End of Summer Report

Summer has officially come to a scorching, drought-ridden halt and it's been weeks since we last posted any sort of update so here goes:

The Culpeper Farmer's Market
We can't imagine life without the market. We had no idea how much fun we would have getting to know our customers and fellow vendors. The market is a joy for all of us here at Harvest Farms. Please stop by the booth and say hello if you haven't already done so. We're hard to miss: just look for the only shade tree at the end of the parking lot surrounded by half a dozen kids (some of which are ours, some of which are not), right beside Whisper Hill Farms, home of some of the finest (and freshest) produce we've ever tasted.

The Beef
We are proud to sell only the finest 100% Tarentaise Beef. We butchered two animals (God bless 'em) at the beginning of this year and thought it would be more than enough meat to get us to December. We just picked up our SIXTH animal from the butcher this week. Sales have exceeded our expectations and we couldn't be happier with the flavor and texture of our meat. Customers have been generous with compliments (and recipes). Thank you to everyone who has purchased burger, steaks, stew meat, roasts, jerky, and ribs (oh, and lest I forget, hearts and liver!).

The Cow Pool
We have decided to sell through the Fall / Winter. Now taking orders for 1/8 Shares. I guess you can call it a cow pool. It's the easiest way to stock up for the winter. At an 1/8th share you won't have to buy a whole new freezer. We can deliver or schedule a pick-up. Check it out and let us know if you're interested.

Jerky
There we were, middle of May and a freezer full of roasts. Roasts in the middle of the summer are not exactly "in demand". Whatever were we to do? It was then and there that we struck upon the ingenious idea to make jerky. Yes friends, necessity is indeed the mother of invention!

8 Flavors later we can't keep it in stock! On average we sell about 40 packages of jerky every week. And while we had no idea how labor and time intensive the process would be, we now we look forward to our family gatherings spent around the cutting boards. We cut it, we season it, we package it.

Basil Pesto
It's no secret: We eat what we grow. But we have a greenhouse where we chose to plant several beds of never-ending basil. This is the first ingredient (and we're proud to say we grow it ourselves) that goes into every jar of our Harvest Farms Pesto.

The Website
Check it out at HarvestFarmsVA.com and let us know what you think.


All in all, this has been a phenomenal season for all of us. Thank you again for a tremendous and memorable summer here at Harvest Farms.

Tomato Salad

Lindsay realized that we only have one variety of red tomatoes in the garden. Eek! Oh well, green, yellow and orange will have to do!

Enough red to make to even it out.

Put Away That Rusty Knife, Here Comes The Easy Open

We've improved our packaging! I know, I know, we're only a few months into this jerky business but we figured "why should our friends and customers be forced to use dirty scissors and rusty pocket knives to open their package of fine, quality beef jerky? It makes no sense!"

And so, we're very happy to introduce our new, easy-open packaging. Just find the notch and tear into the goodness.

Come check it out this Saturday at the Culpeper Farmer's Market. This week week we'll have Teriyaki, Sweet-N-Spicy, Berben and Chipotle. PS - This is the last week to get in on our introductory price; after this Saturday our price will go up to $4 (which is still $1-$2 lower than the store-bought stuff. Just sayin').

Hope to see you Saturday (we'll have samples!).

Our New Friends at Ternion Springs Farm

We recently made friends with the folks over at Ternion Springs Farm (right here in Madison, VA). They have a booth across from ours at the Culpeper Farmers Market. Located in Madison, this honey is about as local as we can get without having hives in our own backyard!

Anyway, we love their honey so much that we've decided to use it exclusively in all of our Jerky recipes. Local bees, local honey, local business, local friends. Sweet success!

PS - be sure to stop by their booth to check out their honey and, while you're there, ask about their blueberries (some of the sweetest you'll ever taste!).

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Harvest Farms on facebook. Come grow with us!

A Garden Update

Last night we made a trip to check out the garden. Jonathan (sadly) had not been to the garden since before his trip to Las Vegas. The tomatoes, onions and peas are doing very well. The potatoes are being overtaken by some very fat, very happy little grub-looking things. We'll need to find a remedy for that situation and fast. But, for last night anyways, they looked too happy to disturb so we left them to their feasting.

We couldn't resist picking three small baskets of peas, all of which were eaten when we got home. As you can see from the picture above, even the kids enjoy the green peas. Sarah ate several handfuls before we were able to put them into the pot to cook. For those of you who have only eaten peas of the canned variety, come out to the farm and try one fresh out of the pod. It tastes like summer.

We also picked almost 20cups of basil (which is doing quite well by the way). We'll be making fresh pesto for Saturday morning. In the meantime, the whole kitchen smells like a basil plant (which is a good thing!).

Anyway, here's what's growing:
Tomatoes
Squash
Onions
Peas
Turnips
Potatoes
Beets
Cilantro
Basil
Strawberries

OK, enough blogging, it's time to weed.

Harvest Farms Vegas Vacation

Last week, four of us made a week-long trip to Las Vegas for non-farm business. Chris and Jonathan were very happy to be joined by Shaun and Lindsay for an extended double date in one of the strangest (and brightest) places on earth, Sin City, Las Vegas NV.

While we weren't able to make it to Bradly Ogden, one of the only prestigious restaurants in Vegas to feature an organic, farm fresh menu, we did dine at some of the best restaurants west of the Mississippi including Delmonico's, Emeril Lagasse's legendary (and rightfully so) Creole restaurant, The Fix, a sophisticated hot-spot with an eclectic menu (Shaun had the lobster mango tacos, Jonathan had the spicy tuna with ponzo bread), and the exceptional Dragon Noodle where Chris and Jonathan enjoyed quail egg and pork belly sushi rolls and the most flavorful miso soup they've ever tasted.

We also had a lot of fun checking out the cakes and crepes at Jean Phillippe and had a very fine time at Beijing Noodle No. 9 where Jonathan apparently got trapped inside the enormous glass fish tank full of giant goldfish. It was awesome.

But, despite the fine dining and bright lights, we all missed our beloved Virginia. We're happy to be back on the farm. We've had two successful weeks at the Culpeper Farm's Market. Our basil is all grown up and all of our recent plantings are coming along nicely. We've also set a date with the butcher for our next two freezer fulls of Harvest Farms beef. All-in-all it's been a great season for us.

Come see us at the market next Saturday and make sure to join us on Facebook. You can also check out a few desert pictures taken from the airplane on Jonathan's Flickr photostream.

May 3, 2010

Farmers who wait for the perfect weather never plant. If they watch every cloud, they never harvest.
- Ecclesiastes 11:4

Culpeper Farmer's Market

A very big "Thank You" to everyone who came out on Saturday to see us debut at the Culpeper Farmer's Market! We were encouraged by the turnout in spite of the looming rain clouds and chilly weather. We sold out of eggs and vegetables (might need to bump up production!). We also nearly sold of our Jerky. Be sure to swing by the booth next week for more free samples.

Check out some photos from yesterday and browse through some of our photos from the farm.

Thanks again for all your support!


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Come Grow With Us on Facebook.

Buy Fresh Buy Local...... well... sort of

In addition to our recent venture onto The Maker's Diet (as chronicled below) we're also doing our best to "Buy Fresh. Buy Local". For example, our meat has either been butchered from our farm (beef) or shot in our woods (deer). If pork was allowed we would certainly be interested in obtaining some from Polyface Farms which is just down the road (and most recently featured in Food Inc.

But wait! Good news is on the horizon... a few overlooked facts that could bring redemption to this wayward, sugar-addicted soul! This is no ordinary, run-of-the-mill candy. This candy comes with a %100 Freshness Guarantee and is produced just a few miles north in Landover, Maryland.

At first glance it would seem that this sugary-pink confection represents an abomination of healthy eating but, upon further inspection, anyone can plainly see that this "Quality Candy" does in fact meet "Buy Fresh Buy Local" standards (which neither the apple or the almonds can tout).

It's no Scat Snack (or Flax Snax as Lindsay has suggested as a more appealing name for the chocolaty-flaxy delights) but it's apparent that this little candy has high moral standards. And that's a compromise we can live with!

Harvest Farms - Adventures in Eating!

We're on a diet. All 14 of us. Well, it's not exactly a diet... we like to think of it as a new way of eating. Last weekend we embarked on a 40 day adventure called The Maker's Diet.

The Maker's Diet was written by Dr. Jordan Rubin. After being diagnosed with a number of chronic, gut-related illnesses he turned to modern medicine, then fad diets, and finally "miracle cures" on his quick and unexpected descent towards death (no exaggerating, the guy looked like a walking skeleton). He decided to turn to scripture for advice and began eating in accordance with the food guidelines found in the Old Testament. No fish without scales, no pork, no "unclean" animals, etc. He also decided to go all organic and dropped all refined sugars and grains. He stripped his diet down to the basics (nothing processed) and, surprise!, he started to regain his health.

The diet is broken into three, 14day phases starting out with the bare basics and adding new, healthy foods in a progressive fashion. The first phase is very much like a cleansing (no, not THAT kind of cleansing aka "drink-this-and-experience-a-blow-out"). No carbs for 14 days, just protein, veggies and a few types of fruit. Dairy is limited to goat and sheep milk (which, by the way, I would not recommend. It's baaaaaaaa-d (sorry, I couldn't resist).

All of us decided that we should do it together otherwise it would be too difficult to maintain. So all 14 of us (including the kids) have set out together in conquest of health. This first week has been a lot of "fun". Day 3 presented some special challenges as all of our bodies were yelling "feed us sugar!" and getting grumpy over the inability to actually feel "full". Regardless, we've had some FANTASTIC meals and I'm personally really, really pleased with our creative ability in putting meals together for such a large group of people (adults and kids) and such a small choice of foods from which to choose. We've had feta omelets, herbal tea ice cream, grass-fed beef hamburgers, sauteed carrots, garlic green beans, venison tenderloin, eggplant salad, chicken kabobs, and a pantry full of other culinary delights. Honestly, we can hardly wait for the day we get to add rice and whole grains back into our diets. Until that day, we'll be happy with our meat and veggies.

The good news is that we grow a lot of our own food in season. The bad news is that we're out of season! Outside of the row of leftover mustard greens in the greenhouse, nothing is coming up just yet. Luckily we have a freezer full of grass-fed Harvest Farms beef to compliment the store bought organic fruits, vegetables and sheep yogurt (which is incredibly good with a shot of agave nectar and blackberries). Can't wait for the garden to start producing.

If anybody has done (or is familiar) The Maker's Diet, let us know! Chime in with some of your favorite recipes and we'll be happy to try them out and let you know how they turned out. Stay tuned - 40 days of health up ahead!

Spring Planting 2010

We got down and dirty this weekend at Harvest Farms planting seeds for our Spring Garden. We were a little concerned about the moisture levels in the soil considering the amount of snow and recent rainfall we've received in the past couple of months but, with two days of sunshine and wind, the topsoil in the garden was just about perfect for planting.

We planted carrots, peas, beans, turnips, mustard greens... I know I'm leaving out a couple of things but I'll be sure to get the complete list to post from Lindsay.

Check out the pictures on our Facebook Page and, while you're there you may as well become a fan and stay up to date on all of our garden antics (if there is such a thing)! Here's to Spring!

January 15, 2010

I think having land without ruining it is the most beautiful art anybody could ever want to own.
- Andy Warhol

January 11, 2010 - Water Buffalo, 2010 Garden, Where's the Beef?

We should have filmed last night's farm meeting. Aside from the discussion about what to plant in the vegetable garden, we discussed (partly seriously) the idea of purchasing a few American Water Buffalo. You can read more about this enormous spectacle of nature HERE.

The American Water Buffalo
Lindsay, apparently the American water buffalo specialist of our little group (thank you Glenna Richards!), knew more about these creatures than any of us could ever imagine. The hilarious thing (and this really should have been video-taped) is that we were all very interested in the possibility of acquiring some of these beasts. Can you say "niche market"? Truthfully, no one else in VA has a herd of water buffalo so we would certainly own the market. I'm sure the trendy upscale restaurants in C'ville and Northern VA would be interested in putting the novelty meat on their menu. We added "Water Buffalo" research to our homework for the week and moved on to more pressing matters (although, truth be told, I still like the idea... and I dreamed about these very huggable, very large bovines all night)...

2010 Garden - There's vegetables in them thar' gardens.
After much discussion about the pros/cons of heirlooms, non-hybrids and specialty varieties we finally nailed down a list of what veggies we will be planting (and hopefully harvesting) in 2010. We decided to keep some of our heirloom varieties from last year (the one's the worked!) and stay organic with turnips, tomatoes, and peppers. We also added Sweet Potatoes to the list (thank you Tina Boy) as we're tinkering with the idea of starting a line of organic, non-processed baby food. Here's our planting list:

Bush Bean
Sweet Cucumbers
Onions - TX super Sweets
Early Garden Peas
Green Peppers
Red Peppers
Sweet Potatoes (Cenntenial)
Organic Purple Top White Globe Turnips
Zucchini (Burpee)
Jersey Giant Asparagus
Medium Top Detroit Dark Red Beets
Summer Squash early golden crookneck
Butter Boy Winter Butternut Squash
German Red Tomatoes

We're all especially excited about the Tomatoes. Our close friend, Robert Turner, worked with these last year and they are seriously some of the best tomatoes we've ever encountered. Can't wait to try our hand and growing them.

Where's The Beef?
We currently have two cows at the butcher shop. The meat should be ready for pick up next week. So far we have more than one cow sold! We'll be distributing a price list as soon as we finalize our pricing and cut sheet. We're going to do a little taste-testing as soon possible - can't wait to share our results with everyone. In the meantime, please consider putting some of this high-quality, non-antibiotic, non-steroid, grass fed, grain finished beef in your freezer (oh yeah, steaks make a nice gift, especially for valentines day!)

Thanks!

PS - Come grow with us on Facebook. Click HERE to become a fan. And, if you like reading about our antics on the farm, make sure to invite your friends too! Thanks again.

January 4, 2010

Last night we had our first farm meeting of the year. Talked about where to sell & promote our products, how to best distribute our fresh pesto, which Farmer's Market we'd like to participate in, planning our Spring garden, starting an herb garden, growing flowers, whether we should move forward with buying bees, how to treat our soil and how to get the most out of the greenhouse.

Our first two cows were successfully delivered to the butcher this morning at 5:45am. We'll have a better idea of pricing once we work out butcher fees, hanging times, etc with the butcher. We're happy to have at 1/2 a cow sold before even going to the butcher! Hope to have final pricing sometime later this week after butcher fees, hang times, etc are all settled.

By the way, anybody out there growing sweet potatoes? We're considering them for 2010.

Spring 2010 Garden Logo

Our Cow Logo... Ahhhh Promotional Items to Follow...

January 1, 2010

Hello everyone. Welcome to the Harvest Farms blog. For those of you who don't know, Harvest Farms is a family run farm that grows pesticide free, organically friendly herbs / produce and sells grass fed, grain finished beef. One of our main goals is to provide healthy food locally, here in central VA.

On this blog you will find our ideas on farming, butchering, selling locally, etc. You will also find a weekly (or so) update on what what's growing in the garden, new ideas that we're working on, and general facts and figures of the farm (challenges, successes, rainfall, etc).

This is the beginning of our second year on the farm - so much work to be done, so many ideas to consider, so much planning to plan :) We hope it excites you as much as it excites us.

Time to grow!

ps - become a fan on Facebook here.