Our Latest Happenings
Our Markets are on "holiday" while we focus on field work and planting. Dupont Market will re-open in May and Saturday Markets will open in June. Thanks for a great season!
Market Locations and Hours
Jim's Notes
01/10/2020
Greetings, folks, and happy new year! Hope you haven’t missed me online too much these last few weeks. I’ve taken to less frequent writing lately, since Jenni is now the official “operator”, and she’s been doing such a great job of writing to you in my place. Speaking of NMF’s fine communications, in case you’re on Instagram (I am, but just with my family and the farm), you really should check out a video production we put on Instagram and Facebook last week. (Credit to our excellent apprentice, Jen Roberts). It’s a series of many really cool little video snippets of activities we do here in the field and in our packing process. It just gives you a great sense of what it’s really like to grow organic vegetables our way. Meanwhile, we have kicked off our midwinter season, with our great new set up (which gives us the ability to actually add a little heat on those chilly mornings). Credit goes to manager Adam and the crew, who go to great pains to build up this very temporary little “store”, and then remove it again after 5 hours, leaving not a trace. Our offerings this winter are similar to last year’s, with one exception (see below). Plenty of storage vegetables and fresh greens from our high tunnels, zillions of local apples and cider, eggs of course, amazing pies and other baked goodies made by our daughter’s Threefifty Bakery. BUT...here’s something we DIDN’T have last year: high quality, certified organic citrus! Yes, we did carry organic citrus in past winters, but we weren’t happy with the quality last year, so we’ve been looking for a better source, and we’ve found it! So now, starting this week, we’ll have a broad selection of really good organic citrus, at reasonable prices. We are excited! You’ll see clementines, navels, grapefruits, lemons, limes, and even Pummelos, (just to try). Looking forward to seeing you at market on Saturday, and to letting you sample this great new batch of citrus fruit. Best wishes, Jim |
Farm News02/07/20
Hi Folks,
I think it's still winter? This weather makes us wonder if we should be planting things out in the fields. The calendar promises that it will get very cold again, and we'll stick to our planting schedule we've been honing for our farm over the last 48 years. So it's still winter, and winter is planning season, analyzing last year's records and recollections, and creating a detailed plan for crops and marketing in the coming seasons. And winter is also vacation season. The farm team is rotating through vacations, with our goal that everyone takes one month of vacation. Winter is also farmer conference season. From November through the end of February, farmers could attend a meeting or conference every single week if they so desired. This week we're each spending at least a day at our favorite conference, PASA's Sustainable Agriculture Conference. PASA (Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture) is a wonderful organization that plays a key role in leading the creation of the community of farmers, growers, producers, retailers, restaurants, eaters and others committed to sustainable agriculture. The community provides opportunities for conversations that allow everyone to learn from the success of others, commiserate on shared challenges, brainstorm about possible solutions, and recharge our spirits to carry us through the growing season. Presentations at the PASA conference range from spacing and irrigation of broccoli plants, to soil health, to managing a farm business, to the food system, to the Farm Bill. Perhaps even more valuable, there are plenty of opportunities for informal conversations with folks from near and far. The ideas, tools, techniques, and practices that we've gleaned from this community over the years have woven themselves into the care and harvest of each one of our crops. We're excited to share and listen throughout our time at the PASA conference. We'll be at all three markets just like always this weekend. We'll have some great lettuce and cut greens. The warm weather has helped the leafy crops in the tunnels to grow quickly these last few days. See you Saturday! Jenni Recipe Of The Week
Red Cabbage and Apples
Recipe By: CHRISTYJ "Looking for something new? Try this sweet and sour apple and cabbage dish." Ingredients 2 tablespoons vegetable oil 8 cups shredded red cabbage 1 onion, chopped 2 tart apples - peeled, cored and sliced 2 tablespoons water 1 1/2 teaspoons salt ground black pepper to taste 3 tablespoons white sugar 3 tablespoons distilled white vinegar Directions Heat oil in a medium size saucepan. Stir in cabbage and onion; fry until wilted. Stir in apple and water, salt and pepper. Cover and simmer about 25 minutes. Pour vinegar and sugar into the mixture while tasting for desired sweet and sour taste. Cook another 5 to 6 minutes. |
