Celebrate “culture” in agriculture & share skills like growing, cooking, canning

September 2010 Blog Posts (29)

Rain, Butternut Squash Soup & Caramel

It's super rainy here on the East Coast, so I ended up making a ton of cozy fall food last night.

Happily this past weekend we made chicken stock (from two of our roosters that we had to kill a few months ago.) Last night I gussied up the stock into butternut squash soup. Pretty excited that I managed to make…

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Added by Aliza Ess on September 30, 2010 at 11:03am — No Comments

Kefir

There are these magic little colonies of micro-orginisims called kefir grains. They are literally teaming with life, and have the ability to transform milk into a…

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Added by Rachel Brownlee on September 29, 2010 at 9:00pm — No Comments

Looking for some advice...

Well I am a newbie to this site, I just found it. I realized that it might be the link to put me in the right place at the right time. I desire to be self sufficient to the fullest but living in the city and not knowing anyone to learn from, it makes it just a tad bit more difficult to be successful. I came to this site to learn and I absolutely know I will just by reading, but I want to actually get some feild training, I want to do the dirty work... but I don't know where... I want to help… Continue

Added by Jazzmine on September 28, 2010 at 4:05am — 13 Comments

Fall Equinox

Welcome to Autumn. . .

Dahlia bloom…

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Added by Rachel Brownlee on September 27, 2010 at 2:00pm — 3 Comments

harvesting forgaged black walnuts

Black walnuts are native to eastern North America, ranging from Ontario to northern Florida, and west to Texas. There are quite a few of them here in south central PA, and considering that they usually sell for about $13/lb, I thought I'd try harvesting some myself.

Finding a tree is easy--just look for the fallen, institutional green fruits, which somewhat resemble Asian pears. I found mine along a back country road dappling an… Continue

Added by Christa Nelson on September 25, 2010 at 4:30pm — 6 Comments

CSA Cookoff: Butternut Gnocchi with Brown Sage Butter and Two Bean Salad with Pumpkin Seeds

Parker Farm CSA Share 9/22/10: 4 corn, 1 pound green beans, 1 pound zucchini, 1 pound cubanelle peppers, 1

pound shell beans(kidney), 1 pound yellow tomatoes, 1 bunch arugula, 1bunch

radish, 1 bunch broccoli and 1 delicata squash.

Last week, all of us in the CSA were amazed (and a little frightened) by the gigantic butternut squash we received in each share. Some… Continue

Added by Cornelia on September 25, 2010 at 8:30am — 1 Comment

As The Season Winds Down (lessons from year 1)

As our first full season of running our own farm comes to a close, there is so much to reflect on. Where did we succeed? Where did we fall short and what can we do to adjust those efforts and improve for next season? What lessons did we learn through our trial and error approach to small-scale organic gardening? I love this time of year. The feeling of completion of something grand and the hopeful forward glance at what may be possible in the next season. I think that might be the most…

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Added by Doug Powell on September 23, 2010 at 12:30pm — 4 Comments

What's the Difference: Beets on Real Time Farms

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Beautiful beets are piled high at Seattle farmers markets this week.

Here's some nice bright ones from…

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Added by Cara Rosaen on September 22, 2010 at 1:42pm — 7 Comments

Can you give yard eggs to a foodbank?

Does anyone know if I would need a license or some sort of inspection to give eggs to a foodbank? I don't like trying to sell stuff so I would rather just give away our excess eggs. With twenty chickens we have eggs piling up even with three households using the eggs. I have given veggies to a local food bank a couple of times when I had to much, but I am not sure if doing eggs is a good idea.

Added by jason chambers on September 22, 2010 at 12:49pm — 5 Comments

Southern Recipe for Fried Green Tomatoes (Make them now before the first frost gets them!)

Welcome to the fall and Fried Green Tomato season. At this point in the year, my…

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Added by Brea Brumby on September 19, 2010 at 11:11pm — 2 Comments

Starting a community garden

I'm documenting how I and another South Philadelphia resident have banded together to start a community garden in an abandoned city lot. The latest post from my blog is below, but you can also read the genesis of the project here and here.

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We got up early today to pick up compost and to purchase… Continue

Added by Jenni on September 18, 2010 at 7:54pm — 9 Comments

Your Friendly, Neighborhood Cooperative Extension Office

Today was my third experience this year with gardening trainings provided through the Penn State Cooperative Extension Office of Cumberland County. I've been very impressed with content and quality of the trainings, and I felt that it was time to share this wonderful resource with any of those not familiar with the Cooperative Extension office and what they offer the community.

Cooperative Extension is a collaboration between the… Continue

Added by Christa Nelson on September 18, 2010 at 7:30pm — 6 Comments

Red Alert! Stop S.510 & HR 875 - Fake "Food Safety" Bill

S.510 is the Senate version of HR. 875…

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Added by Omega Farms on September 18, 2010 at 1:29pm — 2 Comments

CSA Cookoff: Spelt-stuffed Squash with Corn & Radish Salad

Parker Farm CSA Cookoff 9/15/10:1 bunch arugula, 1 bunch swiss chard, 1 bunch radish, 1 bunch beets, 6 ears of corn, 1 pound yellow tomatoes, 1 pound red tomatoes, 1 pound banana

peppers, 2 eggplant and 1 giant butternut squash.

This dish was inspired in two parts: The stuffed…

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Added by Cornelia on September 17, 2010 at 2:43pm — No Comments

My turkey is where?

We're pushing the envelope on the number of poultry permitted within the confines of the City. We defend our temporary surplus as seasonal and well-behaved. Turkey, after all, are docile creatures and they'll be gracing us for only a few months. Well, we have the most mischievous group of siblings in Southwestern Virginia.

We couldn't bear keeping these beauties in the tractor any longer. It was just to small for 9 turkeys and frankly, our yard was just to small for all of…

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Added by Mike Guzo on September 16, 2010 at 1:16pm — 1 Comment

Why did my onions make me cry?

I don't understand what happened. My onions just didn't grow for doodly squat. They are all about the size of cocktail onions. If I was planning on developing a habit of two Gibsons a night that would be great, but since I strictly a Shiner Bock and rye whiskey kinda a guy I am pretty damn bummed out. I dug them all up and the ones they didn't rot away completely hadn't grown more than 3/4 of an inch around. I thought I was supposed to dig them up when all the top greens are gone, but I guess I… Continue

Added by jason chambers on September 15, 2010 at 11:11pm — 6 Comments

Cucumber salad - a few ingredients make a tasty appetizer

Originally posted on my blog

In Polish meals, you don't really see the huge green salad full of veggies so popular in the States. Salads (or "salatkas" - little salads) often comprise just two to three vegetables covered with a dressing of some sort. And in my family, we ate them with, rather than before, a meal. One of my favorites has always been "mizerja," which is a simple cucumber salad. My mom added… Continue

Added by Jenni on September 15, 2010 at 5:52pm — 1 Comment

Laying chickens

I have had laying chickens for, I think, 3 years now...maybe 4. This year I got more day old chicks in early April for laying hens and meat birds (which I have butchered in June). My question is this. My egg production has really dropped off and I can't see that the new hens have begun laying yet. I guess I can take each old hen one by one to a separate location to see if they lay for a week or so. How long do hens keep laying? At the beginning of the summer they were laying fine. It had been… Continue

Added by Nancy on September 14, 2010 at 10:14pm — 1 Comment

Eat what you can pronounce

Our little postage stamp homestead keeps us somewhat busy. Maybe busy because we're in the middle of a little City and our young family always 'has' so much to do. In the evenings after everyones' asleep, I've found the time to read through several books authored by the likes of Michael Pollan, Joel Salatin, Wendell Berry, Barbara Kingsolver, John & Sally Seymour and specialty books on artisian cheese, bread, and even canning.

Its been a great adventure, from the…

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Added by Mike Guzo on September 13, 2010 at 3:08pm — 4 Comments

Creamed Sweet Potato Greens

My grandfather's timing couldn't have been more fitting. He is a knowledgeable man, devoted to science based reading and gardening. As a young girl he introduced me to the gastronomic pleasures of tender greenbrier shoots and steamed day lilly greens.

Occasionally I will receive a piece of mail from him with a newspaper cut out, or an article excerpt on topics from gardening…

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Added by Rachel Brownlee on September 13, 2010 at 2:30pm — 5 Comments