Greetings and Happy Mid-Winter!
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"Mid-Winter" may sound terribly blustery and cold and bleak, but really it is a time for celebration! February 2nd or Ground Hog Day or Imbolc as the holiday used to be called, is a time to celebrate! We're half-way through Winter! And by February 5th, here, on about the 41st longitudinal parallel, we will see 10 hours of daylight. 10 hours is the minimal amount of hours needed to give plants enough energy to grow again! So everything is starting to wake up again! We are really hoping to see a dramatic change in growth in the plants growing in our greenhouse after next week. Our cold weather crops have not minded the cold temperatures, but since after Thanksgiving, they really haven't grown much at all. So we've been harvesting and eating very delicious greens and turnips and carrots, but nothing has been growing back.  Growing in the greenhouse has been wonderful though - just having the oasis of sunny green-ness to escape into during these bleak winter days has been such a benefit to my attitude! And this year, we really didn't have to stop farming fully even once winter was upon us; we've been gardening in raised beds and large pots in the greenhouse. The cold-weather vegetables just taste so fresh and sweet and wonderful when they get to grow in the cold. It is a very different experience than when you grow them in Spring when the days keep getting warmer and warmer. 
We're so excited about the greenhouse growing, we're planning a Winter CSA share for this upcoming year! It will start around the beginning of October and end at the end of December with great veggies for our holiday tables. Currently, we have all the info up on our CSA page for the regular 2011 June Through September CSA share along with the registration forms, and I will post info on the new Winter Share very soon. We will also be holding a CSA Day on February 12th from 10-2 in the greenhouse at the farm (weather permitting). And always feel free to just email me with any questions you may have about how our CSA program works. We are very excited about a bunch of upcoming Farm Workshops and Spring Events, and we are looking forward to using the greenhouse as meeting place for these events and being able to start planning them earlier in the Spring. Please click on link above or scroll down for our current listing (we're still adding to this though!). 2011 Organic Plant and Seedling Sale - thank you to everyone for already starting to ask about our Plant Sale! I'm right now in the throes of passionately going through seed catalogs and planning what to grow for our sales! The 2011 list of varieties should be ready in the next week or so. Also, for my next newsletter, I'm preparing an annotated listing of where I order seeds from as many people have been asking for that.  I just started the allium (onion-family) seeds, parsley, celery, lisianthus (a fabulous, but achingly slow-germinating cutflower), and eucalyptus seeds. I have a big list to start for next week of other slow-germinating herb seeds. The biodynamic astrological calender is indicating that Feb. 7th and 8th will be strong days to plant herb seeds. Also, if you are specifically hoping for a specific or new variety - let me know! I'll be happy to source it out and grow it for you. Same goes for if you want to plant a very large amount of one particular variety; I can grow a flat of seedlings for you, so you save money and we don't run out. We try to grow so many different varieties, and we sometimes end up selling out of certain things early, so if you are planning a very large planting please let us know. I am planning to redouble my amounts of everything again this year as it seems more and more people are finding us! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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| Variety, Optimal Nutrition, and Our CSA program
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One of my main goals in life is helping and inspiring good health in people, animals, gardens, the earth as a whole... And in this newsletter I wanted to write a bit about variety. As a
holistic health coach, I see my clients make a dramatic difference in their health and energy levels by integrating very simple life changes - one such change that seems to enhance health both quickly and effectively is integrating more vegetables into their daily lives. Think about what you ate yesterday - how many vegetables did you eat? How many different colors and flavors? Was it enough? Could you have added more?
"Crowding Out" This conscious focus of adding more is a part of what can be called "Crowding Out." Rather than focusing your diet plans on denial (what not to eat, what to avoid, what to cut out, etc.), start adding more good stuff. Challenge yourself to add more veggies, greens, and fresh herbs to your every day eating. You can still allow yourself to eat any of those other not-healthy things; but after you've consumed fulfilling foods like fresh vegetables, you'll find yourself feeling satisfied and fulfilled and not needing to eat the not-healthy stuff as much. Many times it seems like you are craving not-healthy foods like sweets, chocolate, caffeine, or white carbs, but your body's feeling of craving is just too general for your brain. Your brain is supplying that list of not-healthy things - your body really just is trying to let you know that it wants more nutrients, minerals, antioxidants, protein, healthy fats, etc. But you turn to the not -healthy stuff because it pops into your consciousness as the desired food. But don't deny yourself (that causes the craving to start feeling like obsessing) instead, say to yourself that you can have that piece of cake, but only after you eat a handful of sunflower seeds or a small tomato salad or a cup of nettle tea or anything that will give your body high levels of a variety of valuable nutrients. After you eat the healthy foods, wait about ten minutes, then rethink the cake. Be very conscious about this whole process. A lot of this is simply breaking a habit, which demands consciousness and awareness. Sunflower Seeds I love Sunflower Seeds for this purpose; they make an easy and very satisfying snack. Nuts and seeds are very useful in working with sugar-addiction and white-flour cravings. They are power-packed with protein and healthy fat and a variety of minerals and nutrients. I keep a container of sunflower seeds in my desk drawer at work, and I just eat a couple forkfuls whenever I get hungry or think maybe I want to get a cup of coffee. They really do make me feel satisfied and energized. Variety The more variety you eat, the less your body will find itself craving nutrients. By eating a variety of natural foods, you'll be covering the gamut of a multi-vitamin plus much more. And I must stress natural foods - you want a variety of natural foods - vegetables, herbs, greens, fruits, nuts and seeds, etc. Meat, eggs, dairy from animals that were allowed to consume a variety of grasses and vegetation from pasture. When you walk into a grocery store, you see aisles of thousands of colorfully packaged products. But most of this is made up of all the same ingredients. You want natural variety. Synthetic Nutrients
When synthetic nutrients are manufactured, they are singular and focused. The other symbiotic elements and nutrients present in the whole food simply aren't there - that's the point of cheap synthetic nutrients. Using synthetic nutrients doesn't trick your body - your body feels that something is missing and again starts craving. So eating a bland diet and taking a synthetic multivitamin won't do much for you. There are some very good whole-food source multivitamins available these days, but the very very best way to fully supply your body with all the nutrients it needs and craves is to consume a variety of natural foods regularly.
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Eye Health and Pink and Yellow Foods I was reading an article on Dr. Joseph Mercola's website, that focused on Astaxanthin and Zeaxanthin, carotenoids that are getting more and more attention. I was sold as to how important and effective they are for maintaining eye health - and I wanted to know what foods they are in. Whenever I see an article about a particular nutrient, that is always my first reaction. I don't wonder if I can find it as a supplement in a store, I want to know if I'm already getting it in my natural diet, or if there are certain foods I should be making sure I get more of on a more regular basis.
In this case, astaxanthin is abundant in red and pink fish - like Salmon. And although a synthetic version of it is fed to farm-raised salmon so they get nice, red-colored meat even though they are raised on commercial feed in factory tanks, it is not biovailable to humans. The natural astaxanthin is only to be gleaned from eating wild-caught salmon. Mercola says that wild salmon are at least 400% higher in bio-available astaxanthin than the farmed versions.
This kind of study always makes me feel good about my food-philosophy. I believe in eating foods that are as natural as possible. There is a plan to nature and we humans are a part of that, and we'll be at our healthiest when we consume foods that are as natural as possible. I understand that we can't catch all of our own food wildly, we need to cultivate and farm, but I choose to eat foods that are farmed and cultivated as close to natural as possible. That is the driving force why Mark and I started growing much of our food. Humans have made a lot of arrogant assumptions about creating healthier and more efficient food, and the assumptions are clearly backfiring on us now. We've been mislead and tricked into thinking in some very odd and disconnected ways.
Another very important eye-health carotenoid Mercola mentions, Xeaxanthin, is common in yellow vegetables and especially in egg yolks. But only in dark yellow grassfed egg yolks. As a society, we have really done ourselves a huge disservice by turning to factory-farming and grain-fed animal products. We are missing so many nutrients! Probably none of the eggs in the supermarket have Xeaxanthin in them - and how many yellow vegetables have you eaten lately??
If the egg yolks aren't almost orange, the eggs are not grass fed or "pastured-raised." The word "Free Range" means absolutely nothing from a legal labeling standpoint. Free Range birds are fed nothing but grain, and if they are not certified organic, they are fed mostly genetically-modified soy beans. Do you think there is any bioavailable, high quality xeaxanthin in eggs produced from hens living in tiny cages in a factory-like building on a diet comprised of GMO soy?
Egg Yolk Color
Egg yolks get dark yellow, almost orange, when the hens eat greens. The greens are metabolized in such a way that the yolks end up dark. That dark pigment is caused by the presence of carotenoids and antioxidents. Also, the fats in a grassfed egg are completely different from the fats in a grain-fed egg. The grass fed egg is naturally balanced with Omega 3 oils and positive cholesterol. If you are battling or trying to prevent high cholesterol, turn to grassfed eggs, not to egg whites, which are a totally unnatural, totally unbalanced food.
Nature has a plan, and I think we should start to realize that our arrogance is not leading to the health we thought it would. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 
Join a CSA I see the #1 most important reason to join a CSA is to dedicate and commit yourself to receiving, and thus using and eating, a whole basket of super-fresh, seasonal, organic, local, vegetables, greens and herbs each week. What is a CSA? If you are new to the concept of a CSA, CSA stands for Community Supported Agriculture where a household subscribes to a local farm for the growing season and picks up a weekly basket of fresh, organic produce at the farm. The basic idea of CSA farming is a cooperative relationship between the small farmer and his/her customers. With a preseason payment, you purchase a share of the season's harvest. You then receive a weekly basket of fresh produce during the course of the harvest season, from June to September. By subscribing to a CSA, you are providing a farmer with a very welcome measure of certainty, and in turn the farm is dedicated to providing you with varied, nutritious vegetables. 
Our CSA program at Midsummer Farm Every farm has its own way of doing a CSA program. At Midsummer Farm, we use a traditional structure - where the shareholder pays up front in the winter to reserve a spot and then picks up a weekly basket of whatever is harvested throughout the late Spring and Summer. We have an artistic and gourmet vision for our CSA shares. We are a small farm - our cultivated garden area is under 2 acres. We do all of our growing, maintenance, harvesting, and packaging ourselves. This allows us to grow varieties of vegetables and greens that just cannot be grown on a large scale, where produce needs to survive mechanical harvesting and mass storage. You won't ever see most of the stuff we grow in any supermarket and only very rarely at the farmers' markets. Our lettuces are soft and frilly, and our tomatoes and squash are tender-skinned and perfectly ripe. Many of our veggies go straight from the field into your basket - never seeing the inside of a fridge. As a micro-scaled farm, we see farming as an art - as a way to create and fulfill our need to cook awesome dishes. We are driven to grow striking varieties of vegetables and greens taking advantage of all the colors and flavors and textures available. We also provide plenty of recipes and ideas for using your veggies as sometimes the unusual varieties may be a bit overwhelming if you're not used to them. Our shareholders will make good use of each week's harvest basket. We don't want anyone to feel over-burdened with veggies! And we understand busy schedules - our recipes and tips are designed for cooks with limited time but advanced taste-buds! I have lots more info on our website about our CSA as well as the registration forms you can print out and send in. If you are interested in becoming a member of our CSA farm this spring, please check out our website. We have all sorts of info on what makes our CSA special, our exciting and different 'special shares' like herb, cut flower, and egg shares, info on our "Total Taste of the Farm" share, and info and a discount on combining your CSA membership with personal holistic health coaching. Midsummer Farm CSA information You can also join our CSA program using a credit card through the Local Harvest website - click here to be directed to our CSA order page. |
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7 Reasons to Join a CSA
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1. You and your family's health. The number one missing ingredient to a healthy disease-free lifestyle is a variety vegetables! If you have a big basket of fresh veggies on hand, you will use them! And we are here to fully support you in using them!
2. Living more sustainably - by joining a CSA, you are personally and directly addressing the flaws of our global food system. By paying attention to what you eat, you participate in a more environmentally and socially sustainable way of life.
3. Living more ethically - you are supporting a circular farm with animals, plants, and the soil itself being treated with respect and care.
4. Supporting Local Business and strengthening your community.
5. Supporting Organic Farmers. It is more than just supporting the particular farm you have a membership with - it is about showing policy makers that people want local, real, organic food, and it is about showing the local farming community that you appreciate their efforts.
6. Creative cooking - to be the ultimate 'foodie' you must cook! In your basket will come a huge variety of flavors, scents, textures, and all of these can be cooked up and presented in thousands of different ways!
7. Saving fossil fuels - Typical grocery store produce travels 1,500 miles to get to your table!
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I'm in Love with This Book!
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The Resilient Gardener by Carol Deppe. I ordered this book with a certain amount of guilt and consternation - didn't I already have enough gardening books? But I am so glad I ordered it despite my doubts. It is fabulous. Carol Deppe presents a huge amount of great info with sensitivity and grace and excitement. She is gardening in the pacific Northwest, but so much applies to us here and to life in general for the avid gardener and food lover. This book provides detailed directions on how to grow azolla for garden mulch as well as inspiration to being sensitive and observant in our gardens and in our lives. I've been carrying it around with me and just flipping it open to a random page and learning something new!
The Resilient Gardener: Food Production and Self-Reliance in Uncertain Times
by Carol Deppe by Chelsea Green Publishing
Paperback
List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $18.57
Buy Now
[Note: by clicking this Amazon link or the links on our web page, Amazon gives us a back a small percentage of the profits they make on this book to our farm! Thank you!] |
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Eggs Status
 Our hens just started laying again. Another sign that Spring is coming soon! With the snow and cold temperatures, it is not yet a steady stream of eggs, but if you need eggs in the next couple weeks, send us a quick email and we'll arrange to get them to you!
Our Egg CSA share will also be starting again soon - the Winter program begins February 23rd. And, as usual, we're filling up fast! So if you're planning on joining, please send us your reservation form as soon as possible.
Registration forms and more info can be found on our webpage.
Cooking Eggs Workshop - Midsummer Farm's Best Egg Recipes and Methods
Sunday, March 13th 2011, 9 am - 11 noon
Includes breakfast in the sunny greenhouse!
Everything from simple tips like how to tell the freshness of an egg, or how to hard-boil a freshly laid egg, to building our favorite egg recipes like Nicoise Salad, Luscious Acadian Style Scrambled Eggs, a variety of Frittatas and Omelets using seasonal ingredients, Shirred Eggs with Spring greens, and more! Participants will also receive a copy of our New Midsummer Farm Egg Recipe Book. Cost is $36 | Registration closes 3/11/11.
You can register for workshops and events by emailing us or by filling out our registration form, which you can download here! |
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Chicks and Chickens at Midsummer Farm - Spring 2011
Along with ordering seeds and plotting and planning heirloom vegetable varieties, we're also excitedly planning our heritage chick orders for 2011. Keeping Backyard Chickens is getting more and more popular and we find that hatcheries and breeders sell out fast these days! I am planning on getting in all my orders within the next couple weeks. As always, you are invited to order chicks along with us so they can travel in as large of a group as possible up to Warwick, NY! Just let us know in a quick email if you want to join our order.
Interested in Trying A Backyard Flock of your Own? Interested in Organic Humane Small Scale Chicken Ownership or Using Herbs with Chickens?
I'll be giving a workshop and talking about such things at the Hudson Valley Food Network Seed and Sow Skill Share February 20th, from 11 am to 3 pm! Check it out by clicking here! (There are a bunch of other cool workshops too on local food topics offered by members of the Hudson Valley Food Network such as how to create water kefir sodas, growing wild mushrooms at home, fighting garden pests organically, sourcing local for the small business, and making artisan sausage. Join us to learn from the knowledge of local food that thrives in the Hudson Valley!
I can't wait! Hope to see you there! Takes place at the Hodgson Farm and Garden Center, 2290 Albany Post Road, Walden, NY | $5 admission |www.hvfoodnetwork.com
______________________________________________________________________________ Upcoming Poultry Workshops at Midsummer Farm:
Backyard Organic Poultry Rearing Workshop
Choose from 5 different sessions planned for Spring 2011:
Sunday, February 13th 2011, 10 am - 12 noon
Sunday, March 13th 2011, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Saturday, April 9th 2011, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Sunday, May 1st 2011, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Sunday, June 12th 2011, 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Workshop Description: For anyone who has dreamed of walking out to your own chicken coop and collecting fresh eggs for breakfast, this course will guide you through starting up your own flock and in organic and natural rearing methods. We will discuss all of our secrets to Organic chicken care that we have discovered over the years. Chickens are wonderful stewards of the earth; and kept in proper conditions, chickens are valuable assets to the garden, lawn, and compost pile. They also provide backyard joy. They are easy to take care of, are not noisy or smelly, and are an important part of the Organic garden. (Please be sure to check with your town to make sure that chickens are allowed where you live.) Workshop takes place mostly outside (dress appropriately - wear boots) and is weather permitting. Cost is $36 | please register a couple days in advance.
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Cooking Eggs - Midsummer Farm's Best Egg Recipes and Methods
Choose from 4 different sessions planned for Spring 2011:
Sunday, March 13th 2011, 9 am - 11 am
Saturday, April 9th 2011, 9 am - 11 am
Sunday, May 1st 2011, 9 am - 11 am
Sunday, June 12th 2011, 9 am - 11 am
Includes breakfast in the sunny greenhouse!
Workshop Description: Everything from simple tips like how to tell the freshness of an egg, or how to hard-boil a freshly laid egg, to building our favorite egg recipes like Nicoise Salad, Luscious Acadian Style Scrambled Eggs, a variety of Frittatas and Omelets using seasonal ingredients, Shirred Eggs with Spring Greens, and more! Participants will also receive a copy of our new Midsummer Farm Egg Recipe Book. Cost is $36 | please register a couple days in advance. ______________________________________________________________________________ Processing Meat from Your Own Poultry
July 16th 2011, 9:30 am to 12 noon~
Workshop takes place at Two Pond Farm in West Milford, NJ and is taught by Allison and Randy Hosford.
Workshop Description: This workshop focuses on how to humanely and properly process your own poultry for meat. There are two ways to participate: Hands-On: limited number of spaces available. You will slaughter and butcher 2 humanely and pasture-raised birds from Two Pond Farm with the option to take home your freshly dressed birds at $2.80 per pound! Or you can take it as an Observer-Only. (You can still purchase humanely and pasture-raised meat from Two Pond Farm.) Two Pond Farm is located at 176 Weaver Road, West Milford, NJ 07480. There is a 'Fresh Eggs' sign at the end of the driveway. Please dress appropriately, this is a messy process. Wear something over your hair as the feathers will be flying. Cost is $36 | Registration closes July 12th 2011. ______________________________________________________________________________ |
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Seed and Sow Skill Share
by the Hudson Valley Food Network
Feb. 20, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Hodgson Farm and Garden Center
2290 Albany Post Road, Walden, NY
$5 admission
The Seed and Sow Skill Share is an amazing afternoon of workshops on local food topics offered by members of the Hudson Valley Food Network. Experts will share their knowledge on a variety of topics including: how to create water kefir sodas, growing wild mushrooms at home, raising backyard chickens, fighting garden pests organically, sourcing local for the small business, and making artisan sausage. Join us to learn from the knowledge of local food that thrives in the Hudson Valley! For more information, go to www.hvfoodnetwork.com
Consider becoming a member of the Hudson Valley Food Network - it is a great group of active, like-minded people who love local, artisanal food!
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Homemade Pet Food - Variety is the Spice of Life!
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The idea of variety also came up in living color as I spoke recently with Samantha Storey, the writer of the NY Times story that was just published on Homemade Pet Food. I wanted to stress in that article that variety of meals was key. It isn't about how to create a single, perfectly balanced meal that would be great to feed every single day the same exact way for the entirety of every single dog or cat's life. Feeding your dog or cat should be very similar to feeding yourself or your child. There is no reason why dogs and cats must eat the same exact meal or brand or recipe everyday.
The idea of having to feed a dog or cat the same exact meal every day is one of the things I am most against in pet nutrition. Imagine if we tried to come up with a precise daily meal for humans - imagine the debating - and you could never come up with the right meal - people from different races, nationalities, upbringing, family traditions, different body chemistry, health issues, etc. would all find much missing and deficient. How could we possibly decide on the perfect meal? It could be "balanced" according to some sort of arbitrary and overly general rules, but, like the RDA, these rules tend be very lacking. So once again, variety is key, and our animals will benefit from a variety of recipes and meals and foods just as we do.
Being a part of the NY Times article has been so exciting! And I think the Times did a great job with a very complex and gigantic subject - check out the full article HERE!
We'll be offering our Homemade Pet Food Workshop a couple times this Spring!
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Late Winter / Spring Workshop Schedule
 You can register for workshops and events by emailing us or by filling out our registration form, which you can download here!
Next Weekend:
Making Homemade Dog & Cat Food Workshop
Saturday, Feb 5th, 11 am to 1 pm
Featured in the NY Times! Check out the article here!
Healthier, Economical, Delicious. Either as a supplementary meal or as your pets' regular diet, homemade food is better, safer, and easy to make. We will mix up a batch of balanced food using raw chicken as a base. We'll go over tons of options in food bases - raw vs cooked, various nutritional additions, dogs vs cats, special needs pets, and discuss the wide range of commercial diets and brands. You'll take home recipes, a clearer knowledge of the commercial pet food available, and resources for suppliers. We'll also make up a wonderful whole foods supplement that you can add to a commercial diet using higher quality ingredients and for a lot less money than the fancy brand names. Even if you're not ready to switch over completely to a homemade diet, you'll get a lot from this workshop. In the Farm Kitchen. Cost is $36 | Registration closes 2/3/10.
CSA Day
Saturday, February 12th 2011, 10 am - 2 pm
Meet in the greenhouse - a great time of year to think about fresh farm food! We'll discuss how our CSA program works, what kinds of stuff we grow, and what is different about the Midsummer Farm CSA from other CSAs. We'll go over all our different CSA options and take reservations for our CSA program. Snacks will be served! Free.
Making Homemade Dog & Cat Food Workshop
Sunday, Feb 13th, 1 -3 pm
Featured in the NY Times! Check out the article here!
Healthier, Economical, Delicious. Either as a supplementary meal or as your pets' regular diet, homemade food is better, safer, and easy to make. We will mix up a batch of balanced food using raw chicken as a base. We'll go over tons of options in food bases - raw vs cooked, various nutritional additions, dogs vs cats, special needs pets, and discuss the wide range of commercial diets and brands. You'll take home recipes, a clearer knowledge of the commercial pet food available, and resources for suppliers. We'll also make up a wonderful whole foods supplement that you can add to a commercial diet using higher quality ingredients and for a lot less money than the fancy brand names. Even if you're not ready to switch over completely to a homemade diet, you'll get a lot from this workshop. In the Farm Kitchen. Cost is $36 | Registration closes 2/11/10.
Constructing Delicious and Nourishing Soups and Broths Workshop
Saturday, February 26th 2011, 11 am - 12 noon
One of the healthiest convenience foods is a big pot of minestrone soup or chicken broth full of carrots and escarole. Soups and broths make a hearty breakfast, can travel easily as lunches, and are a satisfying snack food. A big pot of simmering soup on the stove is a great comfort to the home. Learn how to easily make a variety of broths and stocks and take home an exciting collection of soup recipes. In the Farm Kitchen | $36.00 |registration closes 2/24/11.
Plotting Out Your Home Organic Garden
Sunday, February 27th 2011, 11 am - 1pm
With a strong emphasis on Bio-Intensive Methods. This is an interactive workshop - bring you garden plans and seed catalogs. We'll create a garden plan for you to grow your favorite veggies in less space for a longer season! We'll discuss starting a new garden bed, boosting the efficiency of an old garden and so much more...Cost is $36 | registration closes 2/24/11.
Cooking with Dark Leafy Greens Workshop
Saturday, March 5th 2011, 11 am - 1 pm
Dark Leafy Greens - The #1 Missing Ingredient in Today's Diets! We will demonstrate a wide range of ways to use dark leafy greens of all types. You will leave feeling empowered to live more healthily with a solid collection of great recipes. Workshop is hands on and tasting is encouraged. In the farm kitchen. Cost is $36 | Registration closes 3/2/11.
Gardening For Good Bugs Workshop
Saturday, March 12th 2011, 11 am - 1 pm
This is one of our passions! We love bugs. The focus of this workshop is to garden for your good bugs, provide them what they need (and maybe a little extra), and regain balance in your garden to prevent the bad bugs from damaging your harvest. We will get into native pollinators, honey bees, butterflies, predatory bugs and mites, etc. Cost is $36 | registration closes 3/10/11.
Composting as an Art
Saturday, March 19th 2011, 11 am - 1 pm
How to develop a garden soil that is teaming with life forces. At Midsummer Farm, we consider our compost to be the center of our farm's success. Our soil health plan is approached as an art from. We'll go through the grace and the science of composting, as well as Biodynamic Compost Preparations, compost teas, foliar nutrient sprays, inoculants, and fertilizing in general. Cost is $36 | registration closes 3/17/11.
Free Lecture! Take Your Health Up a Notch!
Sunday, March 20th 2011, 10 am - 12 noon
This is structured like a group health coaching session. Tons of ways to inspire better health. Take some time for yourself in a Spring celebration! Takes place in the sun-warm greenhouse at Midsummer Farm! Registration closes 3/17/11.
Micro Farming Open Discussion
Sunday, April 10th 2011, 11 am - about 1 pm
This will be a gathering of like minded people wanting to either enhance the quality and artisanal productiveness of their own backyard, or people wanting to start a small business farming sustainably. Snacks will be served; Farm Tour. Free | But Please RSVP!
Farm Tour Day
Saturday, April 16th 2011, meet on the hour 10 am - 2 pm
We'll walk the farm - and you can see our growing methods, talk about how permaculture works on our farm, pet the animals, taste and smell the herbs, and experience what makes this a sustainable farm. Kids can even harvest their own eggs! Tour includes the veggie garden plots, greenhouse, compost, poultry breeding facilities, rabbitry, and the greenhouse. $10 per person, $5 for children.
Themed Container Garden Workshop
Sunday, April 17th 2011, 11 am - 1pm
Whether you only have a small patio to work with or acres of growing fields, themed container gardens are so useful and alluring. We'll go through the basics of setting them up, and discuss some creative themes like container garden for: flavored-waters, various salad options, pesto, bean salad, dark leafy greens, evening tea, salsa, mini-moon, etc. Bring ideas with you, we'll go over what you need and how to organize the plants for top efficiency and health. Cost is $36 | registration closes 4/15/11
Open Farm Day to Celebrate Healthy Living!
Sunday, June 5th 2011, times to be announced
Children's gardening activities as well as discussions and interactive activities and cooking demos all centered on celebrating health and revitalizing energy! Free Please RSVP by 6/1/11 so we can plan!
Legumes! Cooking with Beans Workshop
Friday, June 17th 2011, 11 am - 1pm
Beans are one of those things that can make a huge difference in your health and well-being just by adding them to your weekly eating plan. And we'll go over a bunch of different ways to integrate them into your every day life easily. This workshop will lead to better overall health. Beans have been missing from the typical American diet and people have strange opinions of them, but they are delicious, easy to digest when prepared properly, and nourishing on many, many levels. We'll do a selection of fabulous bean dips, nourishing bean soups, refreshing bean salads (great for packing for work or school lunches), minestrone, and a variety of other recipes, as well as bean spouting. Workshop is hands on and tasting is encouraged - it takes place in the kitchen at Midsummer Farm | Cost is $36 | Registration closes 6/14/11.
Crafting Herbal-Infused Salves, Ointments, and Lip Balms
Friday, June 24th 2011, 10 am - 12 noon
With a focus on organic, fair-trade, medicinal herbs and spices, we'll construct a variety of healing and soothing salves and lip balms. We'll also discuss different types of healing herbs, what they can do for us, and where to get them. You'll never want to be without a jar of Anti-itch salve made with white willow bark and plantain or Dry-skin healing Calendula salve made with self heal and chickweed once you see how fun they are to make and how effectively they work. Workshop takes place in the farm kitchen | Cost is $36 | registration closes 6/22/11
Workshops at Midsummer Farm: Classes are taught from a strictly Holistic and Organic standpoint. Class size is kept small to ensure individual attention. Fees include all materials and supplies needed. Children are welcome; children under 5 are free. If more than one person from a single household is taking the workshop together, the second person may deduct $5 from the cost of the workshop. Many classes take place outside in the gardens and are weather-permitting. Participants must register in advance. Cooking classes are hands-on and tasting is encouraged. NOTE: times and dates of workshops are subject to change.
You can register for workshops and events by emailing us or by filling out our registration form, which you can download here!
If you haven't been to our farm yet, we're located at 156 East Ridge Road, Warwick, NY 10990. And welcome!
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Disclaimer
© Copyright 2011 Barbara Taylor-Laino, HHC / Barbara Taylor Health. All Rights Reserved. This content may be copied in full, with copyright, contact, creation and information intact, without specific permission, when used only in a not-for-profit format. If any other use is desired, permission in writing from Barbara Taylor Laino is required.
This information newsletter is designed as an educational tool for better health. Recipes and information are included as examples for you learn from; they are not diagnostic or prescriptive. Everyone's health needs are different. This newsletter is not to be used as a substitute for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment of any health condition or problem. Any questions regarding your own health should be addressed to your own physician or other healthcare provider. The entire contents of this newsletter and the websites of Barbara Taylor Laino and Midsummer Farm are based upon the opinions of Barbara Taylor Laino, unless otherwise noted. Individual articles are based upon the opinions of the respective author(s), who retains copyright as marked. The information on the www.midsummerfarm.com website is not intended to replace a one-on-one relationship with a qualified health care professional and is not intended as medical advice. It is intended as a sharing of knowledge and information from the research and experience of Barbara Taylor Laino. You are encouraged to make your own health care decisions based upon your research and in partnership with a qualified health care professional.
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Questions? Please do not hesitate to contact us!
Midsummer Farm Contact Info:
Barbara and Mark Laino
Midsummer Farm
156 East Ridge Road
Warwick, NY 10990
845-986-9699
info@midsummerfarm.com
Holistic Health Counseling Contact Info:
Barbara Taylor-Laino
Barbara Taylor Health
156 East Ridge Road
Warwick, NY 10990
845-986-9699
info@barbarataylorhealth.com
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