Notes from Your Farm ---Final Harvest

Hello from the farm!

Hard to believe, but six months of harvests are coming to a close this week. From the poring over of catalogs and spreadsheet calculations of winter, to the seeding of the farm in miniature in March, to the transplanting of all the young seedlings in April and May and then the intense weeding, harvesting and succession planting into the fall and almost winter, it's quite an adventure.

Reflecting back on the season...we grew a lot of food this year--five acres of vegetables. The ergonomic cart was a huge help with certain crops, especially cucumbers, as they weren't trampled by our feet as in the past, the crop lifting bar promises to lift a lot of weight for next season, meaning that we will be able to grow and harvest a lot more carrots in particular, but also garlic and potatoes, a core group of trainees did very well here at the farm and prospered greatly, Elizabeth, Law Reh, and Kim as staff were outstanding, each bringing great talent and thought to their roles, and an historic event was the purchase of the farm next door, knowing that we will have land for crops and rotations in the future.

Looking forward to next season, we anticipate a great farm team once again, the excitement of planting, expecting a great harvest, and then harvesting and eating. Carrots are clamored after by most of us, so look to see more of them, as well as an expansion of the blueberry patch. We will be cover cropping and starting to use some of the new farm land as well, so we won't be cramped for getting the things planted in time in the best rotation possible.



Self Harvest Starts Next Week: Keep the Good Food Coming

Mon-Sat. 9am-dusk as long as the season permit--possibly into the new year!
--maps of remaining crops will be posted here at the distribution table
--pruners and bags will be available.
--LIMITS--the amount you will use in a week/ or for a batch of pickles, kraut, etc.
--also: if abundant, take more abundantly, if scarce, take less as guideline


Time to Sign up for next season: as a current shareholder, you have first chance at getting a share for next season. To sign up, go tohttp://goodwillathomefieldsfarm.csasignup.com/members/returning. You'll be able to sign up and send a check, or pay partially or fully with a credit card online.



Thank You

Thank you to each one of the trainees who made this season bountiful and fun, to Elizabeth, for excellent work with the trainees, field, office and beyond, to Law Reh, for great work, morale, and perception, to Kim for harvest days skill and bringing the farm community together, and to you, as a shareholder for encouraging us, enjoying the vegetables, and being a part of the farm!

--Your Farmers

Notes from Your Farm-2 harvests to go

Hello from the frosty white farm fields,


The fields were coated with frost yesterday morning, creating a tranquil and beautiful scene as the sun came up. This week we started planting garlic, always the final crop planting of the season. Each bulb is broken up into cloves and each clove is planted about six inches apart. The roots will grow during the winter and then the top will emerge in early spring. The plants mature in late June or July when it turns yellow and dries.

Elizabeth mowed down the tomatoes, peppers and eggplants, and I planted barley in their place to improve and hold the soil for the winter. Looking around at the vibrant green and textures of the cover crops creates a wonderful feeling of satisfaction and contentment that the soil is covered and cared for in anticipation of great season next spring.


Gift Boxes Coming Up

After the harvest season is all wrapped up, we will be making gift boxes for Christmas. There are two sizes, small and large. Pictured below is the small box, which costs 17.50. It contains Wilbur Buds, College Coffee Roasters coffee, Kauffman's orchard apple butter, and Peanut Butter Nuggets from S. Clyde Weaver. Your purchase directly benefits our farm program.



To order, send us an email or give us a call. Pickup is Dec. 15, 16, 17, and you can pay for them at that time. To ship personalized small boxes to friends, please order online, or for more information, check out: http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm/homefields_giftboxes.php Order by Dec 6th.



Recipe for Making Sauerkraut from Turnips!
Haven't tried this, but it looks interesting...
check out--http://www.ehow.com/how_4589729_make-turnip-kraut.html


Brrr..cold water, but we've come up with wearing thin cloth gloves under plastic ones--not bad at all.


The Final Harvest is Next week Nov 11,12 and 13
There is one more harvest after this week, and then there will be self-harvest available to interested shareholders in the weeks that follow. Enjoy these last two fall harvests, there is a lot of tasty produce.

Scott

Notes from Your Farm

Hello from the farm,

November draws near, as does the end of our regular harvest season. My wife refers to our CSA season here as the "seven month sprint," and it is bittersweet as the crops slow down and the fields are tucked in for the winter under a thick blanket of cover crops. Over the next few weeks we will be cleaning up the remainder of the fields, putting on late cover crops, and getting into making gift boxes for Christmas. Gift box ordering information will be in next week's newsletter.


Final Harvest Week is Nov 11, 12 & 13 (self harvest will follow)


The last straw--Brad tucking in the strawberries for the winter.

Electric Tractor?

We are looking for a working electric forklift to be used for making a "green tractor"--in this case "green" does not mean John Deere :-) If you could help in getting one donated to us or at low cost it would be much appreciated. The electric tractor would be dedicated to staying ahead of the weeds and add our crops immensely.

Survey Says:

Look for the end of season survey on the table and a box to put it in. We value your thoughts and perspective on the season. As best you can, try to think back over the whole season as you fill it out. The feedback we receive sometimes has large of people saying "more garlic please" and an equal amount of people saying "less garlic please" for example, so we gather all input and do everything we can to please everyone and honor the requests. Thank you for your feedback!


What is Self-Harvest?

After our final harvest season, there is still fun to be had, and tasty veggies to be gleaned from the fields if you would like. Freezing weather will be the limiting factor, but in the past there has been something to glean almost all the way until Christmas. Many of these vegetables laugh at the cold: turnips, beets, cabbage, arugula, cilantro and others.

Squash Dip Recipe

Shareholder Catherine Candiello shared a few wonderful recipes...here is one of them:

Squash Dip

2 cups cooked butternut squash
3Tbsp. olive oil
1 head roasted garlic
8oz goat cheese
Lemon juice from one lemon, or to taste

Put all of these in a food processor and blend until nice and creamy.

Notes from your Farm Oct 22

Hello from the Farm!


This week finds us without the accompiment of banjo music at lunchtime, no spader running in the fields, and an empty seat at Scott Breneman's desk. Our farm manager is finally taking some time off after the peak of the busy growing season. We miss him this week, but we are so thankful for all the color that Scott brings to the farm everyday, both in spunk and spirit as well as his farming talents that bring us red beets, yellow squash, orange carrots, green beans, blueberries, purple peppers, plus a whole lot more. As his farm crew, we all feel lucky to work for such an inspired farmer. This year he has dreamt up and designed tools for better harvesting, better vegetable processing and better irrigating, not to mention all his efforts that made the acquistion of the new land possible.


In mid-October, we are dividing our time between harvesting and fall clean up. On Monday, Patrick put away all the PYO signs, Brian bundled up irrigation and stowed it away on our new shelves, and the whole team pitched in to spruce up some of the landscape beds. On Tuesday, Matt took down the last of the tomato stakes and Eric worked on drip tape removal. Wednesday found Shawn and Eric in rubber rain suits braving the fog, harvesting root crops, and putting our new bunching tool to good use. Today, Brad and Scott C have been busy harvesting greens.

We still have a few more weeks of harvesting to come, but the last harvest is approaching!

***Our Final Harvest will be November 11, 12 and 13***


Spaghetti Squash Mexicana, from shareholder Robin Beazley
This was a big hit at the potluck!
2 1/2 lb spaghetti squash
1 can refried beans
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup salsa
cilantro
dried oregano
hot sauce
1 red pepper, chopped

Pierce squash with fork several times. Mirowave on hight 15 minutes (6 minutes per pound). Let stand 5 minutes. Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and microwave for 4 minutes, stirring once. Halve and discard seeds from squash. Scrape squash from skin with a fork and mix with other ingredients.

Happy Cooking!
Elizabeth

Elizabeth Swope, Assistant Farm Manager

Great News!

Hello from the farm,


Well...outstanding news this week! The adjoining farm on the Millersville side of us, has been slated for development several times over the past ten years. On Saturday, that property was sold at auction, and despite a few tense moments when it looked like a developer would prevail, Homefields was the successful bidder!! There are at least two large reasons to celebrate: one, that the farm as you now know it, will not be surrounded by houses, and two, that we will be able to farm those additional acres as part of a sustainable and healthy farm operation.


The Outcome: The first picture shows our fields surrounded by a development, the second shows us farming the land. Needless to say, we are rejoicing that development threat is gone.



The Potluck!

The potluck was a lot of fun, thanks to all of you who made it so. There were somewhere between 140 and 170 people in attendance and everyone had a great time. The day could not have been more beautiful . A huge thank you to Kim and Elizabeth for putting it all together. The band Grandma Shake, was an excellent addition. Thank you Kim for inviting them here.

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest:

Some of the fall crops may be somewhat new to you--here are some suggestions for using

Pumpkins: their flesh and seeds are edible when you are done decorating with them.
Squash: these are great keepers--an easy way to prepare is roast them whole in the oven to soften them so you don't have to hack at them wildly with a sharp instrument, then prepare as desired.
Arugula: this piquant green adds zing to salads or sandwiches.
Cilantro: this is excellent in a sandwich, Asian or Spanish cuisine, with black beans, etc.
Radish: slice thinly, eat on buttered bread, or with a salad, make refrigerator pickles. The big white radish is called "daikon" and hails from Japan where is pickled, grated and used as a side for fried fish, or chunked and cooked in soups and stews.
Beets: great roasted with olive oil and sea salt.
Mizuna: this Japanese mustard green adds complexity to your salad or sandwich.
Turnip: the "Hakurei" variety is a salad turnip--eat it raw--mild and sweet compared to purple type.


Pumpkin Bread--as made and sampled here by Kim Stoltzfus

3 c. sugar
1 c. oil
4 eggs, beaten
16 oz. pumpkin (2 c.) Kim used Long Island Cheese squash
3 1/2 c. flour
2 t. soda
1 t. salt
1 t. baking powder
1 t. nutmeg
1 t. allspice
1 t. cinnamon
1/2 t. cloves
2/3 c. water

Cream together sugar and oil. Add eggs and pumpkin. Sift together dry ingredients and add alternately with water. Grease and flour 2 regular or 2 miniature loaf pans. Pour batter into pans. Bake at 350 for 1.5 hours for larger pans, and 1 hour for small ones. Let stand 10 minutes and remove from pans.

The New Bander

As we go along with each successive season, little tweaks are needed to improve how we do things. Here is a picture of the bander we just made. To bunch radishes, carrots etc, place them on the center of the table and use the foot pedal to open a rubber band around the veggies, then release.
Thank you very much Bob M. for designing it and putting it together!



Well, before this turns into an epic, thank you for coming to the potluck, supporting what we do, and for celebrating this good news with us.

Scott

Scott Breneman
Farm Manager

Goodwill at Homefields Farm
871-3110

Notes from Your Farm September 17

Hello from the farm,

This is coming to you a day later than usual--yesterday was a day of carpe terra "seize the soil" as rain was in the forecast and the window of opportunity for getting the cover crop seed planted was narrow. So the race was on--weighing out the seed, innoculating the hairy vetch with beneficial bacteria, mixing in the tillage radish, and measuring out the oats, and then spinning them onto the fields with a shoulder bag spinner seeder walking as quickly as I could. The blend is a good one: the oats provide biomass and something for the hairy vetch to climb, the vetch "fixes" atmospheric nitrogen from the air and translocates it to the root nodules for free nitrogen fertilizer, and the tillage radish aerates and penetrates hardened pathways and brings up trace minerals from the subsoil. Within the hour after all four fields were planted, it began it rain. There is nothing better to a farmer than the rains falling gently after planting!

Fall is in the air, and as you can see, the pumpkins are doing splendidly this year. The arugula is starting is starting also--it's a delicious peppery green with a bite, best used sparingly as an accent in salads.


And the reason for for great pumpkin and squash harvest?...Serenading them of course...

Ok



And one more picture--Can you tell Elizabeth likes squash?

Herbed Spaghetti Squash

Recipe courtesy Emeril Lagasse

Ingredients

• 1 small spaghetti squash, about 2 1/4 pounds
• 2 1/2 tablespoons butter
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed softherbs, such as basil, chives, chervil, parsley and sage
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a sharp knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise and place, cut side down, in a baking dish. Add enough water to come 1/2-inch up the sides of the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until the squash is easily pierced with a paring knife. Turn squash over and cover with foil again and continue to cook another 15 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Remove from the oven, uncover, and allow to cool slightly. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Using a fork, gently pull the strands of squash away from the peel and place the squash strands into a mixing bowl.

Heat a skillet. Add the butter, spaghetti squash, herbs, salt and pepper and toss thoroughly but gently to heat and combine. Serve immediately or cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

-----
Enjoy! and thank you for being a part of the farm program and for appreciating the food and what we do.

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38

150 Letort Rd

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Check out our Farm Blog: www.goodwillathomefieldsfarm.blogspot.com

www.yourgoodwill.org

Hello from the farm

This week we were visited by the Santa Ana winds here at the farm: the low humidity, strong sunshine, and gusty winds are extremely effective at drying everything out. At twenty-seven percent humidity, even breathing was affected, imagine how those plants feel.

It's been weeks since we've had rain, so instead of the usual putting away of irrigation supplies, we are setting up more. Elizabeth, Law Reh, and the trainees did a great job of getting water to the broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower yesterday--nice work guys.

We've also been watering the fall seeds and seedlings with the "water tanker" attached to the tractor, but the frame started to twist from the weight and couldn't be used. A call to the welder down the street put us back in business, but then it became apparent that the new design wasn't strong enough either, so this morning the reinforced version was completed.

Short Video clip of the Water Tanker:

The fall harvest continues this week with probably the most favored squash for baking and cooking--the butternut squash. Butternuts are high in Vitamin C, minerals and fiber, and they are low calorie, not to mention that they taste delicious! See the recipe below




Upcoming Events of Interest:

A Reading with Gene Baur at F&M Sept 16th 7:30pm A look at the treatment and mistreatment of industrially farmed food. More info at:http://www.fandm.edu/pawritershouse/events

Fall Potluck October 9th 5-9pm Details and flyer coming soon!

Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash

By: Anita Bukowski

"The mild garlic flavor in this dish makes for a deliciously different treatment for butternut squash. --Anita Bukowski"

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 1/2 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine the parsley, oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Add squash and toss to coat.
2. Transfer to an ungreased shallow 2-qt. baking dish. Bake, uncovered, at 400 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until squash is just tender.
   --from http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/garlicky-baked-butternut-squash/Detail.aspx
   
   
   Hope you are enjoying the fall harvest flavors and season!
   
   Scott

Notes from Your Farm

Hello from the farm!

Well here it is September already. Hot and dry pretty much sum it up. This is probably the hottest summer of our eleven seasons here at the farm, with forty days over 90 degrees. It also hasn't rained significantly for several weeks and the crops are suffering from the combination, making a leaner time of the season more lean than expected. To counter the dryness, we had the trial run of a mobile sprinkling tank that we rigged up this week and were very pleased with the results. Hopefully we'll receive some of the hurricane remnant rains this weekend.

We have a good neighbor in Amy Yocum just down the road at Promised Land farm, and are able to offer some of her produce this week. It sure is nice to have another organic farmer nearby. Thank you Amy! We're also pleased kick of the winter squash season with acorn squash this week.


September Surprises and the Rumor Mill

If you've heard any rumors about the farm progam having any connection to Funk's Farm Market, it closing, or using or losing access to Funk's land, none of that is true.

Some things that are true:

• Homefields owns the 8.7 acres that you see when you are here at the barn
• We lease the five acres of Baker land to the west behind the trees.(the Washington Boro side)
• The Hampilos property to the east of us (the Millersville side) has been slated for development multiple times, but it has not yet happened.
• We would like to continue to farm the Baker land and would like to see the Hampilos land remain as farm land!
• The surprise--the Hampilos farm has just come up for auction as of today, auction date is Oct 9th.

The Pick Your Own Field and Pick Your Own Items:

Most of the pick your own items have slowed down considerably. Please keep in mind for this week and the future to respect other shareholders who come to the Pick Your Field:

• 174 other shareholders may come later to pick whatever it is you are picking
• Other CSA farms typically charge for these extras--we offer it as a little something extra.
• The limit for flowers is 9 stems total and all other items, one pint unless indicated otherwise.
• If an item is scarce, please take only a little to sample
• Next year we plan to grow greater numbers of fewer things in the PYO field--concentrating on cherry tomatoes, basil, zinnias, and hot peppers in particular.

Whew, is this really September? Scott C. cooling off at the misting fan.


Easy Baked Acorn Squash Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 medium acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Turn acorn squash upside down onto a cookie sheet. Bake in a 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven until it begins to soften, approximately 30 to 45 minutes.
3. Remove squash from the oven and turn onto a plate so that the flesh is facing upwards. Place butter and brown sugar into the squash, and place remaining squash over the other piece. Place squash in a baking dish (so the squash wont slide around too much) while baking.
4. Place squash in the 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) oven and bake another 30 minutes.

Nutritional Information

Amount Per Serving Calories: 189 | Total Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 15mg
--from http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/acorn-squash/Detail.aspx

Hope you are enjoying the harvest and staying cool,

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38

150 Letort Rd

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

Notes from Your Farm Aug 26

Hello from the farm!

Cool nights and shorter days--the fall season approaches. This week: we spotted a pumpkin with some orange on it! mowed down the melon and early crop fields that were finished, had a flat tire on the mower that we run behind the tractor, had the inverter fail on the seeder, found a huge black snake, the second of the season, but only the second snake we've seen here in ten years, did hoeing in the cabbage family field, planted the last of the season's seeds to go in the ground for fall harvest and we will dig the last of the carrots tomorrow. That's some of what goes on here in the space of a few days, but not nearly all of it. Tomatoes are doing great! Here is a recipe for tomato salad:


Marinated Tomato Salad Recipe

Ingredients

• 5 medium tomatoes, sliced
• 1/4 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 3/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions

1. In a large shallow dish, layer the tomatoes and mushrooms. In a bowl, whisk the oil, vinegar, garlic, parsley and salt. Pour over vegetables. Cover and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, turning occasionally. Serve with a slotted spoon.

from: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Marinated-Tomato-Salad/Detail.aspx




Lots of Peppers!

The Midway Point:
Although it is almost September, we are only at the half way point for the harvest season. Our season typically ends the second week of November, so a lot of good eating to do yet between now and Thanksgiving. The Farm Fall Potluck will be Saturday October 9th in the evening, with more details as the date draws closer. Have a good week and enjoy!

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38

150 Letort Rd

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Check out our Farm Blog: www.goodwillathomefieldsfarm.blogspot.com

www.yourgoodwill.org

Our mission is to support persons with disabilities and other barriers to independence in achieving their fullest potential as workers and as members of the broader community

Notes from Your Farm August 19

Hello from the farm,

This week we dug the last of the potatoes, and said good-bye to the summer squash. Cucumbers are also fading away, but the peppers, eggplants and tomatoes are building up steam. We will have a lot of tomatoes for this harvest--probably over 1,000lbs of them.

These last few weeks of August are a bit of a lull as the fall crops anticipate maturing in September and October, so your bag or basket will probably bit a bit lighter until the fall crops start kicking in.


The Crop Lifter

We were really pleased yesterday with a trial run of a crop lifter or undercutter. Digging root crops and potatoes has been more and more of a challenge each year. We planted 4,800 feet of carrots this year, which along with rows and rows of potatoes and garlic, translates to quite a lot of digging!
Thanks to help from Butch Bixler and Jim Determan, we were able to make our own fairly easily using mostly what was already around. The "four man shovel" glides underneath the crop and loosens it, and then we still have the satisfaction of pulling the crop from the ground. (minus the shoveling)
Expect a lot more carrots next year :-) Thank you Butch and Jim!





The Pick Your Own Field

The pick your own field continues to have some great things in it: don't miss the "sunshine in a fruit" Sungold cherry tomatoes, the zinnias, celosia, and tasty little ground cherries, a fruity-tasting cherry tomato-like fruit in a paper husk and also the hot peppers that are just starting to ripen.


Roasted Eggplant Dip Recipe--Baba Ghanoush
If you tasted the eggplant dip that Kim made last week, you know this is good--serve with veggies and crackers.

Enough small eggplants to equal one pound
2 cloves peeled garlic
salt and olive oil to coat
roast at 350 degrees for 25 minutes
cool, transfer to food processor

Add:
1/2c. toasted pine nuts
1/4c. lemon juice
1/3c. sesame tahini
salt and pepper to taste
Process until well mixed

from: How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman


Food as Art

Sometimes we stop to marvel at the beauty of the harvest. Kim put this together, and you can see the result:





Hope you are enjoying the harvest and the final weeks of August. Fall crops ahead. Our final harvest of the season isn't until the second week of November, so enjoy the tomatoes in their glory as autumn and cool season crops approach.

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38

150 Letort Rd

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Check out our Farm Blog: www.goodwillathomefieldsfarm.blogspot.com

www.yourgoodwill.org

Our mission is to support persons with disabilities and other barriers to independence in achieving their fullest potential as workers and as members of the broader community

Notes from Your Farm August 12

Hello from the farm,

The much-needed rain falling today is wonderful--this will help the fall crops along immensely. Although we are able to irrigate some, we don't have enough water or a system big enough to water the whole farm. This week, or maybe next week, will be the largest tomato harvest of the season, after which the plants will gradually slow down as fall draws near. We had a great potato harvest and farm crew effort yesterday resulting in over four hundred pounds of beautiful potatoes.

The peppers are doing well, the tasty Carmen variety, a long bull's horn type, is back this season, while a new type is called Round of Hungary and is shaped like a lobed, flat tomato. Watermelons, cantaloupes, and Galia melons all did very well this year with all of the heat and sunshine, making up for a lackluster performance in last year's wet cloudy weather.

Blue Potatoes--higher in antioxidants than other colors of potatoes, but use just the same in the kitchen
They have a rich nutty flavor.

Rosemary Roasted Blue Potatoes (seasoning adapted from Kalyn’s recipe, noted above; blue potatoes inspired by Lucy of Nourish Me)

Ingredients

1 pound small blue potatoes, unpeeled but washed whole, any sprouts or bruises removed
¼ cup olive oil
2 tablespoons dried rosemary leaves, slightly crushed
1 tablespoon sea salt, slightly crushed

Method

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees F. Cover bottom of natural finish skillet with heat-resistant handle (cast iron works best) with the oil. Cut potatoes into quarters, add to skillet and toss to coat with oil. Position skillet on middle rack of oven. Roast potatoes for 20 minutes. Turn off oven heat. Stir potatoes and keep them in oven another 10 minutes. Stir potatoes one last time, then transfer to a serving bowl, tossing the rosemary and salt mixture over them. Serves 4 --

from-- http://thewellseasonedcook.blogspot.com/2007/10/fit-for-party-roasted-blue-potatoes.html



To the Farm, from Burma

We're glad to have Law Reh on staff this season at the farm. He grew up and farmed in Burma, and is a calm, skilled, and hard-working presence on the farm. He teaches us Kareni and Burmese words for things and we teach English words and share a lot of chuckles over the intricacies of language. The signs on the vegetables today are in appreciation of Law Reh.

Thank You

Special thanks to Law Reh this week for working with ease, skill and intuition.
Thank you Elizabeth, for great work supervising and instructing the
crew of trainees, Kim Stoltzfus for a great job here at the barn with the harvest
and shareholders, and each one of the trainees for hard work and a great attitude
during the heat and humidity of the past weeks.

Enjoy!

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38

150 Letort Rd

Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Check out our Farm Blog: www.goodwillathomefieldsfarm.blogspot.com

www.yourgoodwill.org

Our mission is to support persons with disabilities and other barriers to independence in achieving their fullest potential as workers and as members of the broader community.

Notes from Your Farm August 5

Hello from the farm,

This week we are thinking more about fall--not because of the the cool weather, but because of the shift in the harvest and focusing on planting and caring for things that will ripen in September, October and November. At the end of last week, I planted beans, carrots, cilantro and cucumbers for a fall harvest. The cucumbers and beans are something of a calculated risk, to see if they are able to bear before the frosts hit in early October, but the cilantro and carrots should come through.

Weeds are an ever-present challenge to us, especially with crops that germinate slowly or do not provide a canopy. So what's an organic farmer to do? Well, with 214 weeds seeds per pound of soil typical, and an acre of soil has 4 million pounds of soil, so 856 million weed seeds are handled by a number of methods. Yesterday's method was flaming--using a propane torch backpack, you pass the flame quickly over the soil heating the weed seedlings beforeyour intended crop (carrots) sprouts. Flaming is clean-burning, environmentally friendly and eliminates the tedium of differentiating tiny carrot sprouts from all the weed seedlings that outpace them.

The butternuts, acorn squash and pumpkins look outstanding, and we may see some of them this month yet, or maybe it will be September. Other fall crops to anticipate are: broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, radish, salad turnips and many more.



The Taste of Summer Captured in a Simple Salad:

Made last evening, this is my version of a salad that I was served by Mikhail and Anna Zotov, Russian friends who were learning English in Virginia.
Dice and combine in a bowl:
An onion
A few tomatoes
One or two cucumbers
Two cloves of garlic
add black pepper and salt if desired
Add a healthy shot of olive oil, stir and let sit for a while before eating, or refrigerate for later





Would You Eat This?

We've been having a fungi fascination here at the farm of late, and if you've ever grown corn, you probably responded to the presence of the stuff below with disgust and revulsion, and chucked it out away from the corn. Well "corn smut" it turns out is an edible mushroom. Called Huitlacoche in Mexico, it is considered a valuable delicacy. So knowing that, we just had to try it when we found some on the Indian corn in the pick your own field. How was it? Cooked in a skillet with hot oil and butter, it tasted pretty decent, but not as good as other mushrooms I've cooked in the same manner, but everyone's taste buds vary.





For the Calendar:
Homefields Golf Tournament Friday September 17th at Crossgates see www.homefields.org
Fall Farm Potluck October 9th

Enjoy,

Scott

Notes from Your Farm

Hello from the farm,

We came through a pretty substantial storm on Sunday with little damage, and the fields are well-saturated with the 2 1/2 inches of rain. The "hot crops" are getting into full swing and you'll see the trio of them in increasing numbers over the next few weeks: peppers, eggplants and tomatoes. Last year, when late blight was making the rounds all over the Northeast, our plants were damaged. So far, things look pretty good in the tomato field. We have 1200 tomato plants out there, which could result in a theoretical yield of about 36,000 lbs--hopefully they don't do do that well, or we'll be up to our ears in tomato sauce. Melons are doing well this year and there are all kinds--cantaloupes, Galia melons, red, orange, yellow, and pink-fleshed watermelons. Nothings says summer like melon juice dribbling down your chin. We're happy to have some beautiful beets from our neighbor, Promised Land farm--we gave her some of our prolific cucumber harvest a few weeks ago and she is sharing some of her abundant beets with us.

Trainees at the Farm
The trainees are doing an outstanding job this season. Each day between 4-6 trainees arrive at the farm from all over the county. They might be coming from an apartment, group home, parent's house, or boarding house and using all manner of transport to get here: walking, bicycle, bus, staff or driving.
One trainee in particular spends almost two hours morning and evening using the bus to come here from the western end of the county. Of the six people who live in the two group homes here at Homefields, one elects to work on the farm.


Helping Homefields
On Saturday August 14th our benevolent landlord and host, Homefields will be having a grounds clean up work session from 8-11am. Anyone who is willing to come and help do basic yard work.

Representatives from the Homefields Board of Directors will also be selling $5.00 raffle tickets for a new Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Proceeds from the raffle go to upkeep of the entire property.

Attention Golfers: Please consider supporting Homefields by participating in our annual Golf Outing to be held on Friday September 2010 at Crossgates. Information cards will be by the weekly share pick up sign in sheet or you can go to the www.homefields.org.

Suggestions for the Harvest

Melons: best chilled. Pepper on cantaloupes can be tasty.
Eggplant: Slice and throw on the grill. Brush on a little oil and soy sauce. Or see eggplant parmesan recipe below
Sweet Onions: super for carmelizing, for any onion task, very sweet--keep refrigerated.
Carrots: carrots sticks, pennies or grated for salad, roasted, boiled with butter and brown sugar or maple syrup, curried, carrot soup...the colors will fade when cooked.

Cabbage: the simplest ways to use this are cut into wedges and serve with a bit of salt, or shred and add to salad.

Potatoes: bakes, boiled, mashed, roasted...

Beets: grate and add to salad, roast, pickle,

Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook.

Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes.

Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc...use like spinach

--The trick to Eggplant Parmesan is to drain the eggplant slices of excess moisture first, before cooking. We found this recipe recently in the New York Times and adapted it to our taste (olive oil only - no canola oil, and no hard boiled egg slices as the original recipe called for).

Eggplant Parmesan Recipe

INGREDIENTS

• 2 lbs (about 2 large) eggplants
• Kosher salt
• 1 28-oz can whole peeled tomatoes
• 1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
• Olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup fine dry breadcrumbs
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 1 1/2 lbs of fresh mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1 cup grated high quality Parmesan cheese
• 1 packed cup fresh basil leaves

METHOD

1 Cut eggplants lengthwise into 1/4 inch slices. Arrange one layer in the bottom of a large colander and sprinkle evenly with salt. Repeat with remaining eggplant, salting, until all eggplant is in the colander. Weigh down the slices with a couple of plates and let drain for 2 hours. The purpose of this step is to have the eggplant release some of its moisture before cooking.

2 While the eggplant is draining, prepare tomato sauce. Combine tomatoes, garlic and 1/3 cup olive oil in a food processor. Season with salt and pepper to tasted and set aside.

3 When eggplant has drained, press down on it to remove excess water, wipe off the excess salt, and lay the slices out on paper towels to remove all the moisture. In a wide, shallow bowl, combine flour and breadcrumbs. Mix well. Pour beaten eggs into another wide shallow bowl. Place a large, deep skillet over medium heat, and pour in a a half inch of olive oil. When oil is shimmering, dredge the eggplant slices first in the flour mixture, then in the beaten egg. Working in batches, slide coated eggplant into hot oil and fry until golden brown on both sides, turning once. Drain on paper towels.

4 Preheat the oven to 350°F. In the bottom of a 10x15 inch glass baking dish, spread 1 cup of tomato sauce. Top with one third of the eggplant slices. Top eggplant with half of the mozzarella slices. Sprinkle with one third of the Parmesan and half of the basil leaves.

5 Make a second layer of eggplant slices, topped by 1 cup of sauce, remaining mozzarella, half the remaining Parmesan, and all of the remaining basil. Add remaining eggplant, and top with the remaining tomato sauce and Parmesan.

6 Bake until cheese has melted and the top is slightly brown, about 30 minutes. Allow to rest at room temperature for about 10 minutes before serving.

Serves 8.
--from http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/eggplant_parmesan/

Enjoy and thank you!

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38
150 Letort Rd
Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Notes from Your Farm July 22

Hello from the farm!

Between storms this week, we were able to get the fall brassicas planted. Fall crops are planted in mid-summer, when you are not thinking about fall, but if you wait until fall to plant them, they wouldn't mature in time. Using the water wheel transplanter, which makes a divot and fills it with water, we planted about five thousand green and red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and even some Brussels sprouts.

The hot July weather brings with it some of our favorite summer vegetables: the farm crew picked over 170lbs of snap beans. Beans don't weigh very much, that's pretty amazing--plenty of beans for 175 shares. In addition to the usual green and yellow beans, we also did a test planting of pink and purple bean varieties. See the raw bean salad recipe if you want them to retain their color. We continue to dig potatoes, and yesterday while mowing between the beds of tomatoes and peppers I was delighted to see touches of red on some of the tomatoes as well as some color on some of the peppers. And....the melons and watermelons are starting to ripen also, so you will probably see some of these starting this week or next.

Raw Green Bean Salad
Ant Egg Soup, Natacha Du Pont De Bie

Pink and purple beans turn green when cooked, so here is a recipe for using them raw:

• 1 large clove garlic, peeled
• 1 birds-eye chili or red chile powder
• 1 heaped teaspoon rough salt
• 1 level dessert spoon brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons unsalted peanuts
• 1 pound raw green beans or long beans, topped and tailed, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce (omit if desired)
• 3 flavorful medium tomatoes, quartered, or 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
• juice of one lime (or more, to taste)

Pound the garlic, chilies, salt and sugar in a pestle and mortar until they are a rough paste. Add the peanuts and pound to break them up (not too fine). Add the bean pieces and fish sauce and pound them until they are bruised so the flavors infuse. Add the tomatoes and pound a few more times. Squeeze on the lime and serve immediately.
--from http://faretoremember.blogspot.com/2010/04/seeing-green-lao-raw-green-bean-salad.html

Suggestions for the Harvest

Sweet Onions: super for carmelizing, for any onion task, very sweet--keep refrigerated.
Carrots: carrots sticks, pennies or grated for salad, roasted, boiled with butter and brown sugar or maple syrup, curried, carrot soup...the colors will fade when cooked.

Cabbage: the simplest ways to use this are cut into wedges and serve with a bit of salt, or shred and add to salad.

Potatoes: bakes, boiled, mashed, roasted...

Beets: grate and add to salad, roast, pickle,

Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook.

Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes.

Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc...use like spinach

Thank You
Thank you Law Reh, Elizabeth, and trainees for a job well done!

Scott

Scott Breneman

Farm Manager

Goodwilll at Homefields Farm

PO Box 38
150 Letort Rd
Millersville, PA 17551

http://www.yourgoodwill.org/farm

P: 717-871-3110

Hello from the farm,

The scorching heat of last week dissipated and the rains came down. Yesterday's two-plus inches turned the arid adobe-like fields into brown oatmeal. The beans in particular had looked pretty dry, but today all of the crops appear rejuvenated. There is nothing like rainfall--plants respond to it much better than to irrigation.

This week we are harvesting more Red Norland and Yukon Gold potatoes, and I rigged up a dehilling setup on the tractor that is helping to make the harvest go more smoothly. The garlic is looking great, and the ground is soft enough that we can pull carrots up out of the ground without a shovel--a perk of the abundant rain. Fox 43 did a story on the rain here yesterday which aired last evening at 11pm.

Carrots are Orange...aren't they?

Each year we refine the selection of crops that we grow based on your feedback and how we observed each crop performing in the field--disease resistance, insect susceptibility, vigor, and yield. This week we are pretty tickled to see the first carrots harvested: some are red with an orange center, and the other variety is purple throughout. Despite names that sound like they came out of the Russian heavy metal and space program, Purple Haze, Deep Purple, Atomic Red, and Dragon are mostly developed by plant breeders here in the U.S.

Carrots are thought to be of Afghan origin. Suprisingly the first carrots described in literature in the 12th century were red and yellow, not orange. Orange carrots were developed by the Dutch in the 1600s and that is orange is the color that we think carrots should be. The various colors of carrot each have their own flavor and in the case of the reddish carrots, lots of healthy lycopene. Other than orange, carrots may be red, yellow, pinkish, or white.

Suggestions for the Harvest:

Carrots: carrots sticks, pennies or grated for salad, roasted, boiled with butter and brown sugar or maple syrup, curried, carrot soup...the colors will fade when cooked.

Cabbage: the simplest ways to use this are cut into wedges and serve with a bit of salt, or shred and add to salad.

Potatoes: bakes, boiled, mashed, roasted, see the roasted rosemary potato recipe below.

Beets: grate and add to salad, roast, pickle,

Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook.

Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes.

Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc...use like spinach

Kale: this nutritional powerhouse is great stir-fried with olive oil and garlic (scapes)

Garlic Scapes: the soft neck of the garlic--wonderful garlic flavor, cooked or raw. Discard any firm portion unless you enjoy the crunchiness.

Carrot Bread

Ingredients List:

4 medium eggs.

2 ½ cups of flour.

2 cups of carrots, shredded finely.

1 ½ cups of sugar.

1 ¼ cups of corn oil.

2 teaspoons of cinnamon.

2 teaspoons of baking powder.

1 ½ teaspoons of baking soda.

¼ teaspoon of salt.

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350°F (175°F).

Cream the corn oil and sugar.

Add each of the four eggs one at a time, beating thoroughly after each is added.

Blend in the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

Fold in the shredded carrot.

Bake in a greased loaf pan for about 90 minutes.

Allow to cool on a wire rack.

--from www.carrotrecipes.net ---a treasure trove of all sorts of carrot recipes.


Thank You
Thank you this week to Elizabeth Swope, Assistant Farm Manager, Law Reh, farm staff, and each of the trainees for a tremendous harvesting job during all of the heat last week and for the great season so far. Nice work guys!

Hope you are enjoying the seasonal eating and the farm experience each week.

Scott

Hello from the steamy fields!

This week we've been enjoying the warm weather and finding that 100 degrees is tolerable but not desirable. The frequent rains of seemingly yesterday are long gone, so we have the trickle irrigation going and some sprinklers to get water to the sun-baked fields. The garlic harvest continues and the curing racks upstairs showcase a great abundance of garlic. We are also beginning to harvest potatoes and will kick off with the tasty Red Norland variety. Fall planting of squash, pumpkins and broccoli family plants is underway also.


Organic Thoughts:

Organic farming and food is often viewed or labeled by what is not--no chemicals, no synthetic fertilizers, no genetically modified seed...and so on. What about looking at it from it does do? Without waxing philosophical or getting too heady, organic growing strives to look the whole realm of what is happening above and below ground, to understand the natural processes and work with them to encourage healthy soils and in turn, healthy crops. We do a good bit of composting here on the farm, as well as purchase compost to enrich the soil, take soil samples each year to ensure that the major and minor elements necessary for healthy growth are present, grow nitrogen-fixing crops such as sunn hemp, hairy vetch, and clover, which pull nitrogen from the atmosphere and translocate it to root nodules for the benefit of subsequent plants, grow smother crops such as buckwheat and sorghum sudangrass to outpace the weeds and add organic matter to the soil, practice crop rotation to keep disease or insects from building up, and apply trace minerals to the soil such as boron and sulfur that are vital, but only need to be present at about one part per million in the ground, and using drip irrigation that uses much less water only waters the crop and not the weeds

Wanted: Rain please apply to the farm

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest:

• Cabbage: the simplest ways to use this are cut into wedges and serve with a bit of salt, or shred and add to salad.
• Potatoes: bakes, boiled, mashed, roasted, see the roasted rosemary potato recipe below.
• Beets: grate and add to salad, roast, pickle,
• Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook.
• Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes.
• Napa Cabbage: use in salad or stir fries. Mild and crisp.
• Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc...use like spinach
• Kale: this nutritional powerhouse is great stir-fried with olive oil and garlic (scapes)
• Garlic Scapes: the soft neck of the garlic--wonderful garlic flavor, cooked or raw. Discard any firm portion unless you enjoy the crunchiness.
• Collards: similar to kale--highly nutritious

Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

INGREDIENTS

1/2 Cup Feta cheese (optional)1 Red onion (medium)
3 lbs Potatoes
1 Bell pepper (medium)
1/4 tsp Salt
4 tbsp Olive oil
2 tbsp Balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp Rosemary
1/4 tsp Black pepper
2 Garlic cloves

DIRECTIONS

Dice Potatoes

Combine Potatoes, chopped onion, 2 tbsp olive oil, garlic, rosemary, salt & pepper.

Toss to coat.

Bake at 450F uncovered for 25-35 minutes until potatoes are cooked through. Stir twice.

In a small bowl, combine balsamic vinegar and 2 tbsp olive oil. Whisk to combine.

Transfer potato mixture into a large bowl and stir in vinegar/oil mixture. Be sure to coat all potatoes well. Add bell pepper (cut into strips) and toss.

Topping: 1/2 C feta cheese OR 3 tbsp roasted pine nuts

--adapted from wpgriffin.com

Simple Summer Cabbage Salad

Not sure what to do with cabbage? Here is a simple recipe that I like to make frequently:

--Slice a head of cabbage or half of one
sprinkle with salt to taste
sprinkle with a bit of sugar
add one small chopped onion
add two cloves of minced garlic
drizzle about a Tbsp of olive oil over
pour 1/4c of cider vinegar over
add hot pepper flakes or powder to taste
allow to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes then refrigerate
top with chopped peanuts when serving


Hope you are enjoying the fresh food from the farm!

Scott

Hello from the fertile fields!

As the calendar turns a page, we are turning to some new crops, and are excited to be harvesting garlic, (wow, does it ever smell good upstairs), beets, and regular cabbages. Tomatoes are about walnut-sized right now, and peppers and eggplants are also just a few weeks away. Most crops are early this year thanks to the abundant sunshine and warm that we've been enjoying.

Garlic Party: Next Wednesday (7/7) 9am-12 noon
Want to experience the garlic harvest and learn about garlic growing and curing? There is something earthy and satisfying about sinking a shovel into the ground, loosening the soil and pulling up a giant bulb of garlic from the earth. Come and bring comfortable shoes and clothing, and a garden shovel if you have one. If you are planning to attend, please email to let us know--anytime Wednesday morning is fine--even if for a short while.

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest:

• Cabbage: the simplest ways to use this are cut into wedges and serve with a bit of salt, or shred and add to salad.
• Beets: grate and add to salad, roast, pickle, or see recipe below
• Summer Squash: add raw to salads, steam lightly, or stir-fry. Don't overcook.
• Cucumbers: add to your lettuce and greens for salad. Dice and add to yogurt with onions and garlic scapes. See additional writeup below.
• Napa Cabbage: use in salad or stir fries. Mild and crisp.
• Chard or Swiss Chard: sautee, oil, garlic, parmesan etc.
• Kale: this nutritional powerhouse is great stir-fried with olive oil and garlic (scapes)
• Garlic Scapes: the soft neck of the garlic--wonderful garlic flavor, cooked or raw. Discard any firm portion unless you enjoy the crunchiness.
• Collards: similar to kale--highly nutritious--butter or bacon fat flavor greens superbly
• Scallions: mild green onion, use fresh or cooked
• Bok Choi: this Asian cabbage is excellent stir-fried, w/peanut butter, peanut sauce, soy sauce, garlic onion, etc...Otherwise use as a substitute for regular cabbage in cooking.

Fried Beets:

"I was helping make supper at my sisters and I was in charge of cooking the beets. Years ago I had tried every way to cook beet so I'd like them, didn't work. I wasn't really concerned if the beets turned out OK, because I wasn't going to eat them, so I went for simple. Well when I was stirring them one escaped the pan, picked it up no place to put it, popped it in my mouth. DEEEEE LISH US."

SERVES 4 , 2 1/2 cups (change servings and units)

Ingredients
2 cups cooked sliced young beets
1/4 cup butter
1 cup chopped onion
salt
pepper

Directions

1. Melt butter in non-stick frying pan.
2. Add butter, onions, salt and pepper.
3. Fry on med-low heat until onions are translucent because beets are already cooked.
4. NOTE: To cook beets, trim them leaving approximately 1 1/2 inch stem. Place in large pot with enough cold water to cover, add 1/2 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer until tender. Cooking time depends on how large the beets are. Drain, wearing rubber kitchen gloves, remove skin. Cool. Slice for above recipe.

from http://www.recipezaar.com/recipe/Fried-Beets-319068

Chill out with cukes!
Cucumbers are pretty run of the mill right? Well, eat a few from the farm and you may behold them with new regard! Sweet, mild, crisp and tasty, not to mention refreshing.

We've spent a lot of time thinking about cucumbers this week, harvesting over 1,200 of them! The ergonomic cart funded by a gift from Case New Holland, has been a boon to harvesting the bumper crop. It aids both the person harvesting, keeping them from kneeling, squatting, and lifting repeatedly, while protecting the tender cucumber vines from our trampling feet. A big thank you to shareholder Morgan Forney for helping to bring this to fruition!

Cucumbers are nature's way of keeping us cool when things heat up. They cool the body, restore body fluids,quench our thirst, provide vitamin C, Folate, dietary fiber and potassium.

Looking for ideas of what to do with all these cucumbers?

Blend up some cucumber gazpacho; add cucumber slices to you water pitcher for refreshing cucumber water…serve with a sprig of mint; make spring rolls with cucumber, fresh basil and mango; make tangy tabouleh; relax with cucumber slices over your eyes and soak in the goodness (they really are good for your skin); sip cucumber martinis; make pickles; serve tea sandwiches with cucumber and a soft cheese; juice up a cucumber along with cilantro or dill and season with salt to taste; make cooling cucumber raita with yogurt; eat them on the go and think of it as nature's own water bottle; make cucumber salad, of course; cucumber boats--hollow out the seeds and fill with herbed cream cheese or your favorite dip; have a sushi party and make cucumber nori rolls.

Food to Share?

If you are making, or have made a dish with veggies from the farm and would like to share your success and recipe with other shareholders, please feel free to bring in some samples and a recipe to display with it here at the distribution table.

Enjoy! Scott