Extending Our Season.

Pictured here you will see the process of building and insulating a cold frame for extending your growing season without a greenhouse. The first 2 pictures are of building the frames out of slats of cedar. Then we staple translucent film to the outsides.

When the frames are built we added a 2 inch layer of perlite for insulation. Next, we placed heating tape (used to insulate pipes). And lastly 3 inches of potting soil, which is a mix of peat moss, compost and more perlite. In the last photo you will see the first of our baby plants growing.

We have been experimenting this spring with ways to extend our season without a greenhouse. For the most part we have been successful. As you saw in the previous blog we turned a room into a plant nursery. Our first wave of plants are already outside awaiting the warm weather to be planted in the ground. The first wave of plants consist of broccoli, cabbage and kale. They are resting in our cold frames waiting for the soil to be ready to be worked. We hope to start planting in the fields next week.

Many of the other plants inside are waiting for even warmer weather and to be sold to home gardeners as starts for their organic gardens.

We sell many of our starts at our store. The others are sold at Sugarbush Nursery. Here is a general list of what we will be selling and when:

· April 1^st Stawberry roots

· April 15^th Potatoes, Swiss Chard, Kale, Broccoli, Cabbages, Leeks

· April 30^th Peppers, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Celeriac

Please contact us if you have questions.

We have additional shares available for our CSA!

We sold all the original shares. However when we found out that Miriam would be returning to work with us this season we were able to expand our membership. Please see our website for applications, prices and further information.

Happy Spring!

Beginning of the Gardens!

Beginning the Gardens.
Often people ask me what I do all winter. It may be hard to imagine but the growing season starts in mid February and goes until the end of December. Yes, there are times when the workload is small and times when it is enormous. And what do I do for the month and a half when I am not growing? I am doing paperwork, planning the fields, ordering seeds, signing up CSA members, working on the website, waitressing and cleaning my house!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
As many of you know we lost our greenhouse in February of 2010. It was a rough way to start out a beautiful growing season. At the last minute, last year, I fashioned a grow room in the basement of the intern house on the farm. It was inefficient but got the job done. This year I have taken the same idea and made it efficient.
Pictured above are the stages of creating our "Grow Room." The walls are well insulated and the floor covered with plastic. We put in our market tables and hung some CFL soft white lights. We are energy efficient and ready to start the season.
Yesterday, was the first day of seed planting. I started celeriac, parsley and pansies. And when they have germinated at 75 degrees I will be ready to turn the heat up to 85 degrees and start the tomato seedlings (next week!).
The new year has officially begun and the intentions for fresh nutritious foods are germinating as we speak.
We still have CSA shares available. Our website is still not quite up to date. If you are interested in becoming a CSA member please contact me for applications or questionnaires.

Our CSA Back By Popular Demand

Our CSA Back By Popular Demand
We finally have the details of the CSA worked out. The information will not be available on our website right away. And it will be a few more days till I can put my email list back together. Please note that we have quite a few changes this year, you will want to read through the information carefully. We are hoping to keep improving our services. For now please email me to receive the questionnaire and application. If you have questions please do not hesitate to contact me.
Erica Lavdanski 610-372-8318 bhorganics@gmail.com
Trying to decide if a CSA is right for you? Check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-e7asz-XE0

B & H Organic Produce CSA

What it is: Community supported agriculture is a way for you to become more involved in your community by supporting your local farmers. In exchange for paying in advance, you receive fresh picked healthy vegetables for you and your family throughout the season. No matter what the farming season will be we commit to delivering fresh, local, healthy vegetables to you.

How it works: The produce will be harvested, cleaned, packed in a box, and delivered to the pick up location of your choice each week. Deliveries will be made on Wednesdays and the produce is picked on Tuesday. You will have the opportunity to view the items for harvest as of Friday evenings via our Blog. You will be able to request specific items you would like for the week by emailing us by Monday evening. We will do our best to fulfill your requests but cannot guarantee exact orders. You may contact us if you will not be able to pick up your produce that week. If you are planning on going on vacation you may have a friend or neighbor pick up your produce. If you contact us ahead of time we will be able to make special arrangements for you to get your produce. We will not be held responsible for items that do not get picked up and these will be donated to the host of the pick up site. The produce will be delivered in our wax boxes. Please bring a bag to remove your items from the box. We will ask that the boxes not be taken home.

Our Farm: We are a small farm that specializes in growing greens (lettuces, salad mixes, kale, swiss chard etc). You can expect to have mostly greens in the beginning of the season. In mid season you may find the greens are a bit sparse due to the hot weather. We grow a lot of greens because they are nutritious, but also because they are a sustainable crop. A full share can expect to have at least 2 greens per box and 1 green for half shares. In addition, we grow unique colors and varieties of the vegetables and provide an array of heirloom varieties. Therefore our CSA is targeted towards members who are adventurous in the kitchen and with their palate. Our CSA is designed to have a strong relationship with the farmer and the consumer through regular communication. In addition this year we will be requiring members to work a minimum of 8 hours on the farm. We are interested in having our members create a close relationship with their food and their farmers. There is a wide variety of jobs on the farm as well as flexibility of hours.

Vegetable Share: Please visit our website and blog to see what we grow www.bhorganicproduce.com. Note that the produce we provide is seasonal (fresh/local). For example, we will not be able to provide spinach in the middle of summer. In order to meet customer demands and to ensure variety of the vegetables in your boxes we will be ordering in selected items from a local certified organic farm. We hope this will help with our efficiency and cost effectiveness.

A full share share receives 8 "items" per week. An item is a bunch or unit of produce which we package. We try to match this unit to what you would find in the grocery store. Some examples are:

* 2# potato

* 1 head leattuce

* 1 bag salad mix

* 2 # tomato

* 1# peppers

* 1.5# carrots or beets

* 1# bunch greens such as kale or chard

* 2# cucumber or summer squash

* 1# beans

When: Our CSA season will run 22 weeks June 1st through October 26th.

Where: 3 Berks County locations, choose one site below for your pick-up

Shillington: 138 Washington St, Shillington, Pa Wednesdays 4pm-8pm

Hartz Natural Foods: 211 Twin County Rd Morgantown, PA

Wednesdays 2pm till 6pm

West Reading: 330 Franklin St, West Reading, PA Wednesdays 4:30pm –8 :30pm

Costs:

Full Share: $650.00 (8 items per week) $600.00 if paid by March 1^st, if picking up at Hartz Natural Foods or if you are a returning member.

Half Share: $375.00 (4 items per week) $350 for returning members.

Meat Share: This year we will be adding meat to our CSA. The meat share is optional. We will be offering free range, non-hormonal beef and chicken from our farm. All of our meat is frozen. The meat will be delivered the first Wednesday of each month with your vegetable delivery.

Option 1: 1 3# whole chicken and 1# ground beef. $95.00

Option 2: 1 3# whole chicken, 1# ground beef and 1 8oz steak. $125.00

Option 3: 2 3# whole chicken. $125.00

Option 4: 2 3# whole chicken, 2# ground beef and 2 8 oz steaks. $250.00

If you are interested in the CSA as a new member please fill out a questionnaire. If you are a returning member please fill out the application and mail it to us. Spaces are limited this year. We will be hand - selecting customers to ensure that they are a good fit for our CSA.