Star Hollow Farm CSA

End of Randy's Star Hollow posts

2010-04-27T20:24:00.003-04:00

Hi anyone,

I've been posting our farm news here for about a year, but haven't seen any activity whatsoever for six months or so, until the Facebook page started this week.

I'm sorry if I'm letting anyone down, but I'm ready to stop taking 10 minutes each Wednesday morning to post here if no one is reading.

No sour grapes; just ready to stop. If anyone else wishes to keep things flowing, I'm perfectly fine with that.

And many thanks to Michelle for setting this up last year. Seemed like a good thing then!

Sayonara,
Farmer Randy

Join Star Hollow Farm's Facebook Page!

2010-04-21T16:27:00.004-04:00

Hello everyone!

I'm creating a Facebook fan page for Star Hollow Farm along with fellow CSA member Annie. We thought that creating a Facebook group would be a great way to share information, recipes, and anything else Star Hollow Farm related. I realize that this was the original idea behind this blog, but a Facebook group just seems like such an easier way to connect!

We're just beginning the process of building the page, so if you have suggestions or would like to help out, please let one of us know.

Click here to join!

Farm Message for Saturday, April 24, 2010

2010-04-21T09:32:00.002-04:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, April 24, 2010

Hi folks,

I have a little over an acre of ground all worked up and ready for planting our new crop of potatoes, one of the earliest times in the season that has happened. Many years I can't even drive a tractor into the fields until May. Most of our fields are down by the creek, thus low-lying, and tend to stay wet longer than upper ground. That's one of the reasons we're planning on bringing our one upper fields into production later this year. The soil isn't as good, it's rocky and on a slope, but it does dry out sooner. We want to reconfigure that field so that the patches for vegetables are laid out on the contour and are narrower than usual, so that there is minimal runoff. Once plowed, we'll need to call in a state conservationist who will mark the contours (level) for us so that we can lay things out right.

Produce, in general: Spring is definitely upon us, and it feels to me like the first week's offering that really shows it. The chives, asparagus and rhubarb of last week probably were the start, but now with ramps, radishes and the hothouse cukes and tomatoes, I feel like we're there. While I can – and happily do – eat potatoes year round, I don't really need any more turnips or rutabagas for awhile.

This is certainly an early season for us. Many of the trees have blossomed early, and certain perennials are early coming. Usually plants are smarter than we are when it comes to knowing if it's really time or not, but even they get surprised sometimes. Our local apple blossom festival is scheduled for May 1 and 2, but the trees are already past full blossom now! The orchards have been holding their breath that there's not a hard freeze while the blossoms are on the trees. So far I think they're okay.

Our asparagus is another story. We have a new patch – planted two years ago and left to establish itself until now – that includes our first attempt at purple asparagus. It's ready to start picking, and almost everything that's tried to come up over the last week has been ruined by frost. The spears are very tender, of course, when they first come up. If they have enough moisture and it's a sunny day, they will shoot up 3 or four inches in a day. We harvested several pounds worth of frozen spears and Chris cooked them right away, but each day that goes by we're losing asparagus to sell. Fortunately it's a perennial and as long as it doesn't continue freezing into June, the crop will recover. Once again, I'm thankful that some of our farmer friends over the mountain have not had the frosts that we're still getting and that we can fill in some of our shortages with produce from others.

This week, in addition to our own produce and that from Tuscarora Co-op, we have free-range eggs from the Horsts, greens and hothouse tomatoes from the Martins, asparagus and scallions from the Macks, spinach from the Hostetters, and ramps from the Derstines.

The list, in particular: (New or back-on-the-list items in red.)

*

Greens: arugula, beet greens, chard, dandelion, lambsquarters, microgreens, lettuce (bibb, red leaf, Simpson, Romaine), pea shoots, salad mix, spinach, stinging nettles, stir fry mix.
*

Veggies: asparagus, beets, yellow carrots, English cucumbers, bunched green garlic, Jerusalem artichokes (END), onions, parsnips, potatoes, radishes, ramps!!!, rutabagas (END), scallions, shallots, hothouse tomatoes, turnips.
*

Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, sorrel, spearmint, tarragon, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Other items: eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves.

CSA-Specific Information

CSA volunteers: Many thanks to Katie, Andy and Alison for their help at the truck last week! We have a calendar at the truck for folks to sign up for a shift handing out CSA boxes. Please consider it if you haven't signed up already.

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: ramps, asparagus, spinach, lettuce, crimini mushrooms, onion, seconds potatoes.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, April 17, 2010

2010-04-14T08:57:00.003-04:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, April 17, 2010

Hi folks,

We're having a different kind of spring. The weather has been amazing: the earliest dry ground and warm temperatures I can remember. The asparagus is up two weeks early. It should be okay, although if it freezes hard at night, everything sticking up will be ruined.

We could be off to a record early start, but we're not. My mother, who is 90 and lives with us here on the farm, broke her foot in a fall here 3 weeks ago. She had surgery and then went to a rehab / nursing home until she would be ready to come back home. Unfortunately it's located an hour's drive from here, so we're spending a lot of time on the road between here and there. She's been progressing, then yesterday had a gall bladder attack and had to go to the hospital for surgery to have it removed. She's doing well so far, but many days the farm is more in the back of my mind than in the front. Fortunately many of the other farms we get produce from are having a very early start, so you likely will see things early anyway, even if they're not all from us. I'm glad we have that leeway!

Produce in general: As we have noted the last several weeks, we are right at the end of the winter storage crop season. We have sorted as well as we can, but still ask you to be a little more lenient than usual.

The list: (New or back-on-the-list items in red.)

*

Greens: arugula, beet greens, chard, collard greens, dandelion, lambsquarters, microgreens, lettuce (bibb, red leaf, Romaine), pea shoots, salad mix, spinach, stir fry mix.
*

Veggies: asparagus, beets, yellow and seconds carrots (END), bunched garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, potatoes, oyster root (END), scallions, Yellow shallots, turnips, butternut squash (END).
*

Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sorrel, spearmint, tarragon, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Fruit: rhubarb, Fuji apples (END).
*

Other items: eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Ash and demi-sec goat cheeses are back!
*

On sale: Butterball potatoes-$5.00

CSA-Specific Information

CSA volunteers: Thanks to Shannon, Carla and Adria for their help at the truck last week! We have a calendar at the truck for folks to sign up for a shift handing out CSA boxes. Please consider it if you haven't signed up already.

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: Asparagus, a large bag of spinach, a head of Black Simpson lettuce, some arugula, onions, and a root medley.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, April 10, 2010

2010-04-07T08:33:00.002-04:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, April 10, 2010

Hi folks,

What beautiful weather we've been having! It makes working outside a pleasure. We're working hard to get up to speed here after a pretty tough winter. I spent about 4 hours this afternoon grading our ¾ mile dirt road in from the mailbox, which had become seriously pot-holed and washed out in a few places from the last flood. Having a smoother road also means your orders won't bounce around so much in the back of the truck Saturday morning!

Schedule: We're in our main season now. You can pick up your orders between 9 AM and 1 PM.

Missed orders: We had had a run of lots of missed orders at the end of March. Please note that if you don't come for your box, you can still get it the following week, but it is not automatic! It would be nice if you contacted us and indicated what you want us to do with your order. Else we have to contact you. In the latter case, we need to hear back from you; we don't just bring it back the next week.

Produce in general: As we noted last week, we are right at the end of the winter storage crop season. We have sorted as well as we can, but still ask you to be a little more lenient than usual, as the produce is just not that perfect anymore!

Apples are just about done, but we did sort one last time and came up with a pretty good selection. Several points of interest regarding apples at this time of year. First, the Traceys were telling me several weeks ago that apple trees tend to have a bi-annual (every other year) fluctuation between heavier fruit set and lighter. Last year (2009) was the smaller year, thus apples are winding up earlier than the year before. Another thing about apples at this time of the year had to do with Granny Smiths, in particular. Somebody pointed out that they had apparently been waxed. I asked the Traceys about that, as they have always told me they don't wax their apples. They said that this late in the season, Granny Smiths do seem to “exude” whatever natural waxiness they have, and get practically sticky. It's nothing that the growers have done. Just the apples themselves!

The list: (New or Back on the list items in red.)

*

Greens: arugula, Asian greens mix, beet greens, stir fry mix, cabbage, chard, dandelion, salad mix, microgreens, lettuce (bibb, red leaf, Romaine), pea shoots, spinach.
*

Veggies: beets (red and specialty), mixed carrots, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, dried cayenne peppers, potatoes, oyster root, scallions, Yellow shallots, turnips, butternut squash.
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, sorrel, spearmint, tarragon, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Apples: Fuji, Golden, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Red Delicious.
*

Other items: eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Ash and demi-sec goat cheeses are back!
*

On Sale: Canned cherries-$5.00

CSA-Specific Information

CSA volunteer sign-ups beginning: We will have a calendar at the truck from now on for folks to sign up for a two hour shift handing out CSA boxes at the truck. Please consider it if you haven't signed up already.

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: two heads of lettuce, mixed carrots and potatoes, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsley, fuji apples.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, April 3, 2010

2010-03-31T07:32:00.001-04:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, April 3, 2010

Hi folks,

First of all, I think I should thank all of you for helping us get through another winter. As for the every-other-week schedule, I don't think I could have taken many more stressful driving trips to and from DC due to weather. Most of you eventually got onto track with the schedule, and it certainly gave us a little break from the routine. Thank you!

We do have some new CSA members joining us, folks that ordered online as COD members during the winter. Welcome to you all! (But please remember, no COD orders now except for long-standing customers in that category!) We will have our hands full with the farmers market, and don't want to add complications.

Schedule: We're starting a new season this week, with our outdoor farmers market opening in Adams Morgan at 9 AM this Saturday. That means several things will change at the truck in Adams Morgan. First, you will be able to pick up your orders beginning at 9 AM instead of the 10 AM that it is during winter. Second is that CSA volunteers will be handing out the CSA boxes at the truck instead of me! This is your chance to meet other people in the CSA and have a reason to hang out at 18th and Columbia for awhile (in the daylight!). Please consider volunteering for a two hour shift. A calendar for sign-ups is at the truck-- ask a volunteer!

Produce in general: We are right on that cusp between the end of the winter storage crop season and the start of a new year. Before you get all excited and think strawberries will be in the store, realize that it's still very early in the season, and the things that are making their annual return are either the very first perennials or items that have been wintered over in the greenhouse. Nothing is planted outside yet, and zucchini and corn are still a good while off. That said, it's a pretty nice list for the beginning of April. Ten years ago, before the emphasis on storage crops and greenhouse production began, we wouldn't have even felt it was possible to do a market at this time of year!

Apples are just about all done. There were only a small number in the store to begin with, so don't be surprised if you come in later and the page is blank!

The list: (New or Back on the list items in red.)

*

Greens: arugula, Asian greens mix, braising greens mix, cabbage, chard, claytonia, catalogna dandelion, mesclun, microgreens, lettuce (bibb, green leaf, red leaf, Romaine), pea shoots, spinach.
*

Veggies: beets (red and mixed), mixed carrots, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, dried cayenne peppers, potatoes, oyster root, scallions, Yellow shallots, turnips, butternut squash.
*

Herbs: basil, chives, cilantro, dill, oregano, parsley, rosemary, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Apples: Fuji, Pink Lady, Red Delicious.
*

Other items: eggs (no free range this week), butter, cheeses and preserves. Back on the list are pickles and chow chow.

CSA-Specific Information

CSA volunteer sign-ups beginning: We will have a calendar at the truck from now on for folks to sign up for a two hour shift handing out CSA boxes at the truck. The shifts are 9 to 11 and 11 to 1. All CSA members are asked to do one shift per year: some happily sign up for several shifts and a some act like they have never heard of such a thing. Please consider it! Bring your own calendar so you can figure out a date that will work for you.

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week's box includes an Asian greens mix, miners lettuce (Claytonia), heads of bibb and Romaine lettuce, mixed carrots, parsnips and onions, fingerling potatoes, and three apples (Golden, Granny and a small Honey Crisp).

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, March 27, 2010

2010-03-24T07:41:00.002-04:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, March 27th, 2010

Hi folks,

I'm running a bit late this morning, and want to be sure to get the store open and email out by 7, so I'll try to be brief here. Basically, it's spring and our pace is noticeably quickening, my list of “to-do” items is growing rapidly, particularly as regards seed-starting in the greenhouse, prepping the henhouse for our new flock, and it's time to get out the market paraphernalia and clean it up for the beginning of markets again in April. No more sleeping 'til noon for me! (That was a joke... I don't think I could anymore even if I tried!)

Schedule: We are down to our last “winter” market week (even though the calendar says it is now spring, and it sometimes feels like summer). We simply defined our winter as January, February and March, the months our outdoor market is closed. All that the change from winter to “main season” really means to you – with regards to us and your orders – is that pickup at Adams Morgan is extended to 9 to 1 instead of the 10 to 1 that it is for winter (and one more week). What it means for me is No More Saturdays Off until Thanksgiving, and the return of 2 and 3 AM alarms on Saturdays. Sob.

Produce: We are at that time of the year where storage crops are finishing up, one by one, and there are fewer and fewer to choose from. Fortunately, at the same time, some of the first spring crops have started to appear, albeit from the greenhouse where the heat of those warm days has been concentrated. So each week for the next month the storage crops will disappear from our list while more new items appear. The first field crops to appear are the perennials: asparagus, rhubarb, chives, mint, sorrel, to be followed by the fastest growing of the spring-planted crops: radishes, scallions, new potatoes, zucchini, but I'm getting ahead of myself. It is still March, in spite of feeling at times like late June. The forsythia hasn't even bloomed yet. (Trees and plants are pretty smart, most of the time, and don't get fooled too often by weather anomalies.)

The list: (New or Back on the list items in red.)

*

Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard, claytonia, mesclun, microgreens, lettuce (bibb, red leaf, Romaine), pea shoots, spinach.
*

Veggies: beets, carrots, celeriac, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, potatoes, salsify (oyster root), scallions, shallots, turnips, butternut squash.
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, dill, parsley, rosemary, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Apples: Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Honey Crisp, Pink Lady, Red Delicious.
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Back on the list are goat cheese (chevre) and maple syrup.
*

On sale: All of our potatoes.

CSA-Specific Information

CSA volunteer sign-ups beginning: We will have a calendar at the truck this Saturday for folks to start signing up for a two hour “stint” handing out CSA boxes at the truck. The shifts are 9 to 11 and 11 to 1. All CSA members are asked to do one shift per year: some happily sign up for several shifts and a some act like they have never heard of such a thing. Please consider it!

Planned CSA produce for this week:

Two-week box includes Lolla Bionda and Cherokee red leaf lettuce, a small head of cabbage, onions and garlic, a 3 lb. potato mix, turnips, parsley, apple sauce and assorted apples.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, March 13, 2010

2010-03-10T07:45:00.001-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, March 13th, 2010

Hi folks,

We've had several glorious days here lately, with most of the snow now melted (except in the piles where I dumped them with the tractor). I've taken some time to clean up and organize the shop in the barn, and just completed repainting our office. I built some new shelves and repainted some old ones, brightening things up a bit.

Some new crops are jumping to life in the greenhouse in this warmth and sunshine, notably garlic, scallions, and miners lettuce. We'll soon be getting seeds started. With this weather it feels like we should already be out doing things, but then I look at the thermometer, see it's still 19 degrees in the morning, and know that we have had some of our biggest snowfalls in March. (Seems impossible now, but isn't!)

Yeah spring!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Winter storage crops: We remind you that our storage crops are getting near their end – each has a slightly different storage life – so please be a bit more tolerant than usual.

Winter Schedule (we're in our last month of the “winter” schedule):

Delivery dates remaining are Mar. 13 & 27. Orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one.

This week's produce:

*

Greens: arugula, mesclun, microgreens, cabbage, lettuce (bibb, red leaf, Romaine).
*

Veggies: beets, carrots, celeriac, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, potatoes, black Spanish radishes, rutabagas, salsify (oyster root), shallots, turnips, butternut squash.
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme.
*

Mushrooms: crimini, oyster, portabella, shiitake, white.
*

Apples: Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Red Delicious.
*

Other items: the usual eggs, chicken, butter, cheeses and preserves.
*

NEW: Spring garlic, Red Delicious apples, yogurt cheese.
*

On sale: All of our potatoes.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

Two-week box includes Lolla Rossa and bibb lettuce, micro greens and claytonia ("miners lettuce"), mixed beets, carrots, and parsnips, onions, white Atlantic and LaRatte potatoes, pink lady and red delicious apples.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, February 27, 2010

2010-02-24T08:34:00.002-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, February 27th, 2010
Hi folks,
Is it Spring yet? I haven't talked to one person yet that hadn't had enough of winter already. That snow that blanketed DC two weeks ago (and our farm as well) is still on the ground, but it has been melting here for a day or two, and while everything is still white, it is now only six inches or so deep in most places. The piles of snow – where I piled it while cleaning the roads – will probably be here until April though. One part of our house roof – over our bed, unfortunately – did spring a leak where the 24 inches of snow has just sat continuously, trapped there by a valley and the snow-birds on the roof, and I am not going up there to try to free it up, as it is sloping, wet metal on the second floor, so we're just hoping the snow melts off soon. Hope you all made it through without any serious problems.
Winter storage crops: We occasionally are asked – in the middle of the winter – if our storage crops are fresh. I usually take a deep breath and ask the person what they mean, since they certainly realize that we're not digging down through two feet of snow to harvest our potatoes. Most of the roots that we are offering were harvested sometime between September and December. Occasionally, if there is a warm spell without snow and, if the ground isn't frozen, some things left in the ground can still be dug, but not most. So you realize if you order rutabagas or carrots or potatoes that they have been sitting in our cooler for months, and while we try to keep them as best we can, their quality certainly is not improving over time.
Some storage crops are starting to show their age. We hope that your “tolerance quotient” will increase over the next month or so, realizing that it's lower quality or nothing! Thank you in advance. We don't mean that we're intending to start sending you junk and you have to take it; just that hopefully you won't mind trimming a little more than usual. If you get something that requires trimming more than say, a third of the total, please let us know and we'll give you credit.
Winter Schedule (NOTE: deliveries are every other week):
Delivery dates remaining: Feb. 27, Mar. 13 & 27. Orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one.
Star Hollow produce: Last time we delivered our own farm's storage crops from last Fall they were CERTIFIED ORGANIC; now, two weeks later, they aren't. I don't really know how they determined the Feb. 15 deadline, but that was it, so now our crops are magically different!
I thought I should re-state or clarify that we still think of ourselves as organic farmers; it's just that now that we're not certified, the USDA says we can't even use the word “O word” in conjunction with our produce. That seems not quite fair, but we certainly realize and appreciate the problems of mis-representation.
Our commitment to raising tasty, healthy, safe produce has not changed, nor has our commitment to produce it in a way that is safe – even beneficial – for the environment. One particular area that we hope to move even further forward with is our use of cover crops and new cover cropping methods to build fertility and improve soil structure, eliminating any need for store-bought fertilizers. FYI, in 18 years farming we've probably used 5 truckloads of imported manure and maybe five 50-lb. bags of organic fertilizers for our crops. So if you know about the problems of fertilizer runoff, the cost of converting petroleum to nitrogen-based fertilizers, and other such concerns, I believe that supporting a farm like ours eliminates all those negatives. And we're trying to take it even further, improving what we have by what and how we grow. (Sorry if that sounds like bragging, I didn't mean to, just wanted you to know what we're about here, in case you thought that us dropping organic status meant that somehow we didn't care any more!)
CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week: Two-week box includes Romaine and bibb lettuce, carrots, onions, garlic, 2# gold potatoes, a salsify / scorzonera mix, rutabagas, white sweet potatoes, fruit jam and a mix of apples.

Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
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Farm Message for Saturday, February 13, 2010

2010-02-10T21:31:00.001-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, February 13th, 2010

Hi folks,

Well, we're having some fun with the weather this winter, aren't we? While Chris, Sam and I were away at our annual PA Sustainable Agriculture conference last weekend we got the “big snow” -- for us about 20-24 inches. I spent all day Sunday plowing. Monday we took Sam to the Altoona Hospital for a scheduled operation (reconstructive jaw surgery). He did well, but he and Chris will be there until near the end of the week. I'm now back home, trying to keep the house warm, the pets fed, the roads plowed, and my mother checked on, (as well as run a business). Chris wanted us to cancel everything, but I put up a fight. We canceled the Tenleytown delivery location because that is harder to get to, and we purposely limited our availability to keep things simpler, as Sam won't be helping pack orders as he usually does, Chris will only be available a bit on Friday, and Chris' sister Kathy may not be able to make it in to work at all. So it's going to be mostly Randy, and any mistakes will surely be mine.

We're going to go ahead and take some orders, and try to make it in on Saturday. Hopefully the roads will be clear enough by then, and I'll be able to get my usual spot by the bank.

This is definitely going to be tricky, so I hope it all works out. If there are any problems, let us know, but please try to be understanding, as we know we're pushing things here to try at all. (Mostly it's my ego wanting to continue to be able to say: “I've never missed a market.”) I hope I don't make a mess trying, and I hope it's not more trouble than it's worth!!!

Tenleytown site: No delivery this week due to the weather. PLEASE do not place an order for pickup there. If you wish, you are welcome to order and pick up at Adams Morgan.

This week's planned produce: We have purposely greatly reduced the variety of items in the store this week for the reasons mentioned above.

Why are some pages blank? If you go to a page (“Greens,” for example) and there is no produce available to buy there, it is not because there is something wrong with the store. It is because whatever produce we had there initially is already sold!

Winter Schedule (NOTE: deliveries are every other week):

Delivery dates remaining: Feb. 13 & 27. Mar. 13 & 27. Orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one. Pick-up hours in the winter are 10 AM until 1 PM.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: red and green leaf lettuce, purple carrots, celeriac, turnips, shallots, red potatoes, garlic, vegetable preserves, apples.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, January 30, 2010

2010-01-27T06:48:00.003-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, January 30, 2010

Hi folks,

Well, it's been a quiet week at Star Hollow, my home farm. Actually, it's quiet now, but it wasn't 4 or 5 nights ago when a day's rain caused the six-inch layer of ice over the creek to break up and be heaved up along the sides. There it sat for several days until this Monday evening, when it rained and rained again, about 2 to 3 inches all through the night. As the ground was already saturated, it all ran off into the creek. We awoke Tuesday morning to a torrent just a foot or so shy of coming into our road and fields. Chris had an appointment at the vet's for our cat, which she got out to, but within an hour of her leaving our road looked more like a canal. She came back as far as the mailbox by noon, then Sam and I hiked out to meet her and carry groceries in, ¾ mile across the fields. By evening the water was back mostly where it belongs, and I spent several hours today regrading the road. Ah, country living!

Winter Schedule (NOTE: deliveries are every other week):

Delivery dates remaining: Jan. 30. Feb. 13 & 27. Mar. 13 & 27. Orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one. And note that during these winter months, the Adams Morgan order pick-up hours are changed to 10 AM until 1 PM.

Storing your produce: We've been meaning to prepare a section for you with the full rundown on how to store your produce (especially since it's the storage time of year!). For me to start from scratch, however, would be a pretty big job, so I've got a plan: give you some general guidelines, then list several online references for you to check out, and you can print out the one you like. How's that?

Something to keep in mind is that – as with anything – there are differing opinions on some items. We have always kept potatoes in the cooler (our “big” 'fridge), though many say not to. They usually last 6-7 months. That seems pretty good to me. We also refrigerate onions, but the key there is aeration. Point: use these notes and references as guidelines, but most are not “hard and fast” rules. Ask me at the truck if you have a particular concern.

*

Leafy greens: The trick here is to keep them cold (refrigerated) and keep them from drying out (plastic bag). They want to be humidified, but not dripping wet.
*

Root veggies: Assuming you don't have a root cellar, the 'fridge is the place for your roots. (Some people argue that it's too cold for spuds, but that's where we keep ours, all winter long, so it makes sense for you to keep potatoes from us in your 'fridge too.) Most roots will eventually dry out in the 'fridge, which is why the crisper is a good place for them, away from the fan.
*

Herbs: We pack herbs in plastic bags, and if you want to keep them fresh, you should keep them there also. For most, we recommend keeping them in the 'fridge, for longest shelf-life. (Basil also, but you have to be careful, as the 'fridge is colder than it really likes.) If you want to dry them, just lay them out on a plate or rack in the kitchen and most will dry on their own.
*

Mushrooms: Keep them in the 'fridge also, but most important is keep them in paper bags, not plastic bags. Plastic bags will cause condensation to form, the 'shrooms will absorb it and get slimy. Yuck!
*

Apples: The 'fridge is best, but they'll last for days in a bowl on the counter, if you are likely to eat them faster that way, or just because they look nice.

Some websites to check out include:

*

Angelic Organics CSA page (www.angelicorganics.com/Vegetables). They are the farm featured in the movie “The Real Dirt on Farmer John,” an entertaining film about a CSA that's not much like ours – or us!
*

What's Cooking America (www.whatscookingamerica.net/Information/FreezerChart.htm) site includes lots besides veggies, which are down at the bottom of the page.
*
Harvesting and Storing Home Garden Vegetables (www.extension.umn.edu/distribution/horticulture/DG1424.html) is an extension publication that seems thorough.
*

Have a favorite that's not listed here? How about sending me a link, and if it seems appropriate, perhaps I'll mount it permanently on this page or in the “store open” email.

This week's planned produce: New items are underlined.

*

Greens: arugula, Asian greens mix, cabbage, chard, lettuce (bibb, romaine and red leaf), mesclun, microgreens, spinach.
*

Veggies: beets, carrots, celeriac, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, cayenne peppers, potatoes, winter radishes, rutabagas, salsify (oyster root) & scorzonera, shallots, sweet potatoes, turnips, winter squash
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, tarragon, thyme
*

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

Apples: Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Stayman
*

Other items: the usual eggs, chicken, butter, cheeses and preserves.

Blog update: In case you weren't aware of it, we do have a blog where I post this message each week, so that if you wanted to refer back to something that was in here after the store closes, it would be there.

*

Star Hollow Farm blog (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)

Also, one of our new CSA members is also contributing to a blog where she writes about what she's doing with her CSA box contents.

*

Sustainable in the City blog (http://sustainableinthecity.wordpress.com/)

Let us know if there are other blog links we should be aware of and listing here.

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: baby arugula, two heads of lettuce, carrots, garlic, onions, Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes, crimini mushrooms, pepper relish, assorted apples.

CSA Harvest box: We have increased the contents and value of the box somewhat this winter due to the fact that it is now a “two week box” instead of just one. You can add items to that or skip the box entirely and shop all a la carte if you wish. Your choice.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, January 16, 2010

2010-01-13T08:59:00.001-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News

For the week preceding Saturday, January 16, 2010

Hi folks,

It's been quite a winter for us so far. Our farm is still completely white with the snow that fell the weekend before Christmas, and we haven't seen a temperature above 32 degrees since then. Two mornings ago it was 2 degrees when I came downstairs in the morning. We're going through our firewood pile faster than usual, but fortunately have an extra cord ready if needed, which it looks like it will be.

Winter Schedule (NOTE: every other week):

*

Delivery dates will be: Jan. 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27. Orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one. And note that during these winter months, the Adams Morgan order pick-up hours are changed to 10 AM until 1 PM.

Our organic status: We have dropped our organic certification in 2010 after 18 years as a certified organic farm. The primary reasons are our decision to stop producing wholesale for Tuscarora Organic Growers Co-op (which required certification), the ever-increasing cost (well over $1000 last year), and mounting paperwork requirements. We do not plan to change how we farm. Thus while no longer able to call ourselves “organic” you should really not see any difference in us. Being ardent stewards of the environment and providing safe, healthy produce for you is still our plan. However, I believe that the USDA Organic Law made it a federal crime to imply that our produce was organic if it was not certified, so after this you won't likely hear so treasonous a statement from us.

After all that, our former certifier has said we can still sell our stored 2009 produce as organic until Feb. 15, so it's still identified as such in the store.

New shoppers in the online store: Welcome to those of you who are here for the first time or back for the first time in awhile! The maroon dialogue boxes are there in response to many folks' questions about something in that part of the store. Feel free to email if something still doesn't make sense. Please review your order before clicking the “submit” button, as we would rather not have folks placing multiple orders – too confusing on this end while packing. Thanks.

This week's planned produce:

*

Greens: arugula, Asian greens mix, cabbage, chard, lettuce (bibb, green and red leaf), lettuce mix, spinach. (Large bunched greens are done for the year.)
*

Veggies: beets, carrots, celeriac, daikon, garlic, Jerusalem artichokes, onions, parsnips, cayenne peppers, potatoes, watermelon radishes, rutabagas, salsify (oyster root), shallots, sweet potatoes, hothouse tomatoes, turnips, butternut squash
*

Herbs: basil, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, thyme
*

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

Apples: Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Stayman
*

Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves.

*

On sale:
*

juice carrots
*

all of our potatoes (we have lots and would like to move them, so have marked down all types for the rest of the winter)

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

CSA-Specific Information

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week: two small heads of lettuce, micro greens mix, garlic, onions, beets, carrots, mixed potatoes (2.5 lbs.), watermelon radishes, assorted apples.

CSA Harvest box size: We have increased the contents and value of the box somewhat this winter due to the fact that it is now a “two week box” instead of just one. And you know you can still add to that “a la carte” or skip it and shop entirely a la carte if you wish. Your choice.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Farm Message for Saturday, January 2, 2010

2010-01-05T11:40:00.002-05:00

Star Hollow Farm News
For the week preceding Saturday, January 2, 2010
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
NOTE: If you are a person that doesn't usually read the message below, beware that there have been some changes for this winter.
(It would be a good week to take a glance!)
Hi folks,
The next time we see you it will be 2010. That makes me think of all the hoopla that went with the arrival of 2000 – now ancient history. And it led to a discussion at the dinner table if this January 1st marks the start of a new decade or not, and if not – which seems like one of the possibilities – how confusing that is. Do you know the answer?
We hope you all had good holidays – or will have – I guess they're not over yet. This is the first year we've done the online market during this week between Christmas and New Years, so we're a bit out of sorts ourselves with trying to get back on a work schedule after Christmas. We scheduled our winer markets this way as we're going to the “every other week” plan this winter, and didn't want to miss two weeks in a row over the holidays.
We had a very nice Christmas break, much needed after the stress of the last December market during your “Blizzard of '09.” That was a market to remember for me. And I see our weather forecast is for 60% chance of snow and below freezing temperatures on Friday, New Years' Day, which makes me wonder how I'll fare getting out of the farm lane and up the hill early Saturday morning. And DC is not supposed to get above freezing on Saturday. Oh boy!!!!!!!!! (subtext to previous paragraph: “Why most farmers don't market during the winter in the North.”)
Winter changes:
Winter 2010 schedule: every other week. Delivery dates will be: Jan. 2, 16, 30. Feb. 13, 27. Mar. 13, 27. Your orders are placed on the Wednesdays prior to delivery. Mark your calendars, and remember to order for two weeks instead of just one! And note that during those winter months, the Adams Morgan order pick-up hours are changed to 10 AM until 1 PM. Early-birds take note!
Adams Morgan Winter “walk-up” shopper changes: Our primary winter business is delivering online orders. There will be a much more limited array of “off-the-table” items this winter.
Our organic status: There is a more full discussion of this in its own section, but in a nutshell – we're not renewing our own certification for 2010. However, our certifier says that we can still sell our storage crops from 2009 as certified organic until Feb. 15.
Our organic status: It's taking me far longer than usual to get the store open this morning (out of practice and many changes) and now I realize there's not time for a full discussion of this important topic, which I will work up for next time. In the meantime, here's a summary:
We are dropping our organic certification in 2010 after 18 years as a certified organic farm. Reasons are several, including cost and paperwork hassles of doing so, widespread misconceptions of what organic really is, misuse of the label by farms that really aren't, and the confidence that we can talk with you, tell you how we farm and why, and answer any questions you may have. Our commitments to sustainable farming and responsible land use and the environment and food safety have not changed. Our certifier has said we can still sell our stored 2009 produce as organic until Feb. 15.
New shoppers in the online store: Welcome to those of you who are here for the first time, or back for the first time since last winter! Remember that the maroon dialogue boxes are there in response to many folks' questions about something in that part of the store. And feel free to email if something still doesn't make sense. One less obvious thing that happens is people inadvertently place multiple orders by clicking “submit” more than once, or they forget to order something the first time around, so they come back later and add more in a separate order. Please don't do that... it makes it very confusing on this end to have multiple orders for the same person. Thanks.
Where and how should I store my produce? This is the title of a project that we plan to work on soon, but have not got around to yet. Look for it soon.
This week's planned produce: As a result of allowing many of you to cancel orders two weeks ago, due to the storm, we still have some produce items that we appeared to have been sold out of for the winter, principally winter squash. New or back-on-the-list items are underlined. Remember that just because you received an order confirmation it isn't a 100% guarantee that we'll have every item you order. Some of our greenhouse lettuce hasn't been picked yet, and it's 12 degrees outside right now. If the pilot light on the heater goes out – which could happen with the monstrous winds we've had here – it would be “bye-bye” lettuce. My point? Sometimes shortages happen!
Greens: arugula, cabbage, chard, lettuce (bibb, green leaf and baby red bibb), lettuce mix, spinach. (Large bunched greens are done for the year.)
Veggies: beets, broccoli, carrots (orange, mixed and juice), celeriac, daikon, garlic, small leeks, onions, parsnips, cayenne peppers (dried),potatoes (five or six kinds), watermelon radishes, rutabagas, salsify (oyster root), shallots, sweet potatoes, tomatoes (red & yellow), turnips (purple top, sweet white, gold), winter squash (buttercup, butternut, delicata, Gray and Green kabocha)
Herbs: cilantro, parsley, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, Oyster, portabella, shiitake
Apples: Fuji, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, Jonagold, Nittany, Pink Lady, Stayman.
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses and preserves. Back this week are plum, strawberry and grape jams/jellies. Also we are also offering our frozen stewing hens, for your stews, stock or pets.
On sale or reduced:
beets, cabbage, juice carrots, sweet potatoes, turnips
hothouse tomatoes
most of our potatoes
winter squash seconds
Portabella mushrooms
Potato situation: Those of you who read this message regularly will remember what a challenging year we had with our potato production during the summer, particularly with the late blight that decimated tomatoes and potatoes throughout the Eastern US. We had planted the most potatoes ever, and in the end did pretty well with production. The harvest was a record for us. And since then, sales for potatoes have been down significantly, both at market, online, and wholesale. So we're sitting on top of a pile of potatoes and we've reduced our number of winter sales opportunities by half by switching to every other week. We are limited in offerings from time to time due to the weather – we store our potatoes unwashed and unsorted as they last longer that way – but then we can't always wash up potatoes when we need a particular kind. It's been below freezing for all but one or two days of the last two weeks, and I can't wash potatoes outside in below freezing weather. But we have decided to reduce our potato price for the rest of the winter, with the hopes that you will buy more that way. If you still just buy the same amount, we'll have hurt ourselves even more by lowering the price and still not moving more potatoes.
Winter squash website: http://whatscookingamerica.net/squash.htm

CSA-Specific Information
Planned CSA produce for this week:
This week: bibb lettuce, broccoli florets, mixed carrots, onions (2#), parsnips, purple potatoes, baby potatoes, Confection kabocha (2 #), mixed apples (3-5).
CSA Harvest box size: You will notice that we have increased the contents level and value of the box, due to the fact that this is now a “two week box” instead of just one. And you know you can still add to that “a la carte” or skip it and shop entirely a la carte if you wish. Your choice.
Thanks for your support!
Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm
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Farm Message for Saturday, December 19, 2009

2009-12-29T06:43:00.001-05:00

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
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Farm Message for Saturday, December 12, 2009

2009-12-09T19:29:00.002-05:00

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
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Farm Message for Saturday, December 5, 2009

2009-12-04T10:36:00.002-05:00

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
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Farm Message for Saturday, November 21, 2009

2009-11-18T05:37:00.001-05:00

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

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Turkey

2009-11-11T19:14:00.003-05:00

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

2009-11-11T08:13:00.001-05:00

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

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Farm Message for Saturday, November 7, 2009

2009-11-04T08:05:00.001-05:00

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
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Farm Message for Saturday, October 31, 2009

2009-11-04T07:59:00.002-05:00

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
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2 recipes

2009-10-31T15:12:00.003-04:00

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

2009-10-21T08:59:00.001-04:00

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

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October 17th, 2009 Farm Message

2009-10-14T12:14:00.001-04:00

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

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Farm Message for Saturday, October 10, 2009

2009-10-07T08:19:00.001-04:00

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

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Delicata Squash Recipe

2009-10-06T11:14:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-30T09:15:00.001-04:00

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

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Farm to School support from USDA

2009-09-25T11:54:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-24T06:31:00.002-04:00

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

2009-09-24T06:28:00.001-04:00

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
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Tomatoes and Okra!!

2009-09-21T20:03:00.004-04:00

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!!

2009-09-21T19:50:00.003-04:00

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)

Saute garlic, shallots and red pepper flakes in 2 tablespoons butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium heat in large skillet.
Add shrimp to skillet, cooking until pink about 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp from pan.
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?

2009-09-16T07:19:00.001-04:00

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

2009-09-16T07:17:00.002-04:00

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
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Farm Message for Saturday, September 12, 2009

2009-09-09T11:03:00.002-04:00

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

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yummy recipe

2009-08-22T13:49:00.003-04:00

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?

2009-08-19T12:20:00.002-04:00

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

2009-08-19T10:18:00.002-04:00

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
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Cool website for finding relevant recipes

2009-08-12T20:07:00.003-04:00

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

2009-08-12T11:08:00.003-04:00

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

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More photos...

2009-08-12T01:25:00.002-04:00

I'd like to echo Constance's comments, and add my photos into the mix. Enjoy:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/phijo/sets/72157621975411422/

Many thanks to the Treichler's for being such generous hosts (and phenomenal farmers)!

~Phil

Farm photos and an interesting op-ed

2009-08-10T10:27:00.003-04:00

Hi Everyone,

It was great meeting many of you at the Open Farm, which was such a delightful trip. I heartily recommend it to anyone thinking of going on Labor Day weekend.

Here are some photos from our trip to the farm:
http://tiny.cc/aazn9

And here's a really interesting NYT opinion piece on late blight. Thought others might like:
http://tinyurl.com/nkuamk

Constance Newman
(and yes, it's amazing, but there appears to be two Constance's on this blog!)

New day & time for Food Inc

2009-08-08T13:00:00.003-04:00

I updated my earlier post, but it didn't pop up to the top, so I'm posting again. We've decided to see Food Inc Sunday (tomorrow) afternoon at 3:30 instead of tonight. You're all still invited; it would be great if you let me know that you're coming: gretchen dot lehman at gmail dot com

We're meeting in the E Street lobby at 3:15. It's supposed to be a scorcher tomorrow, why not escape the heat in a cool theatre?

2009-08-05T09:56:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, August 8th, 2009

General news & info

Hi folks,

In addition to finally being hot outside, the produce that we have for you this week finally looks like a mid-summer list also, with beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers and eggplant in good supply. I'm trying a new format below where you can see an overview of everything – but not a lot of detail. Of course, the fact that it's listed here doesn't mean that it will necessarily be around all day!

This week's produce:

Greens: bibb lettuce, arugula, braising greens, cabbage, chard, dandelion, kale (Russian and lacinato)
Veggies: beans (edamame, green, Lima, yellow wax), beets, broccoli florettes, carrots, sweet corn, cucumbers (hothouse and field), eggplant (oriental), garlic, okra, onions (several kinds), peppers (bell and some chiles), potatoes (red, gold, and rainbow mixed), tomatoes (standard red, specialties, Roma/plums, cherries), zucchini
Herbs: basil (Italian and mixed), cilantro, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, savory, sorrel, thyme
Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, shiitake, white
Fruit and melons: cantaloupe, nectarines, peaches
Other items: the usual eggs, butter, cheeses, preserves and such.

Hey, wanna go to the movies? CSA members Gretchen and Jen were talking about the new food movie “Food, Inc.” while up here at the open farm this weekend, and decided to go see it in DC this Saturday (8/8). They posted on the blog the time and place. If you'd like to join them, and then possibly discuss it afterwards, their contact info is on the blog post. (www.starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com)

On the farm: We had our biggest pick of cherry tomatoes yesterday—they're going into your CSA boxes this week—but it looks like the plants will be done soon as the blight blackens about half of the remaining leaves each day. With the tomatoes there in the high tunnel, I don't want to spray anything at all since there are so many different kinds of crops all within close proximity.

Out in the fields, the potatoes haven't all collapsed yet so that means every day the tubers are getting bigger underground (YEAH!). We'll be digging some every week from here on out, into September probably, and with luck we'll achieve our plan of having our own potatoes for you all through the winter.

Jack and the others have gotten all of the walls and the rafters of our second cooler in place, and the insulation will be going up around it starting today. Hopefully we'll have it ready to use in a week or two.

We have a young man here volunteering on the farm for two weeks, learning what is involved in running a small vegetable farm after interning at the Family Farm Coalition headquarters in DC for the first half of the summer. Thanks for your help Scott!

Open-farm gatherings: We had a nice get-together here last Saturday evening and Sunday morning with three carloads of CSA members and friends up from DC to see the farm and socialize. The third and final open-farm this season is on September 5/6. Three families with young children have already RSVP'd, so it's looking to be a family affair this time. (And we don't think we'll make it to midnight and beyond around the campfire on this final version, but it was fun last time!)

ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that was our question: And there continues to be lots of discussion on the topic, which is good as it is helping us formulate our plans. We also had our first “may choose not to continue supporting you as we have” comment, which we knew would come, and is good as we realize not all will agree with our decision to change, if and when it happens.

CSA-Specific News & Info

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for green beans, a couple of ears of sweet corn, a healthy pile of mixed summer squashes, some green bell peppers, and ingredients for a tomato/fruit salad (mixed cherry and specialty tomatoes, some French sorrel leaves for a lemony bite, a peach and a nectarine). Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to LeighAnne and Karin for their help handing out orders last weekend!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Cantaloupe Salsa

2009-08-04T13:30:00.003-04:00

I saw this post on cantaloupe salsa from Smitten Kitchen, and it's like she had some inside knowledge of what our CSA boxes had in store for us this week... cantaloupe, sweet Walla Walla onion, jalapeno.

This was great: you could eat it like a salad or more like a salsa with chips, etc.

I bet you could add some mint to this, too, if you have any leftover from a couple weeks ago.

UPDATED: Wanna see Food, Inc.?

2009-08-04T11:51:00.006-04:00

Update: We've decided to go on Sunday at 3:30 instead of tonight. Meet in the E Street lobby at 3:15.

At last weekend's open farm, Jenny & I discovered a mutual interest in seeing Food, Inc., and we thought other SHF customers might also enjoy going as a group. If you'd like to see this documentary about the food industry with us and possibly discuss it afterward, we're going to catch it at E Street this Saturday evening (August 8), most likely the 5:40 showing unless a different time is better for others.

Email me (gretchen dot lehman at gmail dot com) if you're interested. If you've already seen it, feel free to share your thoughts in the comments!

If you haven't heard of Food, Inc., here's what Ann Hornaday at the Washington Post wrote about it:
In the muckraking tradition of Upton Sinclair and the slick documentary stylings of "An Inconvenient Truth," Robert Kenner's "Food, Inc." seeks to lift the curtain on the cynical and often sickening workings of the modern industrial food system. This absorbing film looks terrific and does a superb job of making its case that our current food ways are drastically out of whack. The trick will be getting "Food, Inc.'s" message beyond its natural constituency of the already-converted to the millions of shoppers whose choices in the marketplace represent a tsunami of untapped power.

Starting with the chicken and beef industries, the filmmakers trace how fast-food culture created the corporate concentration of agricultural production and the disappearance of the traditional family farm. With damning hidden-camera footage and interviews with such pioneering journalists as Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, "Food, Inc." deftly demonstrates how issues such as illegal immigration, public health and intellectual property law intersect at the largely hidden nexus of Big Meat. Most heartbreaking are personal stories of loss, including a mother's crusade for tighter food regulation after her toddler son died of E. coli poisoning and Midwestern farmers being sued by Monsanto for engaging in the time-honored practice of saving and cleaning seeds. See "Food, Inc." after dinner, but see it.

Also, some links:
Official site
Reviews at Rotten Tomatoes

Pasta with Garlic Scape Pesto and Romano Beans

2009-07-29T19:40:00.003-04:00

Just thought I'd share one meal that I made with some of the produce from last weekend.

I made garlic scape pesto with the garlic scapes, almonds, Parmesan cheese, and olive oil. I made some tortellini and added the pesto and some steamed Romano beans. Delicious!

I drank some mint-flavored water with the meal. Very refreshing.

Farm Message for Saturday, August 1, 2009

2009-07-29T09:17:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, August 1st, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: Either new or back on the list this week are:

Greens: Rainbow chard.

Vegetables: bi-color corn, Italian eggplant, fennel (limited), okra, red onions, cippolini onions, green bell peppers, rainbow mixed potatoes.

END: garlic scapes, rhubarb.

Open-farm invitation: You should have received a separate email from us last week with all the details for the August 1 and 2 open farm. Check the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) if you're still trying to find a ride. Please RSVP if you're coming.

ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that was our question: Last week we mentioned our concerns about whether we wanted to continue next year with our organic certification, a big deal for us since we've always been an organic farm. The issues were not just about certification hassles and cost, however, but also about the dangers of some of the materials allowed, and the dangers of losing a crop completely if the organic controls didn't work. We heard back from 9 or 10 of you, and I talked with about that many at market last Saturday. The gist of all the conversations was along the lines of “do what you need to do... we trust you to do the right thing.” So that we will try to keep doing. We'll keep you posted.

On the farm: We can see that the blight is spreading on our potatoes and tomatoes, in spite of me now spending lots of money and time applying organic sprays each week. However, many of the crops were large enough that they have started producing, and it looks like we have a race to see if we have enough sun and rain to keep them growing fast enough – while they still have enough leaves to make use of it – to put out enough of a crop to harvest before all the leaves die and we're done. We have started harvesting potatoes, and while they're still mostly smalls and mediums, at least I feel like we're getting something for our work.

We've been getting some rain every week lately, which is both good and bad, with the plant diseases mentioned above, as rainy conditions are conducive to their spread. Even with the rains, we still need to irrigate, specifically our crops grown on plastic mulch (an acre of winter squash) as the rain doesn't get down through the mulch. We've had to dig holes in the creek bed to make a spot for our suction hose to sit in the minimum one foot required, as the water level is so low.

The construction of our second cooler – actually an expansion of our existing cooler – has been on hold since cutting the hole in the wall last spring, but we have begun on it again, and are more-than-ready to have more space in the cooler, especially on Fridays when we're packing orders. Hopefully we'll have it ready in about two weeks.

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for green beans, lettuce and tomato, a Walla Walla sweet onion, bi-color corn, rainbow chard, a few of the first chile peppers of the season, a small bunch of sage, a cantaloupe a peach and a nectarine. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Gabe & Jul and Will for their help handing out orders last weekend!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

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Open Farm Transportation

2009-07-27T11:29:00.002-04:00

Is anyone else still looking for a ride to the Open Farm this coming weekend?. I'm still looking for a ride if there are any vehicles with open spots-- I did add my name to the ride board at the Adams Morgan market this weekend but I haven't managed to line up a ride yet.

I don't own a car and I would really like to attend, so I'm thinking of taking a Zipcar. Would anyone be interested in riding with me and sharing the cost?

Leave a comment here, or e-mail me: jhefferan "at" gmail "dot" com.

Grilled Romano and Dragon's Tongue Beans

2009-07-26T20:56:00.003-04:00

I couldn't resist the beautiful beans at the stand this Saturday, especially the unique purple and cream marbled dragon's tongue beans. I've noticed that most recipes for broad flat beans call for braising. While I'm sure these sturdy, fleshy beans hold up well in liquid, I prefer not to have to cook such fresh summer produce for as long a time as required in a braise. So I tossed a mixture of the romano and dragon's tongue in some olive oil, added salt, pepper, and fresh summer savory, and threw them on the grill next to some bison burgers. They cooked perfectly in the same amount of time that the burgers did. I did take the time to flip each bean halfway through. The beans were tender-crisp, not mushy, and had a great smoky flavor. I highly recommend this method of cooking.

Squash

2009-07-26T16:51:00.002-04:00

Just wanted to share a delicious recipe for squash that I got from Deborah Madison's Local Flavors that I served with other farm bounty. Slice several yellow squash and zucchini about a quarter-inch thick and cook them in a little olive oil, flipping slices often. Once they start to brown just a little, add about 1/2 a cup of hot water and continue to cook until water evaporates. Salt and pepper to taste. Toss with a high-quality olive oil and basil ribbons. I scrambled eggs and topped them with Keswick fresh ricotta and the cooked squash and ate it with a baguette and a canteloupe, cucumber, and mint aqua fresca. Everything but the mint and baguette were from Star Hollow. Thanks, Randy and Chris!

Farm Message for July 25, 2009

2009-07-22T10:59:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, July 25^th, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: Either new or back on the list this week are:

Berries, Melons & Fruit: Blackberries (very limited), cantaloupes, nectarines, elephant heart plums (also limited).
Greens: Young chard, lacinato kale, cress, red leaf lettuce, cabbage.
Vegetables: white corn, purple carrots, Walla Walla sweet onions, purple bell peppers, leeks, Yukon Gold potatoes, mixed basil.
Other items: Goat cheese (garlic / dill flavored chevre, ash log, demi-sec)
ON SALE: garlic scapes, rhubarb.

Open-farm invitation: You should have received a separate email yesterday with all the details for the August 1 and 2 open farm. We'll post a rides-offered and rides-needed sheet at the truck in Adams Morgan. Check the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) or the list at the truck in Adams Morgan this Saturday. Please RSVP if you're coming, as we'd like to have some idea how many to plan for.

ORGANIC—To be or not to be, that is our question: Last week we mentioned the late blight occurring in the area, affecting both tomatoes and potatoes. We've sprayed twice now and it sort of looks like we're holding it off a bit, but I can see that we've got it. Its spread is proceeding slowly, probably because it's been quite dry and that is not conducive. Penn State also issued a warning last week that two different kinds of diseases were on the spread on cucurbits (cucumbers, squash, pumpkins) in Pennsylvania. Our largest acreage is in potatoes, second largest in winter squash, and tomatoes are one of our biggest dollar value crops, though smaller in acreage. Should be an interesting year.

It's 5:30 Wednesday morning as I write this, and I'm anxious to get a bite of breakfast and out to work, but I want to bounce a few thoughts off you, as my mind has been working overtime lately on several interrelated issues, both of which sort of cut to the core of who we think we are here and what we're trying to do on the farm. Both of these have sort of been pushed upon us by the current disease outbreaks, but are worth delving into even beyond that. Undoubtedly this will end up a rambling, drawn out discussion, so I won't be offended if you stop here!

Executive summary: We at Star Hollow Farm are pondering whether we will continue to be certified organic next year, and are not even sure about whether or not to use only organic materials in the future, especially if we risk major losses such as could be the outcome of the current disease outbreaks. We need to stay in business to be a “good” farm. We don't intend to turn our backs on the principles that led us to do this for a living in the first place. Would you continue to support us by buying our produce and being part of our CSA even if we weren't organic?

The first issue is organic certification. We have been a certified organic farm since Day One here on the farm, which goes back to our first year in 1992. For most of that time, if anyone asked me what I did, I'd say I'm an organic vegetable farmer. About 1995 or so I was one of the founding members of Pennsylvania Certified Organic, our in-state certifier, in response to the lack of a local certifier. I also trained to be an organic inspector, and did inspect a dozen or so farms one season. Then organic got big, the government got involved, it got complicated, it got expensive, and over the last year or two we've begun to wonder what it means anymore.

I drive by the largest organic farm on the East Coast—a former member of our Co-op—and see hundreds of acres of crops, with a tractor and sprayer and huge clouds of spray rising up, the driver safely wearing a moon suit and respirator, just like conventional farms in CA (but I'm sure the farmer is spraying only organically approved materials).

The dividing line between what organic farmers can spray and what they can't was somewhat arbitrarily defined to be “of natural origin” or “occurring naturally in nature” OKAY, “synthetic” NO. That was a line drawn that seemed enforceable and logical in one sense. On the other hand, there are naturals that are more dangerous to farmers and the environment than some synthetics, and there are naturals that have now been distilled 500 or a thousand times, to improve effectiveness, but how do we know that they are any safer than any synthetic, as they have never existed in nature at those concentrations before their development in the last year or two. I'm amazed at the number of Organic materials on the market now, compared with five years ago. My first thought is “Great” but there is this question of “Are they really any better?” in the back of my head.

Along with the growth of organics, certification has become much more complicated, for the farmer and the certifier. Thus paperwork has increased, as has the fee. We pay about three times as much now as ten years ago. If we were a large farm, we'd just have the secretary deal with the paperwork and pay the fee, knowing that we'd come out ahead, since we had large quantities to sell for the organic premium. There's no secretary here—just Randy at his desk instead of out farming—and the quantities are not so large that it is covering the increased cost.

And the organic premium... (which is presumably why the Big Guys got interested in organic). Well, with the economy the way it is, I think our organic prices are really hurting our sales, at least in Adams Morgan. Our Co-op, which is where we used to get about half our produce, has its prices so high that I've had to start shifting my purchases to other farmers I know that aren't organic, just so that I can offer produce at prices that don't seem ridiculous. That's why the CSA boxes have less than half organic produce in them anymore. How else can I give 8 kinds of produce for $15-17?

On another front, now that organic produce is plentiful, the (not organic) stand next to us in Adams Morgan regularly has organic produce that they've bought at the terminal market in Jessup, MD for cheap the night before—just a few steps away from our local organic produce—and available for prices way below what I need to charge to be even worth trying to grow it. It seems a good thing that people can get organic for a good price right there in Adams Morgan, but how can I bother to grow it locally if I can't sell it for a profit? It seems to just be another commodity now.

I could go on, but I think I'll leave it there for this week. It's a complicated issue. I guess the bottom line for us is: If we did what we think we needed to do to keep this all going for us and you, would you continue to support us, even if we weren't organic?

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for Romano beans, red potatoes, sweet corn, scallions, garlic scapes, cantaloupe, peppermint and peaches. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Tyler and Phil for their help handing out orders last weekend!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

Discussion: To Be Or Not To Be Organic

2009-07-22T09:40:00.003-04:00

In the Farm News this week, Randy asked the question, "If we did what we think we needed to do to keep this all going for us and you, would you continue to support us, even if we weren't organic?" I'd like to get a discussion going here on the blog, so I guess I'll get the ball rolling with my own 2 cents:

Randy, I would answer your question with an unequivocal, resounding "YES!" We can trust what you sell not because of any government label but because we know you to be a person with integrity and principles. Every week you personally vouch for the produce you bring, whether it's from your own farm or a farmer that you know and trust, and that's how we can be sure that what we're buying is safe for our families and produced in a responsible and sustainable manner. Organic labels are unnecessary when we have the trust that comes with a personal relationship.

What do the rest of you think? Please discuss in the comments...

Recipe: Summer Succatash

2009-07-20T17:07:00.003-04:00

Ok, I'm calling this "succotash" because I made this recipe up off the top of my head and can't think of anything else to call it that describes it accurately.

It's great as a side dish (which is what I use it for), but I feel like it could also be combined with rice and/or meat (if desired) to make it a full meal. Also, it's a great way to use up the random veggies you have left around at the end of the week.

All the ingredients (except the olive oil, salt and pepper) are from my most recent Star Hollow CSA box.

(Side note: I don't measure anything when I cook, so bear with me....)

Ingredients:

(if you want more of less of something--or more of everything--tinker with the amounts)

-1 Zucchini

-2 Ears of corn

-About a 1/2 pound of Mushrooms

-3-4 cloves of garlic

-6-7 leaves of lemon basil

-salt

-pepper

-olive oil

Instructions:

1) Dice zucchini and mushrooms and add to large bowl. Use a sharp knife to strip corn kernels off of the cobs, add to bowl with zucchini and mushrooms. Dice cloves of garlic, set aside.

2) In a large skillet heat olive oil (like I said, I don't measure anything, maybe 2-3 tablespoons? Not sure, use your best judgment). Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes until light brown. Add in mixture of zucchini, mushrooms and corn kernels. Add in leaves of lemon basil. Add salt and pepper (desired amount). Toss everything with olive oil and garlic and let cook for 7-10 minutes until everything is just tender.

3) If you can, try and fish the leaves of lemon basil out before serving (OK if you can't).

4) Enjoy!

This is much more a suggestion for veggie usage than a "recipe." You can add and subtract other things (i.e. onions, squash, etc.) as you like.

Hope you all enjoy. The lemon basil really gives the whole thing a fantastic, bright taste. It also looks great, wish I had a picture to prove it!

Farm Message for July 18, 2009

2009-07-15T10:12:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, July 18^th, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: Lots of new items again this week, as we shift into full summer mode.

Berries & Fruit: This is almost the end for blueberries; probably a few next week but not any quantities like this week. Last week for currants. This is the start of the short plum season, starting off with the small, purple Methly plums. There are no apples this week, probably the only week of the year when we don't have any. Also, apricots were in especially short supply due to a freeze at the wrong time this spring, and are apparently over. Peaches are shifting from cling to freestone, and this week are sort of in-between.
Greens: Lollo Biondo green frilly lettuce, wild purslane (one of the other weeds we pass off as food, owing to the fact that it tastes good and is better for you than the things we grow on purpose!)
Vegetables: bi-color corn, fresh red garlic, sweet onions, snow peas, Austrian Crescent fingerling potatoes, shallots, green tomatoes,
Other items: Ricotta and feta cheese from Keswick Creamery, 2-lb. honey jars.
ON SALE: garlic scapes, rhubarb, scallions, many herbs (oregano, peppermint, sage, savory, sorrel)

On the farm: This week has been a little crazy so far. There have been many reports about an outbreak of late blight in potatoes and tomatoes in the region, due to several factors: conducive weather over the last month and a shipment of infected plants to many of the big-box stores in the area. It spread fast as more people than ever are gardening again, so host plants are widespread, and the spores move in the air, on the wind. What you might not know is that we began a new farming focus this year, where we really expanded our storage crop plantings, chief among them the planting of close to 16,000 hills of potatoes, and bought a new cultivator and hiller specifically to take good care of them. They are coming along fine and look great, but we are just a bit nervous about having the blight that caused the Irish potato famine widespread in the area. For the first time ever on potatoes we started spraying an organically-approved fungicide to try to hold off any problems. Fingers crossed?

Open-farm invitation: August 1 and 2, and September 5 and 6 are the two dates planned. We'll post a rides-offered and rides-needed sheet at the truck in Adams Morgan. Others are doing the same on the blog (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/).

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a head of Lollo Biondo lettuce, a bag of additional mixed lettuce leaves, 4 ears of corn, some mixed color beets, a zucchini or two (depending on their size), your last pint of blueberries for the season, and a couple of peaches. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Johanna (and Cachuco) and Jamie for their help handing out orders last weekend!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

August Open-Farm Weekend

2009-07-14T08:20:00.003-04:00

Hi fellow CSA-ers!

I'd love to visit the farm on the next open-farm weekend (Aug. 1 & 2), and since I don't own a car I'm hoping to catch a ride with someone. Is anyone planning on going and have room in their car? My schedule is flexible--I'd be fine with just going up for one day or I can borrow a tent from a friend and spend the night for the full experience. I'd be happy to help out with gas money and bring music for the ride.

You can email me at gretchen dot lehman at gmail dot com. Thanks!

-gretchen

Pasta with Beets

2009-07-11T15:34:00.005-04:00

In case anyone is in need of a beet recipe, I thought this was delicious. I used the red beets and beet greens from our CSA box a few weeks ago, and they dyed the pasta red. From Bon Appetit.

1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted

4 tbs olive oil

2 large onions, quartered lengthwise through root end, sliced crosswise (about 4 cups)

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 bunches beets with greens, beets peeled, each cut into 8 wedges, greens cut into 1 inch wide strips

12 ounces pasta (farfalle works well)

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Saute onions in oil over medium heat until they begin to soften and turn golden, about 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium low and continue to saute until onions are tender and browned, about 30 minutes longer. Add garlic and stir, 2 minutes. Scatter beet greens over onions. Cover and cook until greens are tender, about 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook beets in large pot of boiling salted water until tender, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer beets to medium bowl. Return water to boil; add pasta.

Stir onion mixture and beets into pasta. Add pasta cooking liquid as needed. Stir in cheese, sprinkle with pine nuts.

Kohlrabi

2009-07-11T11:53:00.002-04:00

Does anyone have an interesting recipe for kohlrabi? I was thinking of roasting, or just eating raw, but thought I'd ask around. Thanks!

July 4th, 2009 Farm Message

2009-07-01T09:44:00.002-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, July 4^th, 2009

General news & info

Open-farm RSVP: We haven't heard from anyone planning on coming this weekend yet, so are guessing the date selection was not a good one. If you are planning on coming, please let us know by this evening (July 1) at 9:00. We'll decide tomorrow whether to cancel it or not. The details are repeated further down in this message. And we have two more dates scheduled for later in the summer, so it's not “now or never.”

Produce: We're pretty sure you're gonna like the additions this week. This feels like the start of summer more than last week, at least produce-wise.

Berries: blueberries, red currants, gooseberries, black raspberries.
Tree fruit: Lodi apples, apricots, sour cherries, peaches.
Greens: baby beet greens, collards, red Russian kale.
Other vegetables: yellow wax beans, red and chioggia beets, purple carrots, bunched garlic, red scallions, radishes, mixed cherry tomatoes.
Herbs: lemon and Thai basil, sage.
ON SALE: green beans, European cucumbers, garlic scapes and bunched garlic plants, Jerusalem artichokes, English cheddar cheese, and several of the glass jars of preserves.

On the farm: Mostly just long days trying to get the ground worked up and crops planted and then already-planted crops cultivated in between rainstorms. That's just what we do at this time of the year, and it goes on and on and ...

Open-farm invitation:

WHAT: Star Hollow Farm Fourth of July get-together. We invite you to join us to see the farm, our crops, our chickens, meet and get to know us and the others who come. We have 2 other get-togethers scheduled for the first weekends in August and September.

WHERE: Our farm, in Huntingdon Co., PA, approximately a 3-hour drive north of DC.

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is fruit-heavy – but think you'll be able to handle it. There'll be a pint of blueberries, half pint of black raspberries, and a couple of peaches, then a bunch of Swiss chard, a pound of green beans, a bunch of purple carrots, a bunch of scallions, and a baggie full of summer (savory). Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Bruce & Cynthia and Chris & Heather for their help handing out orders last weekend.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

Tortilla Espanol with Microgreens

2009-06-30T22:27:00.002-04:00

This 5 ingredient dinner (6 if you count the garnish) was made entirely with CSA ingredients (except for salt and olive oil). This recipe is from my host mother when I lived in Madrid years ago.

Ingredients
5 medium sized potatos, diced
1 large onion, diced
5 eggs (an egg per potato)
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup olive oil
Microgreens for garnish (optional)

Procedure

In a large nonstick skillet heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the potato and onion, stirring periodically until tender but not mushy - about 10 minutes or when the edges of potatoes start to brown.
Turn off heat and remove potato and onion mixture from the pan with slotted spoon and drain on a paper towel. There should be a thin layer of oil left in the pan.
In a separate bowl whisk eggs and salt. Add potato and onion mixture and stir to combine.
Reheat the olive oil over medium heat, and pour in potato/onion/egg mixture. Cook for about 5 minutes (without mixing) until edges begin to solidify. It's ready to flip when you peek under the tortilla and the eggs have turned brown. Flip* and cook on the other side for 3-4 minutes.
Slide onto a serving platter and garnish with microgreens.

*If flipping in the pan makes you nervous, slide the tortilla onto a plate cooked side down, put the pan on top of the plate and flip. Now the tortilla is back in the pan, uncooked side down.

Pickled Snap Peas

2009-06-25T11:44:00.004-04:00

I'm not sure if folks have already seen this over on smittenkitchen, but I made some great pickled snap peas last week with the snap peas from Star Hollow and they were divine. Just like the folks over at smitten, I could not wait to the two weeks for them to pickle and dove in after about two days. They were wonderful.

Here's the link: http://smittenkitchen.com/2009/06/pickled-sugar-snap-peas/#more-3353

And here's the recipe. Hope you enjoy!

Pickled Sugar Snap Peas
Adapted from The Joy of Pickling via Epicurious

1 1/4 cups white distilled vinegar
1 1/4 cups cold water
1 tablespoon kosher or pickling salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 pound sugar snap peas, stems trimmed and strings removed
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1 or 2 small dried chile peppers, slit lengthwise or a couple pinches dried red pepper flakes

In a nonreactive saucepan, heat the vinegar with the salt and sugar until they are dissolved. Remove from the heat, and add the cold water. (This gives you a leg up on getting the liquid to cooling the liquid.)

When the vinegar mixture is cool, pack the sugar snaps, garlic and chile peppers or flakes into a 1-quart jar or bowl, and pour the brine over it. Cover with a non-reactive cap, or, er, plastic wrap.

The original recipe suggests you store the jar in the refrigerator for two weeks before eating the pickled peas, but good luck with that. They’re quite delicious and already lightly pickled by 24 hours later.

June 27 Farm Message

2009-06-24T08:38:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, June 27^th, 2009

General news & info

Happy official summer!

Produce: new or back in the store this week are...

ON SALE: microgreens (probably the last for the summer), red tomatoes, garlic scapes, Jerusalem artichokes (end), golden delicious apples (end), all relishes, and our Star Hollow Farm eggs.
Greens: Asian greens mix, green curly kale, hydroponic arugula (this week in smaller portions for less $).
Other vegetables: Romano Italian flat-pod beans, already-shelled peas (one of the Mennonite farms we get produce from has a sheller), quarts of new red potatoes, cousa Lebanese zucchini.
Cheese: We have Pipe Dream's ash logs and demi-sec again, probably just for this one week.
Preserves: Mrs. Brechbill (the retired mother of our cheese makers at Whispering Brook) has been at it already this year, and has a fresh supply of strawberry / rhubarb jam.

On the farm: After all that rain, we are pretty doggone wet up here. There was about 2 inches in the gauge Saturday night. The kids and I spent Sunday — Fathers Day and the first day of summer — cleaning up around our pond, and we all spent a beautiful evening at the campfire ring up there, watching the stars come out and listening to the bullfrogs. A perfect Summer Solstice and day with the family.

Our fields are still quite wet, but the boys and I got another thousand winter squash planted last night after dinner — this time the Confection kabocha that we experimented with and liked so much last year. Today will be the Sunshine red kabocha and dark green kabocha. Aside from the ease, multipurposeness and goodness of butternut squash, I guess kabochas are our favorites. Hope you like them too! They are dry and flaky in texture, and about the sweetest of all winter squashes.

Last week's rainy market: That was really something — one of our rainiest markets ever. The thunder and lightning added a nice touch to the outdoor market. We all got pretty well soaked, but amazingly our outdoor sales were pretty good... people kept coming in spite of the rain. That doesn't usually happen, and it made up for my missing store link in the email reminder last week.

Open-farm invitation:

We are pleased to invite you to our "open farm" (as opposed to open house!). Please see some of the details below.

WHAT: Star Hollow Farm Fourth of July get-together. We invite you to join us to see the farm, our crops, our chickens, meet and get to know us and the others who come. We have 2 other get-togethers scheduled for the first weekends in August and September.

WHERE: Our farm, in Huntingdon Co., PA, approximately a 3-hour drive north of DC.

WHEN: Over a 24 hour period from Saturday afternoon, July 4, until Sunday afternoon, July 5. (The times correspond to about when Randy will get home from market on Saturday and run 24 hours. By Sunday afternoon we'll need to be cleaning up and getting ready for Monday!)

TRANSPORTATION: There is no public transportation option for getting anywhere near us, unfortunately, so I think we're limited to your private vehicles. It's about 125 miles on the road from DC (100 miles as the crow flies, but that doesn't help most of us) and a three hour trip, at legal speeds. For those of you with seats to spare, and who are willing to provide a ride to those without wheels, please email us ASAP and give us your name, tel. number, and number of seats available. We'll then make up a list and have it at the CSA table/truck in Adams Morgan the next two Saturdays for those needing rides to peruse and make calls.

DIRECTIONS: Email us for directions. Print them out and bring them with you. Beware that they need to be followed closely or you'll end up somewhere else. Finding specific locations in the country, where road signs are often missing, is not nearly as easy as deducing an address in neatly-planned DC. GPS directions will try to take you across a creek at a fording that can be dangerous in high water. And the directions from MapQuest are clearly wrong in several ways and would not likely get you to us. If you just want to look at a map and get an idea where we are, look for either Maddensville or Selea, in Huntingdon Co., PA. Each are within 2 miles of us.

CARAVAN SUGGESTION: If you want to do it on your own, that's fine. If you like the idea of just following our white truck up the highway, here's what to do: either drive up and meet us at 18th and Columbia in Adams Morgan at 1:30, when we're loaded up from market, and we can caravan up from there. If you want to avoid that scene, meet us at the "always closed on Saturdays" truck weigh station on I-270 north of Gaithersburg, on the way to Frederick, at something like 2:00-2:15.

FOOD & BEVERAGES: We are planning on providing beer, iced tea, apple cider, coffee, hot tea, and well-water for all. If you need something else, please bring it. We have a large walk-in produce cooler where you could keep your own food and drink.

Saturday supper: This is a potluck affair, but based on the distance involved, we're thinking "cold dish" or at least easily heated up. We'll provide marshmallows and sticks for an after-dark campfire. We'll also have Firehook bread, and if we can get our old charcoal grill cleaned up, some grilled veggies.
Sunday breakfast: We'll make coffee and tea, and fry up scrambled eggs and potatoes, as well as provide homemade muffins. If you need something else, please bring it.
Sunday lunch: Light fare of fruit, salads, drinks and leftovers.

CLOTHING: Our farm is out in the wilderness; not much like what you'd picture if you're thinking Montgomery Co., MD, or Lancaster, PA. We have mown paths along the creek and around fields, but they are not golf course or state park quality. If you plan on leaving the front lawn, you should be prepared with long pants, socks and shoes. We are not short on poison ivy wherever we don't mow regularly. We've also got several varieties of snakes that call our farm home, as well as plenty of mosquitoes and ticks. We have a nice creek below the fields, with a good spot to sit and cool off, so if you want to bring trunks or cut-offs, feel free. And evenings can be cool.

What if you forget to come for your order? The standard protocol is that we'll bring it home, put it in our cooler, email you and ask if you'd like us to bring it the following Saturday. In the winter everything is still usually fine. At this time of the year, that will not be the case, but you'll surely still find something useful in there. If we bring it a second time and you don't come that time either (which happens more than I would have guessed) we're done. FYI, it is deducted from your account the week you place the order.

Star Hollow CSA blog: http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/ will connect you with our farm blog, where you can share recipes or other ideas related to food and the farm. Email Michele (smcasto@gmail.com ) if you want to become a “contributor.” You don't have to email her if you just want to look at what others are saying and respond.

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a pint of cherries, a Euro cucumber (greenhouse, seedless, non-bitter), baby red beets with tops, snap peas, garlic scapes, a red tomato, and a bunch of herbs from our garden (most likely to be French sorrel or summer savory, but may include something else if we don't have enough of either of those for all the CSA boxes). Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Jen and her mom and Kirsten and Susanne and the children for their help handing out orders last weekend.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

June 20, 2009 Farm Message

2009-06-17T08:33:00.001-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, June 20^th, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: new (or back) this week are..

Greens: hydroponic arugula, red chard, catalogna dandelion, large spinach.
Veggies: green beans, fava beans, bunched beets, purple broccoli, cucumbers (Euro, slicer and pickling), horseradish, kohlrabi roots, yellow squash, Prudens Purple heirloom tomatoes.
Berries: Sweet cherries
Herbs: micro-basil.

On the farm: It's been a busy week already, and it's just 6:30 on Wednesday morning. The rain has let up, and we got a lot done over the last two days: prepared ground for an acre of winter squash and planted 1000 delicata plants and 1000 butternut plants. We also transplanted 1200 popcorn plants! That's more than usual, but we like popcorn, so... (hope you do too!)

Open-farm dates: The first “open farm” is just two weeks away, on July 4^th and 5^th.

Star Hollow CSA blog: (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) Email Michele (smcasto@gmail.com ) if you want to become a “contributor.”

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a pint of strawberries, pint of cherries, summer squash, red tomato, sweet onion, green beans, snow peas, golden delicious apple. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Heather and Katie for their help handing out orders last weekend.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

Potato Salad with Sugar Snap Peas and Radishes

2009-06-13T17:36:00.004-04:00

I haven't made this recipe yet, but it looks like a great way to use lots of the things in our CSA box this week.

1 1/2 pounds unpeeled assorted fingerling potatoes or baby potatoes (such as white-skinned, red-skinned, and purple), cut crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick slices
8 ounces trimmed sugar snap peas
1 bunch radishes, trimmed, sliced
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/4 cup olive oil
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, pressed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Steam potatoes on steamer rack set in large pot over boiling water until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Add sugar snap peas and steam until peas are crisp-tender and potatoes are just tender, 1 minute longer. Transfer vegetables to large bowl. Cool slightly. Add radishes and onion. Whisk next 4 ingredients in small bowl to blend. Whisk in Parmesan. Season dressing with salt and generous amount of pepper. Add dressing to potato mixture; toss to coat. Season with more salt and pepper, if desired. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Also, here's an interesting recipe for radish leaf pesto.

06-13-2009 Farm Message

2009-06-10T09:52:00.000-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, June 13^th, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: new (or back) this week are..

Greens: Lacinato kale, collards, baby arugula.
Veggies: Organic asparagus, broccoli, shell and snow peas, new red potatoes, gold squash.
Mushrooms: Star Hollow shiitakes
Cheese: Keswick Creamery's cheddar, feta, dragon's breath, ricotta. Pipe Dream's goat ash log and demi-sec.
Berries: Strawberries
Herbs: a dozen kinds of herbs total, this week with larger basil, cilantro, dill, tarragon, summer savory.

On the farm: I just looked back over the message I wrote last year on this week. We had just begun planting potatoes because it had been so wet. Onions were just going in also. So, even though the wetness has held us back this spring, we did have some dry earlier that we didn't have last year, and we're actually well ahead of planting over last year. Our 5 varieties of winter squash are all ready to go out into the fields whenever it's dry enough. I had about 4 hours on Monday afternoon that the ground was dry enough to work, but I chose to hill and cultivate the potatoes that were already a foot tall and pretty weedy over planting squash. Always tradeoffs. It rained again during the night, and so we're waiting for dry ground again.

Shiitake mushrooms: We're tickled that our shiitake mushrooms are starting to produce. We go up each morning and harvest the mushrooms that look ready from the soaked logs on the fruiting stand and then start soaking more logs for the next batch. Within a day or two the mushrooms start popping out of the logs. We've also soaked the oyster mushroom logs, but aren't seeing any action there yet. We've reduced the portion size on the shiitakes to just a quarter pound, so that they're not so expensive. (Shiitakes are typically the most expensive of the commonly available fresh mushrooms around, and the log-grown versions are notably more flavorful and more highly regarded than the house-grown ones.)

What does LOCAL mean? And why should we care? Local food has been touted lately as being better for the environment, more nutritious, better tasting, and good for local communities. We're always reading the ag press and seeing what they have to say on the subject. We got the "Local Harvest" e-newsletter last week, and it contained their definition, which I'll include. "Local food is grown near here, on a human scale, by people who care deeply about the land and make thoughtful, conscientious choices for its stewardship. It is nutritionally intact and fantastic tasting (!)... Its history is knowable and unsullied... In other words, local goes way beyond geography. It is food we know in our bellies we can trust... Real food." A bit pretentious and self-serving, but we agree!

PASA gathering: We had about 40 or so folks over last Sunday afternoon for a tour and potluck, people from our south-central region that are members of the Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture. It's PASA's winter conference that we take a week off to attend, and then tell you about afterwards, when we're all “charged up.” It was fun, and we had a beautiful afternoon / evening to enjoy it. I hope that we are as lucky with our CSA open farms, starting next month!

Open-farm dates: The first “open farm” is less than a month away. Below are the dates we've set aside for our open-farm get-togethers.

July 4^th and 5^th,August 1^st and 2^nd,September 5^th and 6th

Star Hollow CSA blog: (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) Email Michele (smcasto@gmail.com ) if you want to become a “contributor.”

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for a pint of strawberries, a bunch of Lacinato kale (aka Dyno, Black, or Tuscan), a small bag of lambsquarters (wild spinach), a pint of snow peas, a pound of new red potatoes – the first of the season, a head of bibb lettuce and a few radishes to go on top, along with some onions. Enjoy!

CSA box values. Someone asked a week or so ago about why the dollar value of the CSA boxes isn't always $15.00, as it was last year. Since we had said the box would be $15 originally, we felt locked into that amount. Then, about this time last year, it occurred to me that the way our bookkeeping works there was not really any reason why it had to come out to exactly $15, which was often a challenge for us. So we did a survey and asked for any comments about having a “roughly” $15 box, but variable from week to week. Every person who responded said fine. It's only been since we've gotten under way this year that we've actually enacted that, and so now perhaps you're seeing it for the first time, depending on whether you've been ordering all along or not.

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Barbara & Chuckie and Lily & Tyler for their help handing out orders last weekend.

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

recipes for greens?

2009-06-10T09:51:00.003-04:00

I'm preemptively trying to find a (vegetarian) recipe where I cook the kale and possibly wild spinach (in this week's box). Any suggestions?

Pesto

2009-06-09T20:33:00.008-04:00

Unfortunately I haven't had much luck with herbs in my apartment (my windowsill is either too sunny or too shady), so I'm quite fond of the herbs from Star Hollow. As such, I've made a number of pesto's, since I usually have leftovers from whatever it is I'm cooking. Making pesto is a great way to use herbs, and it freezes really well (and defrosts quickly for an easy after work dinner). I've made pesto with any combination of herbs and nuts that I have on hand (basil, sage, tarragon, almonds, walnuts, pine nuts...). I bought this tarragon for a terrific potato salad recipe, and had a bunch left. This pesto is about half a large garlic clove, a scant one cup of tarragon, Pecorino Romano, toasted pine nuts, salt and olive oil. I will likely use with pasta, or, if I'm motivated, use in a variation of a pork chop recipe that was in the NYT the other week. For now, though, it's in the freezer!

The best thing we've tasted since pear season...

2009-06-06T10:43:00.002-04:00

Many thanks to the Macks and Martins!

Log-grown shiitakes at Star Hollow Farm

2009-06-03T10:01:00.000-04:00

June 6, 2009 Farm Message

2009-06-03T09:56:00.000-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, June 6^th, 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: new (or back) this week are..

Greens: Rainbow chard, green kale, red Boston lettuce, bunched spinach.
Veggies: Sugar snap peas, Baby beets with tops, baby sweet white turnips with tops, kohlrabi with tops, French breakfast radishes, yellow tomatoes.
Cheese: Goat cheese: ash log and demi-sec.
Berries: STRAWBERRIES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Other: This season's strawberry jam.

More changes to store checkout pages: Last week we added a graphic look to the pages, highlighting “page 1 of 4,” etc. with the idea of reducing the number of people that didn't get to page 4 of 4 (and thus not really submitting the order they thought they placed). It was not 100% effective. This week we've added a larger, more conspicuous “Continue” button, in a bright color, and renamed it “Next Step.” Maybe that will also call attention to the need to keep going. (It's our Star Hollow Farm “Next Step” program for recovering order abandoners.)

Another thing we're going to try to improve is the “SELECT PICK-UP SITE” drop-down box. Every week there are folks who don't select anything, or people in a hurry who select the wrong site. Until we get to that, however, if you would try to be extra thoughtful to select a site, and have it be the one you really want...

On the farm: We've been hard at it, trying to get field work done in between cloudbursts and thunderstorms. We got in our second acre of potatoes before a rain on Monday, and then were able to cultivate the first-planted potatoes that are already a foot tall and were weedy as could be, so now all of our potatoes are under control. For the moment. (And you don't want to mess with Out-of-Control potatoes, believe me.) (It's early, I'm tired, and this is what happens.) (Sorry.) (!)

Now it's time to shift over to our next largest crop, winter squash. We have planted 1200 plants each of butternut, acorn, delicata, and gray, green and red kabocha squash in the greenhouse. Still to go are 1200 buttercup. After the ground dries out again – we had a tremendous thunderstorm and downpour, knocking out our power last night – we'll start laying plastic mulch and transplanting out the squash.

We're also tickled that our shiitake mushrooms are starting to produce, although rather slowly. We've set up our “fruiting stand” and soak logs each day. Within a day or two the mushrooms start popping out of the logs! Pretty cool, though at first observation, it's not as many as we would have hoped :( I'm sure there is a lot more to learn about them, and they don't exactly have my undivided attention at this time of the year.

Star Hollow CSA blog: Why not cut and paste this link into your “bookmarks” now? (http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/) We'll also put it in the weekly emails. Thanks Michele! email her (smcasto@gmail.com ) if you want to become a “contributor.”

Open-farm dates: The first “open farm” is just 4 weeks away. Below are the dates we've set aside for our open-farm get-togethers. Those weekends are:

July 4^th and 5^th
August 1^st and 2^nd
September 5^th and 6th

You're invited to spend anytime from Saturday noon to Sunday afternoon with us here. We'll show you around, talk, relax, eat, etc. We ask you to bring a dinner dish with you for Saturday evening, and we'll make you eggs and potatoes for breakfast Sunday. Camping is available anywhere on the farm... no indoor facilities are available for sleeping. If you're interested, let us know in advance and we'll email you directions.

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week: (“Strawberries,” he shouted.)

This week the plan is for a quart of our first strawberries, some Boston lettuce, microgreens, a few garlic scapes, an onion, one or two log-grown shiitake mushrooms, a red tomato, and a bunch of herbs (spearmint or oregano or chives). Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Ruth and Eva and Jodie and her daughter for their help handing out orders last weekend. (Request from the farm: if you decide you can't make your shift the following week, and you cross out your name on the volunteer calendar, please tell Randy right then so he can ask people to sign up there at the truck.)

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

Tuscarora Frittata

2009-06-01T23:30:00.004-04:00

This frittata was made entirely with ingredients from the farmer's market: onions, mushrooms, spinach, eggs, and soft goat cheese. The goat cheese is so delicious, I could add it to just about any dish. I've been using it mostly for salads - greens, toasted nuts, dried cranberries, oil/lemon/mustard and the goat cheese crumbled over it all - lovely. I've had it spread on a grilled hamburger - mouthwatering. It's also nice on a cracker with a little slice of fruit. If you haven't ordered the goat cheese yet, you really should. It's divine.

Greek Shrimp and Asparagus Risotto

2009-05-28T08:47:00.004-04:00

A coworker sent me this recipe from Cooking Light and I thought it would be a good way to shake things up with what Randy tells us may be the last of the asparagus (sniff, sniff...). Definitely a winner!

Don't be afraid to add extra dill, lemon juice and asparagus, and keep your eye on the asparagus and shrimp so they don't get overcooked... the crunchy asparagus really makes the texture in this dish.

Rhubarb Crips

2009-05-27T18:36:00.002-04:00

Sorry to for anyone that is sick of rhubarb crisps, but I can't find a good recipe anywhere and I am in need of one. I know we received one in our boxes a year or so ago... can someone please post one? Bonus points if it can be easily veganized!!!
THANK YOU!

2009-05-27T12:05:00.000-04:00

STAR HOLLOW FARM NEWS

For the week preceding Saturday, May 30th 2009

General news & info

Hello all!

Produce: new this week are..

Veggies: Baby beet greens, baby arugula, horseradish, garlic scapes, upland cress, baby zucchini with flowers.
Herbs: Spearmint in bunches, micro basil.
Sale: Parsnips, cabbage.

New look to store checkout pages: CSA member Phil has made over our 4 online store checkout pages, as we have had ongoing problems with people thinking they had placed orders but not actually completing them. I had text boxes explaining what to do, but experience would indicate many don't read the text, and Phil has experience with more visual pages, so he came up with what I feel is a real improvement. (Note that nothing about how the store works has changed, just the appearance and instructions!)

Please let us know if you have ideas for other improvements. (Ones that have come up over the years are an archive for old messages... which we're addressing starting this week by posting the messages in the blog, where they will be saved, and making it easier to change quantities in the store. At the present time we don't know how to make it easier. It's described clearly in several places how to do it.)

On the farm: I'm worn out. We had quite a planting marathon over the last two days. We planted another ½ acre of potatoes (making about 1.5 total) plus more onions, celeriac, more kale and collards, more radishes, cabbage, fennel, lettuce, tomatoes, arugula, dandelion greens and more. The weather was just right before the rain began this morning, and we made use of it!

Star Hollow CSA blog: Our new blog, designed and set up by CSA member Michele, is up and running at http://starhollowfarmcsa.blogspot.com/. Anyone can look and comment. If you want to post, please email Michele (smcasto@gmail.com) and she'll send you an invite.

Open-farm dates: Below are the dates we've set aside for our open-farm get-togethers. Those weekends are:

July 4^th and 5^th
August 1^st and 2^nd
September 5^th and 6th

CSA-Specific News

Planned CSA produce for this week:

This week the plan is for the last asparagus to go in the CSA boxes this season (there may be more available a la carte next week), mixed bunched greens from the high tunnel, water cress, horseradish, Romaine lettuce, red scallions, an onion, and 2 honey crisp apples. Enjoy!

Adams Morgan CSA volunteers. Thanks to Heather and Tony and Sarah and Sean for their help handing out orders last weekend. Remember to get your name on the calendar if you haven't done so already. We're all covered up until the end of August!

Thanks for your support!

Randy, Chris and all at Star Hollow Farm

Pedal to Preserve, Saturday June 6

2009-05-27T10:51:00.002-04:00

Attention farm, food, open-space and cycling enthusiasts! The Pedal to Preserve cycling event is sponsored by, and benefits, the Lancaster Farmland Trust, dedicated to preserving Lancaster's fertile farmland for farming and open space. Ride length options are 6, 20 or 51 miles on gently rolling terrain past some of the many preserved farms. My brother (lucky dog lives in Lancaster!) and I rode it last year on what I think was the hottest, humidest day EVER, and it was still a lovely ride. Pre-registration might be closed, so no free t-shirt (no loss, if they're as unattractive as they were last year), but you can show, pay and go the day of the event. Go to lancasterfarmlandtrust.org for details.

Hope to see some of you out there!

Rhubarb Chutney

2009-05-25T08:59:00.000-04:00

I found a recipe to use as a starting point, varied it slightly by replacing the cardamom with cloves and the currants with dried cherries (thanks for the tip, Ruth). It was a homely chutney, but quite tasty. Last week I served it over chicken thighs, along with a parmesean cheese variation of Meg's lemon asparagus pasta. The recipe made enough chutney to have it again last night, and one of my friends said it was so good they wanted me to can it and sell it so they could buy it. That was nice to hear!

Asparagus, Goat Cheese and Lemon Pasta

2009-05-20T20:41:00.001-04:00

I used this week's awesome asparagus to make this spring-y, bright, and ridiculously easy pasta dish that I saw on Bon Appetit and Smitten Kitchen. This is a great weeknight recipe, as it requires one pot (to cook the pasta and asparagus) and a no-cook sauce.

I used half of a container of the Pipe Dreams goat cheese that I order through Star Hollow Farm, the asparagus from my CSA box, and some tarragon I had growing in a pot on my roof. I think you could use basil as an alternative, if you wanted. I served it with a green salad using the red Cherokee lettuce and hothouse tomato from last week's share. Delicious!

2009-05-20T09:47:00.000-04:00

Hi again,

Guess I entered my thoughts as a comment instead of a post. Well, did I know there was a difference???

How about this then:

Produce: We have a number new or limited-time offerings to call your attention to this week...

Where the wild things are: ramps (last week or two), watercress, lambsquarters, nettles.

Veggies: Bunched cooking greens (Swiss chard, collards, mixed kale, red Italian dandelion), Asian and braising greens, pea shoots, baby spinach, white scallions.
Herbs: peppermint is our newest herb offering; today is that last for sage for awhile.
Other: We have located a new producer of maple syrup, an Amish family over the mountain from us, and have a fresh supply of both light and dark syrup. We got smaller jars so the price would be lower. We also have honey in one-pound jars again.

Your Post Here!

2009-05-20T07:21:00.000-04:00

Let us know what you're ordering in your CSA box, and how you are preparing the food. Recipes, photos, ideas, questions - it's all good! If you aren't already signed on, send me an email at smcasto@gmail.com and I'll send you the link to get started.

Wild Ramps & Rhubarb

2009-05-17T09:01:00.001-04:00

I'm looking for advice on how to prepare these wild ramps that I added to my CSA box this week. I've never prepared them before, or eaten them before for that matter. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I couldn't resist ordering rhubarb again, but I don't want to make another crisp. Maybe I'll try to make rhubarb chutney (I got the idea from Edible Chesapeake article on Virginia Chutney, see page 9). I'll need to find a recipe, but my main question is: how would you serve rhubarb chutney?

Welcome to the Star Hollow Farm CSA Blog

2009-05-16T14:14:00.000-04:00

Want to brag about the rhubarb crisp you made? Wonder how other members have been preparing their asparagus? Are you asking yourself, what is a ramp, and what do I do with it?

Look no further - here is a forum in which members of the Star Hollow CSA can offer each other guidance and inspiration on how to make the most of the bounty that the Treichler family delivers to the market every week. Feel free to post recipes, photos, queries, events - while the focus will be the foods available through the CSA each week, any topic related to seasonal, sustainable, local food is fair game. In addition to helping each other and building community, I hope the Treichlers can get a sense of the enthusiasm and appreciation the members have for the food they produce with such care.

My hope is that this will be a collective effort and many members contribute to the blog. I also hope Randy and Chris will contribute - hearing about the goings-on at the farm is such an important part of really knowing where our food comes from.

If you are interested in posting entries, send me a message and I will add you as an author. You may also participate just by posting comments. Finally, I welcome any and all suggestions for improvement. Thanks for your participation!
Michele Casto