Farm News from Orchard Country Produce – March, 2024

We wish everyone a glorious Easter season!

The fields are being plowed, tilled, beds made for black plastic and the first sugar snap peas are in the ground.  The first spring onions have been planted and the sweet onions went in yesterday. The sugar snaps were plug planted in the greenhouse on the 2nd and then transplanted into the field on the 22nd.  They are covered with row crop to get them an early start.
Oliver is still pruning peaches and nectarines.  The plums are in bud and some are flowering.  The black raspberries are pruned.  We mowed the orchard for the first time this year.

     The tunnels are in full swing now.  We are harvesting lettuce, chard, kale and spinach weekly.  We are picking beets and  radishes.  The weeding and replanting is continual.  We have cleaned out some chard and replanted with red beets.  The spinach is very heavy right now.  It is selling well too.  We have a lot of radishes also.  We are selling some chard and kale to Hollabaugh’s in Biglerville  for their spring CSA.
The tomato tunnel is full of good early red tomatoes.  They are comfortably happy with the temperatures in the 70’s and 80’s in the daytime and Oliver uses wood in the outdoor furnace to keep the temperatures above 65 at nights.  We are hoping for tomatoes by the 3rd week of June.

We are in full swing with seeding in the greenhouse right now.  All the tables are full and the germination booth is working well and full of eggplant right now.  The one 25 foot table has herbs which we will be selling at the markets beginning the last week of April and throughout the month of May.
We have one 25 foot table devoted to field crops – kale, chard, the second batch of sugar snap peas, peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, cabbage.  Another 25 foot table has flowers which we will either, plant or sell as bedding flowers in the spring.
It is always lots of fun planting the seeds and potting up, but the hard part is finding room to put them all.  Next week we will be planting the first batch of sweet corn in plugs.  40 flats!  That will really put the squeeze on finding a place to go with everything.
The cherry tomatoes are ready to be planted in tunnel one on the 15th of April.

    The new dates for the 2024 CSA are on the website.  We have not changed any of the prices.  Things will remain the same. April 30 is the LAST day to sign up and pay up for the full season price for the CSA.   It is $700 for 24 weeks of vegetables and fruits picked for you.  If you are interested, you can email and let us know that you are signing up for the CSA and then send us a check.  We will let you now when we get your check.  Be sure to include an email address so that we can get in touch with you.  Send an email if you have any questions.
We are looking forward to another great year for the CSA.  We have lots of great vegetables on the planting schedule for the year.  We will have more strawberries this year since we planted more strawberry plants last spring.  We are expecting a bumper crop of asparagus.
We are thankful for all of you that sign up for the CSA.  Your checks which come to us during January, February, March and April are very important since these are the lowest monetary months of our year, yet they can be the most expensive with repairs, seeds, supplies and trees.

CSA dates 

June 6 – November 16th -24 weeks- Special price – $700
Add one dozen eggs for 24 weeks for $144 or one/half dozen for $72
Price good until April 30

June 6 – August 24 -12 weeks – $375
August 29 – November 16  -12 weeks – $375
Add a dozen eggs for $72 or one/half dozen for $42

Canning, Gardening, Grilling and Preserving

We have been having a spinach salad every day lately!  We hard boil eggs, add cheese, sometimes with bacon, sometimes with some canned tomatoes or pickled beets or even Bread and Butter pickles.  It is delicious!
We open a jar of fruit every week – either, peaches, nectarines, apricots, or cherries.  I also always have a jar of applesauce in the refrigerator as a great snack sometimes with sugar sometimes with cheese.  We have been drinking a lot of grape juice also.  I canned it last fall in two- quart jars.  I usually have about 50 jars of juice on hand.  I also have a few apple juice canned also.  These are great mixed with club soda.  I keep a stock of other fruits canned as well to make pies  –  blueberries, strawberries, rhubarb, gooseberries, peaches, and sour cherries.  This month I made a gooseberry/blueberry pie and a cherry pie.  Gregg and my 93 year old Dad love pies.
Lilly, the goat, is beginning to fill out.  She should be due in June.  Hopefully she will have a nanny this time.

Let me know if you have any questions about the CSA, markets or food tips.

The St Luke’s Farm Stand is open every Saturday from 8 – 1 pm .  Come out and support the local farm on Saturdays!

We will be back at Fairfax again this year on Saturdays and Belle View and Columbia on Thursdays.  We are looking forward to the start.
Guess what!  There is only 5 weeks until Columbia market and Belle View start!  Get Ready!
Gregg will be at the East Columbia Market on Thursday, May 2 from noon-6 pm and Oliver will be at Belle View Condos on Thursday, May 2 from 2 – 7 pm.

Have a Great Day!
Louise