Thursday, May 29, 2008



























The sun has finally reached us and now the vegetables will grow. We are very excited to see how scrumptious and beautiful our greens are this spring. While the cold spring put a halt on some things the greens have thrived. We are proud to introduce our spinach, baby boc choi, red russian kale and salad mix (pictures in respective order). These amazing photos were taken by our intern Sam. We are very thankful to have a photographic eye around the farm.
We are sorry to have to reduce our first CSA delivery due to an abundance of greens and lack of other spring goodies. The fields are healthy and growing by the day. However, very few can eat as many greens as we could give out.
What follows are some fun things to do with kale.

Kale

Please do not be afraid of this amazing vegetable. Kale is very high in minerals, and vitamins. Kale is an amazing anti-inflammatory and is great for lowering your PH. But don’t let all that scare you.

We grow 3 kinds of kale. Red Russian is the broad leaf with a purple stem, Lacinato (also known as Dino Kale) is a flatter leaf with wrinkles ( I suppose like dinosaur skin), and last but not least Ripbor this is the traditional light green kale you have probably seen in the grocery store. Red Russian and Lacinato are more summer types of kale where as the Ripbor is more of a winter type. Kale is best in chilly weather but can be very nutritious in summer as well.

Kale cooked:

Is great in stir frys, in soups ( I prefer to put it in the end of the soup so it still retains it’s texture).

Steam it and finish off with a little tamari and lemon juice.

Sautee it in a pan with garlic and lemon juice. Serve it over plain brown rice with black beans.

Kale raw:

This surprises most people. It is a shame that at one time the propaganda was spread that you can’t eat kale raw. My favorite way is to chop it up very small and serve it topped with a sweet vinaigrette, like raspberry, strawberry or blueberry.

Hope to see you soon at the market.
Erica

Monday, May 26, 2008


Our first blog begins....
This past Saturday we had our "Meet the Farmer Day" and open house. We were blessed with amazing weather and a great crowd of people. Thank you, to everyone who came out to support us and see what we are up to. We are very anxious to get the season rolling. The weather the past fews weeks was dreary and cold and the plants felt that too. The tomatoes are standing straight up once again absorbing as much sun as they can. The same can be said for us farmers whom are generally "solar powered."
We have welcomed our interns Sam (far left in picture) & Satya (second left). They have traveled to spend the summer eating, working, & learning with us.
Next Sunday (June 1st) we will begining the West Reading Farmer's Market (500 block of Penn Ave 9 am till 1 pm). I am very excited to be back on the street seeing the familiar faces. And just a few days after that is the first delivery for our CSA. It is amazing how fast it is all coming together.
We have spinach available in our store (Hartz Natural Foods). And so what follows is one of my favorite spinach recipes. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend and I look forward to seeing you all soon.
Erica

Spinach Salad with Strawberries

This recipe is a specialty of my amazing mother. It always makes spring official when she makes this salad. Thank you, momma.

1 pound fresh spinach 11/2 teaspoons minced onion

1 pint fresh strawberries 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

hulled and halved 1/4 teaspoon paprika

1/2 cup sugar 1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sesame 1/4 cup cider vinegar

seeds

1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Remove stems from spinach; wash leaves thoroughly and pat dry. Tear into bite- size pieces. Combine spinach and strawberries in a large salad bowl , toss gently.