Questions? Call us at (802) 785-4737 or send us an email   |   Current weather on the farm: 34°F (1°C), clear below 12,000 ft.   |   Eye on the Sky forecast

News

Farm news and field notes

  • Winter News from the farm: 2012 CSA, winter farmers’ markets… and more!

    Winter markets  Local, organic food is increasingly available in winter in the Upper Valley. Look for us at the Norwich  and Lebanon winter farmers’ markets on Saturday Jan. 14, and Saturday Feb. 11.

    2012 CSA shares  Community-Supported Agriculture (CSA) is a partnership between community members and farmers, who agree to share in the bounty and the risks of farming. To join a CSA, members invest in the spring — when farming output costs are high — in exchange for a weekly share of the season’s harvest at a reduced price. It’s like a subscription to fresh food!

    Register for a Cedar Circle Farm CSA: choose from Summer,  Fall,
    or Bouquet CSA Shares, or a CSA Farmstand Dollars Account.

    Early Bird by March 1   To take advantage of our Early Bird Rewards, sign up by March 1. Save money by registering early! New this year, buy more than one type of CSA Share by March 1 and receive an additional discount. Payments can be divided into three installments at no extra charge when you sign up on or before March 1. To register, fill out the sign up form on our brochure which you should receive in the mail in the coming weeks, download a brochure, or Learn more.

    New! CSAs delivered to DHMC   New this year! Now DHMC employees and volunteers can have their Summer CSA shares delivered to DHMC on Fridays. Learn more or use our DHMC sign up form to register.

    Subsidized CSA shares  We are pleased to be part of a program that makes half-priced CSA shares available to limited-income Vermonters. Thanks for helping us to make fresh organic foods more affordable to local families in need! Last year four families received fresh veggies all summer long because of donations from CSA members like you. Thanks! We’d love to do even better in 2012. Anyone can donate to the Farmshare Program, in any amount. Find out how to donate.

    Thanks for your feedback  We had a good response to our CSA survey. More than 20% of our total mailing list, including more than half of our CSA members, responded with overwhelmingly positive feedback. We can always improve, and your suggestions will guide us forward. Thanks so much! Congratulations to Claudia Kern, the winner of the farm t-shirt; about seventy people requested entry in to the drawing for our popular carrot fist logo organic t-shirt.

    Now hiring for 2012 growing season  We look for people who are hard-working, fun-loving, and who want to make a contribution to a healthier planet. Learn more.

    Farm-to-School  Cedar Circle is one of a few area farms that have been working to get locally grown food in to school cafeterias. It can be tricky to get entry in to the somewhat closed commercial food system that supports our school lunch programs. We are pleased to report that we’ve made some progress in connecting with school cafeterias, opening the door for future local food purchases; just this past week we sold 1900 lb of potatoes to eight different schools in the Upper Valley: Mascoma, Hanover, Springfield, Windsor, Newport, Woodsville, Lebanon, and Cornish. Way to go team!

    Your favorite recipe  We’d like to hear your favorite fall or winter veggie recipe. If you created a dish that was well-received or maybe even a family favorite, we’d love it if you shared it with us. With your permission, we’ll add it to the recipes section of our website. Send recipes to Cat.

    Apple Celeriac Potato Soup  Cat found the root of this recipe for Apple Celeriac Potato Soup on a site called Tiny Urban Kitchen. She changed it a little as she usually does. It is super delicious.

    Healthy Eating Team  Do you like to cook? The Upper Valley Haven is looking for some volunteers to help with their Healthy Eating Program. Anna, our farmstand manager, helps out with this fun project. The job entails visiting the Haven one morning per week (or when you can) and creating a simple meal and accompanying recipe using the Haven’s kitchen and ingredients that are in stock at the food shelf. As folks visit the food shelf, they are invited to sample the meal, take a recipe card, and, ideally, get inspired to recreate the healthy meal at home. The purpose of the program is to encourage the use of the increasing donations of fresh foods coming in to the Haven through Willing Hands and the area farms.

    [ 2012 January 13 ]

  • Final hurrah of 2011: special farmstand opening this Saturday 12/17

    We are bedded down for winter. May 2012 be bountiful!

    Farmstand Saturday!  This Saturday, December 17, we’ll open the farmstand for the final hurrah of 2011 from 10 to 5. We’ll be stocked with an array of fresh, organic foods to compliment your holiday meal planning — potatoes, squash, carrots, celeriac, beets, rutabaga, turnip, onion, garlic, cabbage, and kale; a new batch of this year’s dry beans, a variety of preserves, take-n-bake cookies, and frozen soup from the farm kitchen; and a selection of beautiful, fair-trade Mexican pottery to round out your holiday gifts. Email Cat if you have any advance questions, and we look forward to seeing you. 

    You can have a say!  We have a created short survey on the 2011 season to collect your thoughts on how we are doing and what we should focus on for 2012. Enter a drawing to win an organic Cedar Circle Farm T-shirt with our new edgy carrot-in-fist logo!

    2012 CSAs at Cedar Circle Farm  We’ll be taking sign ups for 2012 CSA members within the next week or so. Look for an email from the farm in the coming week. If you have any questions, contact Cat.

    Winter Markets  Look for us at the Norwich and Lebanon winter farmers’ markets on the following dates: Dec. 17, Jan. 14, and Feb. 11.

    Your favorite recipe  Throughout the winter we’ll send out periodic News from the Farm and will continue suggesting our favorite recipes like this vegetarian Black Bean Chili which is John’s favorite bean recipe. We’d like to know what your favorite recipes are. If you’ve created a dish that was perhaps well-received at a holiday feast or is a family favorite, we’d love it if you’d share it with us. If we agree that the recipe is delicious, with your permission we’ll give you credit and add it to the recipes section of our website. Send your favorite recipe to Cat.

    24-carrot gold!  Cat found this sweet recipe for Baked Stuffed Carrots on a website called Just Vegetable Recipes which lists hundreds of simple vegetable recipes. She says, “other than the annoying and plentiful ads, I found this website to be very useful and full of creative ideas for incorporating more vegetables in to the meal plan.” We hope you find it useful too.

    [ 2011 December 15 ]

  • Going under cover for the winter . . .

    Putting the berry plants under winter cover: a bale chopper cuts strawbales
    while the crew distributes the mulch evenly over our berry patch.

    Wheat to Bread  We have a new video called Wheat to Bread. It’s on our very own YouTube channel. We have started collecting favorites and making our own videos so that we can share our message promoting sustainable and organic agriculture to a wider audience. You’ll see a few other videos we made as well. There are several more in the works. Our friend Rori Kelleher is our videographer. Have a look and tell us what you think!

    Field notes  The fields are all put to bed now and we have begun greenhouse repairs and upgrades. We are still working on threshing, winnowing, and sorting the beans and have a few varieties ready for sale now. They’ll be available during our second and final Farmstand Saturday on December 17 and at area winter farmers’ markets (see next news item).

    Winter Markets  Look for us at the Norwich  and Lebanon winter farmer’s markets on the following dates: Dec. 17, Jan. 14, and Feb. 11.

    Feed the Movement  We are so pleased to see the national conversation changing a bit due to the actions of the Occupy Movement. We have connected with other Northeast farmers through an organization called Feed the Movement, which like the Occupy Movement is a leaderless effort with horizontal governance, we are all in charge and decisions are made by consensus. The goal is twofold: to bring light to the problems Big Ag has caused our food system and to promote sustainable alternatives, and to send New England produced food to the Occupy kitchens in NYC and Boston.

    Cedar Circle Farm will donate some food, make some new videos promoting the message of sustainable food systems, and help to raise awareness of the efforts of Feed the Movement. A PayPal account is being used to raise money to pay farmers for the food they produced and to pay for some basic organizational and distribution needs. Two New England distributors, Black River Produce and Deep Root Cooperative, have offered a reduced rate on shipping OWS food donations and the OWS kitchens are paying those fees. You can watch the video put out by Feed the Movement. Their website can help you to learn more and to donate.

    Recipe: Potato-Beet Galette  I found this recipe at homegrown.org, a really cool website started by the folks who founded Farm Aid. Homegrown.org is “a gathering place for folks who celebrate the ‘culture’ in agriculture and share skills like growing, cooking, and food preservation.’ I often use this as my go-to source for all things homegrown, and so can you!

    [ 2011 November 30 ]

  • Sharing Thanksgiving with you this year . . .

    The farmstand will be open from 10 to 5 this Saturday, Nov. 19.
    We’ll have amazing veggies and more!

    ¡NEW! Farmstand Saturdays  The farmstand is open two Saturdays this fall, timed to coincide with the two seasonal feasts: this Saturday, Nov. 19, from 10-5, and again on Dec. 17. Fill your upcoming Thanksgiving feast with the local flavors of Cedar Circle Farm! We have an amazing selection of fall veggies . . . carrots, potatoes, turnips, squash, beets, daikon, rutabaga, celeriac, cabbage, fresh greens, and more! We’ll have brandied pumpkin pie made from our own pumpkins! Take-n-bake café cookies, and farm-kitchen preserves to compliment your meal and get you started on holiday gifts!

    Winter Markets  Look for us at the Norwich  and Lebanon winter farmer’s markets on the following dates: Nov. 19, Dec. 17, Jan. 14, and Feb. 11.

    Field notes    Will, Jim, John, and some of our dedicated volunteers have been threshing, winnowing, and sorting beans for days. The crop looks very promising! When the beans have finished drying off we’ll have them for sale. Some varieties will be available at our Farmstand Saturdays this Saturday, Nov. 19, and others will be available at the winter farmers markets we’ll be attending.

    Sharing the wealth  Like most small farmers, we donate a lot of food to our neighbors. This year we were delighted to give a good bounty to Willing Hands in the form of over 6,000 lb of freshly harvested food grown at our volunteer-operated Willing Hands Garden. We are participating in the NOFA winter storage share which will be delivered in time for Thanksgiving to farmers who lost their crops due to flooding from Hurricane Irene. We’ll also be joining other Vermont farmers in sending food and warm clothing items to the Occupy Wall Street encampments in Boston, NYC, and others too if we can. Thanks to our wonderful food storage areas and generous CSA members we have been able to deliver super fresh fall veggies to the Haven every other week. 

    Get in on the giving  If you’d like to get in on all this giving, we will match your donation as best we can. Easy ways to donate: Look for the Haven donation box in the farmstand on Farmstand Saturdays or email Cat to make other arrangements.

    Stellar sides   These side dishes will highlight the season, brighten your table, and deepen the flavors of your harvest feast. Try these cranberry beets and honey-glazed carrots.

    [ 2011 November 16 ]

  • The season is ended, long live the season . . .

    Thanks for a great season!

    See you soon  We’ll be at the Lebanon & Norwich winter markets throughout the coming season. And mark your calendars for Nov. 19 and Dec. 17 when we will open the farmstand to the public, providing scrumptious veggies and more to compliment your holiday meals.

    Super students!  Thetford Elementary’s school gardens are put to bed and their new five-bin compost facility is up and running. This latest installation completes the food cycle: the compost created from cafeteria food waste will go back to the school gardens to grow more food for the cafeteria. The gardens are managed by kindergarten, first and second grade students; the fourth and fifth grade students manage the compost. Cat helps to coordinate and plan the management of the food cycle.

    Field notes  Our garlic is planted and the potatoes are all in. Between snowfalls we harvested a fair sunflower crop and hope to press the oil in the coming weeks. The nine varieties of dry beans are harvested and are waiting to be threshed and winnowed. We’ll let you know when the beans and oil are ready for sale!

    As you like it  Roots are aplenty these days and you can eat them either warm, like these Caramelized Roots, or cold, like this Rainbow Root Salad.

    Climate change survey for Vermonters  Please help with a doctoral study that examines what shapes the decisions of Vermonters to engage in public action regarding climate change. The study is being conducted by Kathryn Doherty, a Vermont resident and doctoral candidate at Antioch University New England who is working in conjunction with researchers from the Yale Project on Climate Change Communication and the Social and Environmental Research Institute. Complete a short survey and enter a raffle to win prizes. Please share with your friends! Click for more info and even more.

    [ 2011 November 2 ]

  • Tiger eye beans, oh my . . .

    We have beans! Tiger eye beans (inset) are unmatched in their beauty.

    What a great season  This coming Sunday, October 30, is the last day the farmstand will be open for the season. We are very grateful to the surrounding community for helping to make this a busy, successful, and educational year on the farm. A special thanks to our ever-loyal hard working volunteers who work for food and fun. We could never be so cool without you.

    Winter dates  Mark your calendars to note our special Holiday Saturdays, November 19 and December 17, when we’ll open the farmstand for the day. Look for us at the Lebanon and Norwich winter markets in the coming months!

    Field notes  This week we are planting garlic. We finished the bean harvest (eight varieties!), some of which are available now in the farmstand. Still to come are the sunflowers which are drying down in the field. We’ll harvest them soon and press them in to high-quality, cold-pressed, organic sunflower oil!

    Super students!  We had more than twenty school groups visit us in the past two weeks to pick pumpkins. Hundreds from The Newton School, Thetford Elementary School, Marion Cross, and Hanover Street Schools were especially lucky students and were able to engage in farm-based educational activities with Cat. They pressed cider, threshed, winnowed and sorted beans, harvested carrots, searched for insects and seeds, and heightened their senses in the Sensory Herb Garden — in addition to getting a wagon ride to the pumpkin patch and taking home their perfect pumpkin.

    In the farmstand  Have you ever tried a Russian Banana potato? How about freshly harvested beans? You will find them in the in the farmstand along with a variety of other tubers, roots, winter squashes, stalks of brussels sprouts, and both hardy and tender greens.

    New from our kitchen  Alison’s Carrot Habanero Sauce is perfect for those who want the taste of habanero without the intense heat. It’s spicy, but more like the heat of a medium salsa than the wicked-hot typical of habaneros. The carrots lend a nice sweetness as well as gorgeous color. It is definitely a new farm favorite. We still have some jars of pickles, jam, marinara sauce, tomato paste, and chile jam.

    Abundance  We had a bumper crop of carrots and potatoes this year and we want to extend the abundance to you! While they last, we have carrots and potatoes at these great prices: Carrots: top quality, 60 lb for $75, and seconds, 60 lb for $30. The seconds taste great but have a more interesting appearance. They make excellent juice! Potatoes: Large and medium, 50 lb for $62.50.

    Squash tips Need some advice on how to handle those large and thick skinned gourds we call winter squash? We have been building an archive of recipes and tips on our website, including how to store winter squash and how to save their seeds for next year.

    Comfort food  Cat thinks of winter squash as comfort food, and butternut squash, or school bell squash as she grew up calling it in southern New England, is her favorite. Baked and whipped with a little butter, milk, maple syrup, salt, and pepper, you’ll find the sweet and nutty flavor really shines. Butternut squash is featured in several new recipes on our website, although you can substitute whatever kind of squash you might have on hand. This Butternut Bisque is spectacular. Suggestion: made even better with accompanied by some of John’s Trukenbrod bread.

    See you at the farm!

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center Crew

    [ 2011 October 26 ]

  • Horse-drawn rides to the pumpkin patch, two weekends, 11am-4pm, gratis!

    Free horse-drawn wagon rides to the pumpkin patch for the next 2 weekends. 11am-4pm

    We love this time of year  

    Pumpkin Festival Report  On Sunday, October 9, we welcomed a record 1,800 people to celebrate organic agriculture with us at our 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival. Perfect autumn weather drew people from all over the Upper Valley, as well as visitors to our area looking for a pumpkin and a farm harvest experience. We are delighted to say that even with our record-setting attendance that day, we still managed to keep our trash collection to 2.5 bags for the whole festival! A raffle featuring gifts from the farm raised over $500 for Evening Song Farm in Cuttingsville who suffered severe flood damage during Hurricane Irene. And a big thanks to our more than fifty volunteers who helped to make this event possible!

    Field notes  As we harvest the last of our crops from the field, we also see the promise of fertility rising in our healthy cover crops of rye, oats, triticale, field peas, and cow peas. These cover crops act as a blanket for our precious soil and food for all of the soil life we so carefully nurture.

    New at the farmstand  We have a bounty of roots and tubers in every color, winter squash, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, celery, cabbage, chard, and other hardy greens as well as tender spinach, salad mix, endive, radicchio, and arugula. We have not had a freeze here yet, so we even still have tomatoes!

    For your pantry from our kitchen  The farm kitchen has preserved ketchup, tomato chile jam, roasted tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, spiced apple butter, and a variety of pickles in shelf-stable jars. Our own stone-ground wheat flour is available in 3 lb bags. In the coolers you’ll find fridge pickles and Alison’s delicious caramel sauce made with Strafford Organic Creamery cream, a big hit at our 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival.

    Our abundance  We had a bumper crop of carrots and potatoes this year and we want to share the abundance with you. While they last, we have carrots and potatoes at great prices. Carrots:top quality are 60 lb for $75 and seconds are 60 lb for $30. The seconds taste just as great but have an odd shape to them. Seconds make excellent juice, soup, bread, or cake! Potatoes:Grade A, large, and Grade B, small, are both 50 lb for $62.50.

    Time to plant the garlic!  As soon as the evenings begin to chill, garlic can be planted. We like to wait until late October to plant ours. The garlic we have for sale in the farmstand is good for planting too. If you are buying for planting, choose bulbs with the largest cloves. Cat plants her garlic like this.

    Warm and earthy  This soup is a favorite of Cat’s. She likes to warm it on the wood stove all day to deepen its flavor. Butternut Squash and Parsnip Bisque with Spiced Pumpkin Seeds. To go totally from scratch, make your own stock and seed garnish.

    See you at the farm!

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center Crew

    [ 2011 October 19 ]

  • 9th Annual Pumpkin Festival — this Sunday 10-4 pm!

    A rainbow of color and an array of veggie varieties available in the farmstand now.

    Pumpkin Festival is this Sunday, October 9!  Local puppetry from Ria Blaas, three shows at 10:30, noon, & 1:30. Two great bands: Jeannie & The Hi-Tops and Rev. Stovepipe! Farm-made fall soups and bread, apple butternut crisp, pumpkin cookies, cider donuts, and more. $5 a car. Free for walkers and bicyclers! Find out more and download a full schedule.

    Field notes  Hasn’t the weather been right on for the season? Chilly, rather wet, New England fall is here! Amazing potatoes are being unearthed by the remaining farm crew, and the farmstand is full of a superb array of veggies. The kitchen is still busy making preserves and breads. New to the queue is farm-made ketchup!

    Fall and Winter hours  The farmstand will remain open Tuesday to Sunday through October 30. New this year: we will open the farmstand from 10 to 5 on Nov. 19th and Dec. 17th - the Saturdays before Thanksgiving and the Winter Holidays. Keep us in mind when planning your menu! Our storage facility is here to keep your meals full of local flavor.

    Not just for pies  Pie pumpkins are great for dessert, but you can also use them for savory dishes. Try this warm and spicy Thai Spiced Pumpkin Soup to make your dinnertime an adventure!

    New at the farmstand   Our new egg supplier is Bear Knoll Farm in Canaan, a small-scale poultry farm specializing in raising Red Star hens known for their docile nature and abundant brown egg production. The proprietors Spencer and Sabrina Powers say, “We feel a low-stress approach to working with animals produces a superior product, therefore our birds may come and go as they please. They have access to food, water, and shelter at all times. We supplement our birds’ diet with organically grown vegetables and grains.”

    Preserving the harvest?  We have storage potatoes, loads of squash in a variety of shapes, colors, and flavors, carrots by the 60 lb bag for juicing, pickling, or for making fermented foods, and a rainbow of peppers perfect for pickling or drying. Learn how Cat dries peppers.

    Demystifying compost  Cat loves talking about soil, and that makes this class her favorite. Sign up here for our This Rots! De-mystifying Compost! October 15th class. We’ll begin with a tour of our farm compost with Nic Cook, and then apply the information to Cat’s demonstration backyard compost system.

    FREE wagon rides to the Pumpkin Patch  As is the tradition on the farm, free horse-drawn wagon rides to the Pumpkin Patch and back are available from 11 to 4 on the last two weekends of the month, October 22nd & 23rd and 29th & 30th. Bring the family, grab a coffee and a muffin, ride to the patch with Jerry and Buddy, and pick your pumpkin!

    See you at the farm!

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center Crew

    [ 2011 October 7 ]

  • It’s the most colorful time of the year . . .

    Field notes  Winter squash is curing in the greenhouses for storage! We now have storage onions, potatoes, and carrots in large quantities, so stock up for your family, or purchase a Fall Share and we’ll store it for you! Our pick-your-own pumpkin patch is up and running, complete with a corn teepee. We’ll be welcoming lots of school groups for field trips to pick pumpkins and even more for educational activities with Cat. Some activities include cider pressing, bean threshing, seed safaris, & insect searches. There are just a few spaces left for the weeks of Oct 11 and 18. Email .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address) to register your group.

    Rooting for Vermont  It’s all about roots here on the farm. We have loads of carrots and a variety of potatoes, as well as a good supply of beets, daikon radish, turnips, & rutabaga. A bin of mixed roots will be one of the prizes for our special fundraiser raffle held at our Pumpkin Festival, to raise money for our friends at Evening Song Farm who irreparably lost the whole farm in the wake of Irene’s flood.

    New at the farmstand  The farmstand is a rainbow with peppers in every color ranging from the hottest to sweetest, a full selection of roots and tubers, and fall greens galore. Delight your taste buds with Trukenbrod bread, made with our own wheat, paired with Alison’s delicious apple butter made with local apples in our farm kitchen. John Mellquist has combined Cedar Circle’s own wheat with cracked oats from La Meunerie Milanaise, Quebec, and cracked rye and corn from Butterworks Farm in Westfield into a hot cereal mix, so good on these cool mornings.

    Roots from old sod  Cat just spent two weeks in Ireland visiting her family, and we’re inspired to share this yummy Potato & Spinach Colcannon, a twist on the traditional Irish recipe. Mix in any greens you like, it’s still colcannon.

    Thetford Elementary School  Last Wednesday, Cat and the students from Thetford Elementary School harvested more than ever before from the school gardens. Students were so excited to deliver their ’home grown’ food to the cafeteria and eager to eat it up!

    FREE wagon rides to the Pumpkin Patch  As is the tradition on the farm, free horse-drawn wagon rides to the Pumpkin Patch and back are available from 11 to 4 on the last two weekends of the month. Bring the family, grab a coffee and a muffin, ride to the patch in a wagon, and pick your pumpkin!

    Pumpkin Festival is next Sunday, Oct 9!  Local puppetry from Ria Blaas, three shows at 10:30, noon, & 1:30. Two great bands: Jeannie & The Hi-Tops and Rev. Stovepipe! Farm-made fall soups and bread, apple butternut crisp, pumpkin cookies, cider donuts and more. $5 a car. Free for walkers and bicyclers! Find out more! and download a full schedule.

    Volunteers rock  Thanks to all you who have offered to volunteer! Our festivals are a really fun time but to experience them as a volunteer is the way to enjoy their full flavor. We can’t wait to see you on Sunday joining in on the festivities, dancing to the music, and filling your bellies with the freshest organic food. If you’d like to be on our volunteer list for the future, just let us know.

    Demystifying compost  It’s time to start putting all these leaves to good use for next year’s garden! Cat loves talking about building soil and that makes this class her favorite. It’s popular in the valley too, so we organized a second round of This Rots! De-mystifying Compost! Sign up here for our October 15th class. We’ll begin with a tour of our farm compost with Nic Cook, and then apply the information to Cat’s demonstration backyard compost system.

    Extend the harvest  Our Fall CSA Share members come to the farmstand on certain Saturdays—starting October 22 through December—to pick up a share of storage veggies, fall greens, & more. A few spaces left: Sign up now!

    NOFA Farmer Emergency Fund Starting on October 1 the Northeast Organic Farming Association of Vermont (NOFA Vermont) will be auctioning off a number of fun and unique items (including two seats to our 2012 Dinner in the Field series) to bid on to raise money for the Farmer Emergency Fund to support farmers affected by the recent disaster. The goal is to raise $30,000 to provide grants and zero-interest loans to farmers affected by disasters like tropical storm Irene. The auction ends October 15, 8:00 pm. Bid on something!

    See you at the farm!

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center Crew

    [ 2011 September 30 ]

  • Willing Hands — with and for our neighbors

    Our one-acre Willing Hands garden helps to provide the freshest
    possible organic produce to our neighbors most in need.

    Field notes  Turning leaves means cool weather crops and storage crops are on the way! Our crew is harvesting fantastic pumpkins, we’ll have plenty for the many school groups who come to visit the farm each fall. While it is not always the case, this year’s CSA has been incredible. May we always remember the good years like this and be grateful for the experience. We are getting ready for a productive fall, and now is the perfect time to join us with a Fall Farm Share.

    Our Farm Kitchen  Our kitchen staff, under the leadership of our chef and kitchen manager, Alison Baker, have done an amazing job providing for farm events and preserving the harvest for months to come. Our new kitchen has gotten quite a work out this season and will, we hope, for many many years to come.

    New at the farmstand  From the farm kitchen we have our own shelf stable tomato paste, crushed tomatoes, tomato chili jam, and more. In the cooler you’ll find radish kimchee and fridge pickles. Fresh from the fields are celeriac, daikon radish, leeks, young turnips, a variety of winter squash and gorgeous beets.

    Get these waning summery crops while you can  Paste and heirloom tomatoes, sweet peppers, corn, cauliflower, broccoli florets, eggplant, spinach, radishes, and fall raspberries.

    Still to come!  Scallions, napa cabbage, cabbage, sweet potatoes, dry beans, parsnips and rutabaga.

    Willing Hands, keeping it real  We provide land, crops, and guidance to a group of amazing volunteers who have grown exceptional food in large quantities. These crops are harvested and delivered fresh to families in need by the super hero-like organization Willing Hands. Many thanks to Tom McQuade our star intern for the past year who helped to make this project more successful than ever before.

    Improving with age  Hopefully we all improve with age, but it is certainly true for soup! If there is any left after serving Ne Ne’s (Nay Nay) Vegan (or not) Leek and Potato Soup, you will be pleased with the results the next day. Cat’s mother-in-law introduced her to this soup and it is one of the few recipes she follows exactly because it is so tasty!

    Try this delicious recipe for Roasted Beet Salad with Red Onion, Poblano and Lime suggested by our pal Christina Joanis.

    Pumpkin Festival is coming!  Local puppetry from Ria Blaas, 3 shows 10:30, noon, and 1:30. Two great bands: Jeanne & the Hi-Tops and Rev. Stovepipe! Farm-made fall soups and bread, apple butternut crisp, cider donuts and more. $5 car. Find out more!

    Demystifying compost  Cat loves talking about building soil, and that makes this class her favorite one. It’s popular in the valley too, enough so that we organized a second round of This Rots! De-mystfying Compost! Sign up here for our October 15th class. In this class we’ll begin with a tour of our farm compost with Nic Cook, and then practically apply the information to Cat’s demonstration backyard compost system.

    Digging in and reflecting back  As we clear out our garden harvests and put our gardens to bed we reflect on what went well and what did not. Our Education Coordinator Cat Buxton highly recommends a little book we sell in the farmstand called Grow Your Own Food. Cat says, “It’s an excellent go-to guide for basic and advanced gardening, backyard composting, nutrition, and food storage tips. This book covers nearly everything I teach in my gardening classes at the farm.” And it’s only $7.

    Extend the harvest  with our Fall CSA share. Fall Share members can come to the farmstand on Saturday’s from mid-October through December to pick up a share of storage veggies, fall greens and more. Sign up now!

    See you at the farm!

    Cedar Circle Farm & Education Center Crew

    [ 2011 September 23 ]

Page:  1 2 3 >  Last »

Press Releases

Newsletters

Join our email list