Grandson's Gardens

Market Fun!

2011-08-23T04:26:00.000-07:00

Let the weeding begin!

2011-05-19T10:50:00.001-07:00

We are so thankful to have such a great crew on the farm this year! Above are some of our work-shares and farm staff weeding rows of greens and below hoeing potatoes.

Up and Running!

2011-03-27T03:08:00.001-07:00

Over-wintered spinach and kale are up and a new planting is not far behind

An extra layer of coverage over our hoop-house crops the last couple of COLD weeks

Garlic -a sign of spring!

A Few Pics from Summer

2010-10-03T18:37:00.000-07:00

,,,

Building up the new hoop house

2010-09-12T17:23:00.000-07:00

Mom's pics from the farm this week

2010-08-21T17:55:00.000-07:00

More beans and corn ready for harvest this week with apples and squash not far behind...

Yes these are cucumbers!

2010-07-24T18:12:00.001-07:00

Suyo Long - Delicious crunchy Chinese variety with no bitterness

Boothbe Blonde - A favorite white-yellow heirloom variety we have grown for a few years now.
Lemon Cucumber - another sweet one we are trying this year

Curly Endive

2010-06-16T18:53:00.000-07:00

Curly endive, also called frisee, is a dark bitter leafy green often used in salads and other dishes. Endive is high in folate, fiber, and vitamins A and K.

Most people use endive added into salad with other greens though it is also good lightly wilted and served warm. The lighter green inner leaves tend to be less bitter tasting.

Greens

2010-06-06T11:40:00.001-07:00

Our full time girl Shaina harvesting Red Russian Kale

Swiss Chard, Tatsoi

Kale, mustard greens

Arugula, baby bok choy (below)

Saturday Work Party

2010-05-17T04:00:00.001-07:00

Our very first work party was Saturday! Marigolds were planted, transplants were added to our herb garden, early potatoes hoed, and most helpful of all, our strawberry rows are almost weed free which normally takes us a good week...

Thanks everyone who made it out!!!

Farm pictures 5-10

2010-05-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Visit to Earthkeeper Farm in Kent City

2010-05-05T06:02:00.000-07:00

We visited another beautiful CSA farm in Kent City north of Grand Rapids on Monday. A younger couple with some farming in their blood.

We love collaborating with farmers who have similar gardening styles!

2010-04-15T18:28:00.000-07:00

New rows of strawberries planted that will be ready in 2011

Cherries are in full blossom!

Family Trip to Sedona

2010-03-27T17:35:00.000-07:00

What a great week of trail running, hiking with Liam, and spending some extra time with family before our busy season arrives.

Of course we had to hit up the farmers market! Our favorite - homemade vegetable herb pastas and fresh sugar peas:)

Spring Is Here!

2010-03-27T07:41:00.000-07:00

Garlic is peeking through mulch while the rest of the garden is growing winter rye that will be tilled under as we begin direct seeding soon. Arugula, lettuce, spinach and onions are growing under a 200 foot low tunnel which is new for us this year.

12 Short Food Rules, From Michael Pollan

2010-03-07T05:23:00.000-08:00

1. Don’t eat anything your grandmother wouldn’t recognize as food.
2. Avoid foods containing ingredients you can’t pronounce.
3. Don’t eat anything that wouldn’t eventually rot.
4. Avoid food products that carry health claims.
5. Shop the peripheries of the supermarket; stay out of the middle.
6. Better yet, buy food somewhere else: the farmer’s market or CSA.
7. Pay more, eat less.
8. Eat a wide diversity of species.
9. Eat food from animals that eat grass.
10. Cook and, if you can, grow some of your own food.
11. Eat meals and eat them only at tables.
12. Eat deliberately, with other people whenever possible, and always with pleasure

Liam Frank Tiles ---- born December 5th, 2009

2010-01-18T06:37:00.000-08:00

Getting in some R & R before our busy season returns!

2010 Pigeon Creek Biathlon Entry Form

2010-01-04T10:19:00.001-08:00

CSA baskets

2009-09-29T04:44:00.000-07:00

Our CSA season just came to an end yesterday. Here is a picture of one of our recent family share baskets that went out a couple weeks ago. The basket also included a bag of green beans, baby arugula, and swiss chard but we wanted you to see all the beautiful produce underneath...

Last week of summer pictures

2009-09-29T04:25:00.001-07:00

Rainbow carrots, one lone zucchini plant found in our old composting location, concord grapes

Concord Grapes

2009-09-04T08:21:00.000-07:00

Help stringing up tomatoes

2009-07-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

We sure appreciated help from two of our CSA members stringing up a big section of our tomato plants last week. We have about 1200 plants in the ground this year. Many heirloom and specialty varieties are on the way!!! They may come a little late this season if the cool weather keeps up...

Raspberry picking

2009-07-18T18:10:00.000-07:00

Our raspberries are doing awesome this year! Should have them for couple more weeks. We are taking bulk orders on days we have extra, 4+ pints for $3.50 each.

Some of our varieties are the ever-bearing type and will be back in September.

Cousin Chandler here to help us out this week

2009-07-02T03:40:00.000-07:00

Transplanting Chinese ornamental hot peppers

Helping pack CSA boxes

2009-06-15T17:27:00.000-07:00

We were lucky to have help this weekend with strawberry picking and weeding!

First Strawberries!!!

2009-06-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

Our strawberries are just beginning to ripen! We planted crowns last season and this will be their first true harvest season. The berries are being grown organically and are now Certified Naturally Grown. They sure have and continue to be a HUGE pain to weed but it's starting to look like our hard work is paying off.

They are at it again!

2009-05-22T04:00:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday this week Russ and Tyler framed out a room in the barn that will be used as a cleaning station for produce. A few months back we purchased a large 3 basin NSF certified stainless steel sink to use mainly for washing greens. We hope to add on over the next couple years until we have a full certified kitchen.

2009-05-12T04:23:00.000-07:00

We worked hard to eliminate any frost damage risk the last two chilly nights. Strawberries were covered with row covers along with a number of more delicate greens and all transplants in our greenhouse, which is unheated, were also covered for a second layer just to be safe.

Late Sunday into the early hours Monday morning we monitored the temperature in case it dropped low enough to justify a trip to the farm to turn on irrigation. The temp dropped down to 30 degrees which is right at the limit before we fire up the irrigation to help prevent buds and blossoms from freezing. As of today things look okay, but we won't really know for sure for a few weeks.

Friday evening pics from the farm

2009-05-08T04:26:00.000-07:00

This time of year we have wild asparagus to harvest all over the farm. Most can be found hiding along fencing or next to sprinkler heads. We have birds to thank for this spring treat! I took a few pics while hunting for spears.

Strawberry blossoms

Peach trees and below an apple tree in full blossom

New Walk in Cooler

2009-05-03T03:53:00.000-07:00

Russ and cousin Tyler have almost have our new walk-in cooler complete. Now we just have to install the new refrigeration unit on top! Tyler is our go-to guy whenever we need help or advice on any major home or farm building project. The problem is, he refuses payment every time! Rumor is he'll be enlisting all the friends and family he's been helping to build his house with him in the future:) Sounds fair to me! I just hope Russ' shift falls between November and April.

Transplanting Tomatoes & Peppers

2009-04-26T04:39:00.000-07:00

We're trying biodegradable peat pots this year for some of our transplants. Made out of peat and wood fiber, they will easily breakdown and add a little organic matter to the soil. The bottom of the pot is pealed away and added to the compost pile while the rest of the plant and pot are planted when it's time. We also didn't have to purchase any more plastic flats this year by cleaning and reusing last years.

Oops! Left some pots in Juno's reach...

Juno's a 5 month old aussie/border collie/whatever else mix we rescued this winter. Now Kody has someone to explore with.

We're back!!!

2009-04-19T06:24:00.000-07:00

What gorgeous April weather for planting in the garden all week! A little warm for April... A few days of near 70 degree temps really starts to push perennial fruits along. Now we just hope hard frosts are out of the way. Last season we lost some of our apple varieties and had damage done to our raspberry bushes from late spring freezing temps.

Many of our onions, leeks, and potatoes are now planted, along with a good amount of carrots, beets, sugar peas, and LOTS of greens. Bok choy, swiss chard, spinach, tatsoi, mustard greens, arugula, and plenty of lettuce.

This coming week we'll also be planting a number of new trees in the orchard. More plums, Bartlet pears, new apple varieties, and a few Asian pear trees.

Russ tilling and seeding beets

2009-01-25T18:29:00.000-08:00

Check out the latest Michael Pollan Interview:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11282008/watch.html

Week 18 News ~ First Frost

2008-10-05T05:37:00.000-07:00

Trying to salvage red pepper!!! Kodiak keeping busy with the poly roll....

Russ and I picked any of the crops we could Friday night that would be affected by the frost and covered a large amount of our red peppers. I suppose the timing was just right for our final CSA week.

We are ending the season VERY excited for our next growing season. We are deep into 2009 planning already. Farm visits, farming workshops and conferences are quickly filling up our calendar! We are even currently looking into a large hoop house to devote to season extension which would mean more early crops next season :)

We have neglected to set up a second farm tour... If you haven't made it out and would like to visit in the next couple weeks just let me know and we can plan a time that works. The garden is much more exciting in the spring but it may be a good time to visit in a week or two when we are planting garlic. We were hoping to announce a CSA u-pick apple day but we just don't have nearly the amount we usually do and we are having to heavily the varieties that we do have:( We hope to have this scheduled in next season...

What's in the Box:

Apples

Pears?

Concord grapes

Watermelon - orange flesh

Kale - frost sweetens the taste!!!

Swiss Chard? - milder flavor/less bitterness comes with cooler weather:)

Tomatoes

Bell Peppers - red and green

Hot peppers, Watch out for the little red ones

Squash - Musque de Provence or butternut

Beets

Carrots

Potatoes - will come only dusted so they will store longer

A few notes from Russ:

Well, we established that I shouldn't be a gambling man, because I didn't see this frost coming. But, in my defense neither did the meteorologists at any of the local weather stations. Good news is that the frost inspired me to look into row covers to prolong the growing season next year. Besides the frost and the 3 torrential rains this growing season went fairly well, and we would like to thank you all for supporting us this year. We look forward to producing quality, healthy food for you all again next season.

This week I will be going out to the 40 where we have field corn growing. If they look good for decorative stalks I will post a message and anyone interested can contact us about picking up corn stalks...

Week 17 News

2008-09-28T05:33:00.000-07:00

Expect FULL boxes these last two weeks. Many items will store very well including the winter squash, beets (remove greens), potatoes, and apples. Others can be frozen very easily if you get more than you can use this week. Any potatoes this week or next will only be brushed off so they will store longer.

A few freezing tips:
~Scallions: just chop, pat dry, and freeze. Will last 3-4 weeks to add into potato soup, etc...
~Lima beans - use within 3 days once shelled or freeze by blanching for 2-3 minutes max, cool in cold water, and freeze.
~Greens: steam in a steamer basket just until wilted and freeze once cooled. Use in lasagna, soups, etc..
~Sweet Peppers: chop and freeze or roast about 6-7 minutes on each side under broiler, let cool, then freeze (you can take skins off or wait until thawed and they will come off easier).

Farmer's Market - We are taking a break from markets right now...

Produce Forecast
Watermelon ~ orange or red
Bosc pears
Apples
Concord Grapes - refrigerate right away! To eat, peel back the outer skin and remember they have a seed (that's the best I can do:)
Lettuce or arugula
1-2 Cooking greens (including kale)
Peppers - red, green, and hot
Beets
eggplant?
green beans - likely
Lima beans - enough to add into soup
sweet or green onions
Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes?
Winter squash - Musque De Provence, heirloom known for excellent storage ability and flavor
or acorn squash
Potatoes or rutabaga?
Raspberries? They seem to have bounced back from the rains

~If you prefer fennel over squash let me know as we have some available...

Week 16 News

2008-09-20T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well the majority of our apples are finally coming in. Last week I picked a few early golden delicious and Ida reds, so we should be harvesting all of the goldens this week.

Greens are also coming in slowly, but they are coming. Yesterday I was tilling between the rows and I would have to say that the arugula will be in next week with tatsoi and savoy coming quickly.

As for spinach and lettuce, it may be a while:( The rain did in the first summer spinach planting and leveled the lettuce. The lettuce will recover and the second planting of spinach is coming.

Produce forecast for the week:

Apples - mix of golden delicious, granny smith, and ida reds
Plums
Pears
Raspberries?
Carrots
Green beans - Yep, they re-blossomed again and look excellent!
kale and/or swiss chard
Onions and/or scallions
Eggplant - likely
Tomatoes
Peppers - red pepper likely
Rutabaga?
basil or dill - whichever you didn't get last week
potatoes
cherry tomatoes
sun jewel melon - likely this week, a small specialty melon that tastes like honey dew mixed with cantaloupe

Coming next week:

Watermelon, either a yellow flesh or a traditional red.

Squash: This has been an especially hard year for our squash, but it looks as though we'll have enough for at least one delivery

Lima beans - enough to add to a veggie soup. We were experimenting with growing these this year:)

Mutsu apples and also apples available in quantity by next week

Recipe Ideas added to our website this week:

Mashed potatoes with olive oil and kale - great way to enjoy your greens!

Gingerly Carrot Soup - also uses fresh dill and potatoes

Lemon Carrots and Rutabaga - Check this one out! I know it sounds strange....

Week 15 News

2008-09-14T04:59:00.000-07:00

A few new fruits from the orchard are coming this week: gala apples, bartlet pears, and our late variety of plums. We picked a bushel of plums on Friday night, some might have been pick a touch early, but we were trying to save them from splitting with all of the rain. Don't worry though, they will ripen up just fine.

Possibly blueberries by the end of the week. We think enough might ripen up once more this season of the late variety called Elliot's. They aren't as sweet but are good firm berries to use for cooking.

This Week's Produce Forecast:

Pears - bartlet
Apples - honey crisp and Gala
Plums
Potatoes - Yukon Gold
Lettuce mix or arugula
Cooking Greens: Swiss Chard, Kale, or Savoy (rotating)
Tomatoes
Sweet corn - Last week
Sweet onions or green onions - sweet onions if they are dried out enough
Beets or eggplant - whichever you didn't get last week
Cherry or grape tomatoes
Green and/or Red pepper - they are starting to turn red
Dill or basil - likely
Rutabaga?
Beans?
Squash???

A few 1/2 bushels of honey crisp available - $25

Tomatoes in quantity - $14/half bushel (22-26lbs) $25 /bushel (~50-52lbs)

Farm Report from Russ:

Everything is turning green again! With all of the warm rain in the last week all of the plants that were lacking water are now looking lush and healthy. I am also hoping that the warm rain has pushed the lettuce, spinach, and other greens that were planted 2.5 weeks ago forward a bit, the hot dry weather stunted these greens, but they should grow out of it. The orchard is looking good. We will be watching the apples and bosc pears this week along with the concord grapes. We plan on checking on our sweet potatoes and parsnips next week.

Tomato, Basil, and Feta Salad from allrecipes.com

Ingredients:
6 roma (plum) tomatoes, diced
1 small cucumber - peeled, quartered lengthwise, and chopped
3 green onions, chopped
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into thin strips
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons crumbled feta cheese
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions:
In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, green onions, basil, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and feta cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

Week 14 News

2008-09-07T04:55:00.000-07:00

The tomatoes keep coming strong! We also have a few new items coming this week and next. I will have a better idea about our list when we get home from the farm tonight and will likely update this weeks list. We may have to start digging all of the root veggies because of the rain last week. When it is dry for sooooooo long and then we get a heavy rain like we did last week root veggies tend to crack. There is nothing wrong with the veggie itself, it is just harder to clean and doesn't look as pretty. Our apples are also possible this week.

Thanks so much for returning bushel baskets and many of our containers! We haven't had to made a second trip to the farmers co-op yet this season.

What's in the Box
Tomatoes

Sweet Corn - Last row is ready! Silver Queen that crossed with peaches and cream :)
Hot peppers
Cherry tomatoes
Carrots
Green onions and/or sweet onions
Green Beans - looks to be the last week
Blueberries or raspberries - if you don't get raspberries this week it will be your turn next week.
some apples - likely just honey crisps and many have hail damage but still taste great
Lettuce - likely
Swiss Chard, Kale, or Savoy...
Radishes - watermelon and/or purple plum heirloom varieties
Beets?
Potatoes or rutabaga

Cucumber?

Coming Soon:
Apples - our apples next week if not this week
Pears

Potatoes - Yukon Gold variety

Rutabaga

Half Bushels of Tomatoes for $14 - An amazing recipe for canning pasta sauce can be found at http://www.animalvegetablemiracle.com/Tomato%20Sauce.pdf. I made this on the rainy day last week and we tested what was left in the pot. I use the sauce master which peels and strains the seeds and really speeds up the project (found at Gemmens in Hudsonville). $10/ half bushel for 2nds (ripe and ready to go)

Half Bushels of Honey Crisps $25 - Available next week only if interested. Let me know by Thursday this week so we can arrange a pick up with Nate over the weekend. Will deliver with regular box.

A Few Recipe Ideas:

Chocolate Beet Cake
Delicious and very moist, hard to believe beets are used!

5-6 Medium beets - cooked and pureed in food processor
7 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 cup canola oil - non-gmo:)
2 cups flour - I used white whole wheat and it was still fluffy
3 eggs and 1 white
1 teaspoon baking soda
dash of salt
powdered sugar or frosting

Swiss Chard and Potato Frittata

Swiss Chard and Potato Frittata Ingredients
6 large Swiss Chard leaves
6 large Eggs (I do 4 eggs and 4 whites)
1 tablespoon olive or canola oil
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese grated
1 medium Onion diced
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1-2 Garlic cloves minced
Ground pepper
1 medium Boiling potato peeled and diced finely
1 teaspoon Unsalted butter

1 . Wash the Swiss chard and pat very dry. Cut off and discard the stems, then gather the leaves into a tight bundle and finely chop them.

2. Heat the oil in a 9- or 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic,and saute until the onion turns golden. Mix in the potato and cover the pan.Cook, shaking the pan occasionally, until the potato is tender and the onions are brown, about10-15 minutes. Remove the cover and pile on the Swiss Chard. Cover again and cook tossing occasionally, until the leaves are wilted, about 5 minutes. Scrape this mixture onto a plate and let cool. Wipe the pan clean.

3. Beat the eggs thoroughly in a large bowl. Beat in the cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir in the cooled vegetable mixture. 4. Melt the butter in the skillet over low heat and swirl it around to coat the sides of the pan. Pour in the egg mixture. After about 5 minutes, when the edges begin to set, help the liquid egg pour over the sides of the frittata by occasionally loosening the edges with a rubber spatula and tilting the pan. It should take about 15 minutes for the frittata to become almost completely set. 5. Preheat the broiler. When the frittata is about 80 percent cooked, slide it under the broiler for a minute or so, until the top is set. (If the handle of your pan isn't ovenproof, wrap a few layers of foil around it before placing it under the broiler.) Let the frittata cool 10 minutes before cutting it into wedges.

Rutabaga Fries -

Easy and very kid friendly! Made this with a group of 6th through 8th graders a few years ago and they approved :) Rutabaga is lower in carbs and calories than potatoes so have a bunch more!

Ingredients:
Nonstick cooking spray
2 pounds rutabagas, peeled
¼ cup canola oil or olive oil
1 tablespoon salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
(sometimes we substitute seasoning salt instead)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 425°F. Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Slice the rutabagas lengthwise into “French fry shapes” (½ - inch - wide strips). Put the rutabaga strips in a large bowl and drizzle with oil. Toss well so that each piece of rutabaga is coated with oil. Sprinkle fries with salt and pepper. Place rutabaga strips in a single layer on the prepared baking sheet.
3. Bake about 20 minutes or until golden brown. (Watch carefully because rutabagas have more sugar in them than baking potatoes and tend to caramelize faster. If the fries are getting too dark too fast, reduce the oven temperature to 400°F.) Season to taste.

Makes: 4 servings

Russ finds wild bluberries in Alaska

2008-08-31T10:43:00.000-07:00

Week 13 News

2008-08-31T05:22:00.000-07:00

Our heirlooms from left to right:

Brandywine (pinkish red color), Green Zebra (will be YELLOW and green when ripe and ready to eat), Golden Sunray (low-acid), Cherokee Purple (greenish/brown top that is ripe when bottom is deep in color.

Hope you all are enjoying the long weekend! Tomatoes are sure keeping us busy right now. Be ready for a boatload this week:) It has been a slow start but they are here in full force and should take us towards the end of deliveries. Our last CSA day is October 9th.

Apples and pears are on the way. Some of our trees were knocked out this year including our one very early variety, Transparent apples :( We also only have a few apples on our Red Delicious trees which are usually loaded. Not to worry as we still have plenty of varieties doing well. You will notice more scab this year on our apples as organic fungicide does not effectively control scab. It won't effect the taste! We are also considering adding some locally grown Honey Crisps like we did last year from Versluis Orchards. Nate said his first ones will be ready next weekend. Let me know what you think!

Farm Tour: Things got so busy after the last tour we decided a second in the fall would be best. Will set a date soon!

Asparagus to Zucchini Cookbooks/produce guide still available for $16 - Very helpful!

What's in the Box:

TOMATOES!!! Mix of heirlooms and hybrids
Cherry tomatoes or roma tomatoes - Romas are pear shaped and have less liquid which makes them great for sauce or salsa.
Sweet Corn - Peaches and Cream
Beans
Blueberries - Should still have Brigittas for you all (won't have this variety at the markets)
Peaches
Pears - a couple..
Beets and/or Carrots
Onions - likely
Green Pepper
Eggplant - likely (esp. if you didn't receive any last week) Great crop this year! Store in crisper drawer if not planning to use within a day or so.
Baby Arugula - (Chard or Kale to those of you requesting more cooking greens vs. arugula)
Tatsoi or Mesclun Mix - (mesclun mix includes reg. lettuce)
Basil or Cilantro - Basil hasn't been looking the best but we'll have a fresh row ready soon
Potatoes?
Hot peppers or sweet banana peppers

Radishes?
Cucumber or zucchini?

Coming Soon:
Apples
Pears
Lettuce - looks like next week:)
Raspberries
Red peppers
Rutabaga
New varieties of potatoes

Radishes - two heirloom varieties

New recipes ideas posted this week:
Chocolate beet cupcakes
Rich and Creamy Tomato basil soup
Slow-cooker stuffed green peppers

Eggplant Lasagna

Field Notes from Russ:

It has been a while, but I finally blocked out some time to add to a post. This year we have had a little of everything from mother nature, but right now we could really use some rain. The hot dry weather over the last 4 weeks has hampered lettuce production, don't worry though, we planted about 500ft last week, so if it starts to cool down we should be back on track in a few weeks. I am going to go tour a few lettuce farms to see their methods for next summer.

I was glad to hear that it wasn't just us who had an issue with squash in our area this year. Seems that everyone in a few mile area from the farm had cucumber beetles and bacterial wilt, in the past it hasn't been this bad, but I can't remember a spring this wet. I think I have figured out planting times and transplants for next year to combat the problem.

Oh, and wild Alaskan blueberries never tasted so good when you have been stubbling around the mountains for 16 hours with a 45lb pack and only having jerky and mountain house meals to eat.

Week 12 News

2008-08-24T04:24:00.000-07:00

Russ is home and things are returning to normal around here. Russ road his bike back from the farm with some corn Friday night. He sure missed all of our fruits and veggies while he was away eating backpacker type just-add-water meals for 11 days along with fresh meat some nights. No fresh produce at all except wild blueberries they found near camp:)

Lots of sweet corn and tomatoes this week! We have silver queen and more peaches and cream ready (our third planting has caught up with the second). These rows are even better than our first planting. If you are interested in freezing some and would like extra let me know. It's definately one of my favorites to freeze because it is quite simple and tastes so good in the winter - nothing like any frozen corn you buy from the store. Just blanch ears two minutes in boiling water and cut off the husk like you would for someone with braces.

We are picking more and more tomatoes each day and are starting to have some heirlooms including cherokee purple and brandywine. Some have a few cracks but taste just fine.

This week's Forecast:

Sweet Corn

Tomatoes - you may find a cherokee purple heirloom (purple with greenish top) or a brandywine (pinkish red color)

Cherry Tomatoes - with some orange grape heirlooms

Arugula - new variety

Mesclun, tatsoi, or Savoy

Large bunch of beets

Blueberries

Peaches

Pears? One of our early pear trees looks to be ready

Potatoes

Cilantro and or Basil

Eggplant - Likely

Pickles and or cukes

Zucchini and yellow squash?

Swiss Chard or Kale?

Green Pepper

Onions - sweet or bunching likely

Hot peppers or banana peppers - if you don't have jalepenos with your peppers you have sweet banana peppers. You can freeze hot peppers whole to use in spicy cooked dishes later if you have had enough of them...

Strawberries? - the first berries I picked were huge but now it seems we are having to really sort many tiny and strange-shaped ones... Will try to get them to our Monday and Thursday group soon (Tuesday got berries last week) Short shelf life!

New! Asian Green Yukina Savoy this week or next: Shape of Tatsoi with more of a milder spinach taste and texture. Not a shiny green color like tatsoi but same spoon shape.

Cayenne peppers available in quantity for drying if interested. Just dehydrate whole and crumble peppers when needed in recipes that need a little kick. You can also cut tops off and grind in food processor though you will need to evacuate your kitchen for a little while:)

Coming Soon:

Lettuce

Acorn Squash

Rutabaga

Half Bushels of peaches still available this week for $15 - I have had enough room the last couple weeks to deliver some with regular deliveries. You will need to use them up fairly quickly or get some in the refridgerator to keep longer.

Week 11 News

2008-08-17T05:09:00.000-07:00

I'm surviving without Russ thanks to so much help from family and some of our members and friends that have volunteered to help. Russ will be back home Tuesday night. It's strange not being able to contact them at all by phone while they're somewhere in the mountains in Alaska...

This will probably be the last week for bushels of peaches so order one soon if interested. I should be able to fit a few bushels in with deliveries if you would like yours delivered. Use them up within a few days or put some in the fridge for longer storage. I made some killer peach salsa last night to can using our cilantro, hot peppers, and red onion. Usually I don't especially like the vinegar taste added in canned salsa but it really worked in the recipe I tried and will post. The recipe I used is for three pint jars (I doubled the recipe). I think I'll try and can lots of salsa this season as I don't think I trust what's making it into the store bought stuff with all the tomato and hot pepper recalls...

We picked our first 5 quarts of our ever-bearing strawberries in the field. I'm very pleased with their size and taste. You will want to eat these up quick as organic strawberries have an even shorter shelf life than conventional. They will last longer if you cut them up, add a little sugar, and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.

We kind of gave up on our greenhouse strawberries as they weren't sizing up and the bugs got pretty unbearable for a while. They might make a comeback...

Produce Forecast for the Week:
Plums
Peaches
Blueberries - we think this is the last week of Brigittas:(
Strawberries???
Greens: rainbow chard, mesclun mix, kale, or arugula (one or two of these)
Green Peppers - Anytime you can't get to your pepper just chop and freeze. Works great! Can also roast, peel the skins, and then freeze for a little more flavor...
Tomatoes
Basil - possibly cilantro or dill also
Silver Queen Sweet Corn- Likely, we finished up the first planting and think our second one will be ready this week. You will notice the first week's picking is a little larger. Sweet corn is sorted and may come without husks on.
Cucumber and pickles - A new crop of cucumbers is ready (they are longer and smoother than the pickles). Just in time as many of our cuke and pickle plants have been taken down by the beetle:(
Beans
Kohlrabi
Potatoes - Fingerlings if you didn't get them last week - otherwise purple or redskins
Zucchini and yellow squash?
Beets - likely (waited on some of the heirlooms last week as they needed to get a little larger)
Eggplant? We are starting to have more eggplant ready. We have a standard variety and a very tasty mini eggplant variety that has very soft edible skin and no bitter taste. It is the cutest plant - I will have to get a pic to post. I tried it simply in a stir fry with zucchini, onions, and tomatoes and it was excellent.

*I might add something tonight after being at the farm all afternoon and remember something I forgot!

Coming soon:
Hierloom tomatoes - our hybrids are ripening faster
Acorn Squash
More greens!!!

We still have the Cookbook/Produce Guide: Asparagus to Zucchini available for $16 (retail $20) - Sounds like everyone is finding it very helpful!

Sunday Afternoon Farm Help

2008-08-11T05:18:00.000-07:00

Thanks goes out to the Mitchell and Salik family for helping us out a little last minute! They weeded the monster section of our everbearing strawberries that were getting out of hand. Sure was a perfect day for it!

Also, thanks to my dad and mother-in law and dad for helping double time help while Russ is away!

If only I had my camera out when all the kids were playing in the dirt snacking on raw greenbeans. Russ would have gotten a kick out of that:)

Week 10 News

2008-08-10T04:46:00.000-07:00

Peaches, pluots, and plums, oh my! Your baskets will be a little heavier on fruit this week. Some of our plums and our two little pluot trees are ready this week and also many of our peach trees! We aren't sure on our peach varieties but I'll taste test to find the sweetest tree for your peaches this week:) They are all free stone but if you order a half-bushel to can or freeze and want the easiest ones to separate from the pit - let me know. This week through next weekend will be the best time to get a larger quantity of peaches. Think peach pie this winter or homeade peach brandy for a unique Christmas gift... Our half-bushel price is probably a little more expensive than a large conventional farm as we have spent a lot more this year on organic products for our fruit trees, especially since we don't buy these in bulk for our little orchard. $18/half, $32/bushel and $12/half for seconds. I may be able to deliver with your basket this week.

Our tomatoes aren't ripening as fast as I hoped but hopefully everyone will get a couple... We have another week or so before we will have a bunch more salad greens ready. Lettuces like cooler weather so the last couple weeks pushed our greens to seed a little faster also caused tip burn on some greens which make it taste a little rough.

Whats in the Box?
PEACHES!!! Likely 2 Quarts
Mix of plums and a few pluots (eat when they are a touch soft for sweetest flavor)
Blueberries - Brigittas still this week!
Pickles/cucumber
Beans
Green Pepper
Hot Peppers or banana peppers - (If you get jalapenos with your peppers they are all hot but if you just receive yellow/greenish peppers then they are sweet banana peppers)
Onions
Fingerling Potatoes
Cilantro and or Basil - Try the cilantro butter/oil recipe! Store cilantro vase-style in a jar with a couple inches of water with a loose plastic bag over the top. Will last a good 5 days!
Sweet Corn - I will sort so husks will look a little disheveled
Swiss Chard or Young Kale - See recipe ideas & both freeze excellent for later use in soup. Use swiss chard like you would cooking spinach; It is much higher in nutrients!
Beets with Greens- The pretty pink ones are the Choigga heirloom variety with pink and white rings when you slice. Super tasty!!! Steam, let cool a little, and the skins will peel right off.
Carrots - Dragon carrots this week which are purple on the outside! Seem to taste best cooked.
Tomatoes? Hopefully! Not many turning color when I checked all our rows on Friday night and it's much cooler out. Tomatoes like it HOT!
Zucchini and Yellow Squash?
Another veggie I am probably forgetting...

Coming Soon-
Eggplant
Tomatoes
Strawberries??? Starting to see big berries form from our field planted everbearing berries.
Acorn Squash - Just saw a few getting close already

A note on kale: I hear this veggie takes a little more effort if you are new to cooking greens, though I enjoyed it right away. I suggest trying it in a soup or stew recipe for the first time. Cut out any tough stems and chop in food processor if possible. Cook a little longer to soften it up a bit. The bread soup recipe from Rachel Ray is excellent (posted on website).

Week 9 News

2008-08-03T05:31:00.000-07:00

A few summer favorites are on the horizon and will likely be found in your baskets this week if enough is ready to go! Our first two rows of sweet corn snuck up on us. Last night we tried a few ears of along with a chicken, bok choy, and carrot stir fry. The kernels were a little small. Our first variety is peaches and cream and it's always the best early on in that we don't have to worry as much about corn bores :)

Peaches should be in your basket also this week. They may need a couple days to soften up a bit on your counter. The first few Russ brought home were a little small but very sweet even when still quite firm.

We brought home some of our first tomatoes that were just beginning to turn orange so they are probably a week away at the most.

We will probably load you up with cucumber and summer squash now and then when we have a lot as we as our plants are being taken down quickly by cucumber beetles. Though Russ keeps planting more. The little menaces spread disease and eat leaves causing bacterial wilt that quickly kills the plant. There aren't any organic cures we have found to be real effective and pests seem to be extra plentiful this season... FYI: A conventional farm would first treat the soil to kill grubs before planting and would spray a contact killer through the field on mature plants to take down the beetle and any other living thing... If ever curious about a pesticide, even an ingredient in bug spray or a lawn care product, you can easily research it at pesticideinfo.org. You can do a product search and learn about it's toxicity, etc. On a conventional farm the soil treatment used in the field would likely be Lorsban and one common conventional pesticide used to kill the beetle in Michigan is Sevin 80S.
Anytime we're having an issue with one our crops this summer I try to figure out what conventional farms do verses organic...

What's in the Box:
Blueberries
Peaches - likely
Raspberries?
Basil and dill
Mesclun or Tatsoi
Sweet Corn
Lettuce, Baby Bok Choy, or Swiss Chard
Cucumbers
Summer Squash and Zucchini
Beets?
Russian Banana Fingerling Potatoes - Soooo good! Tasty heirloom variety
Beans - Green, wax, burgundy, or Romas
Carrots, arugula, tomatoes???
Kohlrabi - esp. if you didn't get any last week

Coming Soon:
TOMATOES
Green and more hot peppers
Kale
Lots more peaches
Plums

Recipe Ideas Added this Week:
Blueberry Liqueur and Slovak Cucumbers (great way to use extra cukes and pickles)

Week 8 News

2008-07-27T05:12:00.000-07:00

Sounds like many of you are hitting the road! It is probably a good vacation week if you aren't into the Coast Guard thing. Thanks for making alternate pick-ups easy for us!

FYI - Our "What's in the box" list is the best estimate we can give on the weekend before harvesting for deliveries. It is difficult to know each item that will be ready and looking healthy to harvest until the day we are in the field picking each day. I keep track of what is given each delivery day so I can try and balance things out throughout the season (i.e. Our Monday group didn't get bok choy the last harvest so they will get it for sure this week...)

Blueberries- Special on extra quarts of blueberries this week for$5.00 with 3 quarts max per person for delivery. Thought we could fit in some some extra blueberry picking before our peaches are ripe if you're interested. We have Briggitas this week which is our favorite variety! Email me if interested even if you pick-up at the market so we can plan ahead.

What's in the Box:
Blueberries
Raspberries - Likely - they are already slowing down and we have many bushes filled with crumbly berries that were hit by the late frost we have decided aren't worth picking... Some of our raspberries are the everbearing variety that start up again in September.
Baby Bok Choy - Monday group for sure!
Lettuce Mix
Onions - If you have too many chop and freeze and use this winter in soups and stir fries, etc.
Zucchini and yellow squash - small ones need to be used quickly; great sauted up with our sweet onions, some seasoning salt, and a little chicken broth and or olive oil. Don't overcook!!! If you get a monster zucchini that is best to use in a recipe such as zucchini cake, bread, or cookies.
Cucumber
Basil or Cilantro with hot peppers (Hungarian hot peppers which have medium hotness)
If you get basil this week you will get hot peppers and cilantro next week and vise versa.
Adirondack Blue Potatoes - Good for baked or fried potatoes vs. steamed as they will lose some of their color.
Kohlrabi
Swiss Chard, Arugula or Mesclun Mix? - we are rotating the Mesclun and Swiss Chard
Green Beans - Likely
Tatsoi?
Carrots or beets?

Coming Soon!
More beets - including a yummy heirloom next week
Peaches - next week
Tomatoes - 1-2 weeks:)
Kale - some next week

EASY Recipes Ideas:
Spicy Bean Dip with Cilantro and Hot Peppers - excellent with pita or tortilla chips, and works great as a base for a veggie quesedilla (just add cheese and any other ingredients that sound good)

1/2 cup salsa
1 Can black beans (pinto would probably work also) drained and rinsed
1-3 hot peppers - cut off stems, chop into chunks, remove most of seeds and less you like HOT
bunch cilantro (tough stems removed)
1-2 cloves garlic

Chop garlic and cilantro in the food processor until fine then add hot peppers. Next add in beans and cilantro and puree until it reaches your desired consistency.

Optional: Could stir in a little sour cream

Broiled Zucchini
1) Cut zucchini into rounds about 1 cm width (keep them around the same thickness..)
2) Place on baking sheet and sprinkle with seasoning salt (we used M Salt we got at GH market)
3) Sprinkle with lots of parmesan cheese
4) With broiler on high place on center rack and cook for 5-7 minutes max.

2 DVD's in our collection to pass on-

"The World According to Monsanto" - the documentary Americans will never see: This movie helped put together so many things I have been reading about in the last couple years including dangers of GMO's and major issues surrounding the security of the world's food supply. This is a real eye opener and an absolute must see!!! This documentary came out in March 2008 and has been shown on national television in many European Countries but likely won't make it here anytime soon.

Good summary of the movie: at :http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/monsanto_movie080307

The Real Dirt on Farmer John - Documentary made by an ecentric farmer who started what is now"Angelic Organics, a huge CSA program feeding many families near Chicago. We ordered this one thinking it would focus more on his CSA but it focused more on his life on his family's farm leading up to the start of his CSA. I will just say has a different personality than your average farmer with a very artistic side....

*We would love to let you borrow one of these for a week. I can bring it with your box and will need it back when I pick up your box the following week.

Week 7 News

2008-07-20T05:39:00.000-07:00

Baskets are growing! We have fennel this week- The whole plant is edible but most often it is cut an inch above the bulb and is cooked to soften and mellow the flavor. The stalks can be used like celery in soups and stews. It is best used two to three days after harvest. Fennel is new to us and this winter we tried some from Meijer knowing we would be growing it this season. We tried it marinated and broiled, similar to the recipe I posted. It was pretty good but we are excited to try it fresh this week as most fennel at the store is shipped from California. One large bulb makes two to three servings. If you test a good fennel recipe you want to share send it along as we hope to have more early this fall. Much of our second planting of fennel didn't make it through the hard rains early in June but we have a third planting going.

Cookbook/Fresh produce guide - $16

Put together by a coalition of CSA's in Madison, Wisconsin.

I use this one weekly! VERY helpful with storing produce and simple recipe ideas. Also a childrens recipe section, preservation chapter, and information about CSA farming.

All veggies listed in ABC order with information on more than 50 vegetables and herbs. I have quite a collection going of similar books and this is by far the best!

Whats in the box?

Fennel

Mixed Greens

Raspberries

Blueberries - either Spartans or Brigittas this week (both are big sweet berries)

Beans - Italian beans (flat), burgundy beans, and/or regular green beans

Zucchini, yellow squash - if you can't use it up in a few days chop, dice, or grate, and put in the freezer to use later in soup, stir fry, or zucchini bread, etc.

Cucumber - likely (the yellowish/white cukes are supposed to be that color! Heirloom variety)

Onions

Carrots

Snow peas - see potato salad recipe posted passed on from a member for a unique idea.

Arugula or Mesclun mix- mesclun is a spicy salad blend that is also good tossed into stir fry

Beets?

Potatoes - possibly Adirondack blues but they are more likely next week

kohlrabi?

Coming soon:

basil and parsley

peaches - next week?

Adirondack Blue Potatoes

Tomatoes - two weeks we think

Add On Extra Fruit:

Raspberries: 4.00/pint

Blueberries: 3.00/pint or 6.00/quart

*A few new recipe ideas have been added!!!

2008-07-16T17:43:00.000-07:00

I just had to take a pic of my gorgeous salad I had for lunch today after the market. Arugula, beets, locally made goat cheese I got from the Sweetwater Market on Saturday, and a little garlic vinaigrette. YUM!!!! The skins just fall right off the beets after steaming when they are fresh! These three ingredients also work awesome on a sandwich with toasted crusty bread. Really!

Our first carrots! These were planted before the cold weather in May so many of the seeds didn't germinate. But we have some to get us through before the next big batch is ready in a few weeks. The next carrots will include a fun purple heirloom variety called Dragon Carrots. Also, in the background of this picture you can see some of our rows of sweet corn popping up. I can't wait!!!

Week 6 News

2008-07-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Our season is sure coming into full swing! We are coming up on more and more veggies everyday. Green beans, beets, onions, more potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, cucumber, yellow squash, fennel, our first carrots...

The rain and humidity seems to be pushing many things along, maybe a little too much. I checked our purple kohlrabi a few days before writing last weeks note and they were just about the perfect size, then by the time we started harvesting them for Monday deliveries they had grown almost an inch in diameter; many were starting to crack from water overload. We also had this issue with many of our cherries and radishes. But we have plenty of the summer favorites doing just fine so we can't complain too much.

What's In the Box:

Big bag of salad greens - look for the heirloom, Amish Deer Tongue (darkest green in mix)
Baby Bok Choy - try it stir fried with chicken (add it in the last few minutes of cooking)
Sweet white onions and/or red onions
Quart Blueberries (large container) - You will likely get "Blue Jays" this week which are smaller than but very sweet and firm (will last quite a few days just on your counter)
Tart Cherries - Likely
Peas - Sugar, snap, or shell
Dill - Waited a week to harvest the rest of our first row
Green Beans - You may see some burgundy colored beans that turn green when cooked or a larger flat green bean (dutch variety).
Potatoes
Beets- Red and Golden are ready (the golden beets are an orangish color that won't bleed like regular beets and they seem to have a milder taste. I love to just steam them, slice, and refrigerate to add to salads or just eat plain... Excellent in arugula salads! I also here they are excellent sliced in a sandwich with goat cheese and a crusty bread.
Arugula?
Carrots, broccoli, green onions, kohlrabi, zucchini, heirloom cucumber (small white variety), yellow squash - You will receive a couple of these items this week!
Swiss Chard? I will try to get some to those of you that have requested it! We had to cut all the big leaves off already from our row that was just about ready to begin harvesting. The larger outer leaves were mangled pretty bad from the hail last week but we'll have more soon.
Fennel? - If you don't recieve any this week it will come next week

Coming soon!
peaches (still looks like a couple more weeks...)
raspberries
basil and parsley
Adirondack Blue Potatoes
Green Pepper

Recipes added to website: zucchini chocolate chip cookies, kohlrabi and carrots, and grilled marinated fennel.

Extra Fruit this Week: Some of you have been requesting the option to order extra fruit. This week we have time to pick extra blueberries. Please email me the night before your delivery if interested.

Blueberries: $6.00/quart = 2+ lbs (2 quarts max)

~Please send back pint and quart containers! Help keep us from having to use more plastic. The containers have a much higher cost but we love to use them because most of the time they can be recycled. If we don't see many of them return we will have to use more
bags :(

~We can recycle your plastic or paper grocery bags at the market if you have any you want to get rid of! Just leave them with your crate.

Week 5 News

2008-07-05T08:02:00.000-07:00

What a week! A big thanks goes out to two of our members, Bruce and Ann Marie, for helping us with some weeding we were falling behind on!!! I wish I had a camera with me. It was a perfect, almost mosquito free day while they were with us then in the afternoon the storms rolled in bringing damaging hail and wind. Some of our greens and young plants were affected :(

3 typs of fruit are coming this week. If you've had enough sweet cherries, pit and freeze to cook up in oatmeal this winter! Tart cherries make a great topping for cheesecake or in other deserts. My mother in-law suggests using a bobby pin to pit the small berries; great job for kids! A yummy tart cherry recipe for cobbler can be found at Allrecipes: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fresh-Cherry-Cobbler/Detail.aspx or on our website.

The blueberries are riper this week and are a humongous variety called Spartans. Our blueberries are grown on a much larger scale and are not organically grown. Though IPM is practiced, where spray is used when necessary verses following a standard spray schedule. Last summer our farm only had 2 pesticide applications while many blueberry farms apply closer to 8 each season. We are looking into a small-scale organic operation for the future... I keep forgetting a few of you don't know all of these things as many of you met us through the markets last year.

Asparagus to Zucchini - the awesome CSA cookbook/fresh produce guide is in. I decided $16 would cover cost and shipping. I can add it to your box if interested and I will have a few copies at markets.

What's in the Box:
Tart cherries - see cherry cobbler recipe above or on website!
Sweet cherries
Blueberries - excellent variety but has short shelf life (use within 3 days)
Lettuce Mix - Likely (seems to be recouping from the hail?)
Arugula - baby or regular (larger leaves are stronger tasting - great for pesto) We have one row getting close and one matured)
Scallions
Potatoes
Peas - snap, snow, or shelling (long pod bulging with peas)
Bunch dill?
Purple Kohlrabi - We are picking it young this week when it tastes the best! You can peel the purple skin off or just peel the bottom and cut slices to eat raw sprinkled with salt. Also great cooked up with other crunchy veggies like carrots or try grated into salad. Like many other veggies, we love it dipped in hummus:)
broccoli?
strawberries?
Tatsoi or beet greens- by request!

Coming Soon!
green beans
onions - white sweet onions by next week
peaches
raspberries
heirloom variety of fingerling potatoes - 1-2 weeks
fennel-next week?
beets

Farmer's Markets
Thursday - Spring Lake Market from 9-at least 1:00
Saturday - Grand Haven Farmers Market 7:30-1? Possibly Sweetwater also with tart cherries?

* Both days we will have blueberries, tart cherries, and any extras from the gardens.

Thanks for sending our containers back to reuse!

Week 4 News

2008-06-28T11:08:00.001-07:00

Touring the orchard Thursday night

We had a good time with everyone at our tour Thursday night! Unfortunately the mosquitoes cut things a little short! I know I warned about mosquitoes but that was by far the worst I've ever experienced with them at the farm!!! I think it's just going to be that kind of summer with them. Hopefully no one went home with too many bites!

What's in the box:
Baby arugula
Lettuce - 2 beautiful heirloom varieties this week
Tatsoi - Will need washing, it's the last thing we pick as it perishes quickly. Excellent added to stir fries, sauteed until and drizzled with sesame oil, or mixed into salads.
Sweet cherries
Green onions
Dill - sprinkly on potatoes, mix into summer salads (chicken, tuna), use on fish, salad dressings
Radishes - Purple plum heirloom variety
Pint Blueberries or our strawberries - very likely
Potatoes?
Peas or brocoli?

Strawberries: Versluis orchards are on the end of their strawberries and we are beginning to get more and more from our greenhouse and field grown berries. We will begin rotating who gets them each week.

Snow Peas (Flat pod): These are getting close and are one of our favorites! We just started getting some and had a handful dipped in hummus this afternoon! Great raw, steamed, or sauted (see recipe idea for snow peas with ginger). They are coming!!!

Coming soon:
more varieties of peas and potatoes
onions
tart cherries NEXT WEEK - the PIE CHERRY, they are also great for making cherry topping for cheesecake, ice cream, etc.. (If you would prefer extra blueberries - let me know)
blueberries, blueberries, blueberries
Peaches - two weeks or so...

Farmer's Markets:
Thursday: Spring Lake from 9 until 1:00 at least (we've been selling out early!)
Saturday: Grand Haven Farmers Market from 7:30 - 12:00

* Sweetwater market is going to Rothbury for the music festival this week and we decided it was a little too far!

Cookbooks ordered: Asparagus to Zucchini, A guide to cooking farm-fresh seasonal produce - This is the most helpful cookbook and produce guide I have found thus far. You can look up just about any vegetable and herb listed alphabetically to find storage information, usage ideas, recipes, and MUCH more.

I ordered quite a few and will have my copy at the markets for you to check out if interested. Retail $20 / your price $17.

Week 3

2008-06-21T14:00:00.000-07:00

I just returned from our first day as a vendor at Sweetwater Market. I absolutely LOVED it! They are so welcoming and helpful to new vendors. Very different from our other market firsts we've had.

This week marked the beginning of an epic battle with the birds. We forgot how brutal they can be to cherry trees as ours froze off last season. A few greenhouse shade tarps used as netting are slowing them down for now. You should have seen my father in-law lift my dad up in the loader bucket to put the nets up as Russ and I ran around tying streamers to trees.

We hope to see you at the farm this Thursday night. We will be there by 7:45 and hope to start right at 8:00. Please let me know if you can make it so we can plan for parking. We will likely add one more tour on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon in a couple of weeks as a few of you are requesting. I will send out directions soon after I talk to Russ about parking, etc.. He is busy with beneficial nematodes right now - will explain later :)

Thanks for returning your jars last week! We also love to recycle clam-shells and the other cartons. No need to clean the jars or clam-shells as we will clean them again anyways!

We will be at the Spring Lake Market this Thursday from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00, though last week we were out of everything pretty early. If you are a market pick-up it would be helpful to arrive by 1:00 if possible this week - even though we're planning to bring more produce. I suppose it would be good for your goodies to get to the fridge a little earlier (lettuce is always kept in a cooler until you arrive).

What's in the Box This Week:

- Sweet cherries
- Strawberries
- Snap peas
- Red skin potatoes
- Bunch of cilantro - see killer burger recipe
- Lettuce mix
- Bunch Tatsoi - Dark asian green similar to to bok choy and spinach that is best used within 2-3 days. I posted a super simple and delicious recipe for sauted tatsoi that we just tested.

-Green onions? Great sprinkled on cooked baby potatoes!
- Arugula? (likely one more week)

* Broccoli Raab - Let me know if you want to try some, especially if you have had it before. It started growing too quickly a week ago when it was really hot so we cut off the first batch (the heads weren't developing correctly). Looks like the cooler weather is helping the second batch.
If you get some this week you will want to use it up in 2-3 days as it will loose its crispiness.

For more on broccoli raab check out: http://whatscookingamerica.net/Vegetables/BroccoliRaab.htm

Coming soon:
Heirloom lettuce varieties
blueberries 1-2 weeks
tart cherries 1-2 weeks
snow peas
more arugula and baby bok choy

I borrowed a digi cam for a few pics. One of these days I will have time to shop for a replacement.

Our little bosc pears look so cute on the trees right now!

Our hideous attempt at keeping the birds out of a couple of our cherry trees.

Greenhouse strawberries are coming along! Not all huge berries but very sweet tasting variety!

Our first baby red skins are here!

2008-06-15T17:45:00.000-07:00

These taters were grown from our own seed potatoes from last seasons crop!

CSA News Week 2

2008-06-15T04:54:00.000-07:00

It sure has been a season of re-planting!!! First following the late-May frosts and now after heavy rains. Especially our beets, carrots, spinach, lettuce, and swiss chard! Though we are very lucky only some of our smaller, newly planted crops, some greens, and radishes were affected by the rain. Many neighboring farms are still partially underwater and a CSA farm in Holland located near the Macattawa River was completely flooded last weekend.

Farm tour date set for Thursday, June 26th at 8:00p.m.
I would expect it to take 45 minutes to an hour. You will want to wear the grubbiest shoes you can find and some bug repellent. I will send out directions soon. Please let me know if you plan on attending!

Remember to trade in your crate this week with the mason jar if you received your sprouts in one. Leave it out by your cooler if you won’t be home or bring it along to trade if you are picking up at the market.

What’s in the Box:

Strawberries
Large bag of lettuce mix
Romaine heads
Sprouts
Baby red skinned potatoes or asparagus
Sweet cherries?
Broccoli Raab?
Snap peas?

THINK SALADS! We give your lettuce a good rinse and spin but always clean again as you use it, especially if we’ve had recent hard rain as it splatters more dirt around.

Coming Soon:
Blueberries - 1 to 2 weeks
Sweet cherries
Tatsoi and more arugula
Potatoes
Cilantro
Peas

We will be at the Spring Lake Market this week on Thursday from 9:00-2:00p.m.
We’ll have ever-bearing strawberry hanging baskets we’ve been growing in the greenhouse and 2 year old Brigitta blueberry plants we propagated (the variety that produces the monster berries you all love). We will also have strawberries and some additional produce – probably lettuce. You always receive 10% off anything from our market stand.

A few notes from last weeks delivery:
We had to dig the radishes a couple days early as they were beginning to crack from all the rain. We cleaned and stored them in water in the refrigerator to keep them fresh which is why they came with water. If you received rhubarb and haven’t used it yet – just chop into 1 inch pieces or so and put in the freezer. You can make blueberry rhubarb crisp in a couple weeks J

Loss of a farming legend – by Russ

The last couple weeks have been trying to say the least. It seems that I could go on and on about the trials and tribulations about organic farming in the Midwest, like late may frosts that destroy transplants and cut cherry production by 2/3 or torrential rains that destroyed any crop in a low spot, but it all seems irrelevant compared to what happened on Sunday morning. To say the least, life has been put into perspective for me and my family.

Sometime Sunday morning after the rain John Pekich, our neighbor farmer, passed away. John was taking out boards in the Worley Dam to help pull water out of neighboring farms and it is unclear if he fell in and drown or had a heart attack. It is hard to describe this loss to the farming community. John, 76, was the last of a breed. He had farmed his entire life and showed no sign of stopping anytime soon; he was even leasing some of my parent’s property, where he had planted corn a few days earlier. The only way I can give you all an idea of the perseverance of this legendary local farmer is the fact that he farmed or the last three years after being diagnosed with prostate cancer. It didn’t slow him down one bit; he still farmed 300 acres by himself growing hay, corn, soybeans, and oats. He will be greatly missed.

Week 1

2008-06-07T12:05:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone,

The season has begun! Your first delivery will arrive this week with a bundle of greens! I am writing this just after finishing a giant spinach and arugula salad. I always like to test everything before sending it out, especially new vegetable varieties.

Remember to leave a good sized cooler out if you will be away during the delivery window as the tender greens will need to stay cool and HOT weather is expected all week. As I wrote earlier, we planted a few rows of asparagus to be ready next season but decided it would be nice to locate some for the first delivery or two. We ordered a bunch of certified organic asparagus through Hackert Orchards in Ludington. They are picking it fresh just for us early Monday morning and again Wednesday night.

We won’t be attending any markets this week as we don't anticipate enough to bring after CSA delivering and a local café is interested in any extras. I will let you know as soon as we begin marketing. We are delivering to our Spring Lake market pick-ups on Thursday between 10:00 and 12:00.

I have started a recipe section on our web page and added a few recipes to go with this weeks produce at: grandsonsgardens.googlepages.com/recipes

In the box this week:

-Large bag of mixed greens
-Bag of arugula – Great for salad and pesto!
-Asparagus
-Baby bok choy and/or bag spinach
-Radishes ?
-Salad sprouts – we love to load them on salads, omelets, sandwiches.

- We have some rhubarb available if anyone is interested! Email me:)
- Please return mason jar with your box the following week.

Baby Bok Choy: is classified as a cabbage but resembles and grows like a lettuce. Try it in a salad or add chopped bok choy to a stir fry the last few minutes of cooking. See the bok choy salad recipe I added to the website.

Coming soon: strawberries, brocoli Raab, baby red skin potatoes, and scallions

Field notes from Russ:
My love for surfing is finally beating me up a bit. I think it has been a few years since I wished it would just be calm for a week, but as all farmers know, “you can’t control the weather.” Luckily we had a couple of calm days to get most of the transplants in, now there are only 400 to go. As always we are trying to go above and beyond, planting four times what we need of the summer favorites to deliver mid-summer baskets that are overflowing with beans, tomatoes, sugar peas, peppers, and obviously fruit fruit fruit.

Our newly planted transplants have been handling the weather extremes well. With the exception of a few hundred pepper plants that were stunted by the dry cold winds we had for a week in May. We are attempting to nurse those plants back to health, but just in case we planted a few hundred more and also started more in the greenhouse.

The orchard has been a drain on my time lately, luckily my beautiful wife picked up some planting slack in the garden. We are using only organically approved treatments in the orchard, making controlling certain pests a bit challenging. The great thing about researching organic fruit farming methods is the history I am learning. I think that the common misconception is that farmers 40+ years ago don’t understand what we consider organic farming today. Over the last six months I have been learning about effective organic treatments that work and have found most of my answers in the least expected places. Through my father, multiple other old-timers, and a handful of experienced organic orchard farmers, I have put together a list of treatments that are not only organic, but that have been proven effective and safe for many years.

Our apples right now look excellent, it seems the frost in mid My has not affected them. Our peaches and cherries got hit, but hopefully since we have less fruit on the trees the fruit will be larger. Blueberries this year look to have an unreal fruit set, we will know for sure in a few weeks…

We're getting closer!!!

2008-06-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

After planting seeds and transplants all morning in the east garden next to the orchard, Russ and I rode our bikes back out to the farm Saturday night to close some of the greenhouse doors and took a few minutes look over the west garden and our fast-maturing greenhouse strawberries. The blossoms are falling fast - leaving behind thimble-sized berries.

2008-05-23T05:39:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

I can’t believe Memorial Day weekend is already here and it’s even supposed to be super nice for most of it. The cooler weather the last couple weeks has slowed down some of our field planted crops and postponed the planting of many greenhouse-grown transplants, but the extended forecast looks good to get our remaining crops in the ground.

We are still anticipating our first delivery the second week of June. Our Spring Lake members and those living on Lakeshore Dr. will receive their box every Tuesday between 2:00 and 6:00p.m.and all other Grand Haven members will be delivered to on Mondays during the same time frame. The majority of you were able to get your preferred day but it made sense to divide by location and couldn’t get everyone their day. Spring Lake Farmers Market pick-up is from 9:00a.m. - 2:00p.m. every Thursday.

If you will be away during the delivery window be sure to leave a cooler with ice pack in the shade as we expect baby lettuce and other greens and strawberries that will need to stay fairly cool. This goes for the entire season. The crate your goodies will arrive in is quite large so we can spread out produce and help avoid squishing delicate fruits and veggies. You will be trading in your crate each week for a new one with any containers from the previous week you would like us to reuse (we love to recycle pint and quart containers). If we don’t see a cooler out in your designated place, we will ring the doorbell and leave your box in a shady spot and continue on with our route. It will be helpful to get in a routine of leaving your crate out before your delivery time every week and bringing it to the Spring Lake Market if you are picking up there.

Many of you have expressed interest in visiting the farm. We will set up a farm tour date as soon as we are fully planted (likely toward the end of June). Once you know your way around it will be easier to make a visit and wander while we are busy at work. If we have interest in volunteering we may set up a “weed and feed” afternoon like many CSA programs do. Basically, anyone interested would help us weed for a few hours and we would provide a yummy lunch to follow.

I will be making labels to help us pack up your boxes with info including any items you asked not to receive and thought it would be good to know if your family has any lesser known favorites you would like more often. We plan on dispersing many of the popular seasonal items but if your family loves, say, arugula, swiss chard, golden beets, or concord grapes…, let me know. Some of you have already given me this information!

Let us know if you have any questions! I will begin emailing individual notes confirming a few things soon.

Have fun this weekend!

Jen and Russ

A few more spring pics

2008-05-15T19:39:00.000-07:00

We are experimenting with a vertical grow of some of our ever-bearing strawberries. Growing in this manner allows us to put about a 1000ft field row in a space small enough to fit in a hoop house. Most exciting to me is this COMPLETELY eliminates weeds which tends to be my job!!! Growing in the greenhouse under poly in the spring and fall is also supposed to extend their growing season. They really took off, especially compared to our berries in the field and are looking VERY healthy so far.

Kody relaxing while I hoe rows of peas.... We weren't sure how our first planting of peas would fare after the two frosty nights we had a couple weeks ago, but they seem to be recovering well.

Russ turning over soil Thursday before planting a few rows of transplants.

Check out our "organic mousetrap" that joined us in the greenhouse for a few days!!! Here he's in one of our potted blueberry plants - another one of our projects at the farm.

Farm Pics 4-23

2008-04-26T18:03:00.000-07:00

Steve Tiles planting a perfect row of red taters, Russ cutting an Adirondack Blue potato for planting, and our basement grown heirloom tomato and pepper transtplants.

2008-04-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

April 23, 2008
Happy Spring CSA Members,

Or could it just be summer already? The weather sure has been perfect for working outdoors the last couple weeks, though I suppose a little strange. We are nearing our first delivery week and thought I would let you in on a little of what we've been up to.

Last week we planted a number of frost tolerant veggies including potatoes, shelling and snap peas, spring onions, beets, and carrots. This week hearty greens, lettuces, broccoli raab and a few others are on our list along with a lot of hoeing as weeds are beginning to emerge. Russ and Steve are also working on building a large, walk-in cooler in the barn which should be complete by the end of next week. Another on-going project is taking place in our basement where we have turned a section into a propagation area where we've been busy starting seedlings that are transplanted and moved to the greenhouse when large enough and eventually moved to the field once the threat of frost has passed.

I'm excited to tell you about our addition of both asparagus and ever-bearing strawberries. Two large rows of asparagus have been planted and we are in the process of planting a total of 2000 strawberry plants. As many of you know, this family's forte has always been fruit farming. The bad news is the asparagus harvest won't be until the following spring and our first strawberry harvest won't be until early fall. However, the good news is we have talked with our close friends who grow apples and strawberries and plan on delivering berries for one or two June deliveries. The berries will come from Versluis Orchards on M45 in Standale and will be harvested and picked up the same day they are delivered; this was a part of our agreement. If you prefer we leave these out of your box let me know, but I can assure you from experience they are excellent. We are also putting in mid-season raspberry bushes which will give us raspberries all summer long beginning next summer. I was not a part of this decision as raspberries take forever to pick and a break in the season is kind of nice:)

I will send out a final confirmation soon to everyone that will go over your delivery or pick-up procedure with your particular day and time. Included will be farm visit information and an updated monthly crop list. I attached a couple pictures for you to check out and few resources that may be helpful to you. Hopefully soon we will have a website up and running where this information can be available.