants! They are user friendly, mild and great for grilling with soy sauce, miso etc on the grill or use in any recipe that calls for eggplant--in short, treat them the same as the Italian "bell-type" eggplants.  

Kohlrabi: sort of a mini-broccoli little crunchy dude, these are tasty raw and taste kind of like mild sweet broccoli. Usually eaten raw.  Some people peel away the outer layer.  I ate one this morning unpeeled and enjoyed it.  

 Green, Yellow and Purple Beans: Frozen beans taste pretty good until you eat some of our beans and your perspective changes.  The purple ones are equally delicious--if you want to preserve the purple color, don't cook them--they turn green when heated.  The purple ones look awesome in a salad. 

For cooking fresh beans--bring to a boil in a bit of water, then turn to low and cook until just tender. 

Cucumbers!:  while most people don't usually drool over cucumbers, maybe they should over these. We don't like to boast, but these cucumbers are fabulous. Check out the Poona Kheera cucumber from India--they are golden brown when ripe, very crisp and juicy and never bitter. A real winner.  See cool cucumber recipe below

Summer Squash:  add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook unless you like soft consistency.

Scallions: These mild-mannered onion family folks give an easy onion flavor to salads, sandwiches, stir fries and more.  Or you could do the old classic buttered bread and sliced scallion treat: my grandparents talked a lot about enjoying them in spring.  "A good spring tonic" says my 101 year old grandma. 

Greens: we like to fry these in a skillet with butter or coconut oil until crisp, add some onions and saute them as well--a superb topping for rice, fried eggs or stand alone too.

Goodbyes: 

Broccoli: Broccoli is dicey as a spring crop and the heat has made it flower and diminished its quality--look for a new crop in fall. 
Kale: same situation as the broccoli, it is not faring well with the heat. 
Garlic scapes: we hope you enjoyed the delightful flavor of these. In a couple of weeks the garlic bulbs will be ready! 
Lettuce heads: these have run their course and are stretching skyward--a precursor to bolting--flowering to make seed. 
Lettuce mix--the leaves have given it their all and are now finished.  

Green garlic: this is garlic harvested before the base swells and becomes a bulb. It has a milder flavor than bulb garlic and can be used anywhere garlic is called for. Keep refrigerated as you would green onions/scallions. 

Cilantro: this herb has run its life cycle and is "bolting" or going to seed.  

Farmer Kim’s Cucumber Raita

2 cups plain Greek yogurt
2 cups cubed, unpeeled cucumbers
1 clove garlic, diced
4 sprigs fresh mint, chopped
1 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp golden raisins
Freshly ground black pepper

See you soon, 

Your farmers

Notes from Your Farm: July 4th heat, beans arrive

A warm hello from the farm, 

It's July 4th week and we can safely say that it feels like it too! It's perfect weather for cold pasta cucumber salad--see recipe below.  This week we have been trickle irrigating the crops that grow under the plastic mulch film and also hoping for rain for the open field crops.  We finished transplanting the fall cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower yesterday and began putting the Long Island Cheese pumpkins in the ground as well.  The term fall crops can be confusing--they mature in fall, but they must be planted in summer to mature in time.  

The green, yellow and purple beans are ready and we're happy to be harvesting them once again.  

Tomatoes, peppers and eggplants are a few weeks off--sure signs of mid-summer and we eagerly await their arrival.  

 Baker Stephanie of Abendessen bread says: I will be baking Sun-dried Tomato Bagels for this week.  $4/half dozen $8/dozen

Serving Suggestions for the harvest this week:

Green, Yellow and Purple Beans: Frozen beans taste pretty good until you eat some of our beans and your perspective changes.  The purple ones taste equally good--if you want to preserve the purple color, don't cook them--they turn green when heated.  The purple ones look awesome in a salad.

For cooking fresh beans--bring to a boil in a bit of water, then turn to low and cook until just tender. 

Cucumbers!:  while most people don't usually drool over cucumbers, maybe they should over these. We don't like to boast, but these cucumbers are fabulous. Check out the Poona Kheera cucumber from India--they are golden brown when ripe, very crisp and juicy and never bitter. A real winner. 

Summer Squash:  add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook unless you like soft consistency.

Scallions: These mild-mannered onion family folks give an easy onion flavor to salads, sandwiches, stir fries and more.  Or you could do the old classic buttered bread and sliced scallion treat: my grandparents talked a lot about enjoying them in spring.  "A good spring tonic" says my 101 year old grandma. 

Greens: we like to fry these in a skillet with butter or coconut oil until crisp, add some onions and saute them as well--a superb topping for rice, fried eggs or stand alone too.

Goodbyes: 

Garlic scapes: we hope you enjoyed the delightful flavor of these. In a couple of weeks the garlic bulbs will be ready! 
Lettuce heads: these have run their course and are stretching skyward--a precursor to bolting--flowering to make seed. 
Lettuce mix--the leaves have given it their all and are now finished.  

Green garlic: this is garlic harvested before the base swells and becomes a bulb. It has a milder flavor than bulb garlic and can be used anywhere garlic is called for. Keep refrigerated as you would green onions/scallions. 

Cilantro: this herb has run its life cycle and is "bolting" or going to seed.  

 

Cool cucumber noodle salad:  a cool meal after a hot day--we enjoyed this very much last evening! 

cook then rinse somen, soba or spaghetti noodles
dice and add cucumbers
dash of soy sauce to taste
dash of sesame oil to taste
cold diced cooked chicken or chopped peanuts for meatless.
dash of paprika or cayenne as desired

--from the kitchen of Lorena Breneman

Enjoy the harvest,