March 2024: Signs of Spring
Updates 🌱 CSA Sign Up 🌶 Signs of Spring 🌷 Recipe Share
Updates from the Farm
We’ve returned from a quick visit to North Carolina to see family and furiously continue to sow seeds that will be transplanted between mid-March until late-May.
🌱 We had an inspection for a license to sell vegetable, herb, flower, and perennial seedlings this spring. We plan to release our list of seedlings and offer some pre-orders in the next few weeks. Seedlings will be offered at the market & at the farm - more details coming very soon!
🐀 Due to some very hungry voles (field mice), the fall-sowed spinach I planned to offer March - April was completely destroyed. I’ll be planting a new round in a few weeks in hopes of being able to offer our customers this succulent green at the April & May markets. Voles are truly the bane of my existence.
🛒 We will be at the Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market on Saturday, March 30, between 9:00-1:00pm, at 505 Cayuga Street, inside First Presbyterian’s Fellowship Hall. The entrance is accessible (no stairs) from the parking lot off of South 5th Street in the village of Lewiston. Hope to see you there!
📜 This summer we will only be visiting the Lewiston Artisan Farmers Market on Saturdays, 9:00am-1:00pm in Academy Park, June 1 - October 12. We will not be attending any other farmers markets this season. However, we will offer vegetable and flower orders & pick-ups at the farm - details will be announced in April.
Joining Our CSA Can Help You Achieve Your 2024 Goals
Was one of your goals for 2024 to eat more veggies?
Did you feel like you’re falling short of that goal?
It’s ok. There is still time to change your habits this year!
When you become a member of our CSA Vegetable Subscription you’ll receive 20-weeks of fresh, nutrient-dense produce.
Every single week, I’ll fill your fridge with nutrient-dense, real veggies.
Every week, I’ll send you recipe suggestions.
Every week, you’ll achieve your goal of eating more veggies.
Studies say it takes 10 weeks to make a habit stick. With our CSA you’ll have twice the time to practice incorporating more veggies into your meals.
You’ll not only eat so healthy for those 20 weeks, you’ll practice the habit and make to-die-for veggie meals that you’ll propel yourself forward into your 2025 new years goal.
We have 5 spots left, so if you haven’t taken a look at the features, keep reading and sign up today.
Our CSA Vegetable Subscription Features:
Dates & Pick Up: 20-weeks of fresh produce June 12-October 23 (check out what produce you can expect week to week) picked up on the farm in Cambria, Wednesdays, 4:30-7:00pm
Share Size Options: Full Share (7-11 items weekly) or Half Share (4-6 items weekly) (ex: item = bunch of beets, bag of salad greens, pint of tomatoes, etc.)
Weekly Sunday Email: Know exactly what will be in your share so you can meal plan and grocery shop
Meal Coaching: Get suggested recipes each week based on the produce in your share and learn how to store your produce to extend its shelf life
Member-Only Resources: 24/7 access to digital resources like our Recipe E-book, nutrition info, & guides to teach you how to store, prep, and cook every vegetable in your share (even the ones you’re unfamiliar with)
Add-On Shares: Would you like grab some homemade bread, cheese, baked goods, or flower bouquets at pick up? Customize your subscription
Vacation Mode: Pause your subscription when you are out of town this summer
Payment Options: Pre-pay for your subscription in 1, 2, or 3 installment payments. Pay by check or debit/credit card
Signs of the Season
The redwing blackbird has returned a few weeks earlier than typical. The mild winter and the warm breeze hastened their arrival to the cattail-lined pond that borders our one-acre plot of crops. In a few weeks they’ll begin building nests that bend with the reeds in the wind; their conk-la-ree and musical trill will accompany me throughout the warming spring days as I sow seeds and transplant the first crops of the new season.
Saturday (March 2) is World Wildlife Day and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge just over the border into Orleans County has activities for families planned.
Recipe Share
A digital index card with in-season, too-good-not-to-pass-along recipes.
As the weather warms, wild spring greens will be available at the market and in your yard. Spring greens, like dandelion, stinging nettle, chickweed, sorrel, and plantain, emerge to provide a detox of the heavy starch root veggies (potatoes, squash, beets, etc.) that fill our winter tables.
With grocery stores, different “seasons” of produce are available at all times of the year, there is an act of balancing that eating locally available food helps to bring about in our bodies.
Dandelions aren’t a go-to for many people, but the detoxing effects of this spring green is profound.
If you’re cautiously curious about how you might
enjoy dandelions, there are a few ways:
chopped and added to meatballs
Dandelion Meatloaf (1 hour 30 minutes)
This recipe was created by one of our very good friends who wanted a creative way to eat dandelion greens found in our June CSA share.
3-4 oz. dandelion greens, leaves and stems chopped
1 tsp salt
1-2 cups water
4-6 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
4 tbsp dijon mustard
4 eggs
⅓ cup breadcrumbs
2-3 pounds of beef
2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Chop and soak the greens in a bowl of water and salt for 10-15 minutes. Then sauté 3-5 minutes in a frying pan with olive oil and 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced.
In a bowl mix the meat, 3-6 minced garlic cloves, 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard, eggs, and breadcrumbs together.
In a baking pan, layer half of the meat mixture into the bottom.
Top with the sautéed greens and garlic.
Then, layer the remaining meat mixture on top.
Bake for about 50 minutes.
Mix the ketchup, brown sugar, and 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce together and then drizzle over the top of the meatloaf. Return meatloaf to the oven to bake for about 10 more minutes.
