Harvest Party 2018—What a Fun Day!

By Farmers Richard & Andrea

Fall is one of our favorite times of the year and we were happy to have been able to share a beautiful fall day with some of our CSA members last Sunday at our Harvest Party.  Saturday night and Sunday morning were on the cool side, but the sun came out and shone bright all day giving us just enough warmth to make for a comfortable, beautiful day for the festivities!  For all of us, this is a special last party of the season.  No, we are not done harvesting for the year, we actually have quite a lot of vegetables still to harvest and we’re still working on our storm clean-up projects.  Nonetheless, it’s always nice to take a pause in the midst of the fall harvest to spend a special day with you, our members.  The energy and encouragement we gain from spending time with you will keep us strong as we finish out the season.

"Jack the Dog" waiting for someone to play "stick" with him.

We want to thank all of the members who took time to attend the party.  It was great to meet new members who were visiting the farm for the first time and we were happy to see some of our longtime members who make an effort to visit the farm every year.  It’s the people that make this party special to us and in many ways it’s like having a homecoming! Their excitement is contagious as they eagerly ask questions such as, “Where are the pumpkins this year?” and “Can we dig sweet potatoes?”    One of our younger members (2 years old) was at our Strawberry Day event back in June and came back for another visit this fall.  She came camping with her mother and they arrived at the farm late Saturday afternoon.  When her mother took her out of the car, she took a look around and it was super-cool for Andrea to see the excitement wash over her face.  Her eyes were twinkling and a smile quickly formed on her face followed by excited chatter when she realized where she was.  She squealed “Farm” and “Jack the Dog.”  We went up to the office where Jack was still taking his afternoon nap.  He woke up quickly and greeted our sweet, young member with kisses while she gave him lots of pets.

We kicked off our party on Sunday with our annual potluck.  Angel, one of our longtime crew members, is responsible for preparing the delicious roasted pork we enjoyed in tacos.  The pork was raised on our pastures and Angel slow-roasted it in our underground brick oven which he lined with cactus leaves.  On Saturday afternoon he prepared the pork by seasoning the pieces with salt, pepper, garlic and onion and then slathering it with a mild guajillo sauce he made.  The pork was then wrapped in packets and lowered into the oven which was tightly covered for the night.  The next morning Angel, with the help of his visiting cousin Francisco, opened up the oven and pulled the packets out.  When we opened them up we were pleased to see tender, juicy meat!  We served the meat with a simple cabbage slaw on tortillas with a choice of three different sauces featuring our tomatillos and Korean peppers (that was the hot one).  The table was filled with so many delicious dishes members brought including some very interesting things like gorgeous raw butternut salad!  It truly was a “Feast for Kings.”  While we ate we enjoyed the gentle, mellow music of Sonic Love Child.  Dave, Shirley & Nicole have been with us for several years, sharing their musical talents with us which really changes the ambiance of the party and has become a signature part of our fall event.  We appreciate their willingness to make the journey to the farm every year to be part of this special day.

Farmer Richard and Manuel M teaching children how to dig
sweet potatoes.

Once our bellies were full, we were off to the fields!  Sweet potatoes were our first stop.  As much as we love seeing our adult friends, the sweet potato field is where the kids take center stage.  They take turns helping us dig clusters of sweet potatoes, which we refer to as “Wisconsin Bananas.”  They love pulling the clusters out of the soil, grasping the moist sweet potatoes and shaking away the dirt to see just how big it really is!  Each potato is different, each finding a welcome hand to pull them from the moist earth.  It looks like a very, very nice crop which we finished harvesting on Monday afternoon.  They are in the greenhouse, also known as the “Sweet Potato Sauna House,” where we’ll “cure” them for the next 7-10 days at 85°F and high humidity.  This helps set their skins and develop the starches into sugar.

Vicente helping some children cut their pumpkins from the vine

Before we left the sweet potato field area we pulled a few celeriac, cut a celery and harvested a little bit of kale.  Then we loaded up the wagons and headed to the carrot and chard fields.  “Dig this one for me!”  “Wow, this carrot is big!”  “This one is crooked!”  “This one is purple!”  “How do you pick chard?  It is so pretty!”  Wait, let us show you how to twist off one stem at a time, don’t pull up the whole plant!  It was so awesome to hear all the questions, see the excitement and watch everyone enjoy being in the fields and being able to harvest things for themselves.  We also had some very observant members who found a few artifacts in the field.  “What is this rock?”  “Farmer Richard says it is a ‘chip’ from a stone tool maker who lived here a thousand years ago!”  This area is now our pumpkin field which was filled with some very nice pumpkins!  There were big Jack-O-Lanterns with fat handles, many warty “Knucklehead” pumpkins and the silky “Winter Luxury” pie pumpkins that many sought out with visions of pie in their heads.  There were plenty for all and we still have a lot remaining!

Butternut Squash Cupcakes with Chai Buttercream frosting
from Bloom Bakeshop

We made our way back to the farm, the kids now tired from lugging their pumpkins out of the fields, pulling sweet potatoes, stomping in mud puddles and running through the soft, muddy parts of the fields.  There’s something special about playing in the mud and the farm is one place it’s ok to do that!  Back at the farm we enjoyed more music while we ate our afternoon treat which was Butternut Squash Cupcakes topped with Chai Buttercream frosting.  These were made special for our party by our friend Annemarie and her crew at Bloom Bakeshop in Madison.  They even used our own HVF butterscotch butternut squash to make them!  We washed them down with iced maple latte featuring Kickapoo Coffee.  We also enjoyed kombucha made with HVF Sweet Sarah melons.  The kids spent more time with Captain Jack playing his favorite game of “stick.”  Some members meandered around the farm, picking Concord grapes, checking out the pile of sweet potatoes in the greenhouse, walking through the bins of winter squash and admiring the gorgeous green cover crop now growing in the cold frame greenhouse.

We also played a little game of “Guess the weight of the Vegetables.”  We made a beautiful display of some of the vegetables we’re harvesting now, but carefully selected either really big ones or really small ones.  We told you we’d announce the winner of the game in this week’s newsletter, so here you go.  Briana Burton from Madison, Wisconsin was the member who got the most answers correct without going over.  For those of you who are wondering, here are the actual weights and counts of the vegetables we had on display:

Listada Eggplant:  2.38#

Red Savoy Cabbage:  5#

Kabocha Squash:  5.92#

Butternut Squash:  5.26#

Burgundy Sweet Potato:  3.6#

There were 183 red grape tomatoes in the one pound jar.

There were 41 Mexican heirloom tomatillos in the one pound jar.

Briana nailed the tomatillo count with an exact match!  Nice job Briana!  Watch the mail for your $10 HVF Gift Certificate!

 Richard & Andrea chatting with members in the pumpkin field

We truly had a great day and enjoyed spending time with some really awesome people.  As we reflected on the day while we ate dinner Sunday evening, we both had to agree that we have some really great members. There were several families who enjoyed our Hammel Lane campsite Saturday night and everyone seemed to have a pretty good night’s rest as they were lulled to sleep by the owls.  Of course, we have a special place in our hearts for the children and time and time again we’re blown away by CSA kids.  They are intelligent, pleasant to talk with and so very insightful!  From the smallest ones exploring the farm and all its wonders for the first time to the older kids who have been coming to the farm for several years, or most of their lives in some cases!  They aren’t afraid to try new things, embrace new experiences with zeal, and are very aware of their surroundings as they take it all in.  Richard had an opportunity to talk with one of our super-awesome CSA kids who’s been eating our vegetables his whole life.  As he reflected on the farm, he made an effort to seek out Richard and share his thoughts.  He thanked me (Richard) sincerely for the opportunity to visit and expressed that the day “put him in a zone,” a good zone that he needed.  In touch with the fields of vegetables, the sky, the trees, a good “zone” to be in.  Healthy, intelligent kids who are alive and aware.  We’re grateful for them as well as their parents who have chosen to make organic food a priority in their households and carve out time in their busy schedules to visit the farm and allow us the opportunity to form long lasting connections.  We truly believe these kids are going to grow up and do great things in this world to change it for the better.  We’re really proud of them and look forward to feeding them and following their journeys for many years to come!

What a Party! A Recap of Our 2017 Harvest Party

By Farmer Richard

Members enjoying a light snack before the wagon tour!

One of our younger members
stretching to step over the drain!

Last Sunday we hosted our annual Fall Harvest Party and had a great day!  Preparation for this party starts days before with planning, sending out invitations, ordering food, supplies, etc.  Then, the Saturday before the party comes and we kick it into high gear to get everything ready.  Our crew still had harvest to do as we finished putting together our orders for the week, but we all worked together to get the jobs done and then spent the last few hours of Saturday washing the work tractors, loading wood crates onto harvest wagons for the tour and making sure we were “parade ready.”  The packing shed crew spiffed up their area, moved equipment out and moved picnic tables in as we prepared for the potluck.  Andrea spent all day preparing snacks and food including some delicious caramelized onion & roasted poblano dip, black bean salad with tomato vinaigrette, fig & apple chutney and purple tomatillo salsa!  Angel, Oscar and Ascencion spent much of the day preparing the underground brick oven and the pork so it could slow-roast overnight.  By the end of the day we were all tired, but excited for the next day and its activities.

We had some members who came on Saturday afternoon so they could camp out on Saturday night.  They set up their tents in our camping area by the river, built a nice fire for cooking and beat the heat with frequent dips in the river to keep cool.  Chris & Lisa (members from Madison) brought a super powerful telescope.  After the sun went down, we had clear skies which made for spectacular star gazing.  We could see Saturn with its rings, Jupiter and its moons and the Andromeda galaxy.  What a cool treat!  All of the campers seemed to enjoy their night with a few hooting owls and other night sounds. 

We enjoyed music performed by Dave & Ryan!

Sunday dawned, clear and warm for last minute set-up and preparations.  Michelle arrived and took over kitchen duties so Andrea was free to mix & mingle.  Scott, Gregorio and Manuel pitched in too to help grill tortillas, finish preparing the pork and make sure everything was ready for the potluck.  Our guests started arriving at noon and enjoyed snacks and the gentle music of the Sonic Love Child.  Dave, one of the band members, is a CSA member from Minneapolis.  Unfortunately the other members of his group weren’t able to come this year, but Dave recruited another musician friend (Ryan) who actually lives in Viroqua and the two of them played for us.  The kids enjoyed giving Captain Jack (the dog) pets on the head and tossed sticks for him.  Kids of all ages tried to guess the number of baby potatoes in the gallon jar.  The winner was Clara, a young CSA member who walked away with the big jar of potatoes to enjoy!

Farmer Richard showing members how to dig sweet potatoes!

Look at this sweet potato!

One of the larger sweet potato finds this year!

Finally, it was time for the field tour!  We had 3 full wagons with a headcount of about 100 people!  We set out for our first stop at the tomato/eggplant/pepper field by the river.  We parked in the shade and spread out to find our favorites.  Some went to tomatoes, others meandered down the rows of eggplant and many enjoyed snacking on bright, sweet, warm peppers!  It’s great to see kids wrestling peppers off a plant and tentatively tasting.  Finding it sweet, they look for more.  You know the expression “kid in a candy store?!”  Yes, it’s a little like that.  After we’d had our fill, we hopped back on the wagons and headed to the sweet potato field!  We passed a very nice field of broccoli and celeriac and stopped to dig sweet potatoes.  This is a much different harvesting experience, having to remove the vines and dig to loosen the dirt with a shovel in order to pull the sweet potato bunch from the dry ground.  We have several different varieties we’re trialing this year, so we dug in several different places to check on the progress of the different kinds.  We found some very nice sweet potatoes, but it was agreed that many were on the small side and needed another week or two to grow to their full potential!

Our next stop was the pumpkin field!  We picked as many as we could including some 20# Jack-O-Lanterns and many smaller “winter luxury” pie pumpkins.  There were plenty of pumpkins for everyone and many still remained in the field as we drove away.  While we would’ve liked to stay and keep picking, we had to get back to the farm for the potluck! 

Some Members prefer the smaller pumpkins.

And some liked the bigger ones!

Chef Andrea with her wee little pie pumpkin.

The roasted pork turned out great and we enjoyed it carnitas style on corn tortillas with cabbage slaw and salsa.  Rufino made a super spicy sauce that took some by surprise!  We filled our plates, making sure we saved room for ice cream brought by Madison member, Sarah!  We had had such a great day, but wait!  We still had more activities to do!  Captain Jack took a place on the sideline, exhausted from chasing sticks and Frisbees.  While he rested, Rafael took a group to test dig the fall carrot field.  His group came back with big bunches of nice orange, yellow, red and purple carrots.  Meanwhile I took a group to check out a magnificent bald-faced hornet nest in the tree behind the office.  We also took a walk through one of our prairie spaces to collect wildflower seeds.  We wandered up to the woods and foraged for hickory nuts and stumbled upon a small patch of ghost plants!  This is a rare and strange plant that is “ghostly white”, having no chlorophyll.  We ended the walk by swinging past the Concord grape vines where we paused to pick a few to pop in our mouths.  One final visit to the goats and ducks and then it was officially time to bring the party to a close and head home!  While we were off on our adventures, our dedicated crew had already started cleaning up the wagons and was getting the packing shed put back together so we’d be ready to hit the ground running first thing on Monday morning.

After the tours, members could go with Rafael to
see and dig some carrots to take home.

Some HVF Crew took breaks under
the wagon to cool off!

Farmer Richard talking with members about Jicama!

Thanks to those that made the time to come and visit us.  We enjoyed your company and enthusiasm and hope you too enjoyed your farm experience.  If you weren’t able to join us this year, mark your calendars for next year and join us for a super-fun day at the farm!  We also want to pass on a big “Thank You” to all of our crew members who pitched in and helped us put on another great party.  Now that the party is over, it’s back to work for another busy week of packing CSA boxes, harvesting root crops, tomatoes, peppers and more!  Hope to see you next year!

Harvest Party 2016: An Official Invitation from Your Farmers

By Farmer Richard & Andrea

     Our Harvest Party is coming up in just a little over a week! We hope you’ll join us for the festivities on Sunday, September 25...it’s going to be a lot of fun! In our late summer newsletters we’ve been talking about forming a connection with nature and learning more about the source of your food. Well…now is your chance to visit your farm and see for yourself! The festivities will start at noon and will wrap up by 5 pm...leaving enough time to journey home and tuck the kiddos in for a good night’s rest before school the next day (trust us…they’ll sleep well after an afternoon at the farm). If you’d like to make a full weekend out of it, we’d love to share our campground with you! Spend a night under the stars in our valley. Listen to the flow of the river, the croaking bullfrogs, the owls talking in the distance and maybe even a little chatter from the coyotes.
     So what’s on the agenda? Pumpkins, of course! Our field tour will end in the pumpkin patch where you will find more than enough pumpkins for everyone. We have an assortment of pumpkins including warty knuckle-heads, Jack-O-Lanterns with nice handles, and even some pie pumpkins. But before we get to the pumpkins we have a few other stops. The Harvest Party is never complete without a stop in the sweet potato field. We have been checking them and they look pretty good…but still a little small. I’m anxious to see what we find after another week of growing. We’ll have to strip the vines and dig down to find them, so be ready to get your hands dirty! We’ll make a stop in the pepper and eggplant field as well. Here you’ll have the opportunity to pick the final fruits of the season. Make sure you bring a bag to carry away your vegetable treasures! In between the peppers and pumpkins we have a beautiful field of fall carrots. If you’ve never eaten a carrot just pulled out of the ground, then you are in for a treat. You might even find some yellow and purple ones!
     We always enjoy spending time with our CSA members as we tour the fields. Over the years we’ve engaged in some very interesting conversations about farming, eating local foods, etc. This is your time to pick our brains, ask questions about the things you are seeing in the fields or anything else that’s on your mind. Several weeks ago Bobbie wrote an article about our area, referred to as The Driftless Region. We encourage you to read that article before you come to the farm and pay attention to the landscape as you approach. It truly is a unique region with beautiful landscape and some real treasures, such as the effigy mounds we found last fall on our own land!

Photo Courtesy of Sonic Love Child's Facebook Page

     We’ll have plenty of activities for you to take part in and enjoy. Sonic Love Child, a group of musicians from the Twin Cities will share their talents as they play a variety of music including American folk, classic country, vintage pop and some originals. Sandy Syburg will be here from Purple Cow Organics with his SoilMobile. We introduced you to Sandy in last week’s newsletter. We encourage you to visit him and his SoilMobile to learn more about just how important soil is to our well-being. He’ll have veggie tattoos for the kids and you can even take a selfie with his Purple Cow mascot!
     Of course we’ll have plenty of delicious food to enjoy. We’ll have some light snacks before we head to the field including our favorite Caramelized Poblano Chile & Onion Dip. We have a special batch of Watermelon Kombucha to share with you, courtesy of NessAlla. Back by popular demand, we’ll be mixing up a batch of Iced Maple Latte featuring Kickapoo Coffee, milk from Castle Rock Organic Dairy and maple syrup from Alvin Miller. After we work up an appetite in the fields, we’ll return to the home farm for a potluck! It’s always fun to see our vegetables come back to the farm in the form of delicious salads, casseroles and such prepared by our members. We’ll also be serving HVF pulled pork and a big pot of vegetarian black beans featuring some of our late summer peppers and onions.

     Over the years we’ve heard a lot of positive comments from members who’ve visited the farm. Their day at the farm has left them with fond memories of playing in the fields, interacting with the animals and enjoying picking and eating vegetables right out of the fields. Children have changed their eating habits after they have had the opportunity to form a connection with “THEIR” farm. The experience of digging in the dirt, harvesting their own food and sitting on the tractor with their farmer are formative experiences that have a lasting impact. If nothing else…Farmer Richard has 7 new ducks including 2 setting hens who have eggs that should hatch around September 20. Richard’s pretty proud of his ducks and is hoping to have some ducklings to show you at the party!

The SoilMobile...Come see it for yourself!

By Andrea Yoder

     We’re moving into that point in the season that Farmer Richard likes to refer to as the “the crack between two worlds,” otherwise known as fall. Summer crops are winding down, fall crops are starting to come in and before long we’ll be harvesting the final crops for winter storage. This is also the time when Farmer Richard makes it a priority to “put the fields to bed for the winter.”  This means applying generous amounts of compost and planting cover crops. So why is this such a priority?  First of all, we don’t like to leave fields vulnerable to erosion by leaving them barren over the winter and the cover crops help keep the soil in place. The other reason cover crops and compost are high priority is because they help replenish and build the soil. The combination of cover crops and applications of compost are vital to ensuring our soils remain rich, full of biodiversity, and have bioavailable nutrients in place for next year’s crop.  Soil is nothing to take for granted…it is literally our life source, and it directly impacts our survival. So, as we set out, year after year, to grow food for you and your family, we take great care to ensure we are doing what we can to enrich and care for our soil. We admit, we’re still learning. Yes, after over 40 years of farming Richard is still learning about how to care for our soil! The bottom line is not all soil is created equally, and it’s just one more reason why it’s so important that we all understand where our food comes from, how the soil it grows in is cared for and form that connection between our food choices, our health and well-being and the environment.
     Our Harvest Party is coming up on September 25, and we’d like to introduce you to one of our friends who will be joining us for the day, Sandy Syburg. You’ll know Sandy when you see him…he’ll be the guy with a smile on his face talking about soil, compost, microbes…oh, and he’ll be standing beside a big bus with a purple cow on the back, a farm scene painted on the side, and quotes about soil written all over the outside of the bus.  Sandy is the President/Co-Founder of Purple Cow Organics, located in Wisconsin, and what I just described to you is Sandy’s SoilMobile. We have worked with Purple Cow for several years now. They make all of the potting soil we use to grow our transplants in the greenhouse and for the past two years we’ve purchased compost from them by the semi-truck load to put on our fields in the fall. We’ve invited Sandy to come to the Harvest Party with his SoilMobile, not because he’s looking to sell you potting soil or compost, but because he has a passion for soil and wants to help others learn more about how important it is for all of us…not just farmers! Sandy’s SoilMobile is actually a repurposed school bus that runs on alternative fuel. 2015 was declared the “International Year of Soils,” and Sandy had the idea to use the SoilMobile as a tool to bring attention to this important topic. Sandy toured around the Midwest in this bus with an educational mission to share this important message:  “The key to life as we know it is healthy soil, and if a nutrient is missing from soil it is not in the food we eat. Plants take nutrients from soil, and our soils are often depleted of the nutrients that plants, animals and humans need. Therefore our soil needs to be rejuvenated.”  Among Sandy’s messages: … “instead of loading soil with chemical fertilizers to make up for nutrients, microbes and organic matter lost over time, replace them organically. It can take hundreds of years to create just a small plot of healthy soil and less than two decades to destroy its usefulness. With soil under siege, everyone should be involved in learning and implementing ways to improve this vital ingredient in growing healthy plants and food.”  Sandy’s message isn’t just for farmers, he’ll talk to anyone! Urban gardeners, community gardens, basically anyone who is interested in growing healthy plants and/or eating healthy food.
     I had the opportunity to talk to Sandy last week to find out more about how he became so passionate about soil. I found out that Sandy actually has many interests and a whole hosts of projects that spin off of each other. To start off, Sandy is actually a “farm boy.”  He grew up on his grandparents’ farm. His grandmother had a 3 acre garden and grew vegetables for the five families that lived on the farm. Sandy’s job was to manage the compost pile under his grandmother’s direction. He remembers her talking passionately about “feeding the soil” and considered it criminal to let any organic residue go to waste. In fact, he remembers his grandmother seeing someone burning leaves in their yard….she did not approve. She sent her grandchildren to pick up the leaves and bring them back to their compost pile. She also referred to hauling manure as “hauling sunshine.”  Thus the concept and practice of making compost and respecting the integrity of soil was something instilled in Sandy’s mind even as a youth. Little did he know that it would become a major part of his life’s work!
     Sandy has been making compost since the mid 80’s. Over the years he’s been involved with promoting and developing the practice of composting.  In the early 90’s there were only a handful of compost facilities in Wisconsin. Over the years this picture has changed and now there are over 200 composting facilities in Wisconsin. In 1993 the DNR banned yard materials from going to the landfill. In 2005-2006, Sandy worked with the state to write new guidelines for composting. This is great because we are no longer sending usable natural products to the landfill. Instead, these residuals are being converted into usable nutrients. As Sandy says..“It’s a no-brainer! Why wouldn’t you allow nature to capture nitrogen in the air instead of having to buy it or use synthetic fertilizer.”
     As we concluded our talk, Sandy reminded me that everything is so connected. We are at the intersection of local food and an understanding about how, where and by whom it was grown. Farmers are learning more profitable and sustainable ways of farming by managing nutrients differently and returning carbon to the soil. Consumers are becoming more ecologically aware and we hope more are becoming interested in the connection between the health of our bodies and the health of our food.
     In case you haven’t noticed a theme in our newsletters recently….we’d like to encourage each of you to build and form a strong connection with the source of where your food is being grown and learn more about how it is grown. We hope to see you at the Harvest Party!

Harvest Party Recap!

by Beth Brown-Lucas

Captain Jack loved meeting everyone

We could not have asked for better weather for our Harvest Party this past Sunday! It was a beautiful sunny day with temperatures in the upper 70s and there was not even a chance of rain. Our party kicked off at noon with a Mix & Mingle and snacks.

Folks started arriving right at noon, excited to tour the farm and meet their fellow CSA members. Captain Jack was ready, making sure he greeted everybody as they arrived. We had delicious light snacks prepared and everyone raved about the Caramelized Poblano Chile & Onion Dip and Roasted Beet & White Bean Dip made by Farmer Andrea. Everybody mingled & chatted while enjoying NessAlla Kombucha and cold press Kickapoo coffee. We had a few activities planned, and kids tried their best to guess the seeds in the “Name that Seed” game or ringing a pumpkin in the Pumpkin Ring Toss.

In the pepper field

At about 1:00 Farmer Richard began loading the wagons for the farm tour. A few families were already on the wagons in anticipation of starting the tour! We loaded up 4 wagons and made our way down the road. Kids & adults were excited to catch a glimpse of the strawberry field and the rhubarb-we had a great view of the fields below. As we continued on our way to the sweet potatoes, we were also able to see the parsley, daikon and leeks.

The sweet potato digging begins

When we arrived at the sweet potatoes, we were all anxious to get off the wagons and into the field! Richard & Andrea led groups of children in digging the first of the sweet potatoes. Before long everyone was pulling sweet potatoes out of the dirt, and there were plenty to go around. Farmer Richard explained how to tell when a sweet potato is ready to harvest, and how the crew has to cut the vines back by hand when harvesting them. Jose Ramon, Alvaro and Rogelio helped cut the vines & dig the potatoes while our guests helped pull up bunches of sweet potatoes. One party attendee found one of the biggest sweet potatoes anyone had ever seen! It was over 2 feet long!

Now that's a giant sweet potato!

After we finished digging sweet potatoes, our wagon caravan made its way to the next stop- peppers, tomatoes, tomatillos and eggplants. Kids were so excited to pick the mini-sweet peppers and eat to their hearts’ content. Everyone wandered through the rows picking Orange Ukraine peppers, tomatillos, eggplant and some tomatoes. We made sure to tell everyone which peppers were the hot peppers, although a few brave souls tried eating raw jalapeños and lived to tell the tale! We were asked lots of great questions, like “How do you know when an eggplant is ready to harvest?”, “Why are the peppers planted on that reflective stuff?”  and “Do you have extra bags?” Our expert farmers and crew were happy to answer questions and help everyone pick and carry lots of great treats back to the wagons.

Picking the perfect pumpkin!

From there we headed to the main attraction-the pumpkin field! Andrea & Richard helped people find the Cinnamon Girl pie pumpkins and we see a lot of pies and pumpkin soup being made soon. Others wanted the big pumpkins for carving and a few took armloads of pumpkins back from the field. Andrea searched high and low for her special pumpkin carved with her name until somebody called out that they found a pumpkin with “AJ” written on it. Captain Jack’s special pumpkin was never found even though Richard made it very easy this year and just carved “Dog” into the pumpkin.  He wasn’t too disappointed that nobody brought his pumpkin back for him though. After everyone had picked their pumpkins, we loaded up the wagons and prepared to head back for the pig roast. A few adventurous partygoers took a tour of the effigy mounds with Richard while the rest of us made our way back to enjoy the food.

The food was plentiful!

Everyone worked up a good appetite with all the field work, and the pig roast was accompanied by an abundance of side dishes, salads and desserts. So many people commented on how wonderful the food was and went back for second and third plates just so they could sample everything! It’s safe to say that nobody went home hungry.
 

Thanks for coming to our party!

At the end of the day, it was a very successful Harvest Party. Many people commented that it was a perfect day to visit the farm and that they loved the chance to see where their food is grown and meet their farmers. It was wonderful to meet so many new people, and see long time friends of the farm. A big thank you to all the Harmony Valley crew who volunteered to help with set-up, drive tractors and clean up after the party ended. Thanks to all who attended the party and made it such a fun day. We were so happy to be able to share the day with you and had so much fun showing you the farm and talking with you. We hope to see you next year!

Late Summer Farm Update

by Captain Jack de Wilde, The Dog

Angel showing off an abundant broccoli harvest!

Hello Everyone!  I’ve been rather quiet recently as we’ve had some other very important topics to discuss in the newsletters this summer.  However, our Harvest Party is coming up in just a few weeks on Sunday, September 27 and you know I can’t keep quiet about a farm party!  Second to winter, fall is one of my favorite times of the year, so I’m happy that the changing of the seasons is upon us. While we’ve had a fairly cool summer with temperatures barely hitting 90°F, we’ve had some hot & steamy days recently.  We’ve had to run the air conditioning in the office so the ladies can stay comfortable and get their work done.  On these hot days I usually only work a half day and stay in the office during the heat of the day.  If you have seen the amount of fur I have, you understand why.

So I thought this would be a good week to fill you in on where we are with things on the farm as summer is winding down and fall is beginning.  With the cool summer we’ve had, many of our fall crops have been growing nicely and are actually coming in ahead of schedule.  We have four fall broccoli plantings that normally mature in late September and all of October.  Well, they’ve already started making heads and the first part of this week the crew cut over 1,200# of broccoli!

Picking Tomatoes

Our long tomato season is soon to come to an end.  Last week we picked over 12,000# of tomatoes! We’re trying to make the most of it before they’re all ripe and gone.  Dad still hasn’t gotten tired of BLT sandwiches and he’s eaten them every week for about 4-5 weeks now!  Benji’s crew said it’s time to stop harvesting melons.  We still have one more watermelon harvest, but after that we can officially say good-bye to watermelons & melons.  Cucumbers and zucchini are also coming to a close.  The peppers are still ripening and we hope to continue picking them until we see the first frost.  I hope you’ve been enjoying the mini-sweet peppers.  These are a special little pepper and we are happy to share them with you this year.

As soon as we finish harvesting a field towards the end of the summer, Dad gets antsy to chop the remaining plants, spread compost on the field, and then plant a soil-improving cover crop mix.  This is very important so we can ensure there are nutrients going back into the soil for next year’s crop. When you come to the farm for the party, I can show you some cool fields with different cover crops on them.

Butternut Squash Harvest

While summer crops are winding down, more fall crops are coming.  Last week we finished digging all the potatoes and also started harvesting the winter squash. We’re getting them in as fast as we can because they are ripe and ready to go.  One problem we have right now is that we still have a lot of onions in the greenhouse where we also need to store the squash!  We’re trying very hard to finish trimming the onions and put them in the cooler so we have more room for all the beautiful winter squash. Just a few more weeks and it will be time to dig sweet potatoes!

The fist burdock root harvest

Around here, fall means serious root crop harvesting.  When it’s time to harvest root crops for winter storage, you’d better stay out of the way.  Nothing holds my Dad or Rafael back!  Last weekend we started harvesting burdock root, which is not something we usually include in CSA boxes, but it’s a very important crop for our farm.  Later this week we’re going to start digging sunchokes and next week’s box will definitely reflect the transition from summer to fall.  Celery root, leeks, potatoes….time to make soup!

We have many more tasty vegetables to harvest for you though before we get into the heavy root crops.  Jicama, lemongrass, celery, Portuguese kale and I almost forgot the fall cabbages!  Dad loves creamed cabbage and creamy cole slaw.  I don’t care for these dishes, but we usually have these things with cheeseburgers…which I do like!

Well, I know I forgot some things, but you get the jist that there’s a lot happening around here!  Dad and I have been checking the pumpkins, which should be ready just in time for the party.  Have I mentioned we’re having a party?  Just a reminder that I’m a dog and will need help at the party to get my pumpkin out of the field and onto the wagon.  Usually there are plenty of children who are willing to help, but I thought I’d be proactive and ask in advance so you can put this event on your calendar and make plans to attend.  It’s going to be a fun day and we hope you’ll join us!

Survey Says!

 By Andrea Yoder
   It’s hard to believe our first CSA deliveries of the 2015 season are just 7 weeks away!  We’re looking forward to all the special spring vegetables including overwintered spinach, wild-harvested ramps, tangy sorrel, asparagus, and sweet overwintered parsnips.  Over the past 2 weeks we’ve enjoyed some sunny, beautiful days and welcomed warmer temperatures.  Our small year-round crew has been busy trimming the willow hedgerows & washing the last of our winter storage crops.  They’ve also worked very hard to get our first two greenhouses cleaned and sterilized.  The houses are filling up quickly and it’s refreshing to see the vibrant, new green sprouts.

Laurel & Andrea unpacking lemongrass & ginger

   Richard and I have been putting together our plans for the season.  Richard has been plotting out his field plan, planning which fields need to have minerals applied this spring, and making sure we have all the necessary supplies for the field crew to get to work when they arrive in just a little over two weeks!  I’ve been working on planting plans for greenhouse plantings and making sure we have all the seeds for the season.  There is a lot that goes into the decisions we make from year to year, including the feedback we get from you….our loyal members!  At the end of the 2014 season we asked for your feedback in the form of our end-of-season survey.  Over 600 members contributed their input and we really appreciate the information we gleaned from the survey.  We wanted to share some of the results we received and a little insight into how this impacts some of our decisions for the season.

Summer Vegetable Box

According to the survey results, 95% of members were “satisfied” or “very satisfied” with the box contents, overall value of their shares, and newsletter content.  The most important factors members consider when deciding whether or not to purchase a CSA share are Quality, Variety & Freshness.  This was true for not only vegetable shares, but also carried over into the fruit, cheese, & coffee shares as well.  We’re happy to see such a high rate of satisfaction and will continue to strive for producing and delivering a variety of high quality products this season.

Radish Seed Pods

 One of the challenges we face throughout the season is striking a balance with the contents of our CSA shares.  Given our long delivery season, we try to include a variety of vegetables to make your CSA experience interesting & exciting. We realize some members may be up for more of a challenge than others.  Those who are new to CSA prefer to focus on mastering their use of
more familiar vegetables such as green beans, carrots, broccoli & tomatoes.  We also find we have quite a few members who have been with us for 5 years or more and enjoy experimenting with new vegetables each year.   The feedback we received from our recent survey indicates that the majority of members are happy with the variety of the box contents.  There were some members who expressed that they would like to see some of the unusual crops we’ve grown previously included in shares again. We agree with you!  Based on member feedback several years ago we felt like perhaps members were getting tired of some of our more unusual crops.

Lemongrass

We didn’t want to stop growing them completely, but thought we’d try rotating them in and out of the growing plan and taking a year or two off from some of these.  Some of these crops include lemongrass, Portuguese kale, Egyptian spinach, jicama, radish seed pods and some of our specialty greens.   Based on feedback from the recent survey, it sounds like it’s time to bring a few of these crops back.  This year we’re planning on growing a small amount of lemongrass as well as Portuguese kale.  I myself have missed both of these vegetables and am really looking forward to making some of my favorite dishes this year!  We are also planning to try a few new interesting greens including one called “Amara.” This is a green I read about in a cooking magazine last year, but couldn’t find a source for the seed at the time.  It originates in Africa and is also known as Ethiopian kale.  I was excited to find it in one of the catalogs we received in January and quickly added it to our order.  They are supposed to be good in salads as well as cooked and are described as having “an excellent, rich flavor.”   For those who like to keep things interesting in the kitchen, we hope you’ll enjoy some of these interesting vegetables.  If you’re not as familiar with some of these less familiar vegetables, we hope you’ll give them a try.  We’ll be sure to give you recipes and information to guide you along the way.  Who knows…you just might discover a new “favorite” vegetable this year!
   We were pleased to receive quite a few comments related to the greens we included in the boxes.  Many of the members who commented on greens stated that they really enjoyed the variety.  For many years Farmer Richard’s mantra has been…. “Eat your greens every day!” Perhaps his efforts have paid off!  Some members expressed they’d like more salad mix, spinach and some of the heartier greens such as gold & rainbow chard and kale.  Salad mix and spinach do best in the spring and fall, so their season of availability is a bit more limited.  Other salad greens such as baby arugula, sauté mix and baby kale mix are more heat tolerant and have a longer season of availability.  We will do our best to include more of these items throughout the season and try to strike a balance with the selection of greens.

Harvest Party!

   One of the basic CSA concepts is that members have an opportunity to connect directly with the farm where their food is produced.  While there are many places to purchase and source food, one of the benefits of CSA is the transparency that comes along with your food.  We encourage our members to come and visit their farm so you can see for yourself where your food is produced.  We realize it’s not feasible for everyone to visit, so we try to bring the farm to you every week through our newsletters.  We put a lot of time and energy into producing weekly newsletters to accompany each of the shares and appreciate that 70% of survey respondents who received vegetable shares read the newsletter weekly.  About 63% of respondents who received fruit shares read the fruit newsletter with each delivery.  We also received quite a few positive comments from members who appreciate the variety of content within the newsletters.  Every year we brainstorm different topics that we’d like to include throughout the season.  If you have any suggestions for topics you’d like to read about, please send them our way so we can consider them as well.
   One comment we heard frequently throughout the survey was “more recipes!” We will continue to tap into our creative culinary minds to come up with simple, tasty and interesting recipes to feature in our newsletters.  Several members commented that they’d like to see more recipes shared by our members.  So would we!  If you have a recipe you’ve tried and found to be a hit with your family, please send it our way.  We’d love to try it in our kitchen and share it with other members.

Fruit Share

   Beyond our vegetable shares, we asked for feedback regarding the other shares we offer.  With regards to the fruit share, over 75% of members who received fruit shares and answered the survey expressed that they were “very satisfied” or “satisfied” with the variety & quality of the fruit selections last year.  Some members did comment that they were disappointed with the quality of some of the fruit selections last year and some members felt like the variety was greater in previous years.  Last season was a challenging year for many of the fruit growing regions we source our products from.  Due to weather challenges, there were times during the season when the supply of fruit was pretty limited and some selections we’ve received in previous years were crop failures last year.  With over 30 plus years of work in this industry, our fruit buyer, Rick, has developed many  good connections directly with the growers.  Even when the supply was tight and the challenge was high, Rick was able to secure fruit for our boxes.  When I met with Rick this winter I shared some of the survey feedback with him.  He was grateful for the feedback and will continue to work hard to meet the demands for both quality and variety.  He spent some time visiting growers on the west coast this past January.  He was able to meet some new folks and has his eye on a few interesting varieties we hope to include in the upcoming season.
   We continue to receive mixed feedback regarding the preferred size of the fruit share.  In 2014 we reduce the size and price of the fruit share based on feedback we had been receiving from members that there was just too much fruit in the shares.  Throughout the course of the season and in the survey results, some members expressed that they’d prefer to go back to the size of share we previously packed.  On the flip side, we continue to receive comments from some members that the share is still too large.  We did make the decision to continue with the same size share as last year, at least for the 2015 season.  We’ll reassess the share size in the fall before we make our decisions for the 2016 season.
   Thanks again to those of you who took the time to complete the survey.  We also appreciate the feedback we receive throughout the season through our conversations with members and email communication.  While we can’t accommodate every request or suggestion, we do value your input as to what is working as well as considering ways we might improve our CSA.  We’re looking forward to a new growing season and hope you’ll join us for another year of good food!