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Pennypack Pickings
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September 25, 2011
Volume 9, Issue 34
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Remember to Vote
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Vote daily to help Pennypack win a $20,000 grant from Bird's Eye Vegetables.
Click for details
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Weekly Harvest
| Due to the the unusually wet weather, we are not able to predict what crops will be available for a given pick up day. We do know that we will have winter squash and potatoes in the coming weeks and sweet potatoes after that available to all. All other crops will be rotated through the pickup days and times as there are not sufficient quantities for any particular day or week.
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Harvest Fest
Musical Line Up | |
Chris Huff
11:00 - 12:15
Annebella Wood
12:30 - 1:30
Craig and Pam Axler
1:45 - 3:00
Jim Heller
3:15 - 4:15
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Fulfill Your Share Duty - Volunteer at the Harvest Festival
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Volunteers are need to assist with set-up, clean-up, food sales, tickets sales, kids activities, book sale, parking and the hayride. Please contact Jocelyn Crosby at ppfharvestfest@gmail.com to volunteer.
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Harvest Festival
Book Sale Donations | |
Time to clear out your  book shelves!
We are now collecting books for the Harvest Festival book sale. We especially need books for babies, kids and teens. For adults we prefer recent fiction and non fiction, classics, lifestyle, cooking, self help, nature, gardening and coffee table books. No encyclopedias, technical books, how-to books, text books of any type, or very old books. Please drop off your books to the 1st shed in the Edible Classroom - look for the yellow door in the children's garden area. Your book donations are greatly appreciated!
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Have a Computer You'd Like to Donate?
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We are looking for two computers (either desktop or laptop) for basic farmer use (internet and email mostly). If you have one or two you are looking to replace or update and would like to donate them to the farm, please contact Andy at pennypackfarm@gmail.com |
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Harvest Festival
Saturday, October 1, 11:00am - 5:00pm 
Pumpkin Painting Hay Rides Bug Safari Scarecrow Making Book Sale Live Music Food Vendors    |
Pennypack Has Now Switched to Green Energy
And You Can Too! Pennypack Farm recently switched energy providers and we now have Viridian Energy providing us with 100% green energy! Energy deregulation in Pennsylvania has allowed other energy companies to provide energy to Pennsylvania consumers and Viridian is a provider of green energy [including local wind and municipal solid waste (waste to energy) sources, solar voltaic, fuel cell and hydro electric sources]. The energy rates are very competitive with conventional (coal-based) energy and Viridian offers two options - 100% green energy or 20% green/80% conventional. Click here to check out the carbon calculator to estimate the impact you can make by switching to green energy.Viridian also offers a referral program for non-profits that can help us decrease our energy costs with each customer referred. If you are considering switching to green power, now is a great time as you can switch to green and also support the farm!Switching to green energy takes about 5 minutes and is this easy: - Go to www.viridian.com/pennypackfarm
- Have your energy bill handy with the PoD electricity account number. Be sure to locate the correct number; Viridian Energy is the electric portion of your bill.
- Simply follow the prompts - you'll need to choose between 20% and 100% green.
You can learn more about Viridian Energy by exploring the website, www.viridian.com/pennypackfarm, or by contacting our Viridian Associate at 609-954-9198. Also, there are no enrollment fees and you can switch your provider at any time without penalties. PECO will continue to be your supplier and there will be no interruption of service. |
Your friendly reminder...
We did it again! We made it into the final round of another fabulous Facebook contest. This time around Pennypack Farm & Education Center is competing in Birds Eye Vegetable's "Share the Wonder" Grant Program.
PLEASE help us win a $20,000 grant by voting daily on Facebook.
Your vote will help us connect families to their food, and share the wonder of vegetables!
Click here to Contact Raina for a daily reminder.
Put "Remind Me to Vote" in the subject line.
Take it one step further and forward this message to your friends and family! The first organization to 10,000 votes wins. Every vote counts!
Step 1: Go to the Birds Eye Facebook page
Step 2: Login to your Facebook account
Step 3: "Like" their page, and allow access
Step 4: Vote for Pennypack Farm everyday by clicking on the red "vote" button
Step 5: Tell your friends!
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| Fall Calendar
 Hunt for Shaggy mane mushrooms with "Wildman" Steve Brill
Sunday, October 9, 1pm-3pm
Learn about wild edible plants from the "Wildman" on a 2 hour walk through the trails of the Pennypack Trust. Wild mushrooms, autumn fruits and nuts are at their peak!
More info...
 Easy as Pie!
Tuesday, October 18, 7-8pm, $20
Impress your family this holiday season with homemade pies. Learn the basics of working with pie crust in this hands-on class.
More details...
 Ferment Your Food
Tuesday, October 25, 7-8:30 pm, $20
Fermented food is more nutritious than fresh food, it is full of beneficial pro-biotics and it tastes good! Learn to make sauerkraut and ginger carrots.
More details...
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Update on the Crops and Wet Weather
by Farmer Andy
As we've been communicating in the past few weeks, the record breaking wet month of August and two hurricanes left us with more water and wet ground than we ever needed. This has taken a significant toll on the over crop harvest volume which we have been experiencing over the past few weeks and will continue for several more weeks at least. Right now the harvest volume is running about 40% lower than normal for this time of year.
We're doing everything we can to keep the harvest going, but due to increasingly low harvest volumes, it may be necessary in the very near future to skip a week in October and then add on a week to the season in November.
We would most likely ask half the shareholders (last names beginning with A-M) to skip the first week and the remainder to skip the next week. There are crops that we do need to continue harvesting, but at a lower volume. After two weeks of lighter volume harvesting, we expect that the crops will have recovered enough to resume normal operations.
We have not made the decision to do this just yet, but will let you know when we do. We'll communicate this through both email and during pick ups in the harvest house.
So keep coming and picking up your vegetables as usual! We will let you know if (and when) we need you to take a week off. And, by the way, the current last pickups for the CSA are Friday, November 4, Monday, November 6 and Wednesday, November 9.
Thanks again for your understanding and please feel free to get in touch with any questions. |
Garden & Farm Tour Success 
Pennypack's first Fall Garden and Farm tour last Sunday was a huge success. Everyone who attended had a wonderful time exploring the 7 locations that offered a wide assortment of gardening options. Many comments were heard by the attendees saying how they were inspired with ideas for their own yards. A lovely thank you e-mail said, "The  gardens were very interesting, but the gardeners who greeted us and told us about their properties were fabulous. The weather was perfect and the pre-planned route was easy to follow. I look forward to future tours!" The committee of Cheryl Wilks Scherbner, Ellen Levin, Jackie Long, Susan Curry, Jackie Kim and Trina Lawry worked very hard to make the tour bloom. Farm staff, Margot and Raina, helped to make the day a success. Thanks to Channa Cohen, Lavonne Reardon, Greg Steele and Bill Blakeslee.  We would like to thank the home and farm owners who graciously opened their properties, as well as the many local merchants for their generosity supporting our event - The Fresh Market, Whole Foods, Starbucks of Maple Glen, Sam's Club, and The Corner Bakery Cafe all provided refreshments and snacks. Lowe's and Primex Garden Center gave gift cards. Primex Garden Center, Elizabeth Schumacher's Garden Accents, Lynn Hoffman Ceramics, and Danielle's Cafe provided discount coupons. (if you haven't gotten your discount coupons - let the farm know) Look for the next tour in the Spring of '13. |
Hosted by the College Settlement of Philadelphia
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