Farm Message for Saturday, December 19, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, December 19, 2009
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
Hi folks,
It's getting closer and closer to Christmas, and my workload isn't going down at all and I haven't started shopping at all and........ (okay, enough of that!)
Do you know anyone who you think would really like to order online from us this winter? We're taking on new online COD customers (ie., not CSA) for our 6 winter weekends -- at Adams Morgan only. At the end of that time they'll either join the CSA or go back to shopping at the outdoor market. If you know someone who is interested, have them email me (randy@starhollowfarm.com). Please don't post this on some list-serve or run an ad in The Post; we don't want and can't handle 100 new folks. It's just if you have a friend or co-worker or roommate that live in or near Adams Morgan that would really be into it. (And whom you're willing to “mentor” if they need help figuring it out!)
Where and how should I store my produce? We had a CSA member ask this last week, so I told him in general about the several items he was wondering about, but it made me think that it would probably be good for me to create a chart (or better yet... link to a site) that tells you about what to refrigerate, what not; what likes moisture, what doesn't; and all that sort of thing. I don't think I can get it done for this week, but it will be a good project for the start of winter! Be on the lookout for it.
This week's planned produce: We are trying to clean up a lot of our produce inventory before the end of the year. Some items are not as plentiful as usual, some items come in multiple sizes, some are unusual sizes or packs, and many are on sale. New or back-on-the-list items are underlined.
Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard, collard greens, lettuce (bibb and baby green oak leaf), lettuce mix, spinach.
Veggies: beets, broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), small celeriac, daikon radish, garlic, kohlrabi, small leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), watermelon radishes, rutabagas, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red & yellow), turnips (purple top, sweet white, scarlet), winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, Gray and Green kabocha)
Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, Oyster, portabella, shiitake, white
Tree fruit: apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Nittany, Pink Lady, Stayman).
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Back this week – if you missed them last week – are Keswick cheeses (feta and Blue-Moo). Also we are also offering our frozen stewing hens, for your stews, stock or pets.
On sale or reduced:
Collard greens
Jerusalem artichokes, kohlrabi and rutabaga
baby potatoes and Austrian fingerling potatoes
5 pound bags of rainbow mixed potatoes
10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds
Winter squash website: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm
Winter schedule: Here is our schedule for the next couple of months.
Dec. 19: normal online orders and farm stand
Dec. 26: CLOSED
Winter 2010: online orders only, every other week. Delivery dates will be: Jan. 2, 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27. Mark your calendars! And remember that during those winter months, the Adams Morgan hours are reduced to 10 AM til 1 PM. Early-birds take note!
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week: small Romaine lettuce, garlic, 2 lbs. Sangre red potatoes, 2.5 lbs. Mixed root vegetables, dried cayenne peppers, small amount of herb (parsley, rosemary or thyme – we're out of sage!), and apples (Jonagold, Nittany, Pink Lady).


Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Alix and Brooke & Joe for their help handing out orders last Saturday. We really appreciate the help.

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, December 12, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, December 12, 2009
Hi folks,
It's definitely wintry out there. I just heard the snowplow out on the road in the dark. We need to wash some purple potatoes today, but the hose line is frozen solid. It's not supposed to get above freezing on Friday while we're packing your orders in shed, so we'll need to have a kerosene heater blasting away to keep your produce – and us! – from freezing.
Last Saturday's market was fun. It was only the second time I remember significant snowfall during a December market. Our canopies, table cloths, wooden crates and more are still wet, and there doesn't seem to be any sunshine coming to dry them. Thanks for ordering online and coming for your orders, so that the day was not a complete loss for us.
Chickens date with destiny: I took our hens to the butcher yesterday, and then went back 4 hours later to pick them up. So today we are offering our “spent” hens as stewing hens for your (or your pets) delight. Note that these are year-old laying hens, so they're not going to make nice fried chicken dinners, but they would be great for stock. You're helping us out with buying them after their laying days are over helps “close the circle” so that there is no waste in our chicken/egg production.
Why so many shortages last week, or anytime?: Last week there were more than the usual shortages, and we felt bad about it. Here are some of the reasons shortages happen.
Q. Why are there sometimes shortages when I pick up my order, even though the store inventory showed there were still some available?
A. We realize it is saddening to place an order for something seemingly available, then discover when you pick up your order that you were shorted that item.  The reasons vary, but basically have to do with the fact that we're dealing with fresh produce.  We were unfortunately short the most items this year last week -- 4 different items were complete washouts.  If you had just ordered one of them, it probably wasn't a big deal, but some ordered as many as 3 of the 4, and we felt really bad about that.  If we built the store Friday morning, we'd be pretty darn sure about what we put in there being really available.  But that's not how it works.  In order to have time to do everything necessary for this business to work on our end, we have to build our online store inventory list on Tuesday afternoon and evening.  When I put in potatoes or garlic that are already picked and in my cooler, it's pretty darn sure you'll get what you order.  But what about those highly desirable baby greens and lettuces and Brussels sprouts that people are so crazy about? In most cases they are still growing in the field or greenhouse on Tuesday.  They're not even going to be picked until Wednesday, Thursday, or in some cases even Friday morning.  So when I build the list Tuesday, I or my farmer friends are guessing about what will be ready by the time I need to pick it or get it from them.  When all goes well, we get everything as planned.  But you know the real world... it doesn't always work that way. Two gray cloudy days can mean that the sprouts that should be large enough don't grow to acceptable size, and aren't ready. Or on the day that a field item was to be picked, there may have been a killing frost the night before.  Or we get the produce from a farmer, but decide that the quality is not up to our standards. Or the family could have an emergency. The list goes on.  That we have as few shortages as we do is pretty remarkable, considering we are guessing on half the items.
Q. When something that I ordered turns up short, could you email me so that I would know?
A. That would certainly be the decent thing to do, and good customer service, which we purport to practice.  We actually did that at first when we started the online market.  Then we saw what happened.  If one planned item fell through, I might have to send 24 different emails out.  Then people would say "oh, well, then can I substitute _____" and we're already out of that, but they want to try something else, and the whole thing took way too much time and just didn't work for us.  Last week, with four items unavailable, probably 50 invoices were involved, and it would have taken me an hour or more just to let you know what you weren't going to get.  And then real farm work that needs to get done wouldn't have gotten done.  So we know it would be better if we did it, but we're saying it just doesn't work at our scale.  There's no secretary just sitting there to ask to do it.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined.
Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard, dandelion, lettuce (bibb and red leaf), lettuce mix, kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), pea shoots, spinach.
Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), Romanesco cauliflower, daikon radish, garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, onions (yellow & cippolini), parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), watermelon radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red & yellow), turnips (purple top, sweet white, scarlet), winter squash (acorn, butternut, delicata, Green kabocha)
Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, sweet marjoram, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white
Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, honey crisp, Pink Lady, Stayman).
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Back this week are specialty goat cheeses (garlic/dill, ash logs, demi-sec rounds) and Keswick cheeses (English cheddar, feta, and Blue-Moo). Also Esther's blueberry and black raspberry preserves. We are also offering our frozen stewing hens, for your stews, stock or pets.
On sale or reduced:
5 pound bags of rainbow mixed potatoes
10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds
Winter squash website: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm
Winter schedule: Here is our schedule for the next couple of months.
Dec. 12, and 19: normal online orders and farm stand
Dec. 26: CLOSED
Winter 2010: online orders only, every other week.
(Winter delivery dates: Jan. 2, 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27)
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for parsnips, cabbage, onion, broccoli, baby potatoes, sweet potatoes, small acorn and delicata squashes, and Nittany apples.

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Sangeeta & Gretchen for their help handing out orders last Saturday in the miserable weather. We really appreciated the help, especially last week.

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, December 5, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, December 5, 2009
HAPPY DECEMBER!
Hi folks,
It's hard to believe we're into December already – just over three weeks until Christmas. Oh my... It certainly hasn't felt like December lately. While we have had some cold nights (25 degrees or so) there have been some beautiful warm days.
Hope you all had good Thanksgivings. Ours was quite enjoyable. We had about a dozen people here, both Chris and my mothers, Chris and my sisters and their husbands, all three of our children and my niece. Lots of eating, laughing, and “trivial” conversation (actually, we made the nice discovery that with such a wide-ranging group, one really good activity when everyone is just sitting around is passing around Trivial Pursuit question cards and seeing who can answer them. Much easier than fooling around with the whole board game, and everyone can answer something!) I had a nice break from market, and got some R & R time in – as well as plenty of non-farm work – like filling up the porch and carport with firewood for the winter. It was good. Now we're back.
How big is our farm? Anna was telling me how the kids at school (Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA) always ask her how big her farm is. She tells them 85 acres, and they're like “wow” but have no clue how big that is. So, for fun, I did some figuring. First of all, a square mile is 640 acres, so we're about 1/7th of that. (Right, like that really helps.) A football field is 1.32 acres, within the sidelines, so 64 football fields. Central Park in NY is 843 acres, so we're about 1/10th of that. The National Mall in DC is 146 acres, so we're slightly more than half of that. Golly, now you know.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined.
Greens: arugula, beet greens, bok choi, cabbage, chard, dandelion, lettuce (bibb and red leaf), lettuce mix, kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), rapini, spinach, tat soi.
Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), Romanesco cauliflower, celeriac, daikon radish, garlic, leeks, onions, parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), red radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red & yellow), turnips (purple top, sweet white, scarlet), winter squash (acorn, butternut, delicata, Confection kabocha)
Herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, rosemary, sweet marjoram, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white
Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Granny Smith, honey crisp, Pink Lady, Stayman).
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Back this week is maple syrup from Maryland, 1 lb. honey from PA.
On sale or reduced:
5 pound bags of rainbow mixed potatoes
10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds
Winter squash website: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm
Winter schedule: Here is our schedule for the next couple of months.
Dec. 5, 12, and 19: normal online orders and farm stand
Dec. 26: CLOSED
Winter 2010: online orders only, every other week.
(Winter delivery dates: Jan. 2, 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27)
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for broccoli, maroon carrots, red beets, German Butterball potatoes, sweet white turnips, an onion, a bibb lettuce, a red tomato, and 2 large jonagold apples. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Samir and Megan for their help handing out orders the last time. We appreciate the help.

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, November 21, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, November 21, 2009

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Hi folks,

I got 5 of 6 rows of potatoes harvested yesterday and today in the last patch... just one to go... just another 200 feet... I can do it... I'm gonna make it. We've been selling lots of potatoes wholesale, but retail (which includes this online market and CSA) is very slow for potatoes this year. So I hope ya'll just really get into eating potatoes like this was Ireland and this was 1848. Or not. Bad allusion.

We're looking forward to having most of our families here at the farm for Thanksgiving and enjoying some good food and company. It will be nice to have a weekend off also! Hope you all have a nice Thanksgiving also.

Last Sunday was our Sam's 18th birthday, and we took him down to Harper's Ferry, WV, specifically to go to the Appalachian Trail headquarters there. He's talking about hiking the trail after he graduates this coming spring. We'll see. It was a beautiful day, and Harper's Ferry is quite a happenin' place. In addition to the historical part of town, there were dozens of whitewater kayakers on the Shendandoah River right in front of everyone running the white water. Across the Potomac, on Maryland Heights, there were rockclimbers in full view. We walked across the railroad bridge and also up to Jefferson's Rock for the view. If you've never been to Harper's Ferry, it's a pretty neat place, and probably not more than an hour from DC.

This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined.

*

Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard, dandelion, lettuce (bibb and Romaine), wildfire lettuce mix, kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), spinach, tat soi.
*

Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), fennel, garlic, leeks, onions (cippolini and yellow), parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), Black Spanish radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red, yellow and grape cherry), winter squash (acorn, butternut, delicata, Confection kabocha)
*

Herbs: cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, sage (fresh and dried), rosemary, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, Gray Dove oyster, portabella, shiitake, white
*

Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Enterprise, Fuji, Gala, Golden, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Stayman).
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. New this week is yogurt cheese.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

baby potatoes in quarts
*

Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes
*

5 pound bags of Butterball potatoes
*

10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds

Winter squash website: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm

Upcoming market schedule: We will be taking Thanksgiving weekend off—no CSA or online market or farm stand on November 28th. Then there will be 3 Saturdays in December when we come down, before we take off for Christmas.

Winter schedule: Here is our schedule for the next couple of months.

*

Nov. 21: normal online orders and farm stand
*

Nov. 28: CLOSED
*

Dec. 5, 12, and 19: normal online orders and farm stand
*

Dec. 26: CLOSED
*

Winter 2010: online orders only, every other week.
*

(Winter delivery dates: Jan. 2, 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27)

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for Lollo Biondo lettuce, broccoli, cooking celery, parsnips, Carola gold potatoes, garlic, a large leek, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, dried sage, and some pink lady apples. Happy Thanksgiving!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Kate and John & Matt for their help handing out orders last Saturday. We appreciate the help.


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Turkey

Does anyone know of a local farm to get a Thanksgiving turkey from? I am preferably looking for an organically raised free-range turkey.
I know it is a little late in the game.. but thought I would try!
Thanks,
Mira

Farm Message for Saturday, November 14, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, November 14, 2009

Hi folks,

Okay, I admit it—I'm whooped. I thought the season was over about a month ago when we got most of the potatoes out of the field. But it just keeps on going and going! I'm not sure there is an end in sight. Yesterday and today I washed and packed about 30 cases of potatoes for wholesale, nice because it was relatively warm and my hands weren't in freezing water. Also planted about half of our seed garlic—3600 German white hardneck cloves—our biggest and best from last season. But there are still about 1000 feet of potatoes to dig in ground that's too wet for the tractor, and 500 bulbs of Romanian Red garlic to “pop” and plant.

I want to go to a tropical beach somewhere and drink margaritas all afternoon... (but in reality there is also firewood to split and more potatoes to wash and tractor maintenance to get after, so the margaritas will just have to happen around the wood stove here in the living room on Saturday night!)

This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined.

*

Greens: arugula, bok choi, cabbage, dandelion, lettuce (bibb and red leaf), wildfire lettuce mix, kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), spinach, tat soi.
*

Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), fennel, garlic, leeks, onions (cippolini and yellow), parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), Black Spanish radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red, yellow and grape cherry), winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
*

Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, Gray Dove oyster, portabella, shiitake, white
*

Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Gala, Golden, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Stayman, York).
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. New this week are Sarah's Chow Chow and Tracey's apple sauce, plus wineberry and apricot jellies.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

5 pound bags of Rainbow Mixed potatoes
*

10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds

Wanna know anything about winter squash? We found this site online, and it seems to do a good job of comparing and contrasting lots of different squashes. http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm

Upcoming market schedule: We will be taking Thanksgiving weekend off—no CSA or online market or farm stand. Then there will be 3 Saturdays in December when we come down, before we take off for Christmas.

Winter schedule: We plan to switch over to coming down every other Saturday this coming winter. Our schedule will be posted starting in December.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for Lacinato kale, an onion, sangre red potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, crimini mushrooms, yellow hothouse tomatoes, a few sprigs of parsley, bosc pear and Enterprise apple. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Kevin (two weeks in a row!) and Alix for their help handing out orders last Saturday. We appreciate the help.


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, November 7, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, November 7th, 2009
Hi folks,
We had a short “away from it all” experience last weekend, taking off Sunday morning for the PA Renaissance Faire on the last day of its season. Lots of silly people dressed up and partying like it was 1599. All with some fun music, good old-fashioned fire-eating and acrobats, and finished off with a good hearty jousting tournament. We also went to Allentown and saw daughter Anna, and the new play she's in at college.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.
Greens: arugula, baby bok choi, cabbage, young mixed chard, cress, dandelion, lettuce (green, Romaine and red leaf), kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), microgreens, mizuna, pea shoots, rapini, spinach, tat soi.
Veggies: broccoli, Brussels sprouts, carrots (orange and mixed), cauliflower, garlic, leeks, onions (cippolini and yellow), parsnips, potatoes (five or six kinds), French Breakfast radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (greenhouse reds and yellows), sweet white turnips, winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, green kabocha)
Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, rosemary, tarragon, thyme.
Mushrooms: crimini, farm-raised Gray Dove oyster, portabella, farm-raised shiitake, white
Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, IdaRed, Jonathan, Stayman, Enterprise organic apples.
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses, and preserves plus:
5 new items from Sarah's kitchen – homemade ketchup, salsa, pickled red beets, kosher dill pickles and zesty pickle spears.
3 items back from Whispering Brook Dairy: smoked cheddar cheese, farmer's cheese, horseradish cheese
2 items back from Pipe Dreams Fromage: Ash buche (log) and demi-sec rounds goat cheese.
On sale or reduced:
5 pound bags of Rainbow mixed potatoes
10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds
butternut squash and cabbage prices reduced
On the farm: Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes... And then winter squash, winter squash, winter squash. Wash, sort, pack. Sort of feels like all we do these days. Oh yeah, and try to plant garlic whenever the ground dries out enough, maybe some today.
Where have you placed online orders from? We asked folks last week if they'd ever placed orders in our store from overseas (or out of the area in general) and then picked up on Saturday in DC. Here's what we got; Colombia, Germany, Ireland, Morocco, Pakistan, Peru, Sweden, Tanzania, Vietnam, Virgin Islands. All simply for my amusement... never thought of that possibility when we started the online farmer's market!
Schedule change notices:
Upcoming market schedule: Things stay the same until Thanksgiving weekend. We do not come down then. Then there will be 3 markets in December before we take off for Christmas.
Winter schedule change: We plan to switch over to coming down every other Saturday this coming winter. We really need a break from the year-round routine after five years of year-round marketing, and figure that during the winter most of what we have are storage items that hold perfectly well from one week to the next in your refrigerator just as well as in our cooler.
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for a small celery from our high tunnel, cabbage, broccoli, garlic, carrots, an onion, Carola gold potatoes, a red hothouse tomato, a small delicata and a small acorn squash, an an organic Enterprise apple. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Tom and Sarah & Kevin for their help handing out orders last Saturday. We appreciate it!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, October 31, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, October 31st, 2009
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!
Hi folks,
Another dreary, gray, rainy day here on the farm, but yesterday was beautiful, so I'd better not complain! I still have a bit of field work to finish off – pulling plastic mulch mainly – and we can't seem to get a string of warm days together to actually dry out the ground enough to be able to get the tractor onto the field. Two Saturday's in a row now I've come home from market to find 3 inches of water in the rain gauge.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.
Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard (rainbow), cress, dandelion, lettuce (green, Romaine and red leaf), kale (Lacinato and Russian Red), microgreens, mizuna, pea shoots, rapini, spinach, tat soi.
Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and mixed), celeriac, garlic, leeks, onions (cippolini and yellow), parsnips, peppers (bell, paper lantern chiles), potatoes (five or six kinds), French Breakfast radishes, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (heirlooms), winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, sorrel, spearmint, tarragon, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, farm-raised Gray Dove oyster, portabella, farm-raised shiitake, white
Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Gala, IdaRed, Stayman .
Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses.
On sale or reduced:
5 pound bags of White potatoes
15 pound boxed of seconds potatoes
10 pound boxes of winter squash seconds
On the farm: We've definitely started to shift gears from fall harvest mode into more winter-oriented mode, but processing all those potatoes and squash take up a lot of time. Each week we wash, sort and pack 200-300 pounds of potatoes, a like amount of winter squash, and portion them for the CSA and online market. We're also selling some to the Co-op. I keep thinking I'm going to start having some “project time” real soon, but it hasn't happened yet.
Where have you placed online orders from? We tend to think that here we are on the farm in Pennsylvania, and there you sit in your offices or homes in DC and on Wednesdays you place your orders and they drop into our “in” box. Several years ago a customer told me that she had placed her order from Saigon on Wednesday, then picked up in Adams Morgan on Saturday. I was amazed. Jason stopped by the truck last Saturday and wondered if Amy had placed their order from her job in Peru. I was telling him how that possibility still kind of blew my mind, when Lindsay – handing out boxes at the truck – said that she had ordered awhile back while on assignment in Pakistan. Wow. I'm amazed, in part that they even thought about our farm and produce while in such exotic places. Which leads me to ask you all to let me know what sort of interesting places you've placed orders from – just for our own jollies). We'll report back next week (and we'll leave names off, so that your CIA covers won't be blown).
Upcoming market schedule (repeated): We have 5 more weeks until our schedule changes – Thanksgiving weekend. We do not come down then. There will be 3 markets in December before we take off for Christmas.
Winter schedule change (repeated): We plan to switch over to coming down every other Saturday this coming winter. We really need a break from the year-round routine after five years of year-round marketing, and figure that during the winter, most of what we have are storage items that hold perfectly well from one week to the next in your refrigerator just as well as in our cooler.
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for Romaine lettuce, cauliflower, green bell pepper, carrots, baby potatoes, leeks, chives, granny smith apples. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Chris & Heather and Lindsay for their help handing out orders last Saturday. We appreciate the help!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

2 recipes

Two easy recipes I'm going to try with the CSA ingredients (this week and some of last weeks)

http://www.recipezaar.com/Easy-Creamy-No-Cream-Potato-Leek-Soup-35859
Also going to add in some cauliflower per the suggestion, and stir in some chive at the end.

http://www.recipezaar.com/Potato-Stuffed-Green-Bell-Peppers-2823

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, October 24th, 2009

Hi folks,

Last Saturday was one of the yuckiest market days of the year for us. It rained from the time I left the farm until I got back home, about 15 hours later. Our sales at the farmer's market stand were paltry, but thanks to the online market and CSA, (whose sales were not influenced by the rain) we still had a decent day. Thanks for that!

This week's planned produce: We had a good hard frost several nights ago – 25 degrees – and that has put an end to most summer items (except for those grown under cover or picked before the frost). The night after the frost a lone deer – judging by the tracks – ate off all 30 feet of our sorrel row and 30 feet of parsley. Those are strong-tasting herbs that deer have never bothered before. I fear we're creating a new strain of gourmand deer here at Star Hollow Farm. The marketer in me says “so why not start selling herb-infused venison?”

New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.

*

Greens: arugula, beet greens, cabbage, chard (rainbow), lettuce (green and red leaf), kale (Lacinato and Gailaan), microgreens, pea shoots, spinach, tat soi.
*

Veggies: broccoli, carrots (orange and maroon), celeriac, celery, garlic, kohlrabi, leeks, onions (cippolini and yellow), parsnips, peppers (bell, assorted chiles), potatoes (five or six kinds), rhubarb, scallions, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (standard red, assorted heirlooms, some cherries), sweet white turnips, winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
*

Herbs: chives, cilantro, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, sorrel, tarragon, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, log-grown oyster, portabella, homegrown shiitake, white
*

Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, Golden Delicious, Jonathan, Stayman and York.
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses. New this week is Horseradish cheddar. Also 2 lb. honey jars.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

standard red tomatoes
*

celeriac
*

maple syrup
*

5 pound bags of White potatoes
*

10# boxes of winter squash seconds

On the farm: We've certainly had a reprieve from the yucky rainy gray weather last week, with two glorious Fall days in a row. I've been working primarily out at the wash area by our barn, washing, sorting and packing potatoes and winter squash. Today I packed 16 boxes for the Co-op and yesterday I sorted out winter squash for the online market for the rest of the Fall. (It's kind of tricky as we can't just sell a butternut squash – we have to have a group of them that are all sized evenly so that we don't have to adjust invoices.) Best of all was a walk I took up to look at the mushroom log area, which had been put to sleep last week, as the shiitakes were done. And to my surprise, there were the oyster mushroom logs, leaning against a pine tree, with clumps of beautiful mushrooms sticking out all over them. They hadn't done a thing all summer, and I had pretty much written them off as a complete waste of time, and now here they are, doing their thing, when the others are done! I'm sure it was last week's rain and the warm temps of the last few days that triggered their fruiting.

Upcoming market schedule: I guess it's getting to be that time of the year when we're not in DC every single Saturday, so I'll start now with the list of holidays and changes. We have 6 more weeks until our first break in 7 months of Saturdays – Thanksgiving weekend. We do not come down then. There will be 3 markets in December before we take off for Christmas.

Winter schedule change: And then, we plan to enact a major change for the winter months... We're going to switch over to coming down every other Saturday. We really need a break from the year-round routine after five winters, and figure that during the winter, most of what we have are storage items that hold perfectly well from one week to the next in your refrigerator, just as well as in our cooler. We'll talk more about this later, but thought we'd get the idea “out there” now.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for Lacinato kale, broccoli, green bell pepper, onion, tomatoes, Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes, butternut squash, sweet pepper relish, fuji apples. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Stephanie & Dan and Matt & Angie for their help handing out orders last weekend in the rain. We appreciate the help!


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

October 17th, 2009 Farm Message

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, October 17th, 2009

Hi folks,

We just did something crazy. Chris, Sam and I took a two-and-a-half day vacation since we were in DC on Saturday, and just got back last night! Sunday morning we got all the chores done, loaded the car, and drove north about 150 miles to Tioga County, PA, along the New York border. (Pennsylvania's northern tier is it's least-populated area.) The main attraction was to see the so-called “Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania.” I had never heard of it until a few years ago when Sam and I were studying PA history. Anyway, it sounded interesting, and we wanted to get away from the farm after a pretty hectic and stressful Fall harvest season, and it made sense to go while the leaves were pretty.

The canyon – a thousand-foot deep gorge actually named Pine Creek Gorge – was quite beautiful and well worth the trip. It is a formation left behind by the glaciers that covered that part of the state during the Ice Age a few years back. As an added bonus we got to stay in the county seat town of Wellsboro, a very tidy and well-cared-for place. We spent the night in the 150-year-old Penn Wells Hotel, which was kind of fun also.

The second day we took a 20-mile excursion ride on the Tioga Central Railroad, a small rail line with several 1950s-era engines and cars. (Chris and I spent the whole trip in the club car.) On yesterday's ride home went drove one county further west, into Potter County, and came back south nearly a hundred miles in some of the remotest parts of Pennsylvania I've seen. This is where thousands of hunters will head in just about a month for deer season, and it's loaded with small, seasonal, whimsically-named (Liar's Den, Bear's Nest) cabins or “camps” as they're referred to around here. The area is home to many of the state's bear and elk, in addition to the ubiquitous deer. In 4 hours driving through that wilderness area we saw not so much as a squirrel (well alright, maybe one squirrel). When we pulled in our farm lane at dusk last night, at the end of our escapade, there stood in the middle of our first field a 6-point buck, about 50 feet away, just standing there, watching us, and no doubt thinking “Why'd they think they had to leave the farm to see wildlife? They can do that right here.” It was good to get away – and good to get back.

This week's planned produce: There have been several frosts now, and a number of summer items are gone until next year, with the rest of them ready to depart in the next week or two, depending on which farm grows them and whether they're using any frost protection or not (row covers). New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.

*

Greens: arugula, cabbage, cress, lettuce (green and red leaf, romaine), kale, baby spinach, stir-fry greens mix.
*

Veggies: beans (green, edamame), broccoli, carrots (orange and mixed), cauliflower, celeriac, celery, English cucumbers, fennel, garlic, onions (cippolini and yellow), peppers (bell, assorted chiles), potatoes (five or six kinds), radishes, rhubarb, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (standard red, assorted heirlooms, Romas, canners, cherries), sweet white turnips, zucchini, winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
*

Herbs: cilantro, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, sorrel, tarragon, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, log-grown shiitake, white
*

Tree fruit: bosc pears, apples (Fuji, gala, golden delicious, Stayman/Winesap and york.
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

Roma tomatoes by the 10# box (END)
*

5 pound bags of White potatoes
*

10# boxes of winter squash seconds

On the farm: Yes, the 2009 summer season is definitely winding down fast, and we're shifting into winter and storage crop mode. Much of our day today will be spent sorting, washing, weighing and bagging or boxing up potatoes or winter squash. Chris has been drying herbs. I plan to get back into a more regular greenhouse planting schedule for microgreens, microbasil, pea shoots, and some other goodies.

Our 2009 sales at market have been down all summer from 2008, and we worried about that a good deal as the summer progressed, as we'd never had a year – out of the 18 we've been doing this – that wasn't better than the year before. I guess I'm coming to the conclusion that not only has the economy been a factor, but 2008 was just a spectacular year with interest in farmers markets and CSAs peaking simultaneously, probably due to all the movies and books and “buzz” about local foods. Last week we went over 20,000 online orders filled since we started our online farmers market and CSA in 2005, and the support that this gives us is “up” over 2008, such that we feel reasonably confident going into the winter that we will have still done alright in 2009, in spite of the economy. That's pretty reassuring, as many sectors of agriculture are in crisis mode right now! Thank you for your support.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for carrots, garlic, kohlrabi, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, zucchini, purple potatoes, lettuce, and some Stayman apples. Enjoy!

Number of CSA harvest boxes available: It's been quite a few weeks now since we've sold out of our 72 reserved CSA boxes, so we reduced it to 60 boxes last week, and still only sold 52. I try not to have more CSA boxes reserved than you all will want, as then that produce isn't available online to others. Remember, you can shop a la carte if we're out of the CSA Harvest boxes when you go shopping.

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Gabe, Jul & Frank, and the Rigers for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate the help!


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, October 10, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, October 10th, 2009

Hi folks,

I'll keep this short this week. Lots to do yet this morning. We did have our first light frost yesterday morning. A little basil got nipped. The end (of frost-sensitive goodies) is in sight. Oh no!!!

This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.

*

Greens: arugula, Asian greens, stir-fry greens mix, cabbage, chard, Lettuce (green and red leaf, romaine), kale, pea shoots, baby spinach.
*

Veggies: beans (green, edamame, Romano), broccoli, carrots (orange and mixed), cauliflower, celeriac, sweet corn, English cucumbers, garlic, onions (cippolini and yellow), peppers (bell, assorted chiles), potatoes (five or six kinds), rhubarb, scallions, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (standard red, green frying, assorted heirlooms, Romas, canners, cherries), yellow squash, zucchini, winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
*

Herbs: Italian basil, chives, cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, sorrel, tarragon, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, log-grown shiitake, white
*

Berries & fruit: ever-bearing strawberries, apples (Fuji, gala, golden delicious, Jonagold, Jonathan).
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

Roma tomatoes by the 10# box
*

5 pound bags of White potatoes
*

10# boxes of winter squash seconds

On the farm: Yesterday Sam and I spent on another farm in neighboring Fulton County, participating in their “Youth Ag Expo” day. We were one of seven stations talking to 6th graders about agriculture. Sam gave a presentation on our shiitake mushroom project and I talked about IPM (Integrated Pest Management), a topic they have to cover in science this year. It was a beautiful day.

We rushed home after it ended and I tilled, planted cover crops and disced over two acres of ground where we had harvested potatoes over the last two weeks. I was out until 8:30 in the dark, discing by the tractor's headlights. Now at least I feel I have done what I can to protect that ground over the winter by having something useful growing on it.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for Green curly kale, broccoli, sweet bell peppers, chile pepper mix, mixed potatoes (2 lbs.), buttercup squash, parsley, 2 bosc pears and 2 york apples. Enjoy!

Number of CSA harvest boxes available: It's been several weeks now since we've sold out of our 72 reserved CSA boxes, so we're reducing it to 60 boxes. Remember, you can shop a la carte if we're out of boxes when you go shopping.

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Jodie, Al & Aden and Jenny for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate the help!


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Delicata Squash Recipe

I made this recipe for Roasted delicata squash stuffed with greens, white beans and sage and it was delicious. I used the squash and kale from the box this week, and the sage from last week.

Anyone else have a good recipe for delicata squash?

Farm Message for Saturday, October 3, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, October 3rd, 2009

Hi folks,

Summer is now officially over, and the maple trees' changing leaf colors prove it. We've had several nights in the high 30s, and even fired up the wood stove last Saturday evening after returning from market in the rain. It felt good. We also got to see both of our “away from home” children over the weekend, which was great. And we took a 12-hour break from the farm and went to the Celtic music festival we attend each Fall in Bethlehem, PA. Nothing like sitting outside, drinking beer, listening to fiddles and bagpipes on a Sunday morning to make you feel like you're on break!

This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items underlined. Some items sell out fast. As at any farmer's market it's first-come, first-served.

*

Greens: arugula, baby Asian greens, bok choi, braising greens, cabbage, chard, Lettuce (bibb, red leaf, romaine), mesclun, microgreens, kale, pea shoots, baby spinach.
*

Veggies: beans (green, wax, Romano), beets, broccoli, carrots (bunched and roots), cauliflower, sweet corn, English cucumbers, eggplant (Oriental), garlic, onions (cippolini and red), peppers (bell, assorted chiles), potatoes (five or six kinds), radishes (French breakfast), rhubarb, scallions, shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (standard red, yellow, green, assorted heirlooms, Romas, canners, cherries), sweet white turnips, yellow squash, zucchini, winter squash (acorn, buttercup, butternut, delicata, kabocha)
*

Herbs: Italian basil, chives, cilantro, parsley, peppermint, sage, rosemary, sorrel, thyme
*

Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, log-grown shiitake, white
*

Berries & fruit: blackberries, blueberries, ever-bearing strawberries, apples (Fuji, golden delicious, honey crisp, Jonathan).
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses. Also Keswick cheddar, feta and ricotta.

*

On sale or reduced:
*

Roma tomatoes by the 10# box
*

10# boxes of winter squash seconds
*

3 pound bags of seconds potatoes
*

ricotta cheese.

On the farm: In spite of my back, we're running pretty much flat out here, trying to get in the harvest and put our fields “to sleep” before winter really sets in. We hired a crew of three people to help with potato and squash harvest last week, and that certainly helped. What remains to be done? We have about a dozen more rows of potatoes to dig, out of the initial 84. Our new potato harvester does not, as it turns out, work on fingerling potatoes – due to their size and shape – and fingerlings represent about a fifth of our potato acreage. So we're doing them the old way, which takes a lot longer. As soon as the potatoes are all out – which I hope will be tomorrow – we'll pull up all the plastic from the winter squash fields, spin on our rye/vetch cover crop mix, disc those seeds in, and we're done! Off to Florida for the winter (riiiiiight.......) Whoops, what I meant was continue processing those tons of potatoes and winter squash, and continuing to harvest herbs and greens and peppers and celery and celeriac from our garden, the greenhouse, and the high tunnel. There is no call for frost for the next ten days, which will put us well beyond our average first-frost date of October 1 (tomorrow!).

Price discussion: Last week I went into quite an in-depth discussion about our prices, compared with several DC grocery stores. If you missed it and are interested, it was also posted on the blog. (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com).

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a head of broccoli, a bunch of Swiss chard, head of bibb lettuce, an onion, a quart of baby potatoes, some sweet mini-peppers, Roma tomatoes, several delicata winter squash, and two Jonagold apples. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Samir and Amy for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate the help!


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm to School support from USDA

Kind of exciting news from USDA for the farm to school movement:

http://www.fns.usda.gov/cga/PressReleases/2009/PR-0441.htm

"USDA's Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) and Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) will team together and form 'Farm to School Tactical Teams' to assist school administrators as they transition to purchasing more locally grown foods. "

I've talked with Randy briefly about it and I know there are all kinds of barriers, but it just seems so promising in general. As someone who works at USDA, it's also really nice to see how quickly USDA is getting behind these efforts. The movement has already been taking off and with USDA support, removal of barriers, etc, there just might be some real changes in school lunch! Just thought I'd pass on the news.

Constance

formatting problems

Hi CSA bloggers,
Does anyone use this blog program enough that they know why, when I copy and then paste a fully formatted text into this window, it automatically drops all the formatting? Seems odd, especially since the first few weeks I did it it was right, and left the formatting intact. I've since tried pasting it in in html, but that didn't work either.
Randy

Farm Message for Saturday, September 26, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, September 26th, 2009
Hi folks,
It's been a big week for us so far, and it's just Wednesday morning. I hurt my back several weeks ago, right before the start of the main potato and squash harvest season. We've been trying to figure out how we could get tons of potatoes and squash out of the ground when I can't lift more than 5 or 8 pounds. The obvious answer – hire some help – is one that I always put off as long as possible. I always overestimate my abilities, but this time it was obvious I couldn't do it myself. So we put an ad in the paper last Friday for help picking. In the past when we've run ads for farm help, we were lucky to get one call. This time we've probably had 50 calls, perhaps as our listing was one of only about 10 in the local paper under “help wanted.”
Monday morning at nine o'clock we had three people here, ready to work. In the first two days of the week they harvested 128 boxes of winter squash, or approximately 5,100 lbs. Also harvested were 10 rows of German Butterball potatoes, 36 boxes or approximately 1200 lbs. Only 60 more rows of potatoes to go! The irony is that we actually have a reduced offering of potatoes and squash in the store this week, as managing this crew is a full-time job for me, thus we don't have the usual amount of time to wash, sort, prep and pack produce. If the store offerings look a little light, that's why.... lack of time!
Price discussion: Those of you that have been with us for awhile know that about once a year or so we delve into this price discussion. It's probably something that most businesses don't want to talk about with their customers, but we actually think of you more like part-owners, so we're going to share (!)
Price calculations: One of the big challenges of doing this business is knowing the right price to charge for our produce. Our method for calculating prices is not hard-and-fast, but consists of several factors:
what our Co-op is selling the same items for – wholesale – in the DC market, as they research price lists from 4 or 5 produce distributors around DC, factor in any premium for organic, and relative amounts available: very little means prices are higher, lots available and prices are lower.
what I pay for produce I get from other farmers. (I always pay them what they ask, then set the price accordingly, as opposed to telling them what I'll pay and then going from there.)
My sense of propriety based on doing this for 18 years, which means that I generally feel that things shouldn't cost so much, since I'm remembering how much I charged for an item 15 years ago, and today's prices sound high! (Just part of getting older, I know, as we listen to my mother talk about loaves of bread for a nickel, and I think about the Firehook Bakery breads we're selling for $4.50 at the farm stand!)
Price comparisons with local stores: I was talking about these price issues with Alice -- one of our long-time helpers and friends at the farm stand – two weeks ago, and she offered to take our price list for that week – September 12th – and do some comparisons with three local stores: Safeway, Harris Teeter and Whole Foods. She put together a spreadsheet of the results, accounting for whether the produce was organic or not, on sale or not. Alice looked at about 60 items total: 40+ vegetables, herbs, mushrooms, and fruit. I looked over the spreadsheet to see what could clearly be gleaned from it and will attempt to summarize below. Note that I was looking at all three stores together, and if I had only looked at one, my results would have been a bit clearer – probably.
Price summary: On about half of the items the results were muddled, meaning we were higher than some, lower than some. On the other half, the following statements can be made:
On about 40% we were cheaper than any of the three stores
(beets, baby potatoes, fingerling potatoes, cauliflower, English cucumbers, leeks, crimini and portabella mushrooms, regular and special (i.e., Honey Crisp) apples, peaches and pears)
On about 35% we were higher than any
(arugula, bok choi, celery, corn, garlic, scallions, winter squash, all berries)
And about 25% of what we offer is not available at any of the three
(braising greens, microgreens, cippolini onions, purple potatoes, Lima beans, mini orange sweet peppers, rhubarb)
Of course, this was from one particular day's prices. The stores' or our prices and availability may be different this week, as we've moved into or out of a main season for any particular crop or item. Supply, demand, all of that, you know. But one thing we try to do is be more consistent with prices, whenever possible, not changing them from one week to the next, although maybe we should do that more, to reflect current status.
Why would we be higher on some items? One thing comes to mind – scale. When I see something like scallions or radishes on sale in the grocery store for $.79 or $.99 it makes me shake my head, because I think of how much work it is to grow those items, weed them, try to keep the bugs away, harvest, wash, sort, bunch, and how can you possibly do that, then get them to market, AND MAKE MONEY, at $.99/bunch? Garlic is one of my prize crops; I love it and care for it and try to provide a really good product, in this case the tastier hardneck varieties. I think most of what is in the stores is softneck, and much of that now comes from China, where labor is cheaper, as garlic is another very labor intensive crop. I just can't do it for less. Yadda, yadda, yadda.
Produce Quality: One thing Alice pointed out was that the numbers say nothing about produce quality. At two of the stores she thought the produce looked, well, really not very nice (actually she said it “smelled”). At the third it was very nice. And if we ran the above comparison only with the store where the quality was very nice (providing a more realistic comparison with our own produce – in my opinion) the results would have been different, with at least 50% of our prices being cheaper. I won't name that store, but their CEO is in pretty hot water right now over some health care comments he recently made.
Comments/suggestions: If you have any regarding this topic, we'll listen. (Maybe I should just keep my mouth shut!)
Star Hollow Farm blog: The blog is located at www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com.
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for a head of the season's first cauliflower, a bunch of collard greens, some red beets, a garlic, some purple potatoes, shallots (a mild member of the onion family), a sprig of sage, some fuji apples and a bosc pear. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Susan and Patty for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Tomatoes and Okra!!

Here's another find from supercook.com -- I entered okra, tomatoes and bacon and got this. The tomatoes, okra and onion were from Star Hollow. I also added orange snack peppers. I poured off most of the fat from the applewood smoked bacon I used. I also recommend a high temp so that the okra doesn't get too mucilaginous.

Sauteed Okra with Heirloom Tomatoes and Bacon Scott Peacock and Edna Lewis, authors of "The Gift of Southern Cooking," share their wonderful sauteed okra recipe paired with heriloom tomatoes and bacon, which is a great dish to serve during any get-together.

INGREDIENTS Serves 6. 5 slices bacon 1 pound okra, washed, trimmed, and sliced about 1/2 inch thick 1 large sweet onion (preferably Vidalia), cut into 1/3-inch wedges Coarse salt Freshly ground black pepper 4 medium heirloom tomatoes, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

DIRECTIONS In a large skillet, cook bacon over low heat until it is crisp and fat is rendered. Remove bacon and set aside. Add okra to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. Add onion wedges, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and reduce heat to low. Continue cooking, partially covered, until tomatoes are just heated through, 3 to 4 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Crumble bacon slices over tomatoes; serve warm. First published September 2008

Broccoli!!

Ok so it's not a traditional broccoli recipe, but I entered shrimp and broccoli into supercook.com and got the following. Instead of linguine, I used steamed broccoli. The broccoli, butter, parsley, shallots, garlic (and the scallions I added as well) were all from Star Hollow. I used about half the butter and less than a tablespoon of olive oil. I also skipped the salt/ pepper and pasta water.

Ultimate Shrimp Scampi Broccoli Recipe #193709

This is a super simple recipe for shrimp scampi. Such a rich and elegant dish! For the white wine, I would recommend a Pinot Grigio. This is my take on a Tyler Florence recipe from Tyler's Ultimate!

by KPD

20 min | 10 min prep

SERVES 4 -6

• 1 lb linguine, cooked and reserve 1 cup cooking liquid
• 4 tablespoons butter, divided
• 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 shallot, finely chopped
• 5 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• 1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• 1 lemon, juice of
• 3 tablespoons fresh parsley, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

1. Saute garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in large skillet.
2. Add shrimp to skillet, cooking until pink about 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan.
3. Add wine and lemon juice to skillet. When mixture comes to a boil, add 2 tablespoons butter, 2 tablespoons olive oil. When butter melts, return shrimp to pan and add parsley, cooked pasta and 1 cup pasta cooking liquid. Toss to combine.

Any volunteers for Saturday at the truck?

Hi all,

Unfortunately I missed the fact that one of our truck volunteers for this Saturday dropped out of the CSA two weeks ago (she loved it but said it was too far from her home in Capital Hill). She didn't remind me to take her off the CSA calendar, and I didn't think of it.

We need someone for the 9-11 slot. If we can't find anyone, I'll do it myself, but if you would like to, now's your chance!

Thanks,
Randy

Farm Message for Saturday, September 19, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, September 19th, 2009
Hi folks,
It has been the most beautiful weather here so far this week. Yesterday Sam and I harvested a patch of potatoes, and it was just so nice to be out in the fields. Today I was out at the packing shed washing and sorting potatoes for hours (not quite so perfect the activity to enjoy the weather) but still it was a great day. Hope yours was too. Enjoy!
On the farm: We've had our first potato let-down.... We harvested 1200 row feet of German Butterball potatoes, an heirloom variety that won the “Best Tasting Potato” award at Rodale's annual potato cook-off, and which we've grown before and done real well with. So this year we planted more than ever – about 3000 row feet – and while we got a crop (the blight didn't seem to hurt), it was pretty disappointing. The tubers tended to be small, but more importantly most have a little bit of “scab” on the skins. It comes from a soil-borne bacteria and is mostly just skin deep, but our most beautiful potatoes are now smallish and a bit ugly. Dang! We were trying to think of how to present them to you, and hit on the idea of soup. How does that strike you? Since they're gonna get pureed anyway, who cares if they're small and ugly? (Well, I wish they weren't too.) Our sorrel patch has produced a great crop, so we'll include a sorrel soup recipe along with most of the ingredients necessary. If you haven't made it yet, it's a real treat, especially because it's just as good the next day as a cold drink (think green V8 juice) as it was the night before.
Star Hollow Farm blog: The blog has had very little action over the last few weeks. I'm guessing that blogs are only interesting and useful if they're used regularly. (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com).
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for a head of broccoli, several ears of corn (probably the last of the year), an onion, red pepper, assorted chile peppers, red tomato, Franco-Prussian soup ingredients (French sorrel and German Butterball potatoes), a couple of the last peaches of the season and the last cantaloupe for the CSA. Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Megan and Christine for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Farm Message for Saturday, September 12, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, September 12th, 2009

Hi folks,

It's Fall again (not according to the calendar, but certainly in our minds). Even after a not-very-hot summer the change in the atmosphere is always welcome, even if it signals the coming of winter, again, eventually, hopefully not for a long while. I grew up on the West Coast where it didn't ever freeze and the shift of seasons was so minor as to be easily missed. One of my great pleasures living on the East Coast is seeing – feeling – those changes, enhanced of course by our outdoor work. Enjoy!

This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items underlined. Some items will sell out early.

*

Greens: baby arugula, baby bok choi, braising greens, rainbow chard, Catalogna dandelions, kale, lettuce, microgreens, pea shoots, baby spinach, turnip greens.
*

Veggies: beans (green, Lima, Romano), beets, broccoli, carrots, celeriac, corn, cucumbers, eggplant (Oriental), leeks, okra, onions (red sweet, yellow and cippolini), peppers (sweet and hot), rhubarb, scallions, shallots, tomatillos, tomatoes (standard, Roma, heirloom and cherry), yellow squash, zucchini, and butternut squash.
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, peppermint, sage, sorrel, tarragon, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, log-grown shiitake, white.
*

Berries, melons, fruit: blackberries, blueberries, ever-bearing strawberries, cantaloupe, Gala apples, peaches (end), Bartlett pears, Stanley prune plums, and seedless grapes.
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses, but with the addition of the garlic/dill chevre, ash logs and demi sec goat cheeses. The usual preserves, with the addition of tomato jam last week and peach jam this week.
*

On sale or reduced: our log-grown shiitakes, the Roma tomatoes by the 10# box, bags of seconds potatoes -- about half price – most are seconds due to mechanical damage from the harvester :(

On the farm: We've been at the potato harvest since Monday morning, with lots coming in, and in general they're looking good for size and quality – doesn't look yet as though the blight hit them where it hurts. The biggest disappointment to us is the degree of mechanical damage our new potato harvester is causing to the tubers as it digs and shakes them. So, on the plus side, those of you really pinching pennies should be able to find half-price seconds available in the store each week throughout the winter!

Open farm weekend: We had a great time over the long weekend with those of you who made the trek up here to see where we live and work and grow your food. It's so nice to make the additional connection of having you (and your families) up here at our place, sharing our farm and home with you. Thanks to all of you who came!

Star Hollow Farm blog: Post on the blog or check others' posts if you are looking for or willing to offer a ride (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com).

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a head of bibb lettuce, an English seedless cucumber (grown in a Pennsylvania greenhouse), some of the last sweet corn, LaRatte French fingerling potatoes, a tomato, one of the first butternut squashes, the first honey crisp apples, the last peaches, and a jar of homemade jam. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Kristen & Kayla and Karen for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!


Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

yummy recipe

Check out this recipe http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Italian-Green-Beans-and-Potatoes-350902 which uses the green beans and potatoes from our CSA. I'm also going to throw in the thyme when I cook it.

Can anyone volunteer at the truck this Saturday?

Hi all,

One of the people that had signed up for this Saturday (11-1 shift) just informed us that he's not available after all. Anyone feel like doing a 2 hour shift at the truck? Or even one hour, from 11-12, and I could take over then?

Thanks,
Randy

Farm Message for Saturday, August 22, 2009

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, August 22nd, 2009
Hi folks,
(Don't know why, but the blogger dropped all my formatting this week. I didn't do anything different, that I know of.)
How y'all doin'? We had a big storm yesterday afternoon; huge ominous black clouds, swirling winds and intense downpours for about 10 minutes. It was the first drop of rain in over two weeks – our two hottest weeks of the summer – and we needed it badly. We got half an inch in that short period of time. There is an old-timers' “rule of thumb” that the perfect rainfall for vegetable growing is an inch of rain per week, slow and gentle. It happens that way once in awhile.
This week's planned produce: New or back-on-the-list items underlined. Note that, just like at the outdoor farmer's market, the fact that we open the market with a bunch of items doesn't mean that they'll all be available throughout the entire market. Some sell out fast. As always, it's first-come, first-served.
Greens: bibb and red leaf lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, rainbow and red chard, kale (Lacinato and green), pea shoots
Veggies: beans (green, Lima, Romano), beets, carrots (orange and purple), sweet corn, pickling cucumbers, eggplant (oriental), garlic, onions (cippolini and yellow), peppers (bell, mini-orange and assorted chiles), potatoes (Desiree pink, red, gold, purple, La Ratte fingerling and rainbow mixed), scallions, shallots, tomatoes (standard red, yellow, assorted heirlooms, Roma/plums, cherries), yellow squash, zucchini
Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), cilantro, dill, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white
Berries, melons, fruit: blackberries, blueberries, ever-bearing strawberries, cantaloupe, Ginger Gold apples, nectarines, peaches, Bartlett pears.
Other items: the usual eggs, butter and cheeses, plus jalapeno cheese, plus garlic / dill goat chevre, demi-sec and ash log goat cheeses. Also preserves and such, plus Mrs. Brechbill's strawberry / rhubarb jam.
On the farm: We started our main-season potato harvest this week, and I don't think I've ever been so happy to dig potatoes. We were worried that we were going to lose the whole crop with all they were saying about the late blight. We have potatoes planted in 14 different patches covering two-and-a-half acres, but the first one we dug looked just about normal, for tuber size and yield. Whew! At least we got some. (See the picture in the email, which shows three of the six rows we harvested: Purple Majesty, LaRatte, and Desiree Pink.) Of course, with yesterday's rain I should now be spraying again, at least those later-planted potatoes that still have some green tops, but seeing as I hate spraying – and I know I'm getting some potatoes – I'll probably let it go.
Even though it's still mid-August, it really feels like our season has changed. Help, help, our help is leaving! Jack, our oldest son, moved to Harrisburg last week and started a new job in town there. Russell, our ag college helper this summer, starts school in a week and finished up on Monday. Scott, our volunteer from the city, finished up last Saturday. Thanks to all of you guys for your help; it was great. Anna has just one week to go and then she's back to school also. Pretty soon it's just gonna be Sam, Chris and me again. And lots of potatoes.
We did get the cooler project all-but-done and used it last Friday. I finished the lighting yesterday. It's fantastic to actually have room to move in there as we pack on Fridays and to be able to roll two pallets and half a dozen hand truck loads onto the truck at 2:30 AM Saturday morning instead of 43 hand truck loads! (Until two years ago, we had to roll those loads all the way across the packing shed and lift the boxes one by one up into the back of the truck. That was before we built a dock that allows us to roll things on.)
Recipes: One of our CSA members posted a link to a recipe search engine on the blog. I haven't used it yet myself, but it sounds great. You type in a list of foods, such as what's left in your 'frig on Thursday or what you receive in your CSA box and it will search for a recipe that uses all or most of those ingredients. Pretty neat idea. If you're interested, (http://www.supercook.com/). Thanks Sheela.
Star Hollow Farm blog: (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week the plan is for mixed mini peppers, mixed potatoes, mixed cherry toms, green beans, sweet corn, an onion, sample of thyme, a cantaloupe, and tree fruit medley... ginger gold apple, Bartlett pear, peach and nectarine.
Enjoy!
Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Matt and Terry for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

Cool website for finding relevant recipes

My colleague told me about this website http://www.supercook.com/ where you can find a recipe based on whatever food you have in your kitchen (and your CSA box!). Seems better than epicurious.com (which I used to use) which only searches on one ingredient.

Farm Message for Saturday, August 15, 2009

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, August 15th, 2009

General news & info

Hi folks,

Summertime, summertime, sum- sum- summertime! (the refrain from an old song...). Yes, it's finally here, those glorious 90 degree, 90% humidity days that make working outside such a joy. And boy, did I pick the right project for the week—working on our new cooler! It's really very pleasant working inside my former shop with the fan on, whilst my peons (what, is that pejorative?) here on the farm do the outside work. I'll be running out to pick up some produce this afternoon, but between this morning and tomorrow I think I have a good shot at having the cooler functional for Friday's orders and packing. It will more than double our cooler capacity, and make both Friday's and our 3 AM Saturday morning truck loading oh-so-much better.

This week's produce: (New items underlined)

• Greens: bibb lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, chard, dandelion, kale (Russian and green), pea shoots

• Veggies: beans (green, Lima, yellow wax), beets with tops, carrots, sweet corn, slicing cucumbers, eggplant (oriental), garlic, onions (cippolini and sweet), peppers (bell and some chiles), potatoes (red, gold, purple, La Ratte fingerling and rainbow mixed), shallots, tomatoes (standard red, yellow, Cherokee purple, Roma/plums, cherries), yellow squash, zucchini

• Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme

• Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white

• Berries, melons, fruit: blackberries, cantaloupe, Ginger Gold apples, nectarines, peaches

• Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses, preserves and such, plus Mrs. Brechbill's own homemade garlic/dill pickles in a beautiful ½ pint jar.

On the farm: Surprisingly we had another large pick of cherry tomatoes again yesterday—and they're going into your CSA boxes again this week—but I sure think they're gonna be done soon, from the looks of them. There was an interesting blog post that Constance found about the blight and forwarded to us. If you haven't read much about it yet, it's pretty interesting (even for non-farmers) I think. http://civileats.com/2009/07/28/battling-late-blight-in-the-north-east/. The part where the farmer says that spraying (even the organically approved material) “feels like a sin” is pretty much how I feel when I've sprayed the copper several times now, but weighing that against losing everything keeps me at it. (The fact that we've had no rain now for 10 days means I've gotten out of spraying this week, as dry conditions are not conducive to the disease's spreading.)

ORGANIC—To be or not to be ... the ongoing question: A dozen or so of you responded via email after I first put this topic on the board several weeks ago. For those who are keeping score, we're running 50:1 right now with “do what you think is right.”

More than a few have remarked “Well, you'd drop certification, but you'd still be organic anyway, right?” to which I want to answer “NO.” The expense and the hassle is not the only reason we're talking about this. It's also the “one size fits all” approach to materials allowed, management of nutrient resources (specifically manure), seed sourcing, using effective controls – if needed, and more. Please talk to me if you're interested or this is important to you. I like openness, and don't want to feel like I haven't given all our customer a chance to be heard on this important issue.

Have you checked out our blog? I personally have no experience with blogs (being over 30—way over—and all), but seeing how this one has developed over the month or so it's been in existence, I sense that there's a critical mass needed using it until it sort of “gets going” and has enough happening to be worth checking out. Each week a few more people check it out, comment or post, and I think maybe it's getting there! Have you? (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)

CSA-Specific News & Info

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a head of bibb lettuce, bunch of rainbow chard, Lima beans, sweet corn, cherry tomatoes, items of purple food (carrots, potatoes, garlic), and some nectarines. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers: Thanks to Eric, Sarah and Steph for their help handing out orders last weekend. We appreciate your help!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬