News and blog
Is it just me, or has this spring flown by? I was chatting with my bank teller today about it, and we agreed that time must go faster when we are young, so this is a sign that we are both getting younger. At least that's my story! To tell the truth, I was at the bank with my now-adult daughter to sign off on her bank account because I no longer need to be a cosigner on it. I guess I have to admit that time keeps speeding up, whether I'm looking at a day, a week, a season, or a year.
So this is our final week of Spring Shares. Summer/Fall shares begin in two weeks, on June 6. The warm weather we have had this month has helped our plants grow, but the abundance of rain has prevented us from planting some crops. We have to wait for our fields to dry out or our plants will get waterlogged and rot. Ah, the joys of farming. Nothing is ever predictable.
At my farm, we found our beloved momma cat dead in the barn one morning from unknown causes, leaving her five 3-week-old kittens behind. Bottle-feeding ensued, and they are now eating cat food soaked in milk and growing well. Here is a photo of the utter cuteness that we endure:
Grateful Life Farm received their second batch of chickens today. Their first batch is already on pasture, enjoying the sunshine and fresh grass. When chicks are young, we protect them in an enclosed area with heat lamps, food, and water to give them a safe start. As soon as they have their adult feathers, they can be placed outside in a movable pen to give them fresh grass daily. They grow quickly and are ready for butchering in 8-10 weeks.
CSA Shares
- 1/2 lb. spinach from Detweiler Farm
- 1/2 pt. maple syrup from Bushel and a Peck Farm
- 1 head lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 5 oz. pea shoots from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1/2 lb. watercress from Miller Farm Products
- 1 bunch green garlic from Red Dog Farm
- 1 lb. rhubarb from NuWay Farm
- 1 herb from Bushel and a Peck Farm and The Way Nature Intended (spearmint, chocolate mint, oregano, or fennel leaf)
Recipes
High Fiber Blueberry and Spinach Smoothie
Apple Pecan Feta Spinach Salad with maple cider dressing
Artichoke Spinach Dip (leave out the jalapenos if you want it more mild)
10-Minute Maple Crusted Salmon
Cleansing Watercress and Citrus Salad
Watercress and Wild Rice Salad (sub black rice, pink rice, or even quinoa)
Rhubarb Bars (like a lemon bar...I would leave out the red food coloring or use a natural color like beets)
Rhubarb Vanilla Bean Scones (you can sub vanilla extract if you don't have vanilla beans)
Thank you for supporting our small local farms through your CSA membership. If you have suggestions about how we can improve your CSA, please share them with us.
Enjoy your holiday weekend, but be sure to take time to remember those who have died in service of our country.
Amy
May is shaping up to be quite nice, after the cold start to the spring. All of our veggies have gotten a late start this year, but the warmer weather now is giving them a boost. Apple trees and lilacs are blooming, as well as fields of dandelions. While many people see dandelions as a weed, farmers love to see them because they are an early food for the bees that pollinate our crops.
It is also the season for harvesting ramps. If you're not familiar with them, ramps are a delicious mix of garlic/onion/leek. They can be found in some wooded areas, and they seem to prefer moist soil. In our woods, they flourish along the banks of the creek. We harvest them sustainably, making sure to leave plenty for future years. When you prepare them, you can use the entire plant. I usually slice and saute the bulbs and stems first, and add the chopped greens at the end of cooking. Or you can use the raw chopped greens as a garnish for a unique flavor. Last night, I served the chopped greens to put on our tacos instead of onions. Our favorite way to eat ramps is sauteed with mushrooms and asparagus, served with fried eggs or on an omelette.
As a result of our recent Facebook giveaway, we are launching a new program called Basket of Hope. We know that sometimes unforeseen circumstances cause a hardship on families. Costs of medical bills can make a family choose between healthy food and paying for care that is often not covered by insurance. NWPAGC wants to help those families by offering discounted CSA Shares that are subsidized by farmers and community members. Healthy food is an important aspect of healing. Recipients will be chosen after evaluating their need and situation. If you would like to share healthy food with someone in need, you can either donate by check or through PayPal. We already have $325.00 in pledges toward our first share.
How are you using the microgreens from Harmony Grove Farm? Scallion sprouts are the flavor this week. I love them on a sandwich, in a salad, or on my eggs. Microgreens pack a big nutritional punch in a tiny package.
CSA Share
- 12 oz. honey from Hazy Hollow Farm
- 1 lb. rhubarb from NuWay Farm
- 1 dozen eggs from Mickley Farm
- 5 oz. pea shoots from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1/3 lb. ramps from Bushel and a Peck Farm
- 1 head lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 scallion microgreens from Harmony Grove Farm
Recipes
Ramp and Mushroom Quiche (This would be delicious to serve for Mother's Day breakfast or brunch!)
Cheesy Ramp Pull-Apart Bread (Start with a store-bought loaf, or use your favorite bread recipe.)
Rhubarb Tart (Another lovely dish to serve for Mother's Day. This one is a little more involved than most recipes that I share. But look at the photos!)
Salmon with Rhubarb Sweet Chili Sauce
Simple Honey Mustard Vinaigrette for your salads
Honey Lime Quinoa Fruit Salad (To round out your Mother's Day morning)
Very Veggie Fried Rice (Change up the veggies with whatever you have on hand. I would sub asparagus for the broccoli right now. You can throw in leftover meat, too.)
Crostini with Pea Shoots and Strawberries (Our strawberries are just blooming, so you will have to wait a few weeks. You will have to settle for store-bought if you want to make this, but please choose organic since strawberries are one of the Dirty Dozen.)
We have one more delivery for our Spring CSA. Summer CSA begins in just four weeks! Make sure you sign up before we are full! If you have any comments or suggestions to make the CSA better, please share them with me.
Amy
We are gearing up for our next CSA/Farm Share season that begins on June 6. There is still time to sign up if you haven't yet.
We just added two new pickup locations. We have had requests from people in Oil City to establish a pickup there, and The Tipsy Chef is excited about hosting our CSA. If you have signed up for Franklin pickup and you would like to move, just shoot me an email and I will get you switched.
Our New Castle pickup is moving to New Wilmington, hosted by The Wright Touch Shiatsu Center on Main Street. If you have been waiting for us to announce pickup location, don't hesitate any longer!
These two new locations (as well as all of our others) are contingent on enough members at each location.
We have been running a giveaway on our Facebook page, which ended yesterday. We are giving away a basket of farm products to one lucky person! The winner will be announced today, so click over there to find out who won. If you don't follow us on Facebook, you might want to start!
Remember that all of our farm products are naturally grown without chemical pesticides, herbicides or GMOs. Our meat and eggs come from animals on pasture with non-GMO feed. If you're looking for naturally-grown local farm products, our farmers have a wide array to satisfy your needs.
Please share with friends. Our goal is to provide healthy food to our communities.
Amy Philson, manager
NWPA Growers Cooperative
We're hoping that we have turned the corner from the cold spring we have had so far to some warmer weather! All of our crops are behind schedule, and most of us are waiting for our fields to dry up enough to plant some early crops. Everything that we are harvesting right now is grown in our greenhouses. Compared to past years, we are at least two weeks behind. Let's all hope that May brings warmer than normal weather so our crops grow quickly. Coming up we are planning ramps (wild garlic/onion), radishes, honey, and more!
Our co-op has been undergoing some changes this year. Some of our founding and long-term farmers are moving on to other endeavors. We are welcoming some new farmers. While this happens to some extent almost every year, the changes this year mandates that we move our aggregation to a new farm. I will share more details in the coming weeks about our changes.
Do you follow our Facebook page? We are announcing a contest to win a sample basket from our farms later today. Be sure to check it out!
CSA Share
- 1 lb. popcorn from Detweiler Farm
- 8 oz. spinach from Detweiler Farm
- 8 oz. barese Swiss chard from Harmony Grove Farm
- 5 oz. pea shoots from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 broccoli microgreens from Harmony Grove Farm
- 2 lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
Some of you have a bag of kale instead of barese or pea shoots. Due to the cool weather, the greens are slow-growing.
Barese Swiss chard is a chard that resembles bok choi in flavor. You can use it in recipes calling for either.
Recipes
Easy Asian Noodle Soup with Bok Choi
15-Minute Sesame Ginger Noodles
Paleo Asian Chicken Stir-Fry with Pea Shoots
Quinoa Spinach Power Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Don't forget to check out our Facebook page! And while you're there, share how you use your CSA contents.
Amy
Happy Wednesday! Did you remember to pick up your CSA share today? Check out all the yummy greens from Harmony Grove Farm! The rest of our farmers are not-so-patiently waiting for greenhouse greens to mature, while others are chomping at the bit for our fields to dry out and warm up enough to plant some early crops. The weatherman says that after a few warmer days, we are back to cold for next week. At our farm, we are torn between wanting warmer days to plant and hoping the freeze-thaw cycle continues so our maple season keeps going.
We are making final plans for our upcoming summer/fall season, so if you like what is in your box, please tell others about us. Be kind to your friends...share your love for your local farmers!
CSA Shares
- 2 heads lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 bag kale from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 scallion microgreen from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 bag pea shoots from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 lb. beets from TOG
- 2 lb. red potatoes from TOG
- 2 red onions from TOG
- 2 yellow onions from TOG
Recipes
Scallion sprouts pack lots of nutrition and flavor in a tiny package. Add them to salads, sandwiches, and wraps, or sprinkle some on your eggs.
Chicken Sausage Kale Red Potato Soup
Beet and Chickpea Quinoa Burgers (for those who eat a plant-based diet!)
Kale Brownies because...chocolate!
Kale and Quinoa Salad with Lemon Vinaigrette
Happy eating!
Amy
Today is our first week of Spring Shares. To those of you who are new to our CSA, Welcome! To those who have been with us for a while, thank you for your continued support of our local farms.
With each pickup, I send out this email that lists what is in your share, along with recipe ideas for you to try if you don't have a favorite for that ingredient or you just want something new. We have been using Pinterest for recipe sharing for a few seasons. Besides the recipes in the links below, you can look on our Pinterest boards for recipes that we have pinned in previous weeks. If you want even more ideas, our website has a catalog of recipes that we shared before we began using Pinterest. I try to include recipes that are healthy, don't call for many processed ingredients, and will appeal to a variety of eating styles including vegetarian, paleo, gluten-free, and also those with no limits. I also include farm news and other info in this email so you can get to know some of our farmers.
Right now we are in the awkward time when our storage crops are dwindling but most of our spring crops aren't ready to harvest. We are starting more seeds, prepping beds as weather allows, and finalizing plans for our crops this year. Baby animals add much cuteness this time of year.
CSA Share
- 1 dozen eggs from Mickley Farm
- 2 lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 bag kale from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 broccoli microgreens from Harmony Grove Farm
- 2 lb. sweet potatoes from TOG
- 1 lb. carrots from TOG
- 1 lb. yellow onions from TOG
- 2 red onions from TOG
Recipes
One Pan Lemon Ricotta Kale Pasta
Moroccan Carrot and Quinoa Salad
Roasted Sweet Potatoes Stuffed with Quinoa and Spinach (or sub kale if you want to)
Moroccan Sweet Potato and Lentil Soup
Farro, Kale and Egg Bowl (use quinoa or another grain if you don't have farro)
We welcome questions and comments about your CSA share. Tell your friends and neighbors about us so they can enjoy fresh, local food, too!
Amy
Spring brings new growth...and fresh greens! With each change of season, our diets should change. After the dark days of winter and the many storage crops, we need greens and lots of veggies to give our bodies a jump-start the healing processes in our bodies. Our Spring Share begins with a mix of greens and storage crops (potatoes, onions, etc.), and gains more fresh items as the season progresses.
A Spring Share is a low commitment (5 boxes spread over 10 weeks), helping you transition to (or continue) a healthier lifestyle. We also offer add-on shares of beef, sausage, rabbit, eggs, and cheese if those fit into your family's eating habits.
Help our small local farms continue to provide healthy food to our communities.
Our Spring CSA Share begins next week, so if you haven't signed up yet, NOW is the time! If you are already a member, tell your friends!
This is the final Winter CSA Share for this year. I hope you have all joined our Spring Share, which begins in just two weeks. If you choose not to, you can still order from the Webstore through May with your current membership.
I am working with a handicap today. My laptop bit the dust this week, so I am working from my tablet and phone. If you have sent me an email, I haven't checked that account in a couple of days. I have to figure out how to access it from here. As convenient as portable devices are, I much prefer a laptop for most things. If there are typos, I blame it on autocorrect.
Spring is right around the corner, as is evidenced by more greens in your share today. The longer daylight hours make our young plants grow more quickly. It's the season for baby animals on our farms, too. I will have to take some photos of the babies at our farms and share them with you.
CSA Shares
- 1 lb. White potatoes from Detweiler Farm
- 2 lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 bag pea shoots from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1/2 lb. Spinach from Detweiler Farm
- 2 lb. Red potatoes from TOG
- 1 lb. Carrots from TOG
- 1 lb. Red beets from TOG
- 1 lb. Onions from TOG
Recipes
Sweet Spinach Muffins (healthy green muffins for St. Patrick's Day...or any day!)
Roasted Beet and Carrot Lentil Salad
Beet Pesto Pizza with Kale and Goat Cheese (use spinach or pea shoots in place of kale)
10 Minute White Bean Parmesan Spinach Soup
Thank you for supporting our small farms this winter. Please help us by telling others how they can get local, organically-grown food, too!
This is Week 7 of our Winter Share. One more week in mid-March, and then our Spring Shares begin. This time of year, I crave fresh greens after the season of storage crops, so I'm thankful that we have some fresh greens available before most spring crops are ready. We have to be content with storage crops a little while longer for the bulk of our veggies.
An update from Grateful Life Farm:
The end of winter is feeling near, as we have spent more time outdoors the past few weeks. We gave a thorough cleaning to all our rabbit hutches and a health check to all our breeding does and bucks, then brought the does to the bucks' hutches for our first breeding of the season. Baby rabbits are due on March 8th. We have also spent some time tapping a dozen maple trees on our property. We don't make much syrup, but enough for ourselves, and it feels good to be out in the woods collecting sap, gathering fire wood, and gradually getting used to hard physical work again.
Also, check out Philsons' Bushel and a Peck Farm's Facebook page to watch some videos of our maple production. https://www.facebook.com/philsonsbushelandpeckfarm/
CSA Shares
- 2 lettuce from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 scallion microgreens from Harmony Grove Farm
- 1 maple mustard from Philsons' Bushel and a Peck Farm
- 1 lb. Jerusalem artichokes from Philsons' Bushel and a Peck Farm
- 1 dozen pullet (small) eggs from Mickley Farm
- 1 lb. carrots from TOG
- 2 lb. sweet potatoes from TOG
- 1 lb. turnips from TOG
Recipes
Crispy Jerusalem Artichokes with Aged Balsamic (cut recipe in half to serve 4)
Jerusalem Artichoke and Mushroom Saute Persillade
Simply Delicious Glazed Carrots
Carrot Ribbons with Rosemary Butter Sauce
Mexican Chicken, Sweet Potato, and Black Bean Skillet
Chili & Honey Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Lime
Sweet Potato, Turnip & Chickpea Hash
The Maple Mustard makes a great dip for pretzels or chicken. Spread some on chicken, pork chops, ham, or salmon for an easy glaze. It's also great on sandwiches and burgers.
Until next time!
Amy
With the promise of warmer weather, we are looking forward to a new growing season. The sap is running in the maple trees. Farmers are prepping their greenhouses and starting seeds.
It's time to sign up for your Farm Share for Spring and Summer/Fall. Do you grow a garden, but you crave the fresh greens in the spring before your garden begins to produce? Or are you curious about how a Farm Share works and not sure if you will like it? Check out our Spring Share, with a low commitment (5 pickups spread over 10 weeks) that will allow you to get a feel for what is in a weekly Farm Share.
For the Summer/Fall season, we offer several options. There are three different sizes of CSA Share. You can choose the full-season share from June to November, or just the Peak-of-the-Season 12-week from July to early October. Since our regular CSA Share consists completely of veggies and fruits, there are also several add-on options including meats, eggs, and cheese from which to choose.
Are you planning to be out of town? You may schedule vacation days and get a double box on a different week, so you still get the full value of your share. Or you can ask a friend to pick up for you and share the bounty with them.
CSA Share members receive some bonuses. Each week you receive an email with farm news and recipe suggestions for your weekly veggies. You also receive free membership to the Webstore to order extras. And CSA Shares enjoy first priority from our farms as well as more value for your money compared to Webstore.
Last year, we tested a Select Share with a few members, where they could choose the contents of their CSA box each week. After assessing the good and bad of that program, we have decided to revamp it a little. This year, rather than a CSA Share, we are rolling the Select Share into our Webstore. When you prepay at least $300.00 on your Webstore account, the Webstore Membership Fee will be waived. You may then place orders from all categories in the Webstore (not just produce!) and use your account balance toward payment. You save $16.00 and the hassle of paying for your order each week, and you receive exactly what you want. Add more money to your account at any time throughout the season. While we prefer to have commitments for CSA Shares rather than the Webstore, we understand that this arrangement doesn't work for certain families.
Of course, our regular Webstore membership is also available, where you pay for each order at pickup.
As always, our produce is naturally grown without chemicals and GMOs. Our meat, eggs, and cheese come from animals that enjoy pasture and non-GMO feed when appropriate. Our cooperative of small family farms and homesteads endeavors to feed our families and our surrounding communities with wholesome, locally-produced farm products that will help you live a healthy life.
Pickup Locations: We are scaling back a little this year, consolidating all of our deliveries to Wednesday. Our goal is to have at least 15 CSA members at each location. Too few, and we will be forced to cancel delivery to your community. We want to serve fewer communities better instead of being spread thin over a wide area. You can help ensure that we stay in your community by sharing this info with your family and friends.
We are currently looking for a new pickup location in New Castle, since our past hosts are hoping to sell their home. If you know of a home or business that may be interested in hosting, please contact us.
Thank you for your interest in and support of our local farmers. We all know that eating local food supports our local economy, which helps all of us. Local food is fresher and more nutrient-dense. And did you know that most farmers only receive pennies on the dollar for their crops? You help our small farms earn the value of their hard work when you support NWPA Growers.
You can find all the details at www.nwpagrowers.com. To go directly to the sign-up page, click here. Please email me with any questions you have.
Amy Philson, general manager
NWPA Growers Cooperative
