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