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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 22 - Week of October 30th

We Made It!!!!!!

Well we made it to the end of the season despite quite an awful year. The uncooperative weather was the culprit with massive crop losses. As you know we supplement with produce from other farmers as we feel that "failure is not an option" in that we want to deliver each & every week a fair amount of produce. The other farmers in our area also were in the same boat with crop losses and the variety that we usually deliver was not available this year from our farm or other farms as well. Being our 11th year you can probably surmise our disappointment with the season especially if you have been reading the newsletters each week. We planned everything right and even had farm- help this year in the hopes of bumper crops. Between the weather & animal problems we had a disappointing & discouraging year. But that is what a CSA is all about, supporting the farm and sharing in the risk involved. During the course of the season we do often get e-mails or calls and always like feedback (positive or negative). It helps us try to improve for next year, but the only thing we can't control is the weather. Comments are always welcome, so feel free to drop us an e-mail or give a call with suggestions for next season.
We do thank you very much for your support over the season and hope that next year we will be back to normal.

From the Fields: A group of CSA members & some friends braved the cool weather on Sunday and helped us plant garlic. We had at least a dry day, but it was VERY windy. We gathered around the picnic area to pop the garlic (about 10 different varieties) and this just took perhaps 1 ½ hours. This task alone would have taken Farmer Rich 3 days. Then we started planting in a field prepared about 2 weeks ago. It was alittle wet, but plantable. The happy garlic planters then broke for lunch and Sometime Farmer Sue had cooked up a storm on the campfire. We had fresh linguini with pesto, a warm lasagna, squash quiche, squash & carrot pie, garlic bread, roasted garlic, fresh picked salad, hotdogs and more! After lunch we resume planting an all toll planted about 5600 cloves of garlic. This would have taken Farmer Rich weeks to do, but with help popping & planting we were done in just a few hours. Thanks to all who helped!!!!! We couldn't have done it without you.
Upcoming Event: Potluck.jpg
Annual End of Season PotluckNov 11th -

7:30 pm @ the Historical Museum 1301 Hudson Street in(a parking garage is close by). All CSA members are invited from all our drop-off locations - Ramsey, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West,, Vernon Valley & On-Farm Pick-up! Please RSVP to Valerie D'Antonio by emailing her with a message of what you will be bringing to the potluck.

ThatsAllFolks.jpg

Creature of the Week:

Batman visits the Farm

Batman.jpg

He also left a note: "Thanks for the use of your facilities. It's a long ride to

" B (he is a CSA member)




Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

Click here for the Recipes of the Week





Tuesday, October 24, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 21 - Week of October 23rd

Annual Woolly Bear Caterpillar Report

Annual Woolly Bear Caterpillar Report- The annual Woolly Bear Caterpillar Report is in for this year. This has become an annual part of the newsletter for the past 11 years and for the most part has been pretty accurate. Weather folklore enthusiasts have long assessed that the woolly bear caterpillar is one insect that is supposed to give us some insight as to how severe the winter will be. It is said that if the middle stripe is narrower than either of the black stripes, the winter will be severe. Conversely, if the center stripe is wide, we'll have a mild winter. If all the stripes are the same size, we'll have an average winter.

What Catalpa Ridge's Woolly Bears are showing:woollybear.jpg

From the Fields: Garlic will be planted this Sunday and new fields have been prepared for this. Also we are in the process of reconfiguring our fields to accommodate our new tractor. All the fencing is way overdue on most of our fields & this project will be on-going in the off-season. The only fencing we were able to replace was around the round field in the summer.

Fruit Report: Jonathan Apples from Windy Brow Farm. This variety originated in 1826 from farm of Philip Rick in Woodstock, Ulster County, New York. Believed to be an Esopus Spitzenburg seedling. Described 1826. Although it may have originally been called the "Rick apple," it was soon renamed by Judge Buel, President of Albany Horticultural Society, after Jonathan Hasbrouck, who discovered the apple and brought it to Buel's attention.

Upcoming Events:

· Garlic Planting @ the Farm - Saturday October 29th usually between 11 am - 4 pm
· Please RSVP so we can plan lunch

REMINDER - Next week is the last delivery of the season. We appreciate all of your support during this very difficult year. The weather did not cooperate for most of the season and unfortunately we did not have the variety we usually like to deliver as well as quality problems overall. We can only wish that next year will be better.

LLAST DELIVERY NEXT WEEKL

Annual End-of-Season Potluck!!!

Potluck.jpg

November 11th -

7:30 pm@ the Hoboken Historical Museum

1301 Hudson Street in (a parking garage is close by). All CSA members are invited from all our drop-off locations - Ramsey, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West,, Vernon Valley & On-Farm Pick-up!

Please RSVP to Valerie D'Antonio by emailing her (just click here) with what you will be bringing to the potluck. Please leave your name & callback number just incase she needs to make any changes to the menu.

Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 20 - Week of October 16th

Global Warming?
Not at the Farm!!

With overnight temperatures around 33°F before the middle of October we are definitely not experience any global warming. The low temperature Sunday night was 24°F and any warm weather field crops are now "toast" and unfortunately some of the cold weather crops are toast too. The chard wasn't doing well anyway, so in a way this was a merciful killing. We do however have some herbs and greens in the greenhouse, but with these very cold temperatures, they may be at risk also.
Trip to the Farm - October 29th

usually things get started around 11 am & we round things up between 3-4 pm (Raindate will be 11/4). Please RSVP so we can plan our campfire lunch & let us know if you would like to bring anything for a potluck bbq. Dress in layers (it can get cold). We'll have work gloves available.

Garlic Planting Project task list:

  • Garlic Popping
  • Garlic Planting
  • Mulching
  • Lunch!!

From the Fields:Back in August we planted radishes & mustard in the old garlic beds as usually the deer don't eat them but guess what! We have a deer that likes the radish green-mustard combination. The freeze took out our red chard, burned some kale which is very unusual for mid-October. Before next season we will be taking down the old fencing by the big greenhouse & replacing with new. We also plan on expanding the field next to the greenhouse. In front of the big greenhouse we will also be removing the cinder blocks that lined one of the old garlic patches and incorporate that field into new raised beds for crops. The main field by the lower greenhouse also needs fence replacement. These will be ongoing projects after the season ends on the 31st and in the early spring before planting begins. If time & help permit, we might even start these projects on the 29ths Trip to the Farm!

Weather Report:Repeated below freezing temperatures 4-5 days in a row with a low of 24°F. We usually have a few frosts before a freeze in which a frost takes down a layer at a time. The freeze wipes out the crops instead of just loosing a layer at a time.


Fruit Report: Mutso Apples from Windy Brow Farm. This variety is a Golden Delicious x Indo cross named in 1948 by the Aomori Apple Experiment Station, Kuroishi, Japan. Currently it is one of the favorite apples in Japan, along with Fuji. Mutsu apples are very large with yellow-golden skin. The crisp, creamy-white flesh is rather coarse in texture and is good for fresh eating, processing (sauces, pies, baking), salads, and freezing. These apples are very juicy with a mostly sweet flavor.

Upcoming Events:
Garlic Day @ Arboretum - October 22nd - Frelinghuysen Arboretum Morristown 11am-4pm

Annual End-of-Season Potluck!!!

Potluck.jpg



November 11th -

1301 Hudson Street in Hoboken

(a parking garage is close by). All CSA members are invited from all our drop-off locations - Ramsey, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West,, Vernon Valley & On-Farm Pick-up!

More details to follow over the next few weeks!

Pick of the Week:

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 19 - Week of October 9th

Trip to the Farm

We have scheduled our annual garlic planting trip to the farm for October 29th (rain date November 4th). For the past 6-7 years we have been scheduling these trips in October as it is best time to plant garlic. Garlic is a very labor intensive crop for just one or two people to plant, but with 5, 10 or 15 people we get an amazing amount of work accomplished in a short period of time. For the past few years ago we were able to plant over 7,000 garlic cloves each year in just a few short hours. Farmer Rich is preparing two different fields and we usually have you plant around 5 to 6 different varieties, both hardnecks & softnecks. We hope to have you help with planting shallots as well. This year's crop of shallots was a failure and we had to buy shallot seed stock in Saugerties a few weeks ago. Garlic Planting Project task list: · Garlic Popping · Garlic Planting · Mulching · Lunch!! Sometime Farmer Sue will be stoking up the campfire for lunch. We'll need a head count, so if you are planning on coming, just send us an e-mail. Last year many of you wanted to bring something as well and we welcome any additions for a potluck bbq. We have a campfire going to heat things through (very rustic up here). Remember to dress in layers, as if it is cloudy & windy it will be cool. We also have the greenhouses to hunker-down in to keep warm if it gets too cool. It may be a little damp, so wear work boots or old shoes so they won't get ruined. We will have work gloves to give out. Looking forward to a fun day! From the Fields: The foliage is close to peak up in Sussex County and quite beautiful at the farm. Any warm-weather crops have shut down, if there were any left. There may be one more delivery of peppers from the greenhouse. Since there are no new plantings, Farmer Rich is working on replacing fencing, composting & preparing 2 fields for garlic. The greenhouse crop of "baby" arugula is almost ready for harvest and should be in next week's delivery.

Weather Report:We have been flirting with frost but it has not come (yet). Despite the seemingly rainy weather it is a little on the dry side. Typical for this time of year, it will be close to frost one day and close to 85ยบ the day Farmer Rich needs to harvest the delivery.

Fruit Report: Keepsake Apples from Windy Brow Farm Very hard and crisp with yellow flesh and an exotic sweet, spicy flavor. Good for fresh eating and cooking.

Upcoming Events: · Garlic Day @ Arboretum - October 22nd - Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown - Event runs from 11 am - 4 pm

Annual End-of-Season Potluck!!! Potluck.jpg November 11th - 7:30 pm@ the Hoboken Historical Museum 1301 Hudson Street in Hoboken (a parking garage is close by). All CSA members are invited from all our drop-off locations - Ramsey, Hoboken Midtown, Hoboken West,, Vernon Valley & On-Farm Pick-up! Please RSVP to Valerie D'Antonio by emailing her (just click here) with what you will be bringing to the potluck. Please leave your name & callback number just incase she needs to make any changes to the menu. More details to follow over the next few weeks!

Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

Tuesday, October 03, 2006

Catalpa Ridge News Vol 11 No 18 - Week of October 2nd

garlicbulb.jpg

Garlic Weekend

This Saturday & Sunday we will be holding our 5th Annual Garlic Gathering @ Olde Lafayette Village in Lafayette, NJat the junction of Routes 94 & 15. If you want to have a stinkin' day of fun - ride up to take in our small gathering of local garlic growers, a big tasting table filled with different varieties of garlic, pesto, dips, jams, honey & more. Sue will also be giving lectures on "Growing Great Garlic" and Debbie Rodershaw will be giving a lecture on the "Historical Uses of Garlic" There is also an Italian Festival in the village at the same time & on Sunday the local farmers market. The event runs from 11 am - 5 pm on Saturday and 11 am - 4 pm on Sunday.

From the Fields: The tomatoes have just about "had-it" and tonight is the last of a regular delivery of tomatoes. Hopefully the greenhouse tomatoes will provide enough to deliver over the next few weeks. The other warm weather crops are diminishing. The cool weather crops; oriental greens, winter squash, pumpkins, onions, mustards & radishes are all coming along well.

Weather Report:The nights are progressively cooler and our low this past week was 35˚F. We received about 1" of rain this past weekend, which was a good thing! Last year we received our first frost of the season the end of October, but we have had it as early as the last week of September. There was a threat of frost last weekend but we were lucky and did not receive it.

Animal Report: No problems this week with any groundhog break-ins or other animal attacks. There have been a few sightings of wooly-bear caterpillars, so our annual wooly-bear report will be coming soon.

Fruit Report: Green Anjou Pears from Windy Brow Farm -"Anjous are very sweet and juicy when ripe, and are best when sliced fresh in salads or eaten as a out-of-hand snack. They are also a good baking, poaching or roasting pear when used before they reach maximum ripeness." (from www.usapears.com)

Windy Brow Farm has pick-your own apples through October. They are open daily and have group tours. Homemade pies, cider, gift baskets, gourds Indian corn Rt. 80 to 206 N.to Springdale. Left on Rt. 618, right at blinker onto R. 519. 1/2 mile on right. For more information call: (you can let them know that Catalpa Rich sent you!)

Upcoming Events:
· Garlic Gathering - October 7-8 - Lafayette, NJ
· Garlic Day @ Arboretum - October 22nd -

Morristown
Mao Qwa or Fuzzy Gourd

fuzzygourd.jpgWe are always looking for new veggies to grow. We grow many oriental greens and this year we planted some of these, Mao Qwa, to try out in larger quantity than we had tried in the past. They look weird, fuzzy on the outside, but cook up really nice. It is one of the most popular Fuzzy Gourds used in Chinese cooking. This variety is very popular in the oriental supermarkets on the West Coast.

They are well flavored and excellent for making soups. Many people prefer to peel or scrub them to remove all trace of hairs before cooking them. They may be cut into chunks and steamed, scooped out and filled then steamed or stir-fried with fish or meat.

Pick of the Week: Click on the link below (or on the right) for your drop-off location. This time of year the deliveries will be the same in pounds & variety but may include different items at each location.

Click here for the Recipes of the Week