Author: bloomingglenfarm

It’s a little hot to be stuck in the kitchen all day cooking and frankly, I am not even very hungry. Nonetheless, the kids have to eat. My 14 yr old and I were throwing around ideas for a farm recipe and this is the one that ignited the most excitement in his tone. Sadly for him, he fell asleep and I ate the entire thing myself. Poor kid.

As always with my recipes, feel free to play around with what you have on hand and allow your intuition and cravings to guide your creativity. Here, I use the traditional rye bread and swiss cheese but, by all means, do you. The technique is exactly as if you would be making a grilled cheese sandwich. Once the components are finished, it’s just a layer and griddle party.

There are 4 components put together to create one glorious sandwich but only minimal cooking is involved.

4 medium red potatoes – shredded
2 Tbs cooking oil
1 Tbs butter

Shred potatoes and soak in cold water for 10 minutes. Drain and press dry in a kitchen towel or paper towels until very dry. Heat oil and butter over medium heat in a large skillet. Lay shredded potatoes in a thin layer to cover the skillet and allow to brown. Once the underside is golden and crispy, gently flip. I grated some fresh garlic over the potatoes once I flipped it and let the heat melt it away into the potatoes. Salt and lots of pepper.

In a separate bowl :
1/2 cabbage shredded
1 zucchini shredded
1 yellow squash shredded
1 onion sliced thin
1 apple or pear shredded
Salt and pepper

Slaw Sauce :
1 Cup mayo
1 Tbs mustard – I use whole grain.
1 Tbs honey or maple
2 tsp vinegar
Fold the slaw sauce into the cabbage mixture and set aside.

Cucumber Dressing :
1 yellow cucumber- seeded and diced very small
1 Tbs dill- chopped
2 Tns onion tops- sliced thin
1 onion – small dice
1 turnip- small dice
3/4 cup plain yogurt – Greek or drained
1 Tbs kefir or buttermilk
1 Tbs sugar
salt and pepper

To assemble :
Butter 2 pieces of rye bread like you would a grilled cheese sandwich. I used the same skillet that was still warm from the potatoes. Apply 2-4 slices of Swiss or any cheese you would like to either side of the bread followed by a generous dollop of cucumber dressing to one side. Lay your potato pancake atop the dollop and apply a nice layer of slaw to be followed by the other piece of bread. Place in the skillet and allow to brown on both sides being careful that the guts don’t spill out all over the place. Be a gentle flipper. Gingerly remove the Rachel from the skillet and enjoy immediately. No plate required.

Recipe, post and photos by Kristin Moyer, a local mom and chef who loves to eat, write and play with her food.

Note from Health Coach Stephanie Borzio: I served the beet slaw and simple sautéed greens with Grilled Country-Style Sausage from Hershberger Heritage Farm. The simple sautéed greens use the beet greens so that nothing goes to waste! I’m all about using every part of what the CSA gives us if I can!

Beet Slaw
3 medium beets
2 summer squash
2-3 green onions
4 Tbsp lime juice
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
¼ tsp sea salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
½ tsp garlic powder

Peel beets and shred. Place in medium bowl. Cut summer squash in half and remove seeds. Shred squash and add to bowl with beets. Slice green onions and place in bowl with other vegetables.
Combine lime juice, apple cider vinegar, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in small bowl. Whisk to combine. Pour over vegetables and let sit for at least 30 minutes before serving. Can serve as a side dish or over a bed of greens.

Simple Sautéed Greens
½ lb kale
1 bunch beet greens
5 cloves garlic
1 red onion
2-3 Tbsp avocado or olive oil
¼ tsp sea salt (or more to taste)
¼ tsp black pepper (or more to taste)

Clean kale and remove inner stem. Chop the leaves and place in a bowl. Clean the beet greens, chop, and add to the same bowl. Peel garlic, thinly slice, and set aside. Peel onion, thinly slice, and set aside. Add oil to frying pan and allow to heat up (medium heat). Add onions and garlic to pan. Sauté for 2 minutes and then add greens. Mix well while cooking so that all of the greens cook evenly. Cook approximately 7-10 minutes or when greens reach desired tenderness. Serve immediately.

Recipe and Photos by Stephanie Borzio. Stephanie Borzio is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior. After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member. She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes. Instagram & Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

After almost 12 inches of rainfall in the month of May and early June (that’s triple our average monthly rainfall, and not just any month, but one of the most crucial planting months of the season), the flood waters have receded. We’ve been able to till, make beds, cultivate and plant with the dry sunny weather of the past two weeks. We are however still seeing the results of all that water stress on many plants. At this point we know what we have lost (sadly an entire field of sugar snap peas that was at least a foot tall turned yellow and died- a heartbreaker I know, for it is a crop that we all love dearly) but we are also seeing what will pull through, and with a flurry of activity on the farm and long days stretching from sunrise to sunset when we had windows of perfect weather, we have caught up on our planting.

The approach of the summer solstice signifies the window of opportunity closing to get many of our fall crops in. Looking ahead 100 days for some crops, particularly winter squash (pictured above), brings us to the beginning of October. So it’s crucial that we get all that stuff transplanted by the solstice. Summer cabbages, pictured below, won’t be long until they are ready for harvest, but we are also busy planting fall cabbages, broccoli, beets, brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes.

Looking at the summer crops that were planted in the midst of all that wet weather, they now seem to be doubling in size with the heat and sun. Field tomatoes that looked so sad in the rain are rebounding with their usual resilience. Peppers and eggplants are also happy now that they are weeded and warm. The onion fields required loads and loads of hand weeding, which we’ve now done a number of times with wonderful results (thank you farm crew!!!). It won’t be long until we can enjoy fresh garlic and big juicy sweet onions.

The early variety of red salad greenhouse tomatoes aren’t far from being ready for harvest (shown below)- pruning and trellising these keep us busy even on rainy days. We also have all our grafted heirloom tomatoes in a high tunnel, protected from the elements. They’ll be along a little later, in early August. We have a second planting of heirloom tomatoes to go into another tunnel next week, so we can have tomatoes late into the fall. That’s the theme of this season- crappy spring, killer fall!

Direct seeded carrots, pictured below, germinated nicely after seeding with our precision vacuum seeder, and flame weeding them post sowing, (but pre-emersion). After all the direct sowing’s that washed away in May, we’re pretty excited about this stand of carrots. Something to look forward to!

We have multiple plantings of melons and corn in the ground (those are melons pictured in the very first photo), all of which are moving along, as are the many fields of potatoes. We will be digging new red potatoes for the CSA starting the week of July 3, giving them just another week to size up. We will have a limited amount at market before then if you can’t wait that long or need some for your weekend barbecues (CSA members receive 10% off at our roadstand open Mon and Fridays, 2-6pm, and Saturdays 10-2pm). We continue to plant successions of weekly greens as well as green beans. The earliest green bean plantings may have suffered in the wet, and we missed a few because of the wet field conditions, but the next ones are doing great and we will keep planting every week to 10 days in order to have beans up until the frost.

The pick-your-own flower field we are watching closely. The plants do seem shorter and less robust than usual, we lost plants in the wet ends of the fields and they are definitely behind schedule, despite us sticking to the same planting schedule as previous years. Flowers can be more fickle then vegetables, and are very susceptible to throwing out blooms on shorter stems when stressed out. We will be transplanting a late rotation of sunflowers and zinnias this week, hoping to push the flowers late into the fall since we are getting a bit of a late start. We will let you know as soon as we have enough bloom to open up for member picking.

We can’t thank everyone enough who reached out to us in support over the past month. It really meant all the difference to hear your words of encouragement, and it was a wonderful reminder of why we do what we do. It really is a crazy thing to be in a line of work that no matter if you plan every last detail and work your absolute hardest, there is still a huge variable like the weather that just cannot be controlled or predicted. And we wouldn’t be able to continue in this line of work if we didn’t have the support of customers who seriously understand that. Grocery stores sure make it easy to have everything we desire at our fingertips, and at cheap prices that in no way reflect the true cost of growing that food. With so much available at our fingertips, trucked in from places like California, Mexico and Florida, it has to be a constant choice to say yes, I want to support our local farms and farmersI want to eat seasonally when I can, whatever that particular season provides. It really does strengthen that connection among us all- the growers, the eaters, the earth, the weather, and the choices we make that ripple out through the environment. So thank you, from all of us at Blooming Glen Farm, for holding that connection sacred.

We hope you’ll join us at the farm tomorrow, Thursday evening, June 21st at 7 pm, for a free family-friendly ritual and solstice blessing in the fields of the farm, led by Rebekah Barnes of Rooted Rhythms, where we will come together to sing, and give thanks for the turning of the wheel of the seasons. I for one will be giving thanks for the sun, and for all of you.

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Some photos and photo editing by Dakota Borneman Murtha.  Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

Here’s a true story. Today was my second official day of summer. The kids spent the day in their allotted camps and I walked in circles at home and pondered this recipe. I think I’m still in a little bit of shock that winter is finally over and my long sought after days off with the kids is upon me. So, basically I had all the time in the world to plan and prep for this one bi-weekly recipe I write. Trouble is, despite my love of eating and cooking, I abhor shopping. I will often times drive into the parking lot and pull right back out because there are entirely too many people. This was, however, not the case today. I went to one store, just not the right one. I’d be lying if I said that it wasn’t mostly because of discombobulated brain-fog brought about by my new found freedom.

Earlier I decided on making stir-fry noodles with these fun “Longevity Noodles” I purchased at an Asian grocery store in the city. It’s a full-blown, clean out the fridge, freezer, and pantry week here…”rent week” as it has been coined in the fun recipe blog by Bon Appetit. You get the point: cook and eat what you got. Luckily, CSA day is here and now we have veggies.

The recipe in my mind looked like a farm to table version of Lo Mein with egg and possibly organic pork sausage.  The only thing that I didn’t have here at home was fresh ginger. I made a quick stop at the farm market hoping to find some. To no avail. I bought instead, a bottle of Braggs sesame ginger dressing. Home I came, veggies in tow, to develop the recipe. Against my better judgement I dumped that bottle of pre-made sauce directly into the almost finished product. Turns out, YUCK, that dressing is definitely not the right sauce for the dish and in the trash it went.

Round 2 with the same ingredients minus the Braggs left me with a dry bland bowl of “stuff” that didn’t really scream symbiotic culinary adventure for the taste buds. It needed heat and acidity and a funky tang to pull it all together. It also needed some creaminess and body.

The finished product was a blend of creative inspiration, lethargy, and frustration, but in the end it really tastes good. My only suggestion would be that it does not require noodles. Ironically, it’s a noodle dish but the noodle plays a supporting role to the rest of the ingredients. This would be wonderful with root veggies instead of pasta for a paleo friendly version, or make zoodles aka zucchini noodles with your squash. I suggest Ghee or some good salted butter as the fat. I tried with coconut oil and it was not good.

Funny how one ingredient and an unwillingness to go to the right store can really mess with dinner. Had I followed my gut, I would have made something different once I started to feel the anxiety of bright lights and checkout lines creep in. Like all of my recipes, I will make suggestions throughout. Feel the freedom to follow your own gut and create a dish that leaves you feeling satisfied and pleased.

Ingredients
2 summer squash – cut to your liking
4 stalks kale – chopped
half bunch dandelion greens – chopped
half bunch scallions – chopped
half bunch garlic scapes – chopped
10 brussel sprouts – chopped (or for a more seasonal selection, sub in 4 stalks of your CSA chard)
chopped cilantro, parsley, pineapple sage, to your taste
2 cups cooked pasta of your preference
1 cup packed sauerkraut plus 2 Tbs of the juice (or use kimchi for super funky noodles)
1 Tbs whole grain or Chinese hot mustard
1 Tbs hot sauce
2 eggs – scrambled or over easy
2 sausages or bacon – sliced

To assemble: over medium heat, saute the sausage or bacon until golden. Add the veggies and lightly brown in the meat dripping. Toss in the pasta and kraut juice along with 2 Tbs of butter to Ghee. Stir everything together until fully mixed. In a separate pan either scramble or fry over easy your eggs. Arrange the noodles in a nice big bowl, top with the kraut and egg and some chopped scallions and cilantro leaves. Serve the mustard and hot sauce in a small bowl as accompanying sauces and loosen with a little soy or aminos. Serves 4

This is one funky dish. Probably good for a hangover! I love the blend of creamy egg yolk, acidic kraut funk, salty meat bits and the velvety veggies. Like I said, noodles are optional here. Rent week eating can be fun and adventurous and best of all, a reason to avoid shopping!! Nom Nom.

Recipe, post and photos by Kristin Moyer, a local mom and chef who loves to eat, write and play with her food.

Post editing by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to the local community.

 

Before the strawberries wind down completely (thanks to all the rain this spring), here is a simple summer salad that highlights their wonderful flavor, made even more special with the addition of a seasonal strawberry dressing.

Blackened Chicken:
2 Tbsp paprika
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1 ½ tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp turmeric
2 lbs boneless chicken breast (preferably pasture raised, available from Hershberger Heritage Farm)

Preheat grill.  Combine all spices together in bowl and mix well.  Coat both sides of chicken breasts with seasoning mix.  Cook chicken breasts on medium heat- approximately 5-7 minutes on each side (time will vary depending on thickness).  Set aside and prepare salad.

Salad:
1 large head of lettuce or mixed greens
1-2 avocados, sliced
2 medium shallots, thinly sliced (or sub in chopped scallions)
2 cups berries- strawberries, blueberries and/or raspberries
Optional- chive blossoms, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, microgreens

Strawberry Dressing:
¾ cup avocado oil (or sub in olive oil)
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp lemon juice
¼ cup strawberries
½ tsp sea salt
Pinch black pepper
1-2 tsp honey (optional)

Clean and prepare all ingredients.  To make dressing, combine all ingredients in blender and mix well.  Place lettuce on plate.  Top with sliced avocados, sliced shallots, berries, and blackened chicken.  Garnish with chive blossoms, seeds, or microgreens.  Add some of the strawberry dressing and enjoy!

Recipe and Photos by Stephanie Borzio. Stephanie Borzio is a mom of three active boys and is an autoimmune warrior. After battling her own health for several years, Stephanie found healing through food and lifestyle changes, including joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA of which she is a long time member. She is a Board Certified Integrative Nutrition Health Coach who is passionate about sharing healthy living tips and real food recipes. Instagram & Facebook: Tru You Essentials; Website: www.truyouessentials.com

Post editing by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to the local community.

The dandelion greens in your share are cultivated here at the farm (not foraged), and just like the greens with the yellow flowers that grow so prolifically in your yard, they are a nutritional powerhouse. High in beta carotene, vitamin A and C, calcium, and iron (twice as much calcium and iron then broccoli!) this bitter green is considered a health tonic specifically for liver and digestion. Yes, it’s bitter, but it’s so darn good for you, it’s worth experimenting with to find a way that you enjoy eating it. Seriously, every crop can’t be sweet and juicy like a strawberry! You could easily saute garlic scapes and scallions, and toss in your dandelion greens mixed with some kale or kohlrabi greens. Pair those garlicky greens with creamy white beans or pintos and you have a delicious meal. Or toss it in your sweet fruity breakfast smoothie- you may just fool yourself that its even in there. Feeling adventurous? Here’s another option- pesto! Pesto is traditionally made with basil, but in the following recipe, dandelion greens take center stage. The addition of lemon juice and lemon zest add the perfect zing.

1 bunch dandelion greens
3 sprigs basil or more to your taste
2 garlic scapes, or to your taste
1/3 cup grated parmesan, or more if desired
1/4-1/2  cup olive oil, to achieve consistency you want- start light and add more as needed
1/4 cup walnuts or roasted pecans, or your nut of choice (pine nuts are the pesto standard, but I usually look for a more affordable option)
lemon zest of 1 lemon
juice of half a lemon

Place all ingredients except the parmesan cheese into a blender or food processor. Process until smooth. If it’s too thick, slowly add more olive oil. Add the parmesan and continue to blend until the mixture has a smooth consistency. Feel free to add any ingredients if you like it more garlicky, more nutty, or more cheesy. The lemon helps cut the bitterness a bit, but it’s still going to be bitter, no getting around it. I enjoyed the pesto spread on a gluten free wrap rolled with lettuce, shredded kohlrabi and carrots, avocado and chicken. Or it makes a great dip for your crunchy vegetables.

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

Let’s be real. Life is a busy place. Most of use join a CSA with the intention of hand cooking delicious and nutritious meals for our families throughout the week, feeling good about our efforts as parents and spouses. In my world, reality means very little time is left in my busy schedule to plan and prepare full blown meals most days. In the summer we eat a ton of soup, salad and sandwiches.

Being a single working mom of two young children, it’s my foremost priority that the quality of the ingredients I’m using to prepare their meals takes precedence. Fancy shmancy delivery isn’t often in the cards. Some days, I feel the lack of self care it takes to feed myself something hand spun and crafted with ease and intention. Some days, I crave sitting alone in the sunshine, enjoying a meal for one. Meals are eaten standing, driving, almost asleep, and in hurried stressful situations enough these days. Tis life. Out of sheer necessity, moms all over America are feeding our little humans off the fly by the seat of our pants, menu between engagements and such.

Smoothies are popular for a reason, folks. Plopping the weeks bounty into a pot, blender, juicer, bowl, or food processor is just so darn simple and simplicity is what moms cherish in our hot pursuit of sustainable time management. Soup is by far one of the easiest and quickest no-brainer ways to play hide the vegetable with our kids or make ourselves a small bowl of lunch in between work, tasks, and chores. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I don’t rely heavily on recipes to guide and inspire my cooking.

Soup is so forgiving and adaptable in a pinch when on the fly hungry happens. These are the days of fancy pressure cookers and other kitchen gadgets. I’m a simple gal on a budget and honestly I am intimidated by a lot of those kitchen tools. I do use a crock-pot from time to time, mostly for broth. Broth is a key ingredient in soup. I use mostly veggie or organic chicken broth in most of my recipes. I will leave the broth recipe and inspirational post for another day. This is a soup recipe for one. Mom soup. There will likely be leftovers. Freeze it for another day.  My kids might eat this, or they might have cereal for dinner while I savor it (*Recipe update: Kid approved, no leftovers). Obviously, the recipe can be adapted to feed however many people you’d like. I am merely setting it up as a small indulgence, perhaps with a small salad and slice of crusty bread from Bread Box & Bakery. Root vegetables and cream are a decadent palate for so many creative accompaniments. Think Hershberger Heritage Farm bacon or thinly sliced apples from North Star Orchard. For this rendition, I am using coconut milk and vegetable stock for the soup and garnishing with quick maple marinated carrot salad using Augusta Acres Farm Maple Syrup. So, without further ado….here is the( loose) recipe. Enjoy.

1  potato – I am using a yam this time, peeled and diced
2 hakurei turnips – cleans and diced
1 kohlrabi – peeled and diced
4 scallions, chopped
4 garlic scapes – sliced thin
2 leaves kale – cleaned and chopped
1 handful of escarole – cleaned and chopped
1/4 cup coconut cream or heavy cream
2 Tbs. Coconut aminos or Tamari
dash hot sauce
herbs of your liking, to taste

In a medium sized soup pot cook the garlic, onion  and scapes in 1 Tbs. oil until fragrant and slightly browned. Next, add in the root veggies and enough stock to just cover the veggies. Season with salt and pepper to taste. At this point you can add the aminos. This will also be fantastic with a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if you happen to have some on hand. Stir and cover. Allow to simmer on medium/low until veggies are tender, about 20 minutes. Take a taste to check for salt. Not enough, add more. If time allows, you have the option of pureeing either half of or all of the soup. Either a blender or a handheld immersion blender works. I like mine slightly blended. Back into the pot it goes for the addition of cream and  the greens. Herbs of any kind are perfect here as well, I used a substantial amount of basil. Stir with your favorite spoon. Cook gently another 10 minutes until the greens are silky and soft. Gently, swirl in a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce for that balance of acidity to creaminess ratio.

Allow the soup to thicken slightly, lid off on low temperature while you grate some carrots into a small bowl. Toss with a few raisins, 1 tsp. maple, 1 tsp vinegar or citrus and 1 tsp oil and a little salt and pepper. To serve, ladle into your most self indulgent bowl or mug and gently place a spoon of carrot mixture in the center. Savor.

Post and photos by Kristin Moyer, a local mom and chef who loves to eat, write and play with her food.

Post editing by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

 

We are due to give farm update so here goes. Whew, what a challenging spring! This has been one for the records and not in a good way. The rains just keep coming, deluge after deluge. Every little window of opportunity we have to plant, or till fields, we take. But the opportunities have been few and far between. Many of the crops that we were able to get in the ground in early spring washed away or drowned in the heavy rains- direct seeded crops like arugula, broccoli raab, spring turnips and radishes.

About a quarter of our new potatoes rotted in the ground, but we had some extra seed we were able to plunk in. (It will make harvest a bit of a challenge as the plants within the rows will be at different stages of development. No more blindly harvesting the whole bed.)

New potatoes pictured above- you can see all the spots where the potatoes rotted and we had to plug in new seed. We are seeing lots of plants experiencing water stress. And since we have had a lack of sun and heat, those that are still alive, crops that we typically would be harvesting by now like the kale and chard, are just kind of sitting there, not doing much growing. We have a whole field of Tuscan kale that looks small, pale and stunted, surrounded by weeds. The weeds somehow thrive, and continue to grow. But its too wet for us to cultivate, especially with tractors, and even with hands. I almost could not bear to put the photo below in here, this one is a heart breaker. Water stressed tuscan kale plants stunted and surrounded by weeds, too wet to cultivate.

Every year has its own sets of challenges, but I have to say this one has felt especially rough. We can always add water, but we can’t take it away, and our fields are a heavy clay, definitely the worst kind of soil to have in a wet spring. Coupled with the late cold wintry weather the heavy rains have been especially damaging.

Weedy swiss chard field on left (too wet to cultivate) and curly kale on the right. Neither have grown much in the month since we’ve planted them.

The hardest part of this spring is feeling resentful of nature. I used to love nature- thunderstorms, downpours, hot humid summers- I loved it all as a child. In the last few weeks, when I was struggling the most, feeling deep despair, my dear friend gave me a visual meditation, to imagine cradling the globe of the earth in my hands. I have found that tool to be so helpful, for I do not want to have an antagonistic relationship with nature- why the exact opposite is what drove us to farming.  I want to hear a rainstorm and like the child inside me, dance with glee barefoot in the rain, not feel dread in the pit of my stomach wondering what crops will suffer and be lost. Certainly I feel that we as humans are responsible for so much of the extreme weather patterns we experience, but that doesn’t provide any comfort at all, just a reminder of our shared responsibility for what we are experiencing.

Too wet to work in the fields, the farm crew assembles the trellising pulleys for the greenhouse tomatoes.

I am so thankful for our farm crew, the new crew members jumping in with energy and enthusiasm, for our assistant Sam, and especially for our friends from Mexico who are with us for a second season, so joyful and thankful to be here, and so full of positivity and willingness to work. We never could have accomplished what we did on Friday evening and Saturday without them. Such a small window of dry weather, our fields dried out just enough in places, that with two teams working late into the evening making beds, we got 67 200 foot beds prepped and ready to plant on Saturday. Saturday was a sun up to sun down planting effort (yes, it was finally sunny!)- transplants that have been waiting and waiting to go in- the first corn, the peppers, the eggplants, more squash and cucumbers were all planted.  Fields of cover crops were mowed then plowed under, fields that just a few days before we thought we’d never be able to drive into, now the hope is that after these last rains, we will be able to get in and rototill and make more beds for the next wave of plants. It was a hugely productive day.

First sweet corn planting that went in on Saturday, looking pretty soggy after Sunday’s rain.

We are thankful for the investment we made into high tunnels last fall, where we have early tomatoes (and basil in this week’s CSA share) thriving. Pictured below, field tomatoes struggling in the wet ground on the left, versus greenhouse tomatoes on the right (notice the basil planted on the shoulders of the outside beds).

In the field, well, we have dubbed this the season of lettuce. Oh lettuce, how you love the rain and the cool weather. Let them eat salad- the earth is telling us. So we will eat lots of salads this spring!

You will see that we will be buying in a few crops (organic and local of course) over the next few weeks. This is the first time in 13 years that we’ve felt we had to do so, but it is important to us that we are providing a decent share to you our super supportive CSA members. And though we know that the bounty will come, growth cannot be hurried, not without the important element of the sun. So in the meantime we will do our best, to improvise, to roll with the challenges before us, and to keep imagining the earth cradled in our hands.

Post by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community. 

If you are anything like me, you come stumbling out of winter into the increasing warmth of the lengthening days with a winter slumber still dragging along behind. The long cold season here in PA can be drudgingly hard to transition out of.

It seems like overnight our bodies and minds are expected to be primed and ready for the springtime curtain drop. My body, like many others, is at her best when she is directly connected with the earth and her bountiful sustenance. The winter can feel long and hard and the connective tissue that builds strength and endurance under a warm sun fades towards the last days until Spring. Like many, my body lives in accordance to the fickle rules set forth by autoimmune disease. Stress and disconnection from vital nutrients and the surging life force of living foods will tear down my health faster than anything else.

Springtime means fresh asparagus, wild nettles, ramps, early season lettuce, baby radishes and turnips (my fave), and spring onions! Spring also means transition and seasonal changes can often take a sensitive body for a wild ride. As sensational as the cyclical nature of the seasons can be, every year the rug gets pulled out from under me and I dance and wobble around in the mud a bit before I rest assuredly on the warm soil. It is NOW that I find it of the utmost importance to keep an internal equilibrium with plenty of gut and hormone balancing foods.

The fermentation craze hit the scene years after I had begun treating my own body with food. Food as Medicine is a way of life. The power of the earth’s bounty is just what I need to stay grounded in a spinning world. I have been eating everything from fermented dairy in the form of Kefir and homemade yogurt, simple fermented veggies, kraut, kvass, kombucha, and my new favorite kimchi. Eating fermented foods is key to our overall well being because of the plethora of beneficial bacteria it contains which our bodies need to maintain a flourishing internal state of balance and health.They will reduce inflammation and make sure that the good guys in our gut (second brain) are the ones driving the ship and we aren’t over come by endless numbers of health issues brought about by an imbalance of bad bacteria in our in our microbiome.

Even as important though, is the art and practice of the fermentation process. Alchemical in nature and just about as close to actual magic as you can come, the very act of gathering the gifts of the earth and playing with them in a way that will allow nature to produce its own medicine with only my humble assistance leaves me in awe. This is what makes me feel most alive and I am healthier and full before anything even enters my mouth. The beauty of fermentation in todays cultural and societal landscape is that it is simple, fast and lasts forever.

We are busy. So busy. Becoming stressed out by feeding myself and my family is a natural state and I know I am not alone. To be able to have Food Rx on hand that I know will give me the boost I need is a saving grace. It literally lasts almost forever! There is NO COOKING. You can ferment just about any vegetable and get so creative and allow your intuition to guide you every time, yielding delicious jars of fun, burping, bubbling fun. The recipe that follows is adapted from the V Street Cookbook. I add apples to mine but pear would be good. Get creative. The recipe calls for Napa cabbage but any cabbage will do. We have bok choy in the share this week and that makes a superb rendition. The ingredients are easily found on Amazon or at most grocery stores. Feel free to play around with the heat and acidity. I have black vinegar here at my house but the recipe originally called for rice vinegar. I like mine spicy so I amp it up with hot peppers. Play with your food. It’s medicine.

1/2 cup sea salt
1 cup radish, sliced thin
3 cups bok choy, torn
1/2 cup spring onion, sliced thin
1 apple, sliced thin
3 clove garlic, minced
2 Tbs minced ginger
1 cup chard stems
1 jalapeño, Thai chile or any hot pepper you like (omit if you don’t like it hot)
1 Tbs tamari or coconut aminos
1 Tbs red chile flake
2 Tbs Gochujang – fermented chile paste
2 Tbs vinegar
1/8 tsp pepper

~ Take 8 cups of cold water and stir in the sea salt. Submerge the bok choy and radishes in the salt water for an hour.
~ Drain the veggies and squeeze out as much water as possible.
~ I use a food processor to puree my garlic, ginger and hot peppers and then add the rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. You can use a bowl, handheld mincing apparatus, and your own strength to mix it up, no problem.
~ Plop all of the veggies into the bowl with your marinade and massage well. Really get it into every nook and cranny. This is my favorite part. Mix, toss, slosh and play.
~ Pack the goodness into a sterilized mason jar with lid on tight for up to a week. Burp daily.

This can be eaten after a day but only gets better with time. After a week you will see bubbles begin to form and when the lid is loosened the air will release and the burnt orange lava gurgles to the top and has a life of its own. The transformation is complete and the result is pure robust flavor. There is an effervescence carried by fermentation that my body craves. Listen when your body speaks. Likely the language of the earth and the elements, and the soil and her inhabitants speaks directly to the flesh of own own being and were we to only heed the cravings from our guts would we find more joy in the graceful folly of a life lived through the seasons and her cycles.

Post and photos by Kristin Moyer, a local mom and chef who loves to eat, write and play with her food.

Post editing by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

It’s March Madness down on the farm, and we’ve got an exciting proposition for you! Register for either the Blooming Glen Farm CSA or the Hershberger Heritage Farm CSA during the month of March and take part in an exclusive Meet your Farmers Farm-Hop Tour” in late May/early June. Exclusively for those who register in March, we’ll start the tour with the entertaining Farmer Tom in the strawberry patch at Blooming Glen Farm, and then move 7 miles down the road to Sellersville to chat with Farmer Nate and meet the menagerie at Hershberger Heritage Farm.

Blooming Glen Farm and Hershberger Heritage Farm are neighbors, friends and fellow certified organic producers in your foodshed. One of the really awesome things about joining Blooming Glen Farm CSA is that not only are you picking up delicious freshly harvested vegetables, we are also making it convenient for you to access other local producers while you are here. Those local producers include bakers and coffee roasters, bee tenders and grain growers, herbalists, orchardists, and livestock farmers like our neighbors at Tussock Sedge Farm and Nate and Shelah at Hershberger Heritage Farm. When you join Blooming Glen Farm CSA and pick-up your produce and flowers at the farm in Perkasie, Nate of Hershberger Heritage Farm will be there weekly, selling his certified organic pastured chicken and eggs and other pastured and Non-GMO meats.

We believe strongly in the connection between CSA members and their farmers. One of the many advantages of joining a farm is that your food has a story behind it- the story of the soil, the land, and most importantly the people. Both Blooming Glen Farm and Hershberger Heritage Farm have many hands involved in the magic of their respective day to day operations- on this tour it’s your chance to get to know those fuzzy bearded farmers behind YOUR local food.

For example did you know that Farmer Tom at Blooming Glen Farm was a rower in college? He sees a big connection between the athleticism of sports and the act of farming. Not only is there an element of endurance to the physical demands of vegetable farming- stooping, bending, lifting, shoveling; there is also mental strategizing- “200 more feet of carrots to weed…how fast can I go while still maintaining an efficient body posture” and mental stamina- “okay, its rainy and cold today, but we have a job to get done.” Tom likens himself to a coach when motivating and encouraging his farm crew. Another fun fact: At the beginning of the farm journey for Tom and his wife Tricia, they lived in a geodesic dome in Oregon with no electricity for 3 years while farming in the fertile Willamette Valley.

Farmer Nate is a fourth generation farmer and the founder of Hershberger Heritage farm with his wife Shelah. Nate spent 8 years in the US Air Force; the rigid schedule of the military helped prepare him for the unforgiving schedule of livestock farming- there’s no missing a feeding or a watering.  Nate returned to his roots when starting Hershberger Heritage Farm- his grandfather Pap Hershberger had an 800 acre dairy farm in Pennsylvania- it’s his handsome mug that the logo for Hershberger Heritage Farm is modeled after. Some other fun facts: Nate has a passion for wood working and fly fishing.

Register for any size share from either the Blooming Glen Farm CSA or the Hershberger Heritage Farm CSA during the month of March and take part in this exclusive “Meet your Farmers Farm-Hop Tour” in late May/early June. Have your burning questions answered. What type of chicken lays a blue egg? What is the role of a farm dog on a livestock farm? What is Farmer Tom’s favorite and least favorite crop to grow? What is Farmer Nate’s favorite and least favorite chore each day? What led to each of these farms becoming certified organic and what are some of the challenges that come along with that choice?

Register for a Hershberger Heritage Farm CSA share here: https://www.hhf.farm/membership or shop online at https://www.hhf.farm/shoponline

Register for Blooming Glen Farm vegetable and flower CSA shares here: http://bloomingglenfarm.csasignup.com/members/types or learn more about our CSA on our website https://www.bloomingglenfarm.com/csa/

Already registered for our CSA’s? Don’t worry- we’ll keep you posted about future collaborations between our farms. Still on the fence? Reach out with your questions- we’re happy to chat! And should you choose to register in March, we’ll see you at the Farm-Hop Tour!

Post by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner. Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 13th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community. (Additional photos contributed by Shelah Layton of Hershberger Heritage Farm and Blooming Glen Farm CSA member and photographer Vanessa Lassin)