Pennypack Pickings 09/05/2009

Pennypack Pickings
Volume 7, Issue 22
September 5, 2009

P
Pennypack Farm & Education Center
685 Mann Road, Horsham, PA 19044
Hosted by the College Settlement of Philadelphia

Labor Day

NO PICKUP ON LABOR DAY, MONDAY, SEP. 7
There will be a make-up pickup for Monday shareholders on Tuesday, September 8.

Share Duty Opportunity
Labor Day, Monday, Sep. 7
Farmer Andy will host a special share duty opportunity on Labor Day from 8am to noon. Bring gloves, hat and water.

The Local Foods Market is Expanding

New this week!
Products from Helen's Foods in Cheltenham:
Ray's Seitan: a great vegetarian "meat"
Michelle's Tofu Tahini Carrot spread
Helen's Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Helen's Baba Ghannouj

Announcing a new relationship with Hendrick's Farms and Dairy. We will carry an increasing amount of products from Hendrick's this week: hotdogs, bacon, beef burgers.

Kids Pick Tomatoes to Feed the Hungry

On Wednesday morning, 9/2, 240 pints of cherry tomatoes were picked by the following hard working kids:

Rebecca and Nichole Macey, Nichole Neborg, Kara, Maddie and Jenn Appleby, Erin and Jamie Lees, Madeline and Nolen Kelly, Isabel Mills, Grace Bavenscroft, Grace, Cyrus and Gus Bowen, Erin Elise Hurry, Alli and Maddie Reich, Nelson, Caroline and Christy Bogrette, Allyssa Adoni, Debbie, Michael and Emily Kalman, Jan, Mayah and Hannah Nossbaum.

The tomatoes have gone to Food Cupboards at The United Methodist Church of Jenkintown, Beth Shalom and Hope Gardens.

Thanks to the volunteers!

Save the Dates

Potluck Dinner
September 13th, 5:30pm
Bring a dish to share, your fork/knife/spoon/plate/cup. Also a chair or blanket if you have one. Water is available or you can bring your own beverage.

Family Campfire ~ September 18th, 7:30pm
Bring your own blanket and stick, smores provided!

9/11 Day of Service

To commemorate the victims of the 9/11/2001 attacks, President Obama has called for a day of service.
We, at Pennypack Farm, would like to participate, so if you, your workplace or any of your friends are able to do some work at the farm on September 11, please come and join.

You can register at www.911dayofservice.org, search for Pennypack Farm or by zipcode 19044 (Horsham), or you may also register by sending an email to Monika Hemmers at mhemmers11@verizon.net.

We are looking forward seeing you at the farm.

Spider in the Raspberries

What is yellow and black, has 8 legs, and dwells in the raspberry bushes?

Pennypack Farm & Education Center is home to a lot of creatures but none get the attention of raspberry pickers quite as much as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider. If you've harvested raspberries recently, you know what I am talking about - the large spiders that have set up home in the vines. The spider species Argiope aurantia is commonly known as the Black and Yellow Garden Spider, Writing Spider, Banana Spider or Corn Spider. They have distinctive yellow and black markings on their abdomens and their web spinning is something to be admired.

A few facts about the Garden Spider:

Garden Spiders often build webs in areas adjacent to open sunny fields where they stay concealed and protected from the wind.
Many species of the garden spider build a new web every day. After consuming the old web, the spider will rest for about an hour and then spin a new web in the same general location.
The circular part of the female's web may reach two feet in diameter!
The Garden Spider is an insectivore (it eats insects - not people or raspberries). It is harmless to humans!
There are many advantages to allowing spiders to biologically control insects at the farm. They are voracious predators who will eat enormous numbers of insects-many of which damage crops. Since many spiders overwinter as adults, they can reduce insect numbers early in the season before other beneficial insects are active.

The next time you are at the farm, take a moment to appreciate the spiders. They are another reminder that the food produced at Pennypack is produced without harmful pesticides on a farm that strives to protect the health of our ecosystem.

In This Issue

Kids Pick Tomatoes

Save the Dates!

9/11 Day of Service

Sprider in the Raspberries

Winter Shares

Local Foods Market Survey

Harvest Festival 10/3

Dirt on Education

Native Plants - 9/19

Farmer Andy Hour - 9/24

NEW - Little Sprouts

Bring your group to the Farm

B'day Parties

NEW! Local Foods Market

Weekly Harvest

potatoes
lettuce
kale
basil
scallions
onions
peppers
eggplant
tomatoes
okra
various greens

upick
cherry tomatoes
hot peppers
berries
edamame (vegetable soybean)

Community Education
Committee

Next Meeting
Thurs., Sep 10, 7pm
at the farm.

If you are interested in joining (or re-joining) the newly energized committee please email janice.blades@gmail.com

Resurrection Lutheran
Church Invitations

Come out and support one of PFEC's partners.

Lawn Concert
Sep. 19, 2pm - 4pm
bring a picnic, enjoy the music

Blessing of Pets
Oct. 3, 3pm
(same day as our Harvest Festival)

Locavore Club

Do you make an attempt to eat local? Are you wishing you could figure out how to incorporate more local foods into your diet? Are you an ardent locavore but feel like you need a little support sometimes?

Farm members are organizing an informal 'Locavore Club' at Pennypack. Join us! Email your interest to janice.blades@gmail.com. Once we get a list of interested folks (you don't have to be a farm member to join the club) we will set a time and date for our meeting.
Don't forget our Farmer Andy Hour topic for September, 'The 100 Mile Diet'. Come find out how Andy did it!

Winter Shares Still Available

Only a few shares left!

We are now accepting applications for winter shares via our web site, www.pennypackfarm.org.

This year the winter share will run November 20 through May 21. All shares are 6 units, and cost $350. The pick up days will be Fridays only, and some Fridays will be skipped. There will be 14 or 15 pick ups total, including two "double" pick ups for Thanksgiving and Christmas. More specifics are included with the application form.

Local Foods Market Survey

All members: Important to Complete Local Foods Market Survey!

There was a problem viewing the Local Foods Market survey for some members.. The problem has been fixed. Please be sure you have completed the survey as we will base changes in the Market on the survey results. Click here to take survey.
To those of you who have completed the survey...Thank You.

Pennypack Harvest Festival

Saturday, October 3 ~ 1pm - 5pm
Come out for a day of fun & fresh air.

Food, Live Music, Pumpkin Painting, Hayrides, Scarecrow Making, Vendors, Used Book Sale,
Kids Activities & More

Help is needed with many activities. Please contact Jocelyn Crosby if you can help with any of these opportunities - ppfharvestfest@gmail.com.

Start Rounding Up Those Books
This year's Harvest Festival will once again feature a Used Book Sale. Start gathering up your gently used fiction and newer non-fiction books. This is a great time to clean out those bookcases. Drop off bins will be available starting the last week of September.

Vegan Goodies Needed for Harvest Festival
We are in need of a volunteer or two to help make some vegan goodies for the harvest festival. Many people were asking for dairy free baked goods at last years festival. Let us know if you are able to help bake or have some tried and true recipes you would like to share.

Scarecrow Clothes Needed
Long sleeved shirts and pants are needed to dress this year's scarecrow crop. Bonus points go to those who find some overalls hidden deep in the recesses of your closet to donate. Items to dress up the scarecrows such as hats and old sunglasses are also needed. There will
be a bin in the Harvest House for you to place your donated clothes starting 9/18.