Dedication to Local Food...

You can tell that the Local Food Movement has come a long way when people are willing to walk a quarter mile, uphill both ways, in 20 degree weather and ice to buy a couple heavy bags of produce which they then carry back to their cars!

And really it was uphill both ways to the market this morning because the path between the Happy Days visitor's center and the parking lot crosses under the road, so you go down and then come back up!

Many of the vendors too suffered for the food, pulling some of what was brought today up from under inches of snow in 20-30 degree temperatures.

All that being said we just about sold out! All our storage onions, pasnips, leeks, and butternut squash went. We had brought 4 bushels of onions, leaving the last one home because last week we only sold about a bushel of onions. Around 10 this morning we looked down and only had half a bushel of the yellow's left! So farmer hubby ran home (it pays to live close to market) and brought the last bushel of onions. We sold every last one of the storage onions !

We did come home with a bushel of red onions, which sold better last week, but that was all...

The customers came and bought! I think everyone had a good day at market!

Our leeks still in the ground froze solid in the 17 degree night last week so this market officially marked the last day of our 2008 season! Deep breath...

The seed catalogues for 2009 have started to come and we are planning big things for next year! Stay tuned for news...

Picking in the snow...

Tonight when I get home we are going to spend an hour or two picking for market on Saturday. We have Leeks and Parsnips to pull... Problem is, NOT ONLY is it cold, but there is 3 inches of snow left... But if we wait until tomorrow that total may be up to a foot! I may go out then and bank some of the leeks in tight snow, assuming they are OK!

It got pretty cold Tuesday night... it was 17 degrees when I woke up! Thankfully there was snow which acts a protective barrier against extreme cold. My very considerate husband bought me a set of insulated, rubber surfaced gloves... Hopefully next year we will be picking in the snow more often!

Thanksgiving next week!

Can you believe it! It is next week already!

Please visit us at the Peninsula Holiday Market next week...

If you mention this blog post I will give you a special deal if you buy 10 or more onions. Remember you'll need enough to last you until the next market the week before Christmas!

If you need more onions than that let us know, and we can make a special deal for you. Our yellow onions should store well into Janurary or Feburary... How many onions do you use in that time?

Holiday Market - One

Just home from market. It was a pretty good day, although we did not sell nearly as many onions or leeks as we expected. That being said, we sold A TON of parsnips. We didn't have honey, which was our savior last year at the fall market, there was very little honey this year, a testament to the problem with bees.

Maybe next week people will be more likely to buy squash and onions for storage, and people want butternut squashes for the holidays. This week it was kind of dreary and rainy which might of have kept some people away. Hopefully those people will come next week.

We only sold a bushel of onions, we brought 4... But we'll see, I still have hopes next week will see us selling bushels of onions.

We only had 20 bunches of carrots, they sold out (except for 1 bunch) within the first 40 minutes - that last bunch sat on the table until 11ish... One of anything always looks sad... I am sorry we did not plant a couple hundred more feet this fall, but it is on our list for next year.

All and all an OK day at market in sales, and it is always fun to be at market and talk with people... I am looking forward to next week, hopefully it will be even MORE successful, and who knows I may even find time to make honey caramels.

Holiday Farmers Market

Next weekend (WOW is it next weekend already!?!) we will be participiting in the first Holiday Market of the year, held by the countryside conservancy at the Happy Days Vistors Center in Peninsula.

See details here.

Map here.

We will have honey carmels, kale, onions, leeks, butternut squash, and a few other treats all of which will keep for weeks!

We plan on also being at the market on November 22nd.

We hope to see you there!

First Market this Saturday

This Saturday we will be at market for the first week!

We expect to have the following available:
Radishes
Rhubarb
Baby Turnip Greens
Honey Caramels
Starts - Tomatoes, Peppers, and Squash

Many of the starts are heirloom varieties and several are on Slow Food's Ark of Taste! And, no, it's not to late to plant your garden. In the past we have put tomatoes in as late as early July (because we lost our first planting) and still got tomatoes!

Some of these items will be in pretty limited quantities, so visit us early. The market opens at 9:00.

As always, thanks for your support of our farm and local food!

First Market June 7th...

After much thought we have decided not to attend market this coming weekend (May 31.) Instead our first week will be June 7th. We just do not have much to offer, so we decided to hold off one more week.

Sorry for the inconvience this might have caused anyone, but we hope to see you on the 7th...

Market this weekend...

Our first market of the year will be on May 31rst! This coming Saturday 9-12.

What will we have, you may ask...

UM! I'm asking myself that as well...

The cool weather recently has really SLOWED down our crops. When in the middle of April we planted 18 day radishes we were worried that they would be ready before our first market. We were confident that our 30 day Broccoli-Rabb, our 34 day turnips ,and the 28 day cress would all be ready....

Now we are crossing our fingers that those 18 day radishes will make it!

We will have a little rhubarb (a little being the key word.) We will also have some tomato and pepper starts (some Ark of Taste varieties) and then their will be honey caramels!

But we will be there, so if we look particularly sad and pitiful standing there in front of an almost empty table, please come and visit with us a little...

• Countryside Farmers' Market at Heritage Farms
• Time: Saturdays 9 a.m.-noon
• Dates: May 31st — October 4th
• Location: Heritage Farms, 6050 Riverview Rd., Peninsula (south of Rt. 303 & Riverview Rd. intersection)