What's happening at the farm, eye on toad, subsoiling, asian eggplant

Hours:
Th 3-7
Fri 11-7
Sat 9-1

It's been another good week at the farm as we planted a lot of fall crop seeds including carrots, dill, radishes, cilantro, arugula, salad turnips, Asian greens and Asian cabbages, spinach, lettuce mix and more.  We are starting to see orange peaking out at us through the pumpkin field, and anticipate a great harvest of both pumpkins and winter squash like butternuts and cheese squash.  We continue to remove the mulch and drip irrigation from the finished melon patch, and combed the the potato field yesterday for fugitive potatoes.

Helping Homefields --VOLUNTEERS NEEDED….. for the Homefields Golf Tournament  

Homefields, the owner and landlord of the this property, has their gold tournament just around the corner…Friday / September 16th.   "Once again we are looking for volunteers for the upcoming event.  We may need some volunteers in the morning but certainly can use help in the afternoon, starting at 10:30 AM til 6 PM.  We are looking for volunteers to help with the following areas":

• Greeters (welcoming players, directing them to registration and informing them of ticket sales)

• Registration (hand out Goodie Bags and direct them to the ticket sales tables)

• Ticket Sales for:

Game Bundles

Lunch Tickets

50/50 Raffle

• Putting Contest (next to the 1st Tee)

• Hole Monitors at Tee and Hole:

#6 – “Hole in One” – cash prize   

#17 – “Tractor”

• Floaters (provide breaks for the hole monitors)

• Prize Table Set-up

• 50/50 Raffle sales at dinner

• Signage Pick-up on the Course after the tournament

• Clean Up and Tear Down after the tournament

• Other duties as assigned

Contact Kay at info@homefields.org if you would like to help out or play golf in support of Homefields 

Serving Suggestions for the Harvest: 
potatoes: these potatoes have great flavor: bake, boil, olive oil and parsley potato salad and much more.
sweet peppers:  so many shapes and colors when ripe.  They are easy to freeze, halve, core and freeze on a baking tray, then put into freezer bags.  See recipe below...
eggplant: Italian or Asian type, they are the same in use and taste and come in stunning colors.  great on the grill with soy sauce and oil brushed on.  see recipe below
sweet onions: mild, yummy--salads, burgers, cuke and tomato salad, carmelize
tomatoes: super tomatoes--are we in Washington Boro? :-)  tomato cucumber salad, anything and everything
carrots:  eat fresh, roast in oven, boil and add maple syrup and butter.
garlic: great in everything
scallions: use in salad, or anywhere onions are appreciated.

Toad gets a ride on our compost spreader before I fetched him out--he was relieved


our neighbor subsoiling the new land to boost drainage and make subsoil nutrients available

Asian Eggplant with Miso
1 asian eggplant (cut in half lengthwise)
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp white miso
2 tsp saké
2 tsp mirin
1 tsp sugar
1 green onion, sliced (optional)
1/2 tsp sesame seeds, toasted (optional)
1. Preheat oven to 430°F (220°C). Line baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
2. Wash eggplants and cut lengthwise. Brush the inside sides of the eggplant sides with the sesame oil. Brush the inside (cut-side) with olive oil.  Bake for 30 minutes till soft and slightly brown.
3. Bring mirin and sake to a gentle boil on low heat. Add white miso and sugar, and stir till smooth. Remove from heat. (Leftover miso mix may be stored in the fridge.)
4. When eggplants are cooked and soft, switch the oven to the broil mode. Brush eggplant tops with miso mixture and grill for about 5 minutes till the miso bubbles. Garnish with green onion or  some toasted white sesame seeds if you are so inclined. Serve warm.
 from: http://tastespace.wordpress.com/2010/01/28/baked-asian-eggplant-with-miso/

Enjoy!

Your farmers

August 18

Th:3-7
Fri 11-7
Sat 9-1

Hello from the farm,

This week we are harvesting potatoes, pulling up the mulch and irrigation tubes that prospered the onion crop, cutting off some vigorous elephant ear weeds that are too entrenched to pull out and remembering a wonderful crop of watermelons and cantaloupes that we've enjoyed over the last several weeks. It was a good run. Farmers being scientists in disguise, it was interesting to see that the melons did noticeably on blue mulch as opposed to the standard black, while tomatoes do better with red film mulch.
 As the season starts to change, What's ahead for fall?  Look for jack o' lantern pumpkins, butternuts, cabbage, broccoli and cauliflower, arugula, cilantro, salad turnips, radishes, Indian corn, popcorn and more as we get into September.

As your leaves drop, feel free to deposit them on the compost pile behind the greenhouse where the sign indicates fresh material should be placed.  No treated materials or non-biodegradable items please.

 so many melons...




Serving Suggestions for the Harvest: 
potatoes: these potatoes have great flavor: bake, boil, olive oil and parsley potato salad and much more.
sweet peppers:  so many shapes and colors when ripe.  They are easy to freeze, halve, core and freeze on a baking tray, then put into freezer bags.  See recipe below...
eggplant: Italian or Asian type, they are the same in use and taste and come in stunning colors.  great on the grill with soy sauce and oil brushed on.
sweet onions: mild, yummy--salads, burgers, cuke and tomato salad, carmelize
tomatoes: super tomatoes--are we in Washington Boro? :-)  tomato cucumber salad, anything and everything
carrots:  eat fresh, roast in oven, boil and add maple syrup and butter.
garlic: great in everything
scallions: use in salad, or anywhere onions are appreciated.

Unearthing Potatoes


Children's Activity at the Farm this Sat 10 am with Aaron Joseph
join shareholder Aaron Joseph for singing and fun at the sunflower house this Saturday

Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper-Cayenne Sauce

Ingredients

• 12 ounces dry fettuccine pasta
• 2 red bell peppers, julienned
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 3/4 cup chicken broth
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 8 to 10 minutes or until al dente; drain.
2. Meanwhile, spray cooking oil in a large skillet and saute red bell peppers, garlic and cayenne pepper over medium heat for 3 to 5 minutes.
3. Stir in sour cream and broth; simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.
4. Toss hot pasta with sauce and season with salt and pepper to taste; serve.
   --from allrecipes.com

Red Pepper-Fresh Corn Salad Recipe
This red pepper and fresh corn salad recipe is a colorful, and delicious way to break that summer salad routine. A crunchy, sweet, fresh corn salad is perfect for any picnic, cookout, or barbecue.

Makes 8 Portions of Red Pepper and Fresh Corn Salad

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes

Total Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 ears corn, husked
• 2 large red bell peppers, seeded, sliced into small strips
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley, or cilantro
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preparation:

Cook the corn in boiling salted water for 5 minutes. Drain, and when cool enough to handle, cut the kernels off the cob into a mixing bowl, with a sharp knife. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix thoroughly. Chill and toss again before serving. Taste and adjust seasoning to your tastes.
 ---from about.com


Enjoy!

Your farmers 

Notes from Your Farm

Th 3-7
Fri 11-7
Sat 9-1

News Flash: unlimited U-pick tomatoes for saucing, salsa, freezing, canning--in addition to the tomatoes that we pick for your share.  Bring baskets or whatever you like to carry them in. 
hello from the farm!

The bleached out August foliage and parched tan soil received a wonderful, soaking, one inch rain Tuesday. It was delightful. We almost danced for joy, well our hearts rejoiced anyway. The bumper crops of sweet and storage onions is amazing, and harvesting them finished up right ahead of the rain. Peppers and tomatoes are in their glory and expect to see a lot of them in the weeks ahead. Melons are winding down as are zucchini and cucumbers.  

Some of you asked about seedless watermelons--they are produced by crossing melons with incompatible chromosome numbers, resulting in a sterile fruit when the second generation is grown. (Similar to crossing a horse and a donkey to get a mule)  A nurseryman friend musing on seedless fruits, speculates that seedless fruits may be less nutritious since a host of nutrients are created in the seed formation process.  Seedless melons are notoriously finicky and tempermental to grow, but there seems to be enough desire for them among shareholders that we'll try a test row or two next season to see how it grow.




Homefields 15th Annual Golf Tournament to Support Homefields
Friday September 16, 2011, 7:30 and 12:30 shotgun start, scramble format.  A great way to have fun and support Homefields, the owner and founder of the farm at the same time.
Registration: 7:00–7:30 a.m. and 11:30 –12:30 p.m. Breakfast 7:00–7:30 a.m., Lunch 11:30 –12:30 p.m., Dinner 5:00 p.m.Lunch is available to afternoon golfers at a reduced rate. Open driving range beginning at 7:00 a.m. Prizes follow each round.  Register early to secure a spot at
http://www.homefields.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3&Itemid=4  and check out homefields.org as well.

Sweet or Hot, Green or Red?  Getting to know Peppers
Green Peppers are simply unripe peppers, and red, orange and yellow and purple peppers are ripe, therefore having a sweeter and richer flavor.  Why do colored peppers cost more?  Like most fruits, immature ones are less likely to to succumb to rot and mold diseases, so they are much to easier to grow and harvest.  In others words, you are getting one sweet deal with our organic colored peppers!

Although bell peppers are what we usually see in the store, there are other shapes of sweet peppers that are equally tasty or better than bell-shaped peppers.  And no, they are not hot.  We won't mix hot peppers with the sweet ones except on April Fool's day.
Peppers freeze well--halve or quarter, remove seeds and membrane, freeze on trays so they don't stick together, then put in bags or freezer bags. Easy. 

A Big Orange
Speaking of colors, we have a shiny orange tractor, A Big Orange, which we all relished this week. Its arrival was the fruition of several years of grant writing and process.  Special thanks to the Goodwill Industries Keystone Area Foundation for the grant which provided the bulk of the funding, and to John McHenry, Jenn Diaz, Sue Soderburg, Jen Hess and Christine Roggenbaum for their support.

Looking a bit like a large sandbox toy, it will be used for chisel plowing, high clearance cultivating and harvesting, as well as having the oomph to lift the transplanter safely with no seesaw effect.  We haven't had this much excitement around here since I fell into a vat of fish emulsion...just kidding about the fish emulsion.
 


Children's Saturday Event at the Farm:

Just a reminder, this Saturday is family time at the farm. Join Aaron Joseph at the sunflower house, 10am, for a little learning, a little music, and a lot of FUN!!

Also--take note, swallowtail caterpillars are loving the fennel and dill in the herb beds..There is a chrysalis up on the table for everyone to check out..but you may want to keep an eye out for more!

 Thank You:  a hearty thanks to the Goodwill Keystone Area Foundation and Goodwill for providing the grant and funds for the tractor. Thank you Elizabeth, Law Reh, Kim, Brian, Pat, Brad, Scott C, Eric, Matt, Adam, Cameron, Shawn, Earl, Del, and Glenn for an excellent season so far. Thanks to you for being a part of the farm and appreciating what we do.
 
Scott Breneman
Farm Manager 

Notes from Your Farm

Hello from the farm,

It's the height of summer bounty--tomatoes, peppers, eggplants and melons.  The inch of rain that we had about a week ago was great, but it didn't make amends for all the 100 degree temperatures, wind and sun that pulled the moisture out of the ground and the plants.   It's fascinating how well certain weeds can manage to flourish under these conditions--redroot and lambsquarter seem to go from 6 inches to 16 inches in just a few days.

The days are shortening and we are thinking about fall crops even while marveling at, and trying to stay ahead of, the current harvest abundance,  applying compost to the fields and checking out the winter squash, pumpkins and fall broccoli and cabbage transplants. 

Orangeglo Watermelon


Childrens Events at the Farm August 13 and August 20  10:00am
 by friend of the farm Aaron Joseph and Kim Stoltzfus, farm distribution diva


 Check us out on Facebook:  see what we are up to, the joys and trials of farming: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Goodwill-at-Homefields-Farm/121147947971207


Pick Your Own Update:
 Sunflowers are Gangbusters--Limit is 5 and 10 per half/full share
 Sungold Cherry Tomatoes:Picking up Steam--1 Quart and 1/2 Quart Season Limit 
Basil--no limit.
 Zinnias--5 and 10 stems this week again
 Hot Peppers:  1 quart total per season
 Celosia--use as an accent--not a whole lot there
 Stevia--try a few leaves as a sweetener--no glycemic load and few/no calories
 Herbs at the barn: in general, cut the top third of the plant--not sure ask us.



Serving Suggestions for the Harvest: 
sweet onions: mild, yummy--salads, burgers, cuke and tomato salad, carmelize
watermelon: Orangeglo--orange fleshed, super sweet and tasteey, our farm favorite for sure.  In red, we are picking some other kinds--Crimson Sweet, Ali Baba, and Sangria.
cantaloupes: wow, these are good.  Try serving with a sprinkle of freshly ground black pepper.
tomatoes: super tomatoes--are we in Washington Boro? :-)  tomato cucumber salad, anything and everything
carrots:  eat fresh, roast in oven, boil and add maple syrup and butter.
garlic: great in everything
cucumbers:  these are slowing down and fading away--enjoy while they are still here. great plain, salads, sandwiches, cucumber salad
zucchini: grate and freeze for zucchini bread and cookies, stir fry, raw in salads.
cabbage: raw in wedges with a touch of salt, cabbage soup, salad.  Zucchini are also almost finished.
scallions: use in salad, or anywhere onions are appreciated.

Our watermelons make us smile :-) 


Thank You

Thank you this week for a great harvest effort from the trainees and farm staff, to Bob McClure for a pretty nifty chicken feeder, and to the many friends and neighbors who help us out in so many ways.


Scott Breneman
Farm Manager