Pennypack Pickings

November 25, 2013

Volume 11, Issue 33

Summer Share

2014 CSA Shares

On Sale Now!

All current members have until Thanksgiving to reserve their share.

Horsham Application

The Highlands Application

Non-members and waitlist members will be notified about shares on December 1.

Lunch with Santa at The Highlands

December 8, 2013

12:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Have lunch with Santa then listen to a reading of the Night Before Christmas with Mrs. Claus.

Make holiday crafts.

$15-members / $18-non-members

Reservations required

Click here for flyer & details

Season Wrap-Up and Future Prospectus Farmer Andy

by Farmer Andy Andrews, Farming Director

Now that the regular CSA season has come to a close, I wanted to overview this year and look into the future. A lot has changed in our organization in the past year, but a lot has also stayed the same. Here is a rundown of this past year and what to expect in the future.

We began operations on our new site at the Highlands this season and dove right into production and CSA distributions! There were many challenging moments - the mini-drought in the early summer (we had no irrigation there at the time), the poison ivy, the tent blowing away in the wind, the electric trench cutting across the property disrupting everything and on and on. However, the team, led by Katie Fotta, did a fantastic job pulling through it all and offering a great CSA experience. Now that we have a deer fence, an irrigation well and all of the ground worked up and either in production or cover crop, next year we should really be able to kick it into high gear.

Farming at Horsham continued but with a new leadership team in place. Devin Barto joined us last winter and stepped right into the role of managing the growing operations at Horsham. He did a great job of coordinating the team at Horsham and I don't think we missed a beat! Devin is looking forward to a slower paced winter season and having a much better idea of what to expect for next season having been through that first year.

Overall, it was a great year for the farm. We had good production at both sites and expanded our total CSA size to around 500 shares! The winter season is coming along well too and that CSA season now has about 200 members between the two farms. We also started the apprenticeship program at the Highlands and are planning to extend that to Horsham next season.

Regarding the size of our farming operations, we expect to stabilize at this level. The Horsham CSA will likely remain at a similar level next season, and then gradually decrease in size slightly in order to give some of the land a rest. We feel this is very important in order to improve soils and reduce weed pressure. Highlands will grow for a few more years before leveling off in a year or two. We also hope to grow the winter program as it allows us to employ more farmers year round and offer the delicious winter crops. (Winter is my favorite season!)

Thanks again for your support of the farm. We couldn't do it without you! As always, please feel free to get in touch with me or any of the managers with any questions, comments or suggestions you might have.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Notes from the Edible Classroom Diane Diffenderfer

by Diane Diffenderfer, Education Director

Winter share pickups at both farms are up and running! This week farmers and work shares harvested carrots, kale, fennel, mixed greens, spinach, arugula, Daikon radishes, cabbage, rutabagas, parsnips and more. The rutabagas and parsnips will be stored in metal cans filled with sand (keeps the veggies fresh and firm) for distribution later in the winter season. The filled cans will be stored in either a cold room (Horsham) or root cellar (The Highlands).

By the time you read this, the Highland's bees should be enjoying their new digs at Horsham. The plan is to overwinter the bees at Horsham and build a suitable site for the hives inside The Highlands deer fence. Come spring, we'll move the hives back to The Highlands and slowly begin to integrate them in our educational programs. At some point, I'd like to build/install an observational hive - here's an explanatory link . If you have experience with observational hives, I'd love to talk w/ you - please drop me an email at education@pennypackfarm.org.

Day Camp The farm's fiscal year ended on October 31 and the education numbers are solid. For the year ending October 31, 2013 we provided educational experiences for just over 6,000 kids and 1,615 adults. The "kids" number includes a visit to the Perkiomen Valley High School's Job Fair in which the school determined 1,350 kids participated. So, even if that number is reduced by half, we still had a very good year. This is particularly true given that The Highlands Edible Classroom was not fully operational! I am excited about our prospects for 2014!

To that end, I am looking for people interested in working with our educational programs. I am currently putting together a "docent" training program. The objective of the program is to have a cadre of folks available to help out with larger groups over the course of the spring and summer. For example, last summer we had a Y camp group of about 22 kids for about 3 hours for a week. Robin and I handled that group ourselves; however, a group of 80 kids presented additional volunteer opportunities. Sure enough, we had ample volunteers to lead the kids through a circuit of 4 farm-based educational modules. I'd like to have more opportunities for larger groups to visit The Highlands, but cannot do so without additional adults. If you are interested in learning more about the docent training, please contact me via email or give me a call at 215.837.3120.

Thanks and have a good week.

Recipe - Vegan Corn Chowder

by Traci Opdahl - Amazing Healthful Foods

Visit the Amazing Healthful Foods facebook page to see a series of Heathlful Vegan Thanksgiving Recipes.

Makes about 2 Quarts of Hearty, Savory Corn Chowder. It is very important to use Organic Corn, since most of the corn in this country is GMO.

Turnips work well in soups in lieu of potatoes. Turnips are less acidifying than potatoes. Emphasizing less acidifying vegetables is good for everyone, but particularly for anyone with chronic inflammatory syndromes such as arthritis, allergies, eczema, digestive ailments etc.

Vegan Corn Chowder Broth:

1 t. Organic Olive Oil

1 1/2 Medium Organic Onions, diced

12 Organic Leek, half moons

1/4 Medium Cauliflower, chopped

3 Organic Salad Turnips, diced

8 C. Filtered Water or Spring Water

Unrefined, white sea salt (about 1/4 tsp.)

Additions:

1 large Organic Onion, diced

3 Organic Salad Turnips, diced

2 Stalks Organic Celery, diced

1 1/2 C. Organic Corn

1 t. Unrefined, white sea salt

1/8 t. Organic White Pepper

4 stems Organic Thyme, leaves only, mined

1/4 C. Organic Fresh Cilantro, finely chopped

To make the broth, use only the ingredients in the Broth section. The other ingredients in the Additions section will be added later. Place the Oil in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the onions. Saute for about 2 minutes, add a pinch of sea salt. If the vegetables start to stick at any time during the saute, then just add a little of the water early. Add the the leeks, saute for one minute, and add a pinch of sea salt. Add the cauliflower, saute for one minute, and add a pinch of sea salt. Add the turnips, saute for one minute, and add a pinch of sea salt. Saute the vegetables for another two minutes. Add the 8 cups of water and cook for about 5 minutes. Transfer to a blender or use a hand mill and puree the mixture until creamy. Once this is done, then add the ingredients in the Additions section above except the cilantro, reduce the heat to low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add the cilantro and allow to simmer for another 5 minutes.

At this point you can adjust your seasonings to taste, but keep in mind that when soup is hot it is harder to taste the salt and flavor. When tasting, place a small amount of the soup into into a cup and allow it to cool a little before tasting. Enjoy!

Horsham Site is hosted by the College Settlement of Philadelphia