Sunchokes

AsideFebruary 15, 2016 Goodness GrowsLeave a comment

Jerusalem artichokes, sunchokes, are a member of the sunflower family and are a native plant to North America. I love growing native foods and reintroducing them to our area’s cusine. The benefits of growing natives verses some of our better known grocery store varieties is that we are stewarding the natural indigenous biodiversity in […]

CSA 2016

January 3, 2016February 3, 2016 Goodness Grows2 Comments

Instructions: Here you will find three links to pages for you to print, fill out, and mail with your deposit to-

CSA Agreement

New Member Survey

Goodness Grows

5360 Bedford Valley Rd.

Bedford, PA 15522

You may also email your documents to goodgrows@gmail.com and I will contact you to make payment arrangements that best suit your needs.

Our CSA: We offer the area’s only 100% certified organic CSA from May – October (see below about our winter shares.) With the addition of our commercial kitchen certification, we can start our year strong, and end it that way as well! Early on, we will see products from our small grains, such as breads and baked goods, soy products such as vegan sausage and gluten free cookies, and animals products such as cheese, meat, and eggs. Please note–these animal products are not available to the public–only shareholders get to enjoy the goods from the barn! We are the only farm in the area to offer certified organic fruit and grains in our CSA packages. The great variety, combined with our extended growing season, makes our certified organic CSA a fantastic value.

The Basics: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) agreements are a unique relationship between farmer and consumer. CSA members pledge their support to a farm, through financial contribution and volunteer efforts, and receive weekly produce in return. As a shareholder, you become a contributor and partial owner of the farm’s harvest. Modest participation in farm activities will increase the bond between farmer and consumer, and this is our aim through our CSA program. This arrangement gives our farm more liberty to offer a wide variety of products, including meat and dairy. You own the goat, you feed the chickens (so to speak), and you reap the rewards!

Contribution: The cost for a ‘half’ share is $265 plus five hours of volunteer work, a ‘regular’ share is $465 plus ten hours of volunteer work, and a ‘large’ share is $715.00 plus fifteen hours of volunteer work. For a description of the volunteer requirement, see below. For your contribution, you will receive lots of great fruit and veggies (along with occasional eggs, cheese, or meat, if that floats your boat) at convenient pick-up locations in the greater Cumberland, Maryland and Bedford areas. A half share will feed 1-2 people (we really do not recommend a half share for families larger than that), a regular share can comfortably feed a family of 3-4, while a large share is perfect for families of 6+ people or folks who do lots of canning and preserving. A deposit of $165 for a half share, $265 per regular share, and $375 for a large share is due by April 15th. If you pay the entire balance in full by March 15th, you will receive a 5% discount.

Volunteer Hours: Being part of a community farm offers rich experience as well as super fresh, healthy food! Becoming a farm volunteer will give us the time to get to know you, and gives you the time to get to know where your food comes from.Volunteer hour requirements are for the whole season. Our volunteer requirement is very flexible and can be tailored to your individual needs. We understand that not everyone can spend several hours weeding on their hands and knees, and that sometimes, there are physical limitations, time constraints, etc. You can do anything from helping in the fields, to helping bundle CSA bags, to lending a hand at the market, or participating in our CSA Advisory Committee–there are many possibilities. Also, if you want to bring a friend or the rest of the family, their hours will count toward fulfilling your volunteer requirement! Please feel free to let us know about your particular wants and needs, and we will do our best to accommodate them!

Pick-up: We will be posting precise locations shortly after we receive all applications (by April 15th) in order to ensure convenient arrangements for all of our members. Tentatively, we have planned the following pickup locations & time frames:

Bedford on Wednesdays at the Farmer’s Market, 9:00am-1:00pm and at the Wholesome Living Marketplace, 3:00pm-5:00pm
Cumberland, Maryland on Thursdays at the Downtown Farmer’s Market, 9:30am- 1:00pm
Everett on Saturdays at the Farmer’s Market at the Mason Temple Parking Lot, 9:00am-1:00pm
Goodness Grows, flexible days and hours
Contact us for other locations…We will be willing to arrange group drop off points at other destinations provided we can get enough interest!

Planned Offerings:

We highly encourage you to come pick up your bags at the market, if at all possible, so you can take advantage of the market-style choices when available. If you are unable to do so, you can still pick up a pre-packaged bag full of the very best of the week’s products at your regular location.

Planned offerings include breads, tofu and other soy products, meats, dairy items, eggs, apples, black raspberries, peaches, strawberries, beans, peas, carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, lettuce (varieties), mesclun, herbs (varieties), tomatoes, winter and summer squash, peppers, nuts (yes, nuts!), cucumbers, onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, beets, radishes, sprouts (varieties), spinach, eggplant, melons, turnips, tomatillos, zucchini, kohlrabi, swiss chard, sunflower seeds, and more! Each week, you can expect to see 5-8 different items in your bag.

Food Allergies and Dietary Restrictions: We are aware that many people have dietary needs that do not encompass all that we have to offer. For this reason, we have our survey for each member to fill out. We do our very best to substitute items you cannot enjoy for items that you CAN enjoy. We have even grown specialty crops in our trial gardens for our vegan members and those with a delicate digestion. Please let us know if you need to refrain from any items so we can keep them out of your bag and prevent cross-contamination, particularly with nuts and other severe food allergies. Within the five years that we have offered our CSA program, we have never had an issue of cross contamination with allergens in anyone’s bags. We have also been able to successfully introduce new foods to those with restricted diets to expand their limited menus because of the bountiful variety of items we grow for our members.

To sign up, download the registration forms to print and mail below. If you would like to pay by credit or SNAP benefits, please email or call me so we may arrange payment. Thanks so much and we look forward to a fantastic season working with you.

Winter Shares!!!

We have been working on a way to provide our loyal customers with local certified organic farm fresh foods through the winter, so by popular demand we decided to offer our winter CSA package. The winter shares are on a month by month basis, and will be going to Mountain City Traditional Arts in Frostburg, MD two Saturdays a month. We will have a local farm pick up on Fridays. April will be our last month for winter shares. You may sign up anytime before the first delivery of the month. Click on the link below for more details.

terms-of-winter-share 2015

Winter-csa-share-sign-up-sheet-for-2015

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Beans.

July 21, 2014 Goodness GrowsLeave a comment

The beans are in! There’s a lot more too, here’s this week’s haul:

Tomatoes

Eggplant

Beans

Peppers

Cucumbers

Basil

Okra

Zuchini

Patty Pan Squash
IMG_2437[1]

These are the different kinds of beans we grow: Jade- Green, Carson Yellow Wax & Royal Burgundy. They’re all delicious 🙂

Basil

We all know basil is great for making Pesto. Here’s a simple recipe and some excellent ideas for meals and snacks:

Pesto

Ingredients

2 cups fresh basil leaves, packed
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan-Reggiano or Romano cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
3 medium sized garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Special equipment needed: A food processor

Method

1 Combine the basil in with the pine nuts, pulse a few times in a food processor. (If you are using walnuts instead of pine nuts and they are not already chopped, pulse them a few times first, before adding the basil.) Add the garlic, pulse a few times more.

2 Slowly add the olive oil in a constant stream while the food processor is on. Stop to scrape down the sides of the food processor with a rubber spatula. Add the grated cheese and pulse again until blended. Add a pinch of salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.

Yield: Makes 1 cup.

Pesto quesadilla (above) take one: pesto, tomato and mozzarella between a whole wheat quesadilla.

Pesto pasta with extra protein: Toss steamed, shelled edamame, lightly sautéed spinach (optional) and whole wheat rotini in pesto. The buttery texture of edamame complements pesto surprisingly well.

Pesto tortilla pizza: Top an organic whole wheat tortilla with pesto, reduced fat mozzarella and sliced tomatoes. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, preferably on a baking rack, until the cheese is golden and bubbling.

Pesto scrambled eggs: cook your scrambled eggs as usual and take the pan off the burner once the eggs are mostly set. Stir in pesto and top with Parmesan and diced tomatoes.

Pesto popcorn: stove top popcorn lightly tossed with pesto and grated Parmesan (optional).

Pesto grilled cheese: layer pesto, mozzarella, and roasted red peppers or tomatoes on good whole wheat bread. Grill. Amazing!

Arugula pesto pizza bagel: Top a 100% whole wheat bagel with pesto, mozzarella pearls and cherry tomatoes. Bake at 450 degrees Fahrenheit for about ten minutes, until the cheese is melted. Let the bagels cool slightly and top with arugula that has been lightly tossed in lemon juice, salt and pepper.

Avocado pesto pasta: This might not be the prettiest pasta around, but it sure is tasty. Combine roughly equal parts avocado and pesto in your food processor. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Blend thoroughly. Drizzle in extra olive oil if necessary. If you’re feeling adventurous, blend in some goat cheese, too. Toss with whole wheat pasta.

Hoping that everyone is having a great week,

Your Farmer,

Dawn

Lots of recipes, and new things to try!!!!

July 14, 2014 Goodness GrowsLeave a comment

Purslane salads!!!

Purslane and yogurt salad

1 bunch of purslane

yogurt, enough to coat the purslane

garlic minced to taste

Crushed red pepper flakes to taste

Purslane Cucumber Salad

1 bunch of purslane

1 cucumber chopped

1 tomato chopped

1 hot pepper minced

2-3 tablespoons of lemon juice

salt to taste

Okra recipes!!

Ginger and tomato okra

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 pound small fresh okra, untrimmed

1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves

coarse salt and black pepper

place ingredients in a skillet in the order they are listed and saute for 10 minutes

Roasting Okra

Roasting and grilling okra can reduce the slime texture that turn people away from eating okra.

Preheat oven to 475 and roast okra for 10-15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Eggplant Recipes!!!!

Here is a link to my favorite eggplant recipe…This is a recipe that my father and I made together often!

https://goodnessgrowspa.com/2012/12/11/eggplant-moussaka-recipe/

And here is a list of what we’ll be preparing for the week!

Tomatoes

Okra

Purslane

Cucumbers

Zuchini

Patty pan Squash

Eggplant

Basil

Dill

Beans late in the week!!

Kale, of course!

Tofu

Soysage

Eggs

Squash blossoms

Grape leaves

Cut flowers to make you smile the rest of the week!

See you all soon!

Oh my heavens… too cute… baby piglets!

April 6, 2014April 6, 2014 Goodness GrowsLeave a comment

These little pigs are too cute for words!

Meet the newest team members! These little guys will be turning our compost this summer.

I have so much to tell you again about what’s been going on at the farm this spring! First, we got our piglets for our compost program this season. We also built another cold frame and planted it with early tomatoes, French Breakfast Radishes, and Beets.

Broccoli and cauliflower under row covers

We have begun planting our early cold season crops and will continue to plant and work the soil as weather permits.

We harvested all of our Jerusalem artichokes, aka sunchokes this week, and will provide them for our CSA members and Market. Cooked sunchokes are best when eaten within 2 days. When raw, they store well in your fridge’s vegetable bin, wrapped loosely in a paper towel.

Roasted Cauliflower, Brussel Sprouts and Sunchoke

1 head Cauliflower

1 pint of brussel sprouts

2-3 sunchokes

3 T olive oil

1 t sea salt

1/4 cup chives

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large bowl, combine all the vegetables, coat with olive oil and season generously with salt.

Spread the vegetables on a sheet tray in an even layer, don’t pile them up. The vegetables don’t need to be spread out but they need to be pretty much in a single even layer. If this is not the case, use 2 trays.

Put the vegetables in the preheated oven. 15 minutes into the cooking process, stir the vegetables so they have the chance to brown all over, and rotate the tray to insure even cooking. Repeat this process after another 15 minutes. Roast the vegetables for an additional 15 to 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are roasty brown and should smell almost like popcorn!. Check for doneness. This means taste some! If they aren’t very roasty brown, let them go for another few minutes until they are. Season with salt, if needed. Transfer to a serving dish, garnish with chives and serve immediately.

I have been making lots of Feta Cheese and our hens are producing lots of eggs this week too…

Week 15- Back To School With Apples

August 25, 2013 Goodness Grows8 Comments

So we’ve got some Ginger Gold apples ready to go into your bags this week. These are an excellent fresh eating variety that mature earlier in the season than most. I also have some New England Pie pumpkins coming your way too, along with some wonderful pumpkin recipes everyone should try.

Pumpkin Spaghetti Sauce

This recipe sounds a little off, but one evening last summer, I was short on spaghetti sauce for our supper. I did have a pumpkin that needed to be used, so I improvised and this is what I came up with. My family and helpers LOVED it!!! Everyone had seconds, and I had enough for everyone, because pumpkins go a long way for a meal!

2 peppers with seeds removed and sliced in half

1 onion

1/2 a pie pumpkin seeds removed

5 tomatoes peeled

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 tablespoons of oregano leaves

1/4 cup of basil

salt and pepper to taste

In a roasting pan place onion, peppers and pumpkin face down, I add a little water to keep them from drying while roasting. Roast these veggies until the pumkin is soft, about 1 hour. In the mean time, place the remaining ingredients on the stove and simmer for the same amount of time. When all ingredients are done, mix in small batches in the food processor and puree until all ingredients are combined. Serve over spaghetti noodles or rice.

Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

We all snacked on the seeds while we waited for the spaghetti sauce to cook. This is my usual recipe, but I have added garlic powder, cinnamon or cardamon for extra flavor. Pumpkin seeds Olive oil Sea Salt On a cookie sheet place the pumpkin seeds. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Roast at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes.

New England Pumpkin Pie

Here’s my relationship with pie- I love to eat it, but making it is a very different story. My mom started making pies long after I was out of the house, as my younger siblings grew more independent. The pie crust is intimidating to me, as far as time commitment goes, so I usually cheat and buy store made pie crusts- that’s my confession. I have no trouble throwing together nearly anything from scratch, but pie crust is a hurdle that I may cross one day, just not today!

I will give you a recipe that makes a wonderful pie filling, but the crust is entirely up to you. If you have a favorite recipe, by all means use it. Or you can opt for the easier softer way of purchasing your favorite brand of ready made crust like I do.

1 roasted pumpkin mashed (instructions for roasting are in the first recipe)

1 cup of sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon cloves

1 teaspoon allspice

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground mace

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 can evaporated milk

3 eggs

Blend ingredients together and pour into pie shells. I believe you will get 2 9 inch pies from this recipe, depending on the size of the pumpkin. You could also make lots of little serving pies with the filling if you like, but the baking time will be much shorter.

Bake at 425 for the first 15 minutes, then turn the oven down to 350 and bake for an additional 45 minutes for a 9 inch pie, 20 minutes for a single serve pie.

Acorn Squash

This is my family’s favorite in the garden right now! I usually slice the squash in half, remove the seeds and roast the squash until it is soft. Scoop out the flesh from the skin, mash it and serve like mashed potatoes. I add a little butter, milk and salt to give it a creamier, savory flavor. The boys love it, and so do I because it’s a healthier alternative to white potatoes.

Fried Green Tomatoes

This recipe brings back really good memories about my grandparents, with whom I spent most of my youthful summers. I always loved it when Grandma made this for us grandchildren, I hope you enjoy it too.

Just like the fried squash blossoms, you will need 3 ziplock baggies- 1 with flour, 1 with eggs, and 1 with seasoned bread crumbs. Slice your tomatoes into 1/4 inch slices. In a skillet heat up about 4-5 Tablespoons of oil, then in this order shake the tomato slices until covered in the flour, then egg, then bread crumbs. Saute about 2 minutes on each side until golden brown. Serve hot.

What we are getting this week-

1. New England Pie Pumpkin

2. Apples

3. Tomatoes- red and /or green for the “fried green tomato recipe”

4. Peppers

5. Tomatillos

6. Acorn Squash

7. Flour- Wheat or Rye and you can contact me if you have a preference:)

8. Basil for the spaghetti sauce recipe

Have a great week!

Your Farmer,

Dawn

Is it really week 14 already?

August 18, 2013 Goodness Grows1 Comment

Time flies when you’re having fun! I have a great line up for this week- some new ingredients to work with:)

Purslane Salad

1 bunch of purslane

1 red onion finely diced

1 tomato finely diced

Dressing

juice of 1 lemon

4 T olive oil

1/2 t salt

Combine all ingredients for the dressing in a jar with a lid. Shake until well blended.

Tear leaves away from the stem of the purslane and chop the stem into 1/4 pieces. Mix the leaves and stems of the purslane with onion and tomato. Pour dressing over the mixture and toss until the purslane is well coated.

Melons!!!!!

We’ll have three different types of cantaloupe along with some watermelons coming on, and you’ll be sure to get at least on kind this week. We have sweet granite, lambkin and banana cantaloupe and sweet favorite watermelon.

Peppers

If you don’t tolerate hot peppers, now would be the time to tell me. I have 4 varieties of sweet peppers planted, and only 2 kinds of hot peppers. We’ll be picking sweet italian peppers, green and yellow bell peppers, aji dulce peppers, and the pimientos are not ready yet. On the hot front, chiles and pablanos.

Tomatillos are still doing great! I wish my tomatoes would take notes from these prolific producers. You’ll still be getting tomatoes too.

Celery

It seams like every other year is a celery year, and this is the year for celery. We have been enjoying it fresh with peanut butter. Wow, our celery is so much better than what you buy in the store, the flavor is intense, and the texture is real!

Spaghetti Squash

Yes it is still going strong this week, and it remains to be my all time favorite veggie!

If you haven’t seen our FB page lately, then I’ll leave you with this thought, as we all have a great week!

We did it!

August 16, 2013 Goodness Grows5 Comments

Yesterday morning the heavens opened up, angels sang glorious tunes and the Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture handed me my Commercial Kitchen Certification.

I have been working really hard to get all of my ducks in a row this year. We have had 3 visits from the PA dept of Ag, and 2 from the USDA this year. We have been certified as a commercial Kitchen, approved as a farm producer to accepts Farmer’s Market Nutrition vouchers from seniors, mothers and children, we have been approved to accept snap benefits from low income families. Whew!

Did I mention that I greatly underestimated how much time it takes to cube all of that lamb?

I am not a person that relies on excuses to get by in life, but the last 2 weeks have been a real blur to me. I may have messed up some bags, I know I didn’t get my blog out on time, but really, I am so glad that I have finally reached my goals so I can focus better on our CSA’s. In my original plan, many of these things were to be done before our picking started, but our government just doesn’t operate like that. Se la vie!

The nights have been cold. Our tomatoes didn’t do what they told me they would do this week, so many are still on the plants waiting for that perfect color. I am trying to substitute other items. I personally have had enough of the squash, but it’s doing so well and refuses to quit! I’ll leave you with a recipe this week and look forward to Sunday’s blog to get back on track.

Patty Pan Pizza

The wonderful shape of these squash lend to a Pizza that contains no gluten and low carbs.

Slice the patty pan squash through the center. Sometimes I slice the stem end so the squash sits flat on the pan. Add your favorite pizza toppings, I used pesto from the basil in our CSA’s this week, but regular pizza sauce works well too. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes.

Week 9 – Wheat Berries

July 16, 2013July 16, 2013 Goodness Grows4 Comments

The wheat is in! There’s a lot more too, here’s this week’s haul:

Broccoli & Cauliflower

Beans

Wheat Berries

Cucumbers

Basil

Leeks

Green & Yellow Zuchini

IMG_2437[1]

These are the different kinds of beans we grow: French Green, Yellow Wax & Royal Burgundy. They’re all delicious 🙂