Hello, folks!

I hope you are all doing well out there in the wide world. We’ve buttoned up most of the fields and settled into the flow of the slower season over the last few weeks. Seed orders are finished, supply orders are being made, machines are being calibrated and fixed. I’ve taken up my part-time gig writing articles for Lancaster Farming, a regional ag newspaper. And, of course, we plan and dream of spring.

First, to business!

We are now into our winter hours:

Thursday – 10am-5pm

Friday – 10am-3pm

Saturday – 10am-3pm

HOWEVER! Next week we are in every day:

Mon, 12/20-Thurs, 12/23 – 10am-5pm

Friday, 12/24 – 10am-3pm

Saturday, 12/25 – Closed

And, then:

Thursday, 12/30 – 10am-5pm

Friday, 12/31 – 10am-3pm

Saturday, 1/1 – Closed

Then we are back to the three-day-a-week winter hours until April.

Additionally, we’ve got fun things afoot for next week. And, of course, next season.

Next Thursday, December 23rd, from 12pm-5pm, we will again be joined by both Laura from Warm Sugar for a dessert pick-up and the amazing folks of Cellar Beast Winehouse for a tasting and take-home pop-up! You can order with Warm Sugar here until the evening of Monday, December 20th, so take a gander at her offerings and get those orders in. We will also have some extra desserts going into the holiday week to sell at the stand, but if this week is anything like Thanksgiving, they’ll be gone in a flash. And if you are unfamiliar with Cellar Beast, they are a new winehouse in Andreas creating complex, dry wines and spontaneously fermented ciders that are some of the most amazing libations I’ve had to date.

If you are still thinking about what to gift the folks you love this holiday season, please indulge me while I make a couple of locally-sourced suggestions.

If you are in Bethlehem, there are a couple of fun adventures for you in the next few days. This one has a quick turnaround, but we’re making winter produce boxes in collaboration with the Bethlehem Food Co-Op. This is a box of fresh veggies (with or without apples, your choice), that will be delivered to Bethlehem on Sunday, December 19th. Pickup is at the Connell Funeral Home (across from the to-be Co-Op store location) from 12:30-2:30 p.m. Box orders are due today and can be ordered here! If you’re curious about what a CSA share would feel like, or you are just hankering for greens to combat the winter chill, here’s your chance.

 

Our other venture to the Southside will be at Lit Roastery and Bakeshop this weekend. Jessi and Aaron, the Crooked Row Herbals arm of the operation, will be sharing our herbal products, their flower magic, and the Das Pfeffers hot sauces and powders at Lit’s Holiday Mart on Saturday the 18th and Sunday the 19th from 10am-3pm. These are all items we have at the stand – but this event showcases other amazing artisans, and you can grab some takeout drinks and treats while you are there. We’ve just recently debuted the newest Crooked Row Herbals gems – Daydream serum and Eventide face and body oil, all made with herbs from the farm. The serum has fixed my systemically dry, cracked farmer hands in a matter of days, and the oil has been perfect for those little dry patches that come with the biting winter air.

We are now a host site for the Collective Creamery cheese subscription, which is something I’ve hoped to become since they began this collaboration years ago. Valley Milkhouse and Birchrun Hills Farm run a mighty monthly cheese share, with incredible, exclusive offerings and elaborate info and tasting notes. We are finally moving enough cheese in the stand to warrant such an add-on, and I believe there are enough of you out there who will appreciate this unique cheese and join up. If you follow the link above, you can find the prorated January-March share, and even choose to send it as a gift! It’s a shorter subscription season for the winter, but they will have a spring and summer share posted in the new year.

As for us, we’ve got the 2022 CSA season signups open here, along with the explanation and signup for our Market Cash program. If you are really excited for spring, I’ve even updated the 2022 Plant Sale Order Form – though I realize that I may be the only person doing their hopeful plant planning this early. If you would like to give any of these as gifts, I have printed out physical gift certificates that can you give in a stocking or card, and I’ve got them down at the stand.

I am really encouraging folks to sign up for these particular programs with cash or a check – because the Market Cash becomes a digital gift card, Square runs the credit card payment on our end with its usual surcharges, and then each subsequent purchase via the gift card also carries a surcharge. And all of the fees just seem to keep rising. Even Venmo is pulling money out of many patron transactions. I appreciate your understanding! Life is goofy.

And, of course, the stand is stocked. We’ve got the back room full of everything from the Crooked Row Herbals teas, tinctures, flower garlands and basil olive oils to soaps and body care products to cutting boards and aprons. Nature’s Clay Ceramics has some really beautiful, handmade work back there, and our preserves tables are packed with jams, vinegar, hot sauces, pickles and more. We made double and triple batches of all of our tomato products this fall – salsa, tomato butter (have you tried this yet? It is SO AMAZING with some cheese!), chili sauce, ketchup and two sizes of pasta sauce. And the Das Pfeffers pepper powders, fermented and smoked hot sauces are just incredible.

To that end, I’ve set up a couple of gift basket options for pickup on the 23rd. You can order either of these through the Square Online website, and we’ll build and outfit you with a cute little holiday gift basket you can hand directly to your favorite humans!

Of course, you are most welcome to come in and shop to build your own basket! I’m going to set up some supplies in the back room for those particular projects. Or, just come shop as usual. We are also still collecting money this winter to make our Parkland CARES Food Pantry Bags each month in the summer – you can donate toward them here, or you can ask to add a donation to your in-person orders at checkout in the stand.

We are harvesting fresh greens every few days now, so we’ll be stocked for the weekend and again next week. The name of the game is green, fresh, and delicious. I’ve been skipping breakfast and eating spinach leaves when I harvest. They are so tasty. We’ve got lettuce mix, celery, chard, curly kale and baby kale, spinach, spicy greens and fresh herbs in the tunnels, arugula in the field, and potatoes, daikon radishes, beets, garlic, and watermelon radishes in storage from the fall. We’ve got organic carrots (we sold all of ours!), winter squash, parsnips and sweet potatoes from the organic co-op, and onions from Terra Fauna Farm.

We’ve got apples from The Berry Farm and Scholls, mushrooms from Primordia, so many ginger products from The Wonder Garden, Made By Lino muesli and crackers, a fridge full of Valley Milkhouse and Klein Farms dairy, a freezer full of Warm Sugar Cookie Dough, Bauman apple cider and Daily Loaf bread, and another full of local bison, beef, pork, chicken, and NY steelhead. I know these are the lean farm months, but I’m still amazed by what’s here at this time of year.

Lisa, second in command this winter, is holding down the fields and tunnels and really doing the bulk of the harvesting. She’s also been spending some time working in the stand, so say hello when you see her!

As always, I am grateful for your continued patronage throughout the year. Times are strange, for sure, but the food is good and the veggies are happy. In those moments, when that is all I have to think about, I am content. We are continuing to work with the Pennsylvania Association of Sustainable Agriculture on soil health benchmarks in our fields and nutrient density projects with our veggies. We are planning to organize some big seed-saving projects in 2022, create more on-farm compost for the fields, streamline our crop calendar, grow even more beautiful food, and work toward that ever-present goal of thriving here on the farm. In the rest of our lives, as well.

Thank you for choosing to spend your time and your food dollars with us. We are so very, very grateful.

All the Best,
Liz