Author: bloomingglenfarm

P1016499Greens are probably the best food to add to our diets to improve nutrition. They provide cancer-fighting vitamins & minerals, the fiber we need for heart & digestive health, & assistance to our body’s detoxification processes. They’re also really easy to add to our meals; a great way to start is by simply adding a handful of chopped up greens to whatever you’re cooking — sauces, salads, soups, stir-fries, casseroles, just about everything! Another great strategy for getting more greens into our diets is to keep a green side on-hand; make the recipe below to serve with your meals throughout the week!

This recipe also makes use of two super flavorful ingredients that we’ve been finding on our shares lately, garlic scapes & fennel. Scapes have been called a “vegetable, aromatic & even herb all in one,” & I would also put fennel in that unique (& delicious) category.  Both fennel & scapes also give us a nutritional boost with fiber, antioxidants, & phytonutrients.

Add your favorite plant-based protein to make the this dish heartier & more complete — chickpeas, seitan, or quinoa would be tasty.  You can also enjoy this recipe hot or cold.  Eat immediately after preparing as a hot side dish, or let cool & use as an ingredient in a whole grain wrap or mixed into a green salad.

Sautéed Greens with Scapes & Fennel

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Ingredients
1 tbs cooking oil
5 garlic scapes, sliced
1 fennel bulb & stems, sliced up to fronds
1/2-cup white wine or broth
6-8 cups kale, chard, &/or collards, stripped from stems & chopped
1 tbs red wine or balsamic vinegar
Nutritional yeast or Parmesan cheese, & sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions
Heat oil, scapes, & fennel in skillet until veggies are tender, about 3-5 minutes. Add wine or broth & stir in greens until coated evenly. Allow greens to reduce about 5-7 minutes, stirring often & adding additional wine or broth if needed. Remove pan from heat & toss with vinegar. Serve with optional toppings.

Post & photos by Mikaela D. Martin: Blooming Glen CSA member since 2005, health counselor, & co-founder of Guidance for Growing, an integrative wellness practice in Souderton. Read more about healthy eating & living on her site, http://guidanceforgrowing.com

In our team meeting today we reminded our crew to take a moment and look around as they are hustling from job to job. We are very ground focused- scouting for bugs, pulling weeds, checking soil moisture levels, installing irrigation, crawling around on our knees weeding and thinning, bending to the ground to harvest. Occasionally we look to the sky when it darkens or the wind picks up, or a hawk flies overhead. A reminder to take in the bigger picture can be necessary, the whole farm organism as a season. One minute we are harvesting spring radishes and strawberries, then in the blink of an eye, the weather changes, the season for that harvest ends and we are on to the next crop.

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Our early spring beds are already being tilled under, fall crops like the winter squash and sweet potatoes are planted and growing, and we are focused on getting all our summer field tomatoes staked and trellised, and weeding crops like green beans (pictured above) and tomatillos (below).

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Staking tomatoes is a serious upper body work out. Our crew is getting stronger and more fit by the day, learning not only what makes a good size bunch of beets, or a large enough head of lettuce, but also how to hold your body to maximize drive force when putting in hundreds and hundreds of stakes.

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After the stakes are in, we’ll go through with boxes of tomato twine, and weave the tomatoes into a trellis. We will keep adding strings as they grow. This work on the front end will make the harvest easier in the long run. One of the first farms Tom and I worked on over 15 years ago did not trellis their 1000 foot beds of tomatoes. Let me tell you, there is nothing worse than crawling along searching for ripe tomatoes under a dense canopy of vines, in the heat of August, during one of the worst mosquito years I can recall. In that instance we learned how not to grow tomatoes, and we’ve embraced trellising ever since!

This season we are experimenting with undersowing our corn with a cover crop- a mix of crimson clover- a nitrogen fixing legume- and lacy phacelia, which attracts beneficial insects. Tonight’s much needed rainfall (keep your fingers crossed it comes) will get those seeds germinating and help with weed suppression over the harvest season. Pictured below, Jeff is using a spin seeder in the popcorn to spread the cover crop seed.

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This week’s share sees the spring crops overlapping with the summer, the strawberries winding down, the peak of the sugar snap pea harvest, as well as the first of the freshly dug new red potatoes and the first pick of summer squash. Hard to believe that same planting of summer squash went through a frost just four weeks ago!

For new CSA members who are intimidated by the new (to you) vegetables you are seeing in the share, don’t forget you can search by vegetable (see the sidebar to the right) and pull up recipes we have posted in the blog over the years. I had lots of questions in the distribution room about kohlrabi- a search with that title brought up a few delicious recipes: “Roasted Beets and Kohlrabi with Fennel“, “Kohlrabi fritters with yogurt dill sauce“, and “Kohlrabi Dal with aromatic rice“. You can do the same search with garlic scapes or fennel. We will begin posting new recipes soon as well. Enjoy!

June 15 delivery shares, medium box on the left and large box on the right. Pictured at teh top of the post is CSA on-farm share week #3/A, 6/14/16.

June 15 delivery shares, medium box on the left and large box on the right. Pictured at the top of the post is CSA on-farm share week #3/A, 6/14/16.

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 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

 

The farm was invigorated with new energy these past two weeks as smiling CSA members filled their baskets with produce from the farm, and headed out into the fields to pick strawberries, sugar snap peas, and herbs. I love seeing the familiar faces, many who have been with us since the beginning 11 years ago, as well as introducing new people to the process. The positive energy, and grateful members provide a reason for the long hours my husband Tom and I, Pete our assistant farm manager, and our stellar farm crew put in daily to the work of growing these amazing organic vegetables. To hear how excited and thankful you all are to receive food just hours from the earth, and to bring that bounty and health home to your kitchens, helps to make all the hard work worthwhile.

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The work of the last few weeks has involved a lot of trellising and staking of tomatoes, and keeping up with all the weeding. We weed by hand, with hoes and with cultivating tractors (pictured below the sweet corn is being cultivated with our old farmall tractor). Often the weeds outpace the crops in their growth, so it is a constant scramble to stay ahead, and to do it while the ground is dry, which it was for quite awhile. There is also weekly transplanting and seeding to stay on top of, as certain crops we plant multiple rotations of- cucumbers, summer squash, beans, lettuce, and corn for example.

Every year we have new folks join us on our farm crew, so there is a quite a lot of training that goes on, especially in those early weeks of the CSA as we get into the swing of things. It’s not the easiest to get 6 or so people all making uniform bunches- but we’ll get there!

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We have been super pleased with our bumper strawberry crop- full share members have already received 5 quarts! The plants this year were big and healthy, resulting in big tasty berries. On a side note, I feel I should explain that you may notice long white fibers on some of the berries in the field or in the bulk flats you are purchasing. This fiber is from the big white sheets of floating row covers we had to use over the berries to protect them from that late frost that came in mid May. Do not be alarmed- it is not human hair, but a fiber that can be washed or pulled off. We are doing our best to remove them as we pick, but are not always successful!

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The sugar snap peas are so sweet and abundant this season, and a joy to pick. Coming up in the share next week will be the first of the new red potatoes, as well as garlic scapes- the delicious curly cue that grows out of the center of our stiff neck garlic plants.

Now that everyone has at least one pick-up under their belt, here are a few reminders:

  1. BYOB: please remember to bring your own bags, coolers, or baskets to get your produce home in. If you’re picking up at the farm, you will also need your own clippers for pick-your-own crops like herbs and flowers.
  2. The on-farm pick-up times are between 1 and 7:30pm on your designated pick-up day. The distribution room will get cleaned up at 7:30pm, but you may do the pick-your-owns until 8pm. If necessary, you may do the pick-your-own crops on another day within the week before your next pick-up, preferably within a few days. The farm is closed to pick-your-owns after 3pm Saturday and all day Sunday.
  3. What if I go on vacation? One option is to “Share your Share” with a friend. You can have someone else pick up your share while you are gone (no need to tell us). However, you are responsible for explaining the pick-up location and procedures to your substitute. For on-farm pick-up members, another option is to change your pick up day from a Tuesday to a Thursday or vice versa. Just let us know by email by 7pm Sunday of the week you wish to switch. Unfortunately, because we harvest a precise number of shares each harvest day, we cannot accommodate last minute switches. Please do not call or email us if you forget to pick-up your share- this just puts us in an uncomfortable situation, as you can imagine.  *Delivery share members do not have the option of switching pick-up days, or picking up at a different site.
  4. Recipes: A wonderful way to get ideas about using new veggies is to ask your fellow CSA members as you are picking up. We also have a wonderful cookbook, “From Asparagus to Zucchini” available for sale in the distribution room- it is a fantastic resource for new members. You can also search our blog by key ingredient and pull up old recipes we have posted as well. And there’s always Google.
  5. We will post a labeled share photo on Tuesday evening on Facebook. This photo will show the on-farm pick-up share, as well as the medium and large delivery shares. This is the quickest way we have found to post the photo, so in case you get home and forget what you have, it is there as a reference. Other folks take their own photo of the chalkboard in the distribution room, or as one resourceful young man pictured below did, make a list. Blog posts will happen as frequently as we can manage, and we will begin to post recipes as well.

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You may have noticed our new farmstand wagon at the farm. It will be open to the public Mon, Wed, Fri and Sat from 10-7pm. We will also stock it with a few extras of certain items on pick-up days so your able to purchase more of things while you are here- a common request we have received over the years. As a CSA member you will receive 10% off- the same if you visit us at any of our weekend farmers markets.

View More: http://vanessalassinphotography.pass.us/20160602bloomingglenfarm

If you are interested in signing up for a sustainable seafood share, follow this link: www.communitysupportedseafood.com to enroll in the 2016 programs for wild caught Halibut, Sablefish, Rockfish, Sockeye, Coho and King Salmon with Otolith Sustainable Seafood.  Delivery will be from Otolith to Blooming Glen Farm- you will be able to pick up your seafood share from the freezer on your pick-up day that is closest to the delivery.

CSA on-farm share, week #2, 6/7/16.

CSA on-farm share, week #2, 6/7/16

 

Photo above, left to right: Medium and Large delivery Share 6/8/16.

Photo above, left to right: Medium and Large delivery Share 6/8/16.

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 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community. Farmstand photo and strawberry field photo by photographer and CSA member Vanessa Lassin.

What is that bright shining orb in the sky?? I don’t recognize it! May almost came and went without a legitimately sunny day. But looks like here in the last week we will squeeze a few in. A great reminder that yes, plants really do need the sun to grow. What a month. On the 15th we had probably the latest frost we’ve seen here at the farm. We rushed around the evening before in the ferocious howling wind, attempting to batten down row covers (without a doubt all frost and cold weather events are precipitated by crazy wind- leaving us to look like a bunch of kindergarteners playing parachute games). The next morning we had a little bit of damage here and there- the cantaloupes, basil and green beans weren’t happy, but nothing insurmountable.  Over the course of the month, we also saw some light hail, plenty of wind, rain and thunderstorms, and now finally some heat and sunshine, and with it, the tidal wave of strawberries approaching.

One crop LOVED the cool rainy weather. The sugar snap peas look the best they have in years. It seems as quick as we add a string of trellis, they reach their tendrils high above, and are ready for another. This season we planted two different varieties, a shorter and a taller type, which should hopefully result in a longer harvest window. We are already seeing signs of the first baby peas.

IMG_4127-001Snug in their warm protected high tunnel, the heirloom tomatoes are growing quickly. We experimented by throwing in a few rows of cherry tomatoes in the tunnel- those have teeny fruit already. The field tomatoes were definitely sitting around waiting for the sun, but should get jumping with the heat this week. We’ll be planting out the eggplants in the next few days as well as the final batch of peppers.

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Looking ahead to late summer harvests, we transplanted our spaghetti squash and winter squash varieties. To help protect the transplants from all the bugs that find them delectable, we dunk the plants in a clay mix. The clay irritates the bugs enough that they stay away, at least until the transplants are bigger and hardier, and can withstand any damage.

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The carrots are starting to size up- it should only be a few more weeks until the first batch is ready to harvest. Not everything is roses (it never is!). We lost a planting of radishes and broccoli raab that got too wet in all the rain, the row covers battered some crops in the winds, and we are battling a new insect that is wreaking havoc on our alliums and has us concerned for our garlic crop. The flowers, despite the weather ups and downs, are thriving and finally starting to grow. The cold weather has set bloom time back a bit though, so it will probably be another 3 weeks or so until we see any flowers to cut, but when we do, it will be a sight to see!

Speaking of flowers, a dear friend of mine, and a fabulous painter and teacher, will be holding a plein air (or open air) oil painting class at the farm this summer- mark your calendars for August 27th and 28th. It will be held over two days, painting in the light of the mornings and late afternoons out on the farm with the gorgeous summer fields and flowers.  Artists of all levels are encouraged to attend- from beginner to experienced. For more information and to register, head on over to Heather’s website. I cannot wait!

With the return of the sun comes the return of the CSA season. On farm pick-up: Full shares start next week- May 31st, as well as half shares/week A. Half shares/week B start the week of June 7th. (Please email us if you are unsure of your pick-up day or week assignment. Or log in to your account on the website.) Weekly delivery shares of large and medium boxes begin Wednesday June 1st.

The first CSA shares will contain some of our beautiful spring heads of lettuce as well as cooking greens and hakurei turnips and other goodies. You’ll have to be surprised as to the details…we typically wait until the day before, and sometimes even the morning of, to make our decision as to what to harvest, since we’ve learned over the years that weather and other factors can alter even our expectations. Or as the saying goes, don’t count your chickens before they hatch, or your tomatoes before you harvest.

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Some pick-up tips to remember: BYOB (Bring your own bags and baskets!). On-farm pick-up is between the hours of 1 and 7:30 pm. Please do not arrive before 1pm- we harvest the morning of the share pick-up, so we need every minute to get your produce picked, washed and ready to go. We will start cleaning up the distribution room at 7:30 pm, so please arrive earlier than that so you have time to collect your share. There will be pick-you-own strawberries, and possibly sugar snap peas the first week, so come prepared to head out to the fields.

For Wednesday delivery shares- your share will be boxed up (they will not have specific names on them, but will be labeled large or medium). You will need to check your name off in the sign in book, transfer your share from the box to your own bags and leave the box at the delivery sight. Your pick-up times are according to your delivery site- Summa Crossfit Doylestown is 4:30-7:30pm, Beth El Yardley is 4:30-7pm and Langan office (employees only) pick-up will be delivered midday during office hours.

A reminder that final CSA payments are due June 1st. If you are unsure of your balance, you can click the registration link and login as a member with your email address. Then you can view payments made and owed.

We are looking forward to the start of the CSA season! It’s not too late to sign up for a pasture raised chicken or pork share with Ledamete Grass Farm. They will deliver your share to the freezers at Blooming Glen Farm for you to pick-up at the farm with your veggie share. You can also sign up for a bread share with Bakers on Broad.  Please click here for a sign-up form. Registration and payment is directly through Bakers on Broad. Any questions please contact Bakers on Broad directly at breadsharebg@yahoo.com, or call #215-703-0518.

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 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

It’s official! The first CSA pick-ups are scheduled for Tuesday May 31st and Thursday June 2. This is distribution week A for half shares and the first week for all full shares and delivery shares (Delivery shares begin Wednesday June 1st). Half share week B pick-up will start Tuesday June 7 and Thursday June 9. Registered members who are half shares should have received an email which contained their week A or B assignment. You can also click on the registration link on the website and navigate to member login to check your member type and balance owed. Payments are due in full by June 1st. Please kindly make your final payments before you come to the farm for your first pick-up.

Just a reminder to sign-up for your bread share with Bakers on Broad– with enough interest they will deliver their fresh baked loaves to both Tuesday and Thursday pick-up days. Located in Souderton, we think this artisanal French bakery’s bread is some of the best around! We are also offering chicken and pork shares through Ledamete Grass Farm again this year, delivered to Blooming Glen Farm monthly for your convenience- their website details the share sizes they offer, as well as other information about their wonderful farm. And new this year, our friends at Hershberger Heritage Farm will be setting up in our parking lot on Thursdays from 2-6pm to offer their grass fed, certified organic eggs, fresh chicken and pork for sale, no pre-orders necessary. Hershberger Heritage Farm is a fourth generation veteran owned farm about 5 min from BGF in Sellersville, Pa. We are happy to introduce them to our customers…we love their delicious eggs with the bright yellow yolks!

Here at Blooming Glen Farm we have been steadily training our new crew members on the myriad of small tasks that make up our busy days. As the weather bobs around from hot to cool, wet to dry, we tweak our plans for the day: “You can’t change the direction of the wind, but you can adjust the sails to reach your destination.”

Tucked inside our high tunnels are an assortment of heirloom tomatoes (see photo above)- trellising them onto individual strings will keep us busy when wet weather prevents us from going into the fields. The spring crops are thriving, and we’re excited for Friday’s harvest of hakurei turnips, radishes, arugula, green garlic and broccoli raab, all destined for this weekend’s opening day farmers market’s in Easton and Wrightstown. And for those gardeners out there, we are also selling some of our extra plant starts this year- lettuces, tomatoes, cabbage, kale and chard. CSA members receive 10% off at our farm stand.

Out in the field, the sugar snap peas in particular enjoy this cool misty weather, as do the spring heads of lettuce that are slowly sizing up. Almost everything in the fields are covered by floating row cover, adding a little warmth on these cooler days. We used almost every last scrap on the farm- driving down 113 it looks a little magical, like giant white blankets, which is essentially what they are.

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Below is a photo of potatoes planted the same week (shown in our last blog post) where you can really see the benefits of the black mulch and white row cover for added warmth. The bare ground potatoes are planted and hilled and cultivated throughout the growing season. The taller potato crop is on black plastic, and under row covers. They will be harvested first for new potatoes, hopefully by mid-June. Despite being planted at the same time you can really see the difference in rate of growth with the two different methods.

As we continue to tend the spring crops (like weeding rows and rows of itsy bitsy carrots and trellising all those sugar snap peas for your picking ease), the first of the summer crops are being transplanted into the field. Out this week went a planting of summer squash and cucumbers, followed soon by green beans and our second sweet corn planting.

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The strawberries are growing quickly, now that their row covers are off and the honey bees are actively pollinating. The plants are loaded with beautiful white flowers and small green berries are starting to form.

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We’ve been appreciating the rain these past few days. Despite having a great irrigation system, we can only water a certain amount of crops at a time. The plants are all happy with a good rain after that extended dry period. A few of our fields were planted with cover crops almost a month ago. Those we don’t irrigate in- cover crops are planted with the sole purpose of feeding the soil- so the rain will finally get them sprouting.

CSA shares are still available- only four more weeks until the first pick-ups, so please help us out by reminding your friends to register now! Remember to “subscribe” to this blog if you’d like to receive an email reminder whenever we post something new. You can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Stay tuned to the blog for some crew profiles, as we introduce you to the rocking team making it all happen here at Blooming Glen farm!

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 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

March is howling out like a lion here on the blustery hill top of Blooming Glen Farm in aptly named Hilltown Township. We have begun our annual spring dance with the weather. A hot warm streak in mid-March and overall dry weather has us eager to charge forward. Our enthusiasm is reigned in when we check the 10 day forecast and see a 24 degree low next Tuesday night. Snow?! That forecast changed, thank goodness.

This is the first March in the history of the farm when we had to irrigate. Irrigating in March means turn on the irrigation system, set up the pipes, water, then drain the underground system when below freezing temperatures threaten, and repeat. Germinating under their protective row covers and in need of water are hakurei turnips, radishes, spinach, arugula, broccoli raab, carrots and beets. The row covers provide a layer of warmth, keep pesty bugs away, and help the ground stay moist in the howling winds. The challenge is getting them on and off to cultivate, especially in the wind. Certainly a great team building activity!

The warm dry weather gave us a jump on farm clean-up and field and bed prep. We have a few acres of ground made into beds, ready for planting as soon as the weather allows. The beds below, covered in silver mulch, are for onions. The silver color helps deter thrips, a super tiny bug that can vector in disease to the onion and affect long term storage.

Our plants move from the warm propagation greenhouse where they are first seeded, into the coldframe to be hardened off. Spinach, kale, onions, peas, lettuce, chard, kohlrabi and cabbage all await their time to be transplanted.

The farm took on a bustling rhythm this week with the start of a handful of new employees joining our full season farm crew. We are excited for fresh faces and the enthusiasm, experiences and energy they bring to the effort. After orientation they all jumped right into the swing of things, quickly learning new skills and working together fluidly with our returning crew members. Pictured a the top are just some of the folks working to grow your food here at Blooming Glen Farm this season.

Red and white spring onions were the first crop to be planted into the field in early March, a rainbow of potato varieties went in this week. The potatoes are placed in a line a foot apart by the riders on the transplanter, below, then another small tractor follows and hills them.

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Overwintered garlic is about 6 inches tall at this point, looking beautiful on its bed of straw.

We are looking forward to a bountiful season, full of sunny days and gentle rains. CSA registration is still open and available on the website, so if you haven’t already, head on over and register. We’d love for you to join us for our 11th season growing organic produce for our community. We typically start the first CSA pick-ups at the end of May. As we get closer, and see when those strawberries are ripening, we will be in touch with CSA members with an exact start date. Until then, you can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or here on the Blog. Happy Spring everyone!

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 11th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

With ten seasons under our belt at Blooming Glen Farm, we felt it was time to brush off the cobwebs and spruce up our website. We loved our old site- it was a beautiful design from our friend in California, it aged well, and got us this far, but a lot has changed in the past 10 years, and we felt it was time for the website to reflect that growth. Sheesh, there was a time when we sent out the newsletter at night using dial-up internet! But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. When we arrived on this land 10 years ago with a year old baby, there was little to no infrastructure. The photo below was taken in January 2006, as we were breaking ground on the construction of the heated greenhouses which now stand adjacent to the Discovery Garden.

We started out with a 100 member CSA, on just a couple of acres. Over the past 10 years we’ve gone from 5 to 40 acres under cultivation, adding in seven hoophouses, one massive deer fence, and an extensive irrigation system. Our equipment and our staffing and our lessons learned have grown exponentially. We’ve increased the numbers of pounds of crops we are harvesting, and by default the numbers of folks we are feeding. But one of the most important numbers we have increased is harder to see and harder to measure- our soil organic matter, and in turn our soil microorganisms, the unsung heroes of organic agriculture- the bacteria and fungi, the nematodes and earthworms.

Our new website will hopefully carry us into the next 10 years, whatever that may bring. These days websites are expected to be informative, but concise, while also appealing visually. We added a short video which expresses the flavor (we hope) of the CSA. We have a few more video ideas in the works for this season, so stay tuned for future collaborations with our website designer, and photographer/videographer, Dave Barbaree. With our new website we were able to integrate the blog into the site, the site works equally well on smartphones and tablets, and most importantly we are able to change and update content ourselves. If you wish to receive an email whenever we post a new blog, you can subscribe (see the sidebar on the right). Unfortunately, if you were a subscriber previously you’ll need to subscribe again, as we lost you in the conversion.

Also new this season is our registration system through Small Farm Central. Click on any of the registration links sprinkled throughout our website and, if you haven’t already, easily sign up for a season of farm fresh produce! We are able to accept credit card payments through Paypal. The new registration system is visually intuitive, with lots of features we will introduce as the season continues, and most importantly Small Farm Central provides us with stellar customer service, so we in turn can do the same for you. Available for the 24 week 2016 CSA season are full and half shares for on-farm pick-up, as well as medium and large boxes for delivery to Yardley and Doylestown.

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Gazing out of the office window at the frozen landscape, we are busy gearing up for the new season. We are entering the last of our records from the 2015 season, taking stock of our seed and supply inventories, perusing seed catalogs and discussing variety changes. We are always tinkering, looking for crop varieties with the right combination of factors that will make it a winner here at Blooming Glen Farm- will it grow well in our heavy clay soil, in our variable and finicky climate, is it productive and does it fit with our organic management practices? Do we want to grow it? Does our community want to eat it?

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Though we won’t start seeding until mid February, there is still plenty of work to keep us busy- we are updating our job openings, managing registrations, and above all, dreaming of a season that unfolds exactly as planned (though experience tells us that’s about as likely to happen as winning the power ball).

The 2015 CSA season has come to an end. This was the 10th season for Blooming Glen Farm CSA, and we think it was one of our best yet. From strawberries to tomatoes to winter squash, it has been a long bountiful harvest season. Looking back we can barely remember the wet spring, followed by the weeks and weeks of dry weather.

The last share of the season saw the addition of brussel sprouts and a Cuban pumpkin, along with favorites like frost sweetened carrots, spicy ginger and popcorn. Similar in flavor and texture to an acorn squash, I roasted the Cuban pumpkin and had enough puree to enjoy as a side to dinner and for a batch of pumpkin muffins. Our last farmer’s markets of the season are this Saturday at Wrightstown and Easton. Come see us and stock up for the winter- CSA members receive 10% off at our market booth. All the winter squashes will keep for many months in a cool (not freezing) place.

Final share of the season 11/10/15

Final share of the season 11/10/15

With the end to the CSA season, we’d like to thank some of the faces from behind the scenes. We often talk about our field crew, but as you can imagine there are many hands involved in the chain from growing to harvest to your table. If you’ve been impressed by how clean the vegetables in the share are, you have these four folks pictured below to thank. We have come to rely on our CSA wash crew. No matter how many crates of veggies we harvest, no matter how much mud is clinging to their roots, they keep them moving through the wash tanks and into the cooler, all with a smile, undaunted by the rush to be ready for CSA pick-up by 1 pm sharp.

Sister Jess and Meghan bonding over carrots on Tuesdays; Les and Jen our Thursday team

Sisters Jess and Megan bonding over carrots on Tuesdays; Les and Jen our Thursday team

Megan Clymer has been washing with us for almost as long as the CSA has been in existence, and now she’s recruited her sister Jess Schultz into the fold to lend a hand on Tuesday mornings. Les Swartley lives just down the road and grew up in Blooming Glen. He wrote a wonderful blog post a few years past with a fantastic photo of his great-grandfather, dubbed the potato king of Blooming Glen. Be sure to check it out- there’s also a photo from 1914 of what was to become Blooming Glen Farm! Jen Westdyke joined Les again this season on Thursdays, and together they get the produce clean and ready to be distributed.

Summer crew 2015.

Big thanks for a great season from the 2015 farm crew!

As we wrap up another season on the farm, we are beginning to look ahead to the next. After a bit of a breather, we will begin seed ordering, record keeping, hiring and crop planning for another year. We are also in the midst of redesigning our website- stay tuned! We very much appreciate your looking and planning ahead with us, as it is your CSA registration and payments for the 2016 season which make it possible for all the work that needs to happen in the winter months. It is this community commitment and mutual support that set us apart from other farm models, and allows us to grow and continue to prosper from year to year.

As a thank you for planning ahead, we are offering an early bird discount. Blooming Glen Farm’s early bird discount is for returning members who re-register and pay for the 2016 season by Jan 1st, after which time we will open registration up to the public.

Members who register and pay by Jan 1st will receive a 5% discount. Depending on your share type that’s a savings of anywhere from $21 to $40. That’s no small potatoes!

This year we are trying a new registration system through Small Farm Central. We hope you will find it easy to use. Please do not hesitate to email us directly if you have any questions. To register for the 2016 CSA season, click on the following link (or copy and paste into your browser): http://bloomingglenfarm.csasignup.com. *You will need to select your share type and register first. DO NOT click on the member login button. This feature is for use after you register. Since we are using a new registration system, everyone must go through the share selection and registration process first.

With the new registration system we are able to offer the convenience of paying either through Pay Pal, or directly to the farm by check. If you choose to pay through PayPal, we will be adding on a 3% service fee to cover the fee that they charge for online transactions. We will continue to offer a down payment option- please note that you will need to make the down payment immediately and a final payment by June 1st. Both payments must be made using the same payment method you choose at registration.

Blooming Glen Farm is grateful for the opportunity to provide certified organic produce to you and your family. As we finish up our 10th season growing, we look ahead to a great 2016 season, and hope you’ll share it with us!

To Register for the 2016 farm season: http://bloomingglenfarm.csasignup.com

Have a delicious Thanksgiving and a wonderful winter!

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 10th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

Unseasonably warm weather has put a spring in our step as we reach the home stretch of the CSA. It certainly feels a little strange to be this warm during harvest in November, but we’re not complaining! We’ll take t-shirts over frosty fingers any day!  The share this week contains a few new items…arugula, popcorn and carrots. Check out my popping instructions in last season’s blog post if you are new to popping your own corn. A few blisters later, we got most all the kernels off the cobs for you. I did go ahead and purchase a hand crank sheller- (after we’d shelled most of it by hand of course 🙁 ). Hopefully it will allow us to increase production even more next year, as it is one of those crops that just tastes so remarkably better “homegrown”.

11/2/15, CSA on-farm A week #23.

11/2/15, CSA on-farm A week #23.

Another crop with a stupendous flavor is the frost nipped carrots. Oh so sweet and glowing with orange goodness, store bought carrots trucked in from California literally pale in comparison. They were a major success story of this season’s new machinery acquisition of a tractor drawn vacuum seeder. Sowing at the exact spacing we wanted completely eliminated the need to go through and thin the extra plants out. We are also pleased with the choice in carrot variety- certified organic seed, 50 days to harvest, and a great taste. That’s a win win!

2015 May12

Reminder- this week is the last boxed delivery share, as well as the last week for on-farm half shares week A. Next week (Nov. 10 and 12th) is the last week for on-farm full shares and half shares week B. Thanksgiving box details were emailed out separately today. If you did not receive an email and wish to purchase a box, please email us directly and we will contact you.

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 10th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

Our sixth annual pie bake-off contest brought in 24 pie entries. Over 100 votes were cast for the people’s choice award, and our panel of three judges deliberated at length to come to a consensus on the top three winners for the judges vote. We were clearly all winners for tasting such an incredible array of beautifully crafted pies, from Maple Walnut, Cherry Berry and Caramel Apple, to Snickerdoodle, Apple Crumb, Peach Ginger, Maple Cream and Harvest Berry to name just a few. This year there was no overlap between the judges and the people’s votes, though clearly rich chocolaty pies (with a few pecans and fruits thrown in for good measure) rose to the top. This year, three of our six winners were under the age of 18. A common theme- have fun baking and don’t be afraid to experiment!

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Pie judges (left to right): Julia Thomas, Buck Hazzard and Rose Vaeth

Leading this year’s judging panel was Rosemary Vaeth, “veteran of the pastry world, long-time member of the food service industry, and deeply opinionated individual.” Rose is still thrilled that she managed to score a spot on the judging panel two years running.

Julia Thomas, a CSA member and former pie bake-off winner with her Banoffi Pie Recipe, joined us for the first time as a judge. She brings a background as a private chef to famous rock bands, having travelled extensively over the years cooking and baking for the likes of ZZ Top, Queen, Aerosmith and Elton John. Julia remembers one particularly daunting task in the early 90s of arriving in a communist Russia and bartering for food and buying provisions on the black market to feed 400 band and crew that same day. “It was quite the challenge! Forget menu planning! Arriving in Rome at 5am and being met by 16 scooters to take me grocery shopping was also another fond memory. I love the unexpected, that’s why I always enjoy the unusual veg we get at Blooming Glen!”

Buck Hazzard, baker at Crossroads Bakery in Doylestown for the past 8 years, just returned from a motorcycle road trip out west that included a stop over in Pie Town, New Mexico. Reflecting on the pie bake-off experience, Buck says “having community support for our local farmers is the tie that keeps us grounded, and holding a pie contest allows us to celebrate together the love of the simplest things in life: food and friends.”

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S’mores Pie
by Emily Williams
Judges Votes: First Place

Emily Williams- “My name is Emily and I am 10 years old. I have been baking pies for 2 years now, but I have been baking for 4 years.  I decided to make a s’mores pie because I love making (and eating) s’mores.  I was signed up for the contest at first just because my friend signed me up. My quote is, “Thank you Dakota for signing me up. You’re a great friend.”

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Emily Williams, and friends, with her award for winning Judges first place.

Ingredients
1 stick of butter
1/2 cups white sugar
1 whole egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup of flour
1 cup graham cracker crumbs
1 teaspoon baking powder
7 ounces, weight container of  marshmallow crème
8 whole (1.55 Oz bars) Hershey chocolate bars, unwrapped
1 cup mini marshmallows
1/4 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 and spray a 9″ pie pan with baking spray. In a large bowl beat the butter and sugar together until they are well combined, then add the egg and vanilla and stir them in.  Stir in the flour, graham cracker crumbs, and baking powder.

Divide the dough in half. Press half the dough in the bottom and up the sides of the pie pan. Then spread the marshmallow creme over the bottom crust. Separate the chocolate bars into rectangles and place them over the creme.  Then put the marshmallows on top.

With the remaining crust pat sections of the dough onto the top and around the marshmallows. Make sure some of the marshmallows are showing.  Sprinkle the top with chocolate chips. Bake your pie 20 minutes until lightly brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and set on a wire rack.  Cool the pie completely before cutting.

The winning Ground Cherry Pie is the first pie in the foreground.

The judges tasted first. Scott Brown’s award winning Ground Cherry Pie is the first pie in the foreground.

Ground Cherry Pie
by Scott Brown
Judges Vote: Second Place

Scott has been baking as a hobby for over 25 years. He started out making cookies and in the past few years he has been making amazing muffins and breads for the gang at the office (his wife owns local business, Harmony Clean). At the holidays, he and his wife Vicki make 15 different cookies for family members. Vicki Brown- “I think it is the best part of the holidays! Scott loves to find new recipes and we are hoping when he retires from his job as a union concrete guy that he starts a bakery!”

Crust Ingredients
2 teaspoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 ½ cups flour
1 stick of butter cold
1/4 cup oil (veggie)
1/2 cup milk

In a food processor mix sugar, salt, flour. Add butter and oil until crumbly, drizzle milk in processor until combined. Divide into two 1-inch round discs and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.

Pie Filling Ingredients
4 cups ground cherries (Bakers Note: we bought these at Bolton’s Farm market-you have to peel away the outer layer)
2 cups sugar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Mix all together and add to pie crust, place top crust on, bake at 350 until top is golden brown and juices are bubbling.

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Pumpkin Chocolate Mousse Pie
By Josie Gilmore
Judge’s Vote: Third Place

Josie, last season’s winner of the people’s choice award with her Chocolate Caramel Pie, is a senior at Council Rock H.S. You’ll see her every Saturday slinging veggies behind the Blooming Glen Farm booth at the Wrightstown Farmers Market. Josie was inspired by her famous chocolate mousse recipe to find a pie that would pair chocolate mousse with the seasonally appropriate pumpkin.  Josie is currently applying to colleges where she can pursue her love for science.  “I love chemistry and baking is similar to it in a lot of ways. Maybe that’s why I’m good at baking!”

Ingredients
1 (8.8-ounce) pkg. Biscoff cookies, crushed
5 tablespoons butter, melted
½ cup chopped pecans (optional)
4 egg yolks (well beaten)
2 heaping tablespoons flour
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
2 cups milk, divided
1 teaspoon vanilla
pinch salt
3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1½ cups canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
3 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
6 tablespoons water
1½ cups cold whipping cream
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1¼ cups powdered sugar
sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings for garnish

Instructions to Make Crust: Preheat oven to 325 F. Butter a 9-inch diameter springform pan with 2¾-inch sides. Mix cookie crumbs, melted butter and nuts in a medium bowl until crumbs are evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom and up 1 inch of the sides of the pan. Bake at 325 F for 15 minutes. Cool completely.

To Make Filling: Make a paste of the egg yolks, flour, sugars and small amount of the milk in a heavy medium saucepan. In a microwave-safe bowl, heat remaining milk 1 minute. Slowly add milk to the egg mixture and, stirring constantly, cook over medium low heat 7-10 minutes or until thickened (mixture will thicken more as it cools). Remove from heat and stir in vanilla and salt.

Measure out 1 cup of the filling and put into a separate bowl. Add chocolate to the remaining filling and stir to melt. In reserved bowl, add pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Pour chocolate filling into a medium bowl, then press plastic wrap onto the surface of both of the fillings, to eliminate a skin. Refrigerate about 30 minutes. Soften the gelatin in the water for about 5 minutes in a microwave-safe dish.

In a medium chilled bowl, whip cream until stiff peaks form. Microwave gelatin until it dissolves and starts to bubble around the edges, around 30 seconds. In a small bowl, cream together cream cheese and powdered sugar. Stir in 1/3 of the dissolved gelatin into each of the 3 filling bowls (about 2½ tablespoons each–however, I only used 1 Tbsp) and combine well. Fold in 1/3 of the whipped cream into each of the 3 fillings.

Spread chocolate pudding onto cooled crust. Place in freezer for 10 minutes to become firmer. Layer with the cream cheese filling, then place into the freezer for another 10 minutes. Top with the pumpkin layer.

Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight. Garnish with sweetened whipped cream and chocolate shavings before serving.

People's Choice winners, left to right: Rose Vaeth, Chloe Nazemi, Allison Seelaus

People’s Choice winners, left to right: Lori Guerin, Chloe Nazemi and Allison Seelaus with the trophy.

Maple Brown Butter Rum Peach Pie
by Allison Seelaus
People’s Choice: First Place

Allison Seelaus- “A little bit about myself, baking is my passion. I graduated from The Culinary Institute of America in New York City and hold a Baking and Pastry degree. Ever since I was two years old, mixing cookie dough with my family, I knew I was going to be a Baker/Pastry Chef. Baking is my life. Currently, I am a Pastry Chef at Normandy Farm Estates producing desserts and bread for over 400 residents daily.

Why I chose this pie:  I love everything about this pie from the bubbly caramel filling to the crispy crunchy streusel. Having ripe peaches is key because it makes the pie so sweet and just perfect! I knew this pie would please many taste buds because it includes flavors like cinnamon, allspice, spiced rum and maple syrup which are known flavors of fall.”

Pie Filling Ingredients
3 pounds ripe peaches (about 6 peaches)
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 ½ tablespoons flour
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon salt
Pinch of allspice
½ cup sugar
¼ cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons spiced rum
1 tablespoon water
3 tablespoons butter

Streusel Ingredients
1/3 cup pecans
½ cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour
½ cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
Pinch cinnamon

Crust Ingredients (from Smitten Kitchen):
2½ cups flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold
Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, to serve

If making homemade crust (you can also use frozen or refrigerated pie crust), start with that. Pour one cup of cold water into a bowl and add in a few ice cubes. Set aside. In a large bowl, whisk 2½ cups flour, 1 tablespoon sugar, and 1 teaspoon salt until well-combined. Take out your butter. It needs to be very cold, so you may want to put it in the freezer for a few minutes to really get it solid. Cut the 2 sticks of butter into ½” pieces Use a pastry blender or food processor to combine the flour mixture and butter pieces until the butter is broken up into pea-sized pieces. DO NOT OVERMIX.

Drizzle half of the ice cold water over the mixture (making sure not to accidentally pour in any ice cubes). Using a rubber spatula, mix together the dough until large lumps form. Use your hands to knead it all into one smooth ball. Divide the dough in half, shape into disks (balls first, then flatten a bit), and wrap in plastic wrap. Let chill in the fridge for at least an hour and a half before rolling out. Stays good in fridge for one week, longer in freezer.

When your dough is ready, flour everything. Your counter, your rolling pin, the dough itself. You want a lot of flour. Press your rolling pin down in the center of the dough disk and push outward. Roll in that direction a few times, then lift and do a quarter turn and roll that direction a few times. Continue rolling, turning the dough, and rolling again until the entire crust is rolled out into a 12″ circle. Work quickly, you don’t want the dough to warm up.

Place the pie crust in your pie pan and fold the excess, overhanging dough underneath, so the pie is now the size of the pan. Crimp the pie crust by making a “V” or pinching shape with your thumb and forefinger on the outside of the crust. Then, using your other pointer finger, push the crust from the inside to fit in between the V-shaped fingers. Continue all around the crust. Refrigerate for another 30 minutes.

As you wait for your crust to cool, make the filling. Peel and slice the peaches, and then toss in a large bowl with the cornstarch, flour, cinnamon, salt, and allspice. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat, combine the sugar, maple syrup, rum, and water. Stir JUST UNTIL the sugar dissolves and then let come to a boil. Resist the urge to stir while it boils. Swirl the pan occasionally to make sure the caramel is browning evenly, but DO NOT STIR. Once the caramel turns a deep amber brown, remove from heat and add in the butter, swirling the pan until the butter completely melts.

Pour the caramel over the peaches and mix well. Pour the peach-caramel filling into the prepared pie shell and place in the refrigerator once more.

Sprinkle the pecans on a baking sheet and toast for 5 minutes. Remove and set aside until cool enough to handle, then chop.

In the same small, heavy-bottomed saucepan you used for the caramel, melt a stick of butter over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until the butter turns golden-brown. Set aside.

Whisk together the 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons flour, ½ cup sugar, 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar, ¼ teaspoon salt, and pinch of cinnamon. Mix in the pecans. Drizzle over the browned butter (which now should be slightly cooled) and mix until crumbs form. Crumble the streusel mixture on top of a rimmed baking sheet and place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the filled pie pan and the streusel from the refrigerator. Sprinkle and crumble the streusel over the pie filling until the pie filling is completely covered. Cover the pie crust with foil and put in the oven for 15 minutes. Make sure to put a baking sheet or pie drip catcher underneath, as it WILL bubble over and make a mess! Remove the foil, reduce heat to 350 degrees F, and cook for an additional 30-40 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the caramel should bubble when the pie is ready.

Texas Caramel Pecan Pie first pie in foreground.

Lori Guerin’s winning Texas Caramel Pecan Pie is the first pie in the foreground.

Texas Caramel Pecan Pie
Lori Guerin
People’s Choice: Second Place

When she heard about the Blooming Glen Pie Bake-off returning for another year, Lori decided to do something she hadn’t since she moved back to Pennsylvania from Texas more than twenty years ago: bake a pecan pie.  Although a former Houston resident, the inspiration for her submission came from much closer to her Pennsylvania home.  “When I was an undergrad at La Salle, I would meet my friend Doreen after a long week to share coffee, stories, and a slice of pecan pie at the Howard Johnson on the Boulevard; I enjoyed recreating that.”

Crust Ingredients
1 1/3 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup shortening
3 tablespoons cold water

Mix the flour and the salt together, add shortening and cut into flour mixture. Add water and mix gently with a fork. Gather pastry into a ball and spread along the bottom and sides of pie tin.

Optional: add 2 teaspoons (about) flaxseed meal, pinch each of cardamom and nutmeg to the flour and salt before adding the shortening. Bakers Note: “I am an Irish cook…so I tweak every recipe, every time. In this case a bit of flax meal, cardamom and nutmeg mixed in the flour for a little pop for the crust.”

Pie Filling Ingredients
1 ½ cup dark brown sugar, packed
½ cup sugar
¼ cup water
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
½ cup evaporated milk
1 ½ cup pecan pieces
¾ teaspoon vanilla

Combine first five ingredients and mix well. Beat in eggs one at a time. Stir in milk, pecans and vanilla and mix very well. Pour into pie shell.

Bake 10 minutes at 400, reduce heat to 350 and bake 35-40 minutes, until center barely jiggles. Cool completely before slicing and serving.

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Chocolate Mousse Pie
by Chloe Nazemi
People’s Choice: Third Place

Chloe Nazemi, age 9- “I picked the recipe because I thought it would be different because not a lot of people probably make a mousse pie with lavender crust and lavender whip cream. I’ve always loved experimenting with baking without recipes. Sometimes the baked goods turn out great, sometimes terrible. I used a recipe for the mousse pie because I’ve never made one before and I had no idea how to do it.” What do you enjoy most about baking? “I think it’s fun because I get to use different ingredients to make new things. I like it because the end result is always a surprise!”

Crust
Make your crust (any recipe will do, or a frozen dough store bought one also works). Lay crust into pie plate. Sprinkle a large pinch of culinary lavender over the surface and press into the crust. Bake according to recipe, set aside.

Chocolate mousse Ingredients (Ina Garten recipe)
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate morsels
1 ounce unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
1/4 cup brewed coffee (freshly)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
12 tablespoons unsalted butter (diced, at room temperature)
8 extra large eggs (separated, at room temperature)
1/2 cup sugar (plus)
2 tablespoons sugar (divided)
kosher salt
1/2 cup heavy cream (cold

In a heat-proof bowl set over a pan of simmering water, melt the two chocolates, coffee, and vanilla extract. Cool to room temperature. Beat in the softened butter.

Meanwhile, place the egg yolks and the 1/2 cup of sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Beat on high speed for about 5 minutes, until pale yellow; when you lift the beater, the mixture will fall back on itself in a ribbon. With the mixer on low speed, blend in the chocolate mixture. Transfer to a larger mixing bowl.

Measure 1 cup of egg whites and freeze or discard the rest. Combine the cup of egg whites with a pinch of salt and 1 tablespoon of the remaining sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. Whisk on high speed until stiff but not dry. Mix half of the egg whites into the chocolate mixture; then fold the rest in carefully with a rubber spatula.

In the same bowl of the electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whisk the heavy cream and the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar until firm. Carefully fold the whipped cream into the chocolate mixture. Pour the mousse into the pie crust plate and spread out evenly. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for a few hours or overnight and up to a week.

Chloe’s addition to the recipe: Make lavender whipped cream to decorate just before serving. Make this whipped cream as stated above and ADD a good pinch of culinary lavender before whipping. Watch as the whip turns lavender in color. It’s delicious!

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 10th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.