Turkey Hill CSA

I’m going to plant some raspberries!

Farmer Adam — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 21:11:46 +0000

Actually, I’m planting a LOT of raspberries

As well as blackberries, as part of our Raspberry and Blackberry Research project!

The project will research raspberry varieties for production in Western Colorado. We will research nine promising cultivars and try to identify two or three promising varieties for further research. Varieties will include summer fruiting and ever-bearing types, plus two blackberries for comparison. Yield, harvest season, size and harvest time from each type will be recorded over a three year period, as well as notes on flavor, habitat, storage & processing all posted on a regularly updated website.

Spring on the Farm

Farmer Adam — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 00:22:42 +0000

Spring is here!

Spring has sprouted here on the farm and things are getting busy! Here is a little update about what’s new at Round Earth & the Turkey Hill CSA!

Raspberries & Blackberries Research

Round Earth was awarded Research grant for Raspberries & Blackberries! This year we were successful in our grant submission, and we will be planting a large research and production plot of blackberries and raspberries on the farm this spring. You can read all about it at the special research project web page I’ve set up on the new Round Earth website – take a look at http://berries.roundearth.com. The berries are just going in this spring and they take a year to get established, so we don’t expect much of a crop until next year, but it is exciting to have this new crop going in. I’m also going to take advantage of the (new to be) deer fenced area and plant a small orchard with a variety of plums and pears that aren’t produced locally.

In the greenhouse

With the 1st onions growing strong, i’ve started planting the earliest lettuce, peppers and eggplant in the greenhouse; next comes perennial flowers & herbs, tomatoes and early brassicas: broccoli, chois, kale.

I’m doing a little work on the greenhouse this spring. I’m installing a new germination chamber I acquired from my neighbor who has moved on to a larger, commercial unit (thanks to Kim at Lost Mesa Flowers). A germination chamber is basically a big box inside the greenhouse with a steam bucket on a thermostat, and trays for the seedling flats. With the greenhouse thermostat set at 50, I can heat this ‘chamber’ up to 80 degrees and (and 90 percent humidity) which means tomatoes germinate in less than a week. This should be much more efficient than my existing heat mats and I’m excited to see it working.

Sign up now!

If you are thinking about signing up for the CSA this summer, now is the time to commit! Please send in your registration form and deposit so we can get you on the list. If you can pay the full membership up front you get a 10% discount, but even just sending us the deposit money really helps our spring cash flow. Spring is a full of expenses – from seeds to gas for the greenhouse to new half size reusable CSA boxes (more on that later) – and CSA sign up deposits really help fund this part of the season. Our wholesale and retail sales don’t begin until June, so the only spring farm income comes from CSA sign ups. So thanks for sending in your deposits early as your commitment to the growing season and for contributing to our farms financial sustainability!

A great season ahead

I’m looking forward to a great season, my early plantings are already started and the hoop house is ready to go. it will be packed with heat loving crops this year, especially tomatoes! Please email or call if you have questions or requests for the upcoming season!

Sowing the Onions

Farmer Adam — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 20:54:37 +0000

I’m getting an early start on this year with a bunch of onions from seed. We didn’t have quite enough onions last year, and the fall crop never matured in time to be harvested, so I’m getting an earlier start and planting a lot more variety from seed. i’m still planting the same from-transplant bets of red and yellow sweet ontions, but i’m adding an early bed of mixed red & yellow storage onions, plus a bed of specialty onions like the oblong ‘red long of tropea’ and flattened mini yellow and purple onions. I’m also planting a patch of (seed grown) shallots this week which will be ready by fall, as well as chives and bunching onions which will be ready early this spring.

Dreaming of Spring

Farmer Adam — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 15:59:24 +0000

Summer plans in the middle of winter

Its cold, cold, cold these days and a steady stream of gardening/seed catalogues are arriving in the mail. Of course, its winter and farmers all over the northern hemisphere are dreaming and planning out the next season.

Help me decide what to plant next year!

I use a simple spreadsheet format to go through all of the crops we go each year and make a detailed plan about what to plant next year. The plan helps me figure out how much land to prepare, how many seeds I need, and how much to plant in the greenhouse. Now, I’ve created a simple way for anyone to help me decide what to grow. Just visit our 5 minute survey and vote for your favorite vegetables – would you prefer salad every week, or lots of garlic and fresh herbs, or just tomatoes all summer long? Tell my your dream for summer!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 15-, 2009

Farmer Adam — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 19:00:00 +0000

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 15-end

Notes From the Farm

The long grass in this week’s box is lemon grass, excellent in thai soup, or dried as a tea. Int he small herb bundles are roasemary and thyme.

As things wind down in the field the box has grown a lot smaller. This week’s box was a bit small, but please try to remember to bounty of just a few weeks ago when you gauge the value of the CSA!

We still had a good variety of items in the box this week, but less overall quantity. We’ll have more qty. of potatoes as well as leeks next week, plus more onions and garlic. The carrots are still coming in and we may have more cukes and squash this week. We should have more broccoli and cabbage as well, plus some parsley this week and still more chard and kale.

The salad is done, the tomatoes have stopped ripening. Peaches are done for the season. The beans are done. The eggplant are nearly done.

Lots of fruit varieties coming in – we had asian pears, bosc pears and red & green bartletts this week, as well as gala and some jonathan apples.

How many more weeks?

This is a quick fall and we are trying to finish up the season in early October. The last week will be week 17 - the last farm pickup day will be Oct 2, the last delivery date for cb/gunnison will be Sun Oct. 4th. The last Marble delivery will be Saturday Oct. 3rd. This will be an extra huger box, with extra greens, potatoes, carrots, etc – all stuff that can last for several weeks or more in storage.

Returning the totes

If possible, meet the truck and return your totes the day of the final delivery. If not, you can leave your totes at the delivery location (please collapse 1st) and we will come back the following week for a final tote pickup. Once we have your totes back we will send a check for the deposit money, or we can just hold your totes if you plan to join next year.

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

The next few Week’s Boxs

Parsley

Cucumbers – until it freezes

Broccoli – until the end.

Carrots – lots more

Rainbow Chard, Collards or Kale – still look good

Salad Mix – last week

Eggplant - until it freezes

Peppers - until it freezes

Tomatoes – if they ripen

Garlic – for the last few weeks

Onions – at the end

Leeks – at the end

Zucchini – second planting now coming in – won’t last long

Fruit

pears & apples

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 13/14, 2009

Farmer Adam — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:25:00 +0000

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 13/14

Notes From the Farm

As things wind down this fall on the farm, my newsletters will become less frequent. This one covers last week (13) and this week (14). I’ll send another in a week or two. The boxes are packed full these days, but will diminsh over the next few weeks, my box summary at the end covers the next few weeks.

Last delivery day coming soon: the last farm pickup day will be Oct 2, the last delivery date for cb/gunnison will be Sun Oct. 4th. This last week we will deliver a big box, enough to last several weeks. Its possible that if the freeze holds off long enough we may go one extra week, watch this newsletter for details!

Trouble on the road

Last week (week 12) was a tough one for our delivery! The farm truck died outside crested butte with a dead transmission, and the produce arrived late to the delivery spot. One box was lost during the transfer to a new vehicle, and we wound up towing the truck to the shop for repairs. At least nobody was hurt and it looks like the truck will be ready in time for this weeks delivery, thanks to Lara for covering the last delivery in her own vehicle.

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

The next few Week’s Boxs

Cucumbers – until it freezes

Beans – last week

Broccoli – until the end.

Carrots – lots more

Rainbow Chard, Collards or Kale – still look good

Salad Mix – last week

Eggplant - until it freezes

Peppers - until it freezes

Tomatoes – until it freezes

Garlic – for the last few weeks

Onions – at the end

Leeks – at the end

Zucchini – second planting now coming in – won’t last long

Fruit

last week we had blackberries and raspberries from Austin Family Farms and some very ripe peaches from First Fruits. Plus the rest of the nectarines, some pears and small early gala apples.

this week we start into apples and pears, and the end of the peaches. we’ll have a variety of types of apples and pears until the end of the season.

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Potatoes – started digging this week

Parsley – still picking this, some boxes get it each week.

Beyond 3 weeks
Fall Onions, Leeks
Winter Squash – if i can find some!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 12, 2009

Farmer Adam — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 12

Notes From the Farm

This is Valentin and Lizzie’s last week at the farm, a big thanks for all their help this summer!

We have lots of summer crops coming in now and everything really looks great. The beans are past their peak, but the cucumbers, peppers and tomatoes are really just starting to produce. If the frost holds off for a few weeks we should have plenty more of these crops.

We added up the value of this weeks full box (may vary slightly from what you got, this was the farm box) and got to $45! The full share cost is $500/year for an average of around $26/week. While some of the early and late boxes may be closer to $25 in value, the average is certainly higher. Here is what we added up for this weeks box, these are our farm prices (if we were selling these items at the crested butte or gunnison farmers market we would charge about 20-30% higher prices, which offsets the delivery fee you pay):

Salad – $3.75; Beans – $3; Thyme – $1.50; Chard – $2.50; Kale – $2.50; Collards – $2.50; Artichokes – $3; Tomatoes – $7; Corn – $3; Cucumber – $1.25; Broccoli & Cauliflower – $6; Bulb Fennel – $1.50; Carrots – $2.50; Eggplant – $2; Peppers – $1.5; Parsley – $1.5

I hope this helps illustrate the value you are getting with the CSA, and I want to let you know that the farm appreciates your financial support and the fact that you are taking and using all our produce. We hope you enjoy the last upcoming seven final weeks of the season. Box sizes will begin to decline over the next few weeks as cooler weather prevails and the days shorten

More Notes:

Last chance to reply to Valentin’s CSA survey. You can fill it out online.

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week’s Box

Cucumbers – still more to come – call or email for special orders pickling cukes

Bulb Fennel – we harvested the rest of the crop this week- great sliced thinly in a salad

Corn – Olathe Sweet Corn, Certified Organic
Beans – Green, Yellow & Purple -

Cauliflower – more coming in.

Broccoli – lots more to come.

Carrots – more coming in now

Collards – slight damage, trim the edges if it looks bad.

Rainbow Chard, Collards or Kale – still look good

Salad Mix – a high quality crop at the moment – a few more weeks of salad left

Eggplant - some boxes, more to come

Peppers – still producing

Tomatoes – from the hoop house and from Thistle Whistle

Thyme, Parsley or Savory;

Fruit

A bit of a lull qty wise in fruit this week, plenty more coming!

Peaches – outstanding, nectarines and pears – First Fruits, Paonia

leave pears out for a day or two to ripen

coming soon: Apples, many varieties

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Potatoes – we will start digging these for the boxes over the next few weeks, but leave most of the patch for the last few weeks of the season.

Parsley – Starting to be large enough to pick

Tomatoes – starting to really ripen in the hoop house

Beyond 3 weeks
Fall Onions, Leeks
Winter Squash – if i can find some!

2009 Round Earth / Turkey Hill CSA Farm Festival

Farmer Adam — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 20:06:00 +0000

Schedule of Events

Please call ahead at 970-872-4413 to reserve a spot for the following events – space is limited.

8 am-10 am – Early Tour/Harvest – Tour the fields at Round Earth with farmer Adam Silverstein. We will explore the vegetables, and flowers, learn about interplanting and witness a real pest – grasshoppers! We will sample veggies as we go, and also harvest crops for the day’s meals; We will harvest salad, cucumbers, potatoes, beans and whatever else is needed and ready. Learn how we harvest the veggies at their ripest and see where and how we wash and process produce from the field. Plan on getting muddy (at least your shoes). $10/person, limited to 20 participants, reservations required.
11 am-2 pm – Cooking workshop with Valentin & brunch – We’ll prepare the food we harvest and then enjoy a light brunch – we will transform the morning’s harvest into lunch and have some pre-prepared dishes as well. $15/person, limited to 2 0 participants, reservations required.
1 – 4 pm – Regular farm tours through the fields – learn about the farm, the crops, the season and plans for the future. Free, drop ins welcome!
4 pm – 8:30 pm – Cooking workshop with Valentin & Dinner – We will continue to prepare and process produce from the morning and previous harvests and prepare dishes for the dinner, which will also be accompanied by dishes prepared in advance. $25/person + drinks – limited to 20 participants, reservations required.
Please leave your dogs at home!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 10

Farmer Adam — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 00:19:00 +0000

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 10

Notes From the Farm

This weeks newsletter is going out very late – sorry for that. I am just returning from a short river trip (gates of Lodore) and Valentin filled the CSA boxes. As you can tell from the boxes, summer has hit – lots of everything is coming in.

The website recipe page was just updated with new recipe sheets including bulb fennel. Are you missing something? Remember, if we run short on something, we sometimes substitute a different vegetable. If you didn’t get a certain vegetable or item and are missing it please let me know!

More Notes:

Valentin and Lizzy leave for france in two weeks! As we head into fall, we will have to fill the gaps in our harvest crew. Please come down and visit the farm next Saturday to meet them and at least tour the farm. We are offering several workshops in harvesting and cooking throughout the day, as well as lunch and dinner. I will be posting complete details on the farm festival activities on the website soon and I will email you again then. Bring your friends or family, but please let me know as soon as possible if you plan to attend (how many and for what part of the day). (Also, please leave your dogs at home).

Please don’t forget to reply to Valentin’s CSA survey. You can return the printed survey, or you can fill it out online.

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week’s Box

Cucumbers – just beginning this week, lots more next week.

Corn – Olathe Sweet Certified Organic – our corn is still weeks away
Scallions – purple and green, the last of these for the season
Beans – Green, Yellow & Purple – really starting to come in, we will have even more next week.
Cauliflower – just starting to come in.
Romanesco – this green, fractal/spiral vegetable is in the same family as cauliflower and cabbage, but has its own unique appearance and flavor.

Broccoli – a little bit coming in now, the big crop arrives in september.
Cabbage – purple and green now coming in.
Carrots – some got artichokes instead – more carrots for everyone in the next few weeks – and more artichokes!

Rainbow Chard, Collards or Kale – its good for you! if you can’t use it all, just prep, boil briefly, cool, bag and freeze! You can use it in December and remember the summer.

Salad Mix – more coming

Onions – more varieties coming in over the next few weeks

Basil - A small bag each, call or email about pesto qty. NOW available.

Eggplant - a bit more coming in now, lots more setting fruit

Peppers – hot peppers trickling it now, lots of variety, some are hotter than others. the bell peppers are sill a few weeks away

Bulb Fennel

Fruit

Peaches – Pruett Orchards (Powell Mesa)

Apples from the Kropps – the first apples of the season, crisp and tart! many varieties to come!

coming soon: Nectarines

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Potatoes – we will start digging these for the boxes over the next few weeks, but leave most of the patch for the last few weeks of the season.

Carrots - the fall crop will kick in and we’ll have carrots for the rest of the season.
Squash – new crop just a few weeks away, but may not make it. Some trickling in from the field next week.
Parsley – Starting to be large enough to pick

Tomatoes -a few at the farm festival, then some in the boxes the following week.

More salad, greens

Beyond 3 weeks
Fall Onions, Leeks
Winter Squash – also heavily hit by squash bugs and the cool spring

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – 2009-9

Farmer Adam — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 17:20:00 +0000

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 9

Notes From the Farm

Life is full on the farm. Tons of cucumbers just ready to be picked next week, flowers are going crazy… We have sunflowers this week – beautiful yellow to orange heads with no pollen. They almost look fake! We have had some summer heat, but still lots of overcast, cooler weather. The summer crops aren’t faring well this year, but the broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower and romanesco are really kicking in. I’ll try to take and post some photos soon.

Squash - The worst crop of the year has to be the summer squash and winter squash. I did a second planting after realizing how bad the first crop was doing, but it will come in late and maybe not at all if we get an early freeze. I’m on the lookout for these crops from other growers, but a lot of the local valley growers are in the same squash deficient position we are in!

Basil - Just a reminder that we don’t wash the basil, its too sensitive to water damage. Just rinse before using! We are offering basil to CSA customers at our wholesale price which is $12/lb. A recipe calling for four packed cups requires close to a pound.

More Notes:

Accounts due! At this point all accounts are due – please send your balance in full ASAP! We need these funds to pay works and the farm bills. I sent statements out last week by email – if you aren’t sure about your balance, please call or email me. I will also mail statements and call, but please save me the trouble by sending a check immediately to PO Box 969, Hotchkiss CO 81419

Questions and Answers

Please send me your questions, let me know what you want to know!

Send me your questions! Need a recipe? We have a recipe page on the website, or try allrecipes.com. Want to know when a certain vegetable is coming in? confused about something in your box? email me!

This Week’s Box

Corn – Olathe Sweet Certified Organic – we’ll have this on and off for the next 3-4 weeks
Scallions – purple and green, the last of these for the season
Beans – Green, Yellow & Purple – really starting to come in, we will have even more next week.
Cauliflower – just starting to come in.
Romanesco – this green, fractal/spiral vegetable is in the same family as cauliflower and cabbage, but has its own unique appearance and flavor.

Rainbow Chard, Collards or Kale – its good for you! if you can’t use it all, just prep, boil briefly, cool, bag and freeze! You can use it in December and remember the summer.

Salad Mix – moving into a new patch next week.

Onions – white ‘candy’ onions

Herbs - A small bag each, call or email about pesto qty. NOW available.

Eggplant - just starting to come in from the hoop house – a portion of you will get these each week!

Peppers – hot peppers trickling it now

Fruit

Peaches – Red Havens – First of the season from Paonia – First Fruits

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)

Carrots - the fall crop will kick in and we’ll have carrots for the rest of the season.
Cucumbers – we have a huge crop of these coming in NEXT WEEK
Squash – a poor main crop, we’ll have a few squash, but not enough. I did plant a second crop that looks great right now, but might not have enough time to ripen. I will also try to find another local organic source.
Parsley – Starting to be large enough to pick

Bulb Fennel – sizing up, ready next week

Tomatoes – whenever they start to ripen!
More salad, greens

Beyond 3 weeks
Potatoes
Fall Onions
Winter Squash – also heavily hit by squash bugs and the cool spring

Farm Festival Events

Don’t forget the farm festival! We have a great menu and day of activities planned, so please try to attend! All of the details will be posted soon at RoundEarth.com and I will email you again to remind you. August 22nd. is the date, activities all day. In the morning we will harvest and wash crops, then we’ll have a cooking workshop and lunch. After an afternoon siesta we will resume with a cooking workshop and then dinner. Cost is by suggested donation, the entire day is suggested $50, or $10-15 for each workshop/meal.

I need to rent and purchase supplies for this event so please let me know as soon as possible if you plan to attend (and the number attending which part!)… thanks.

Turkey Hill CSA

I’m going to plant some raspberries!

Actually, I’m planting a LOT of raspberries

Spring on the Farm

Spring is here!

Raspberries & Blackberries Research

In the greenhouse

Sign up now!

A great season ahead

Sowing the Onions

Dreaming of Spring

Summer plans in the middle of winter

Help me decide what to plant next year!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 15-, 2009

Notes From the Farm

The next few Week’s Boxs

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 13/14, 2009

Notes From the Farm

The next few Week’s Boxs

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 12, 2009

Notes From the Farm

This Week’s Box

2009 Round Earth / Turkey Hill CSA Farm Festival

Schedule of Events

Please call ahead at 970-872-4413 to reserve a spot for the following events – space is limited.

Please leave your dogs at home!

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – Week 10

Notes From the Farm

This Week’s Box

Turkey Hill CSA Newsletter – 2009-9

Notes From the Farm

This Week’s Box

Coming Soon (1-3 weeks)