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Goldfinch Farm CSA
Goldfinch Farm Newsletters
| For Beth's Ramblings and Rants click here. |
Issue No. 1: Wks of June 8 & 15
GOLDFINCH FARM CSA NEWS
Farmers: Jon & Beth Weaver-Kreider * 252-3894
www.goldfinchfarm.com * screechowl@paonline.com
WELCOME TO A NEW SEASON AT Goldfinch Farm
A new baby boy, a larger-than-life three-year-old (that’s redundant, isn‘t it?), a rainy May, the first red poppy, slugs in the strawberries,
glorious greens, swallows and wrens making families in the new birdhouses, our biggest farm crew ever, dreams of a bumper crop of
August tomatoes, a full complement of shareholders (180 shares): so begins the fifth anniversary year of Goldfinch Farm. This is also our
tenth anniversary farming CSA-style, so it feels like a real milestone year for us.
In 2000, when Jon first planted for 25 shares over the River at Simple Gifts Farm, we could only dream of where we would be ten years
later. We hoped to have a farm of our own. We hoped to be able to manage about 175 shares. Beth hoped to stop teaching and be on the
farm full time. We hoped to start a family. And here we are. It’s had its share of ups and downs, and there will always be challenges, but it’
s a very satisfying dream to find our way into.
Last year we wrote in our first newsletter, “Most of May was cooler and wetter than usual, which set us back a bit.” So what else is new?
Perhaps we need to just expect a cool, wet May. Some days, it feels like we might just float on down Cabin Creek to the Susquehanna.
The fields are squelchy, the grass is slick, the colors of the new
plants are vibrant and rich in the muted light of the overcast sky. The strawberries suffer and the greens thrive. That’s the luck of the draw
with the Mother Nature. Farmers can usually find a reason to fuss about every kind of weather.
The winter projects on the farm are not as obvious as in some years--no new structures have appeared. This spring, however, Jon has
been constructing a cold room in one of the old stalls on the lower level of the barn. He has to tweak the system a bit, and it will be the
main place where we store veggies. And outside of the greenhouse, we built four screen “cages” for hardening off seedlings while
protecting them from insects.
About that new baby mentioned in the first paragraph. . .his name is Josiah Pearse, or Joss. He came along at the end of March, at 9
pounds and 11 ounces. He’s a happy, laid-back little fellow, with an easy grin, sparkly eyes, and a winning chuckle. Ellis has been a
loving and helpful big brother. We’re delighted and grateful, and we are actually beginning to get some sleep again.
Working on the Farm
If you signed up for the discounted share in exchange for 8 hours of work here at the farm, you can sign up for two four-hour shifts on the
calendars at the pick up sites.
Harvest mornings (Tuesdays and Fridays between 8:30 and 12:30) are when we are most in need of your extra help, though we can
accommodate some Saturday and Monday morning helpers, too.
We recommend sturdy shoes, and a sun hat and sunscreen to protect your skin. If you wear insect repellent to work on the farm, please
avoid DEET or other harsh chemicals while handling the harvest. We harvest rain or shine, so if rain is in the forecast, bring along good
rain boots and a rain coat or change of clothes (spring rains can be pretty chilling).
NOTICE: Friends Meeting Pick-Ups
If you pick up your share on a rainy (or threatening-to-rain) day, we’ll set up the tables on the porch of the Meetinghouse, so don’t be
alarmed if you do not see the canopies out in the parking lot; just head up the walk to the porch, and you’ll find us.
The Farm Store
We are again buying raw organic cheeses from John Esh of Green Hills Farm in Quarryville, meats from pastured animals from the folks at
Meadow Run Farm near Ephrata, and fair trade coffees, chocolates and olive oil that we get through our friend Dave Dietz. This year we’ll
be selling Seven Stars Farm plain yogurt from Phoenixville and eggs from Dave’s flock just down over the hill near Wrightsville.
Strawberry Smoothies
The simplest thing, of course, is to whiz up those strawberries with some ice cream, yogurt or milk or a combination of the three. One
recipe I’ve seen recommends 8 oz. of strawberries, 3 scoops of strawberry ice cream, and a half cup of milk (it also suggests including a
tablespoon of strawberry liqueur). Serve topped with a small scoop of ice cream serve.
You can try an orange strawberry crush with 1 banana, 6 ripe red strawberries (or more), about ¾ cup of another fruit in season , 3 scoops
of ice cream, 1 cup milk, and the juice of one large orange. Blend the fruits with half the milk, then add the rest of the milk and the ice
cream and blend again.
Salads
This is a nice time of year to experiment with greens. Rub a wooden bowl with ½ clove of garlic, then rub oil in the bowl and toss your
greens to coat with the oil. Add fruit, nuts and seeds: sunflower seeds, almond slivers, oranges, grapes. Try sliced strawberries. I like to
add dried fruits like cranberries and raisins, apple schnitzes, chopped dried papaya. Spritz fruit-and-greens salads with an oil and vinegar
dressing infused with fresh rosemary or mint.
Arugula
A peppery, crispy green, arugula is one of those foods that people seem to love or hate. If the flavor on its own is too strong for you, try
mixing it with other greens for salad, braising it on the stovetop with a little oil, or adding it to soups. Farmer John’s cookbook (The Real
Dirt on Farmer John) suggests using it as the base for pesto instead of basil.