The photo above was dated 1959, and was left behind from the previous owners, the Nichols family. Records show that our house and barn were built in 1862, and sometimes it's mind boggling to think how many memories were made here during the holidays over the years. How many icy cold hands did the winter chores, and chopped the firewood, and baked the Christmas cookies; how many dreams of spring through the bitter Pulaski winters. And how many more our family will add to that.
    
    As we head into our third season here on the farm and get closer to the Winter Solstice and new year, we are still harvesting, both out of the field and the greenhouses. The lilacs have leaf buds, the strawberries have blossoms, garlic's popping up,  and the crocuses are starting to sprout.  Usually this time of year the farm goes into quasi-hibernation mode, but with the new greenhouse's heat set up and the mild weather we've had,  we've been keeping busy! (I'd like to think the land's predecessors are blessing our enterprise this December.)

     We wanted to take a moment and wish all of our customers a very Happy Holiday season! It has been a pleasure growing with you all in 2015 and we look forward to another bountiful season with you in 2016- crazy weather and all.  


Our gift to our 2015 Members:
 We are still at the Syracuse Regional Market through the 26th of December, (in shed F) and we have plenty of carrots, lettuces, brussel sprouts, kale, turnips, potatoes, garlic and more still available for your holiday meals.  As a thank you to our 2015 CSA members, we'd like to offer you a $3 dollar credit at our booth, this Saturday,  Dec 19.  Stop by the market booth and let us know who you are- if you're on our list of 2015 members you'll get $3 worth of veggies free as our gift to our 2015 CSA members. No other purchase necessary- this is our gift to you!  Grab one of our flyers to share while you're there and give the gift of local organic vegetables!

From the Farm Family to your's we wish you all the warmth of good company and good food this holiday season.

    Looking out at last night's beautiful golden harvest moon through the bare branches of the trees got me thinking deeply about the things our family is grateful for here at Freedom Rains Farm.

   A pumpkin pie cooking in the oven made from pumpkins we grew. ( I fondly recall the day we started the pumpkin and winter squash seeds with help from our friend Colleen and her 4 year daughter, Quinn.  Planting them out in the field, weeding, watching them grow and ripen, and harvesting.) Our pumpkin pie wouldn't be complete without fresh ginger from Main Street Farms and maple syrup From Red School House Rd Maple. A turkey soaking in brine from Grindstone Farm ( we raised as fuzzy little polts for them)  apples from our friends at Lake Bluff Honeybee farm baked into a pie. Our CNY community is blessed to live among such bounty and hard work.

  We are grateful for the community of farms that surround us making such holiday feasts available. We are thankful for organizations, such as The Eastern Farm Worker's Association and Food Bank of CNY who's efforts in conjunction with local farms feed hundreds of local families throughout the year and for the holidays. And endless gratitude is owed to those who see and support  the importance of a diverse sustainable foodshed. Without the demand the supply would not be there!

   Doing morning chores before going the rounds to share good food with our families, the green house fogs my glasses (and camera lens) at a balmy 70 degrees while the ground is frozen in the shade just outside; we have been blessed by a mild fall to continue harvesting from with more great green for our table and yours!
  
  As we celebrate the harvest and family, remember those who lovingly raised the food on your table. Those who worked long hours in rain and scorching heat, bitter cold and mud knee deep. Those who got pricked by the brambles and kissed by the sun, those who will do it again all over again for the love of the Harvest. 

From our family to yours- a very Happy Thanksgiving!

  

     It seems we haven't posted a farm news here in over 20 weeks! It's been quite and adventurous CSA season, and most of these adventures were shared on our facebook page and via our emails to members; and admittedly slacked on updating our blog. 

  It's fall on the farm, and though most of leaves have fallen, the temps have stayed kind, blessing us with many more field crops to harvest through November. It's also given us a chance to catch up on some much needed maintenance around  the farm. We got a new wall on the West side of the barn, and a new roof on the farm house, and a new greenhouse erected and planted. All our garlic in the ground, and cover crops sprouting.  Now that our second year of CSA is over, many people ask, "How does it feel to be done?" The answer is we're never done, our schedule just changes. We go right from the end of the CSA to planning for next season!

  One of the biggest changes here at Freedom Rains Farm has been the downsizing of our laying hen flock. We are doing this for many reasons, so let me explain.  One is that we need to get to more work on the barn, which we can't do with the hens being housed in the barn. Another is feeding and caring for the birds through the bitter winter takes more time and money. Without unfrozen pasture,  the hens tend to eat more grain in the winter months, yet lay less eggs, increasing our cost. Also after some serious cost analysis, we found we were actually losing money on our eggs, and though a non gmo feed became available literally right up the road  from us, we could not justify the increased cost of production when most of our eggs were presold.  We do plan on starting with a new flock of chicks in the spring, and in the meantime sourcing our eggs from the many local growers through Grindstone Farm  for the 2016 CSA season. While not the ideal setup for a farm based CSA, it will free us up to concentrate our inputs on our vegetable production, support our other local farms raising hens humanely on pasture, and keep our members rolling in eggs!

   The 2015 season was a wild one; with snow still on the ground until the end of April, flooded fields (which spelled some lost crops) in June, to extremely dry weather for the rest of the summer (and irrigation pump in need of repair) to this beautiful Indian Summer of a fall;  and deer damage to crops all through the season, it was quite the challenging season to say the least. But bountiful altogether. We had some of the most beautiful carrots we've ever grown, the most productive pepper harvest ever, peas and beans too loaded to pick them all, garlic heads the size of my fist, and totes of storage crops tucked away for the cold winter markets... That is the beauty of being a CSA farmer- we can plant so many crops for our members, that if one (or two) fail, we have another to take it's place.

  We have our high tunnel and greenhouse full of cold hardy greens, and crops to overwinter for spring, and continue going to the CNY Regional Market every Saturday with our fresh greens and storage crops, like potatoes, carrots, turnips, garlic, winter squash, radishes etc.  The fall has been so abundant, we extended the CSA season by one month with a November Fall Share, and again are offering Thanksgiving boxes for your holiday celebrations and storage in the pantry. Thanksgiving boxes can be ordered from our farm store. They are available for pickup at limited sites; Regional Market, Nov 21st; and Mexico and on Farm Pickups Nov 24th. 
They are $50 per box and include traditional  veggies for your Thanksgiving spread, such as brussel sprouts, potatoes, turnips, apples, herbs, garlic,  winter squash and more. So give thanks to you your farmers and treat your family right with a local spread this Thanksgiving. You also still have time to order your pastured GMO-free turkeys from Grindstone Farm which we can deliver with your Thanksgiving box upon request.


  We are teaming up with Cornell next season to offer subsidized shares to low income residents of Jefferson County for the 2016 season. This is a project that has been in the works for a few years (they got approved for their grant this summer)  and is intended to research the impact of fresh seasonal foods on low income families, reducing obesity, and other health problems connected with limited finances and access to fresh food. We are excited to be part of this study; which is a nation wide study taking place in 4 other states. We firmly believe (and have been told by many customers)  that  our food can change lives, so this opportunity, which will include workshops on prep and cooking of seasonal foods is a wonderful compliment to our work  with no more commitment on our end other than doing what we love- growing and distributing fresh organic food to our neighbors!

   We want to thank all our members for their support through the 2015 season,  we would not be here without you! Your investment and commitment to our farm has been invaluable over the past two years, and we look forward to growing for you for many more. 2016 Season shares are open for sign up. Sign up by an 23rd and get 10% off your produce share. Egg Shares will be added shortly and members notified when they are. 
  

After all this rain, so many crops are really taking off, such as the peas, beets and zucchini. There are flowers and starts of fruit on the peas and many flowers on the zucchini, so we're hoping that both of them will be available next week! Now all we need is a few not overcast rainy days!We had a very unfortunate incident here on the farm Monday morning; we woke up to the rain and remembered we left windows open in our car, to find it had been stolen. It was found later Monday morning crashed in a ditch. This is why we weren't at the Cicero Market yesterday.

What a terrible setback- but we aren't letting that deter us. I'd like to think of it as a sign that we should be doing less driving around, and grow our farm stand this season. So, depending on when we get another car on the road, we'll be hashing out ideas for a simple roadside stand, probably Sundays. Keep posted on our facebook for confirmation on this and spread the word.

In the meantime we'll be working how to do Deliveries tomorrow AND get to Oswego for the market and customers there. Rest assured we'll get your food to you!

We tried out our new cultivator attachment this past weekend, and are happy to report it works like a gem and we were able to weed 9 beds in 20 minutes with only 3 people! Workshare folks- sure beats hoeing for four hours!

A few weeks ago we added 100 more laying hens to the flock, and they are starting to lay! So egg share folks, you may occasionally get an 18 pack of small "pullet" eggs until they start laying normal ones. This news is exciting to our regular market customers since all of our eggs have been claimed by our supportive CSA members up to this point.

This week's harvest ---

Regular shares: mint, asparagus, dandelion greens, garlic scapes, kale, swiss chard, mustard greens, baby red bok choi.

Small shares: mint, lettuce, kale, dandelion greens,  baby red bok choi, and garlic scapes.

For those who don't know- a garlic scape is the flower bud that forms on garlic plants. By pinching them (and eating them) it encourages the plant to put more energy into creating a bigger bulb. So enjoy this seasonal treat just like you would garlic.  Use them chopped green bean size or smaller in roasted or sautéed dishes.  (I like adding them whole to asparagus roasted in olive oil and balsamic vinegar) They look cool, and taste- like garlic. Also using them for making a garlic scape pesto is another favorite, if you like a strong garlic taste. Use them in place of cloves of garlic in any recipe, like this one- a traditional Italian Dandelion green dish.

For the record, we did not just go out and harvest "weeds" - these are cultivated varieties of dandelions that don't bolt,  we started from seed as transplants, and I find to be much more tender and less bitter than wild ones. 

Greens prepared like this are great on some pasta and with some good pastured Italian sausage, (available from our friends at Grindstone Farm,  Schuler Heritage Farm, & Longhorn Ranch) and parmesan cheese.

Sautéed Dandelion Greens from: http://www.italianfoodforever.com/2008/05/sauted-dandelion-greens/Yield: Serves 4

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 10 mins

These bitter greens mellow out when sautéed with garlic and seasonings.

Ingredients:1 Large Bunch Dandelion Greens
4 Tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
Dash Of Red Pepper Flakes
1 Large Clove of Garlic, Chopped

Directions:Rinse the greens well, and remove any brown ends.
Squeeze dry to remove excess water.
Cut into 3 inch pieces. In a large, heavy saucepan or frying pan, add the damp greens, the garlic clove, and the oil.
Saute for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the greens are soft and tender.
Add salt and pepper, and red pepper until you have reached your desired level of heat.
Place on a platter, and serve.

We hope everyone enjoyed last week's share and are making room in their fridges for this week's!

Well, we harvested all morning, and then went out to finish planting the rest of the winter squash and bell peppers. After all the rain we got this weekend, (over 3 inches) the weeds are starting to take off, so we'll be trying out our new cultivating tool, the "Ecoweeder" this Friday.Workshare members can start putting in their hours at any time, we have weeding, planting  and trellising that need to be tended to.

This weeks share contents are as follows:

Regular shares: 1 lb asparagus, arugula, garlic greens, red russian kale, lettuce (red or green leaf or romaine) mustard greens, french breakfast radishes, and shallot greens

Small Shares: 1/2lb asparagus, arugula, garlic greens, lettuce, mustard greens, french breakfast radishes, red russian kale

Mustard greens are the main ingredient in this week's recipe. It's one of those greens no one wants to juice but cooking it reduces it's spiciness and lends flavor to other foods prepared with them.  I've yet to try them prepared like this, but many customers have told me this is how they like to prepare their mustards. The onion and garlic can be substituted with the shallot greens and garlic greens in this recipe.

Mustard Greens 'n Beans 

(source) http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Mustard-Greens-n-Beans/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=mustard%20greens&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page&soid=sr_results_p1i4

IngredientsOriginal recipe makes 6 servingsMakes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)  

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
  
• 1 onion, chopped
  
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced, or to taste
  
  
• 1 tablespoon distilled white vinegar
  
  
• 2 tablespoons water
  
  
• 1 teaspoon white sugar
  
  

• 3/4 teaspoon dry mustard powder
  
  1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  
  
• 1 pound mustard greens, washed and chopped
  
  1 (15 ounce) can cannellini (white kidney) beans, drained
  
  
• salt and ground black pepper to taste
  
  

Directions 

1. In a large Dutch oven over medium heat, heat the olive oil; cook and stir onion and garlic until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes.
2. In a bowl, mix vinegar, water, sugar, dry mustard, and red pepper flakes until sugar has dissolved. Place the mustard greens into the onion and garlic mixture, and pour in the vinegar mixture. Stir to combine, cover the Dutch oven, and bring to a boil. Simmer the greens until the liquid has been absorbed, 5 to 10 minutes.
3. Mix in the white beans, allow to heat through, and season to taste with salt and black pepper.

                          

We hope everyone enjoys their first share of the season and all goes smoothly with pickup.

Please contact us with any concerns or questions.

Hello to all our 2015 CSA members


We're just sending out a welcome note all our members; you will receive another email in the next couple days with your pickup info (times details etc)


We've been busy getting all our plants in the ground and are excited to be harvesting some crops for our farmers markets, but even more excited to harvest for YOU, our supportive members starting next week!


We started a new market at the Cicero Library yesterday, and though it was hot, we sold lots of greens and all the radishes! I look forward to seeing that market grow- it was a great turnout for the first day of a new market. Oswego Farmer's market starts tomorrow, and we're at Regional Market in Syracuse every Saturday (outside under the overhang of shed E on the north end)


A few changes from last year about the newsletter. I thought it would simplify things to do it on the blog, but found many folks didn't see it. So we'll be sending weekly emails with pertinent info, the week's harvest, and some recipe ideas, as well as sharing this info on our facebook page, while keeping the photos and longer stories for the blog. Keeping it simple and short seemed preferable for our members last year, and hope this works this year.  I plan to schedule my newsletter writing for Wednesdays so you know what to expect in your share the next day.  Also, please refer to our "Crops we Grow" section of the website, most of the produce we grow is featured there; in order to familiarize yourself with some of the food, and get some recipe ideas.


The first shares start going out next week, Thursday June 4th for most drop sites, and Saturday June 6th for Regional market members.  We do ask that if you have not made a payment, or contacted us to make arrangements;  that you do so soon;  if there is still a full balance due by Wednesday the 3rd, we will not be harvesting for that share. 





Also a reminder that you can schedule vacation holds by logging into your account if you know you'll be away on vacation.


Picking up your share: Please come prepared with a reusable bag, cooler or basket to pick your share up, and leave your grey tote at the drop site. Those things are not cheap and we need them all kept in rotation to keep sending your shares! Also, we ask that even if there is an item in your share you don't want, please take it home, or offer it to another member or friend, we do not like picking up totes the next week with rotten  produce inside, and our drop site hosts do not like it either.  Also any CLEAN used egg cartons will gladly be reused, and can be left with the grey totes at your drop site as well.


You can also order through Grindstone Farm any extra produce, or through their Wholeshare group to be delivered with your share. In order to not incur delivery fees from them, you must select Freedom Rains Farm as your drop site. This deal only works for the duration of the CSA; any off season purchases through them you'll have to switch your drop site and pay their delivery fee. We will add products to our website (sign in to your account and go to the shop option on the left) when they are available en-masse; such as beans, pickling cucumbers, garlic, tomatoes etc, for home processing, and will let members know via email when these items become available, as well as u pick crops, like our tomatoes when they start ripening and become more than we need or can harvest.





Notes from the farm: We have so many transplants in the ground and are looking forward to a bountiful varied harvest.  Most of our leased  fields over at Grindstone are completely filled right now with peppers, tons of tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini patty pan squash, basil,  eggplant, three varieties of kale, lettuces, swiss chard brussels sprouts, onions leeks, beets, broccoli, winter squash,  potatoes, rutabaga, radishes,  turnips, several varieties of carrots, snow and snap peas, beans and more. We still have a few more beds worth of transplants to find homes for, and more yet to seed for fall and rotational  crops!





Over here on our 12 acres, we have started a perennial  patch with rhubarb, and herbs, with the intention of eventually having on farm pickup here with the oppurtunity for members to harvest some of their own items. We are currently working on baby steps restoring the barn and farm house, and a processing area/ cooler here.  We also got our few blueberries in the ground, transplanting some of the black berries (for next year's harvest)  and have most of the acreage awaiting certification (next spring!)  cover cropped with wheat and clover. We invested in some strawberry plants this spring for next year's harvest. While we buy strawberries from Joseph Gingerich for shares, we plan to be offering our own NEXT year, along with our own asparagus, which came back and is growing lovely in our fields one more year before we can start harvesting in earnest from our 8 beds. 





Any workshare members interested in starting hours, please contact us- there's lots of trellising of tomatoes that we need to get done! We do ask that you give us a few days notice so we can plan around having the extra help, and sorry, but Thursdays will never be a workshare day, as Travis is delivering and I'm at the Oswego Market.

We encourage members and their families to come check out our farm anytime, again, please give advanced notice, as we work from two different locations, there's no telling where we'll be!




Keep an eye out for your drop site specific email later this week, and the 1st week's newsletter next Wed, and don't forget to pick up your share Thursday (or Saturday) and get ready to eat some great organic goodness for the next 22 weeks.





Thank you for supporting our farm for the 2015 season- it started out weird with lots of snow and sub freezing temps, more snow at the end of April,  then dry heat waves and frosts.  But all the plants are healthy, happy and ready to produce, the pests seem to be kept at bay (save for the woodchucks) so far.





Season 2 here we go- and we wouldn't be able to do it without the support of our members, thank you!

With the CSA starting in less than a month we've been staying busy sun up to sundown getting ready for the season to take off.  There's a beautiful planting of red russian kale already ready to harvest in our  high tunnel, along with french breakfast radishes, braising mix, romaine lettuce, scallions and shallot greens. We're working to get seedlings in the ground to make way to fill the remaining two beds with some heirloom tomatoes.  

With the dry start to the season we've gotten the irrigation going for our field plantings of beets, radishes, peas, beans, mustard greens, arugula, carrots dandelion greens, kale, swiss chard, lettuces and rutabaga.  We're planning on getting the rest of our onions and potatoes in the ground this week; so if any workshare folks would like to start their hours this week transplanting, get in touch with us to plan.

Markets: Our new spot at the Syracuse Regional Market is back outside shed E on the North end, two spots up from where we were last year, in case you've had a hard time finding us since the spots changed the first week of May. Oswego Market starts Thursday May 28th and we are doing a new market at the Cicero Library, Tuesdays; 3-7pm and that starts Tuesday May 26th.




The deadline is fast approaching to sign up for your CSA shares- May 18th, so if you've put it off, please keep that in mind.




We will be sending emails out to all members at the end of May pertaining to drop site info, times etc. Also a reminder that if you have not made a payment for your share by June first we will not be harvesting your share for you that week.




We hope everyone is enjoying their spring season, and gearing up to start eating some great organic veggies this summer!

Back out to the fields to keep on planting and spend some time with the family!

A few weeks ago a couple SU journalism students shot this video at the Regional Market.

We are at the Regional Market year round, with build your own box CSA shares and lots of other great vendors for your weekly shopping. A great way to spend your Saturday mornings, and get to know local producers from all over CNY!

We'll be relocating to our summer spot outside shed E the first week of May, so look for us there.

So here we are, the first official day of Spring with still close to 2 feet of snow on the ground! But the snow has not deterred us... All our onions, the first planting of leeks, lettuce  and kale for the high tunnels are popping their lovely green heads from their soil. Sweet and hot  peppers, eggplant,  and an array of heirloom tomatoes have been seeded along with many herbs, including sage and parsley. Freyja (our 4 year old daughter) and her friend Quinn also excitedly planted a bunch of flower seeds.  Between Freedom Rains Farm  and Grindstone Farm, we filled up the greenhouse in record time, while we're still digging our way into the other greenhouses. 

   While we were hoping for last week's warmer temperatures to continue melting all this snow, it sure is better than the negative numbers we all felt throughout the month of February.  On the brighter side the longer days have encouraged the chickens to start laying more eggs, and they can get out and stretch their wings in the sun and mud without freezing their toes off. A reminder that we do have monthly eggs shares available for the months of April and May if you'd like to start getting your eggs sooner


Farm events/ projects
We were invited to Cicero Public Library last week to give a talk about sustainable agriculture and CSA's and though the turnout was a small gathering, there were many great questions asked and conversations that took place, and I'd like to thank Adrienne Canino for organizing the event. Along with this event, the library announced they are starting a farmer's market there; Tuesdays, starting late in May (time TBA).  For further questions about this and other wonderful events they host, please check out their facebook page. For Cicero CSA members, you will now have a choice to build your own box Tuesdays at the market, or continue picking up Thursday afternoon.

   At the last CSA-CNY meeting we discussed organizing a pre-season dinner event. In past years, this had been done as a meet and greet potluck event, but over the years participation waned, and it was ended. We were thinking of trying  a presale farm to table catered event instead this year. We are hoping to get feedback from members as to what they would be more interested in. So if you have any thoughts or ideas, please let us know!

  Drop Sites: A reminder that our Westside/Downtown drop site has been changed to  Middle Ages Brewery and that we have added a site in Camden, as well as in Mexico at the Black Creek Café and Treasures.  Aside from Fellows Ave drop site in the Westcott area, and the Watertown farmer's market being no longer sites; all of last year's sites remain the same.

   We are heading into the season in great shape, despite the last frosty gasps of winter. There were many snowfalls in January and February that had us concerned for the high tunnel. It has been rated to handle "snow events"  but snow events in CNY are much different than PA where they're made. It came out with flying colors aside from some wind damage to the doors despite the record snow fall. We plan to erect another high tunnel on the farm, with last year's profits and a grant from NRCS as soon as we can break ground.  We have the wonderful support of our customers to thank for this chance to grow our farm.  Hearing from last year's members how excited they are for this season's shares just gets us more psyched for the season too! If you're one of those counting down the days to fresh spring crops, let folks know, and help the farm grow!  Leave a review on our facebook, eat local grown or local harvest pages, or tell a friend, share a brochure, or all of the above! Word of mouth is the best form of advertising and frees us up to spend our time and money producing great food.


Ag Report: Recently a news article broke about Wisconsin's organic demands outgrowing it's production.  While Travis and I were there in Lacrosse in late February for the MOSES conference  not only did we get to meet many organic vegetable farmers  from rural Iowa to inner city Milwaukee, we also had the chance to talk with many conventional grain farmers who are branching out to grow organic. This is promising news from the grain belt. While driving through the heartland, I couldn't help but cringe at the cattle cars rolling by in the -10 air. When I pondered whether the cows would freeze to death, Travis reminded me that they were probably stocked in there so tight they'd be fine. While we were excited to see bare ground on some of the fields we passed by, the realization that much of what we were seeing was a monoculture of various feed grains with monolithic mills spattered in between here and there. A chilling reminder of how brutal and wasteful our present food system is right now. Wisconsin is home to the second largest number of organic farms second only to California who is experiencing the worst drought in decades with no end in sight. Permaculture/organic practices have proven to offer much relief for farmers in the dry state that provides nearly 1/3 of the nation's fresh produce. 

 While we feel for the farmers struggling there, water was one of the main reasons we stuck around NY to farm. Many years ago, mountain farm land in NM, or cheap ranch land in TX sounded so inviting, but there was always the issue of water. Hydro Fracking became a concern for us as the debate got heated, as all the water that surrounds us would be no good if irrevocably polluted. The continuation of the fracking ban in NY I see a s a boon for NY farmers to grow from, pushing for greater levels of sustainability. It is an oppurtunity to create a clean energy model for the state as well.  In addition to the ban on fracking  NY ag sales broke sales records in 2014.  Senator Richie has proposed her Grown in NY project, which aims to refund upstate producers who were left out of the state's budget, allocate money to help farmers get their product to their customers in various ways including  food hubs, regional distribution chains etc. While all this is really exciting, and important for local agriculture thriving in the face of a complex global food system under the stresses of a changing planet, we need to continue to show that a clean food system is the path we need to be on. Be it local or global; c'mon, what NYer doesn't love a good orange or banana? But shouldn't we encourage sustainable agriculture in all our food purchases? The demand for clean food continues to grow as the corporate food giants are feeling the pressure. This is great news for everyone.

 And it is us, in our kitchens, at the farmers markets, local co-ops, CSA's, in the grocery store, or garden, who are creating this change. It has been you, our members who have helped grow our farm, not legislation from Albany. Some of the best advice I've ever been given on running a successful business is to let your customers grow your business; and so far it's proving to be sound advice.  


As we patiently await the REAL arrival of spring (it was only 3 years ago in 2012 that we were baking in the sun and swimming in the pond on the first day of spring!) there are more seeds to plant and eggs to collect and firewood to bring in. This spring, unusually around the end of May, we will be harvesting the very first asparagus from the new planting we did last spring. While the harvest season the first year will be short, we are counting of plenty of asparagus from Grindstone Farm to add to shares. Once the asparagus  fiddleheads and crocuses start popping up, we'll know spring is here to stay. In the meantime we'll continue filling the greenhouse for field plantings and waiting for the first bit of green to pop through the snow.

      While some may think that winter would be a welcome break from the summer's work, we work year round to provide for our members. We've just finished placing the bulk of our seed orders for the season, and finalizing field plans. And of course there's always the chicken chores, as well as tidying up the greenhouse, and making sure heating systems are all in order to start seedlings in a couple weeks. We also will be traveling to Wisconsin for another MOSES organic farmer's conference from Feb 26-28. We therefore won't be at the Regional Market that weekend, unless we get someone to cover it for us.

A brief overview of some of the NEW crops we will be growing this year include: asparagus- we will be harvesting from our new plantings this spring! Cipollini onions, small sweet onions, great for roasting; more herbs including parsley, chives and the usual basil, mint and oregano. We will be trying some new-to-us varieties of tomatoes this year, both slicing and cherry/grape varieties. We also will be planting way more eggplants, and give them a try in the high tunnel. After last year's mild temps adversely affecting our pepper and eggplant production, we hope to see a better yield this year. Also we will forgoing early summer broccoli as past experience has shown us that it bolts too readily to get a decent harvest, so we will be doing late summer plantings of romanesco, and a few traditional varieties of broccoli instead, as well as orange cauliflower. And much more beets and carrots.  In addition to the same variety of fennel we grew last year we will be growing a Florence variety which is more bulbous than some of the others. We will  be trying melons in the high tunnel as well, as last season again the cool temps and wetness resulted in crop failure. And many of the same crops we grew last year you can expect as well, greens, beans, peas, cucumbers, summer and winter squashes, radishes, rutabagas, scallions, garlic and more....

We are excited and can't wait to get the season going (and be done with snow!) We have recently been approved for a grant for another high tunnel, which we intend to use to extend our growing season. While we had greens from the high tunnel last year until the end of December, with the right plants and timing, we hope to keep it going even longer, and perhaps be able to offer an extended share option.

 Egg shares are almost filled up for the season already, so if you haven't signed up yet, do so soon before we have to take them off the list of offerings! If you miss the eggs and can't wait until June, we do have monthly egg share options through the "off season" months, available for pick up at select drop sites, as well as the Regional Market. Still going strong our 3rd winter there in cooperation with Grindstone Farm with lots of organic fruits and veggies, our eggs as well all the other great vendors there; what a wonderful alternative we have here in CNY to the grocery store to have a year round farmer's market.  Stop by to say hi, buy some great food, or ask questions to your farmer about this year's CSA. Our market pick ups are growing with the "build your box" option, so it may justify buying a larger delivery vehicle.

   We have expanded our delivery area to include a drop site in Camden, as well as a drop site at Black Creek Café in Mexico. Our West side pick up site has been changed to Middle Ages Brewery, sign up there and remember to bring your growlers Thursday along with a container to bring your produce home in.  Spread the word if you enjoyed your share last year.

Cicero Library has asked us to come and do a talk on our CSA and the importance of organic agriculture March 10th at 12:30. Keep posted on our facebook page for this event. They host an incredible community garden and all sorts of educational events throughout the year.

The next CSA-CNY planning group meeting is also March 10th at 7pm at the Friends Meeting House on Euclid Ave. All CSA members are welcome to join; share ideas and skills, and meet the dedicated movers and shakers who've kept the organization going strong since 1997.

Looking forward to spring, and dirt, and all the goodness that come with it.