2014 Summer CSA

2014 Summer CSA

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Week 4 Shares

Hey Folks, Hope you have been enjoying the bounty thus far...With each passing week there is more to add to your share! This weeks additions are a lot pea pods and carrots! Check out this pic of what your share will look like!!


Thursday, June 26, 2014

Week 2 Recipe suggestion for your CSA Share

Here's a very tasty way to use your garlic scapes and herbs from this weeks CSA box.

Herbal Garlic Scape Pesto

What you will need:
all measurements are approximate

Food processor
garlic scapes - use the whole scape as they are young and tender.
lemon balm - remove leaves from stem - use about 4 stems or more depending on taste
oregano - remove leaves from stem - use about 4 stems or more depending on taste
olive oil - good quality about 1/4 cup
romano or parmesan or other hard cheese about 1/2 cup
walnuts about 1/2 cup
juice of about one lemon
salt and pepper

Grind the garlic scapes, lemon balm leaves and oregano leaves in food processor first. Add the hard cheese about 1/2 cup ( you can add more or less depending on taste). Then add the walnuts, lemon juice and salt and pepper- you may substitute almonds, pine nuts or a combination.
As you grind the nuts into the mix, drizzle the olive oil into the food processor if you have the type with a hole in the cover - if not, slowly add the olive oil a bit at a time until you get a creamy pesto consistency that you like.
Yum - Enjoy

More recipes will be posted to this blog so check back when you can !

Monday, June 23, 2014

First CSA Drop Off = Success!

Thank you all for making it a great first week of the new CSA! All the dropoffs went out and no one missed picking one up! Give yourselves a big hand! Week 2 begins Tuesday in Warner from 3-6pm. Folks are looking at getting the following in their shares this week:

-Head Lettuce (green/red)
-washed salad mix
-rocket arugula
-garlic scapes
-cilantro/oregano/mint/lemon balm
-bunched Kale
-bunched swiss chard

Yes the selection is still in the early stages of summer, that means lots of greens for the next couple weeks. Hope you all enjoyed your shares the first week and I look forward to the weeks to come.

-Farmer Ben

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

CSA Pickup Approaches!

Hello All,
Welcome to Greenhill Collective Farm's Summer CSA Subscription. Thank you again for supporting our Certified Organic Small Family Farm! As June 17th approaches I just wanted to touchbase with everyone through this blog and remind folks to keep checking back for updates, reminders, as well as pictures and recipes all summer. I hope to be able to assist with any questions our members may have about the CSA, crops being grown and what you can expect this season from the farm. I am so excited to work with all of you this summer and hopefully many more summers to come. The addition of the CSA this year is a big step up for us here at the farm but I think its going to be an important change to our operation.

New crops have been going in the ground every day/week and the pressure is on to get the ALL in. The next month is going to be filled with a lot of hard work, bug bites, and dirty hands because it is planting crunch time. But in 3 weeks the first week of pickups starts and you will be enjoying the fruits of our labor! For the first few weeks of pickup you will be recieving some of the following;

-head lettuce
-salad greens/mix
-arugula
-flatbread pizza (baked fresh on the farm in our woodfired clay oven!)
-mushrooms (shiitake - this is dependent on rain patterns and humidity between now and then)
-radish
-culinary herbs (mint, cilantro, oregano, lemon balm)
-garlic scapes

Some of you have probably cooked/eaten most of these items, but I will be posting a few recipes for the more unfamiliar items so everyone can get acquainted with them.

Well that is it for now...please let me know if you have any questions....those can be sent directly to my email at benjidob@gmail.com. Check back next week for recipe ideas and other photos and updates. Thanks!
Ben

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

2014 CSA Shares NOW AVAILABLE!

Hello All,

Greenhill Collective Farm will have CSA shares available this summer! A 20 week subscription starting June 17th…applications are due April 1st at the latest… Its never to early to sign up and secure a spot! Basic shares start at $26/week. Let us know if your interested, email benjidob@gmail.com, Here is the basic info!
Options:

BasicSummer Subscription:
Enjoy 20 weeks of fresh in-season certified organic vegetables, mushrooms, culinary herbs, fruit, flowers, and more from our small family farm in Sutton, NH. This weekly box of farm produce is intended to supply the vegetable needs of a family of 2 or one vegetarian.     
Cost $480 - Actual weekly value approximately $26/week. You save 20% on normal farmers mkt prices.

FullSizeSummer Subscription:
Enjoy the same 20 weeks of fresh in-season certified organic veggies, mushrooms, herbs, fruit, flowers and more but enough to supply the vegetable needs of a family of 3-4. This option is the best economic value.
Cost $650 - Actual weekly value approximately $38/week. You save 20% on normal farmers mkt prices.

Mushroom Subscription: (optional add-on)
For the mushroom lover!  Enjoy 10 weeks of delicious mushrooms of the seasons. Try out our log-grown Shiitakes and Oysters, as well as wild-harvested varieties. This add-on share comes out to be about 1/2 - 1lb of mushrooms per week, depending on seasonal weather conditions. Due to the sporadic nature of mushroom fruiting, shares cannot be distributed thru 10 consecutive weeks. Members of the mushroom subscription will be directly contacted about when shares will be available for pick-up. It can be added on to The Basic or Full Size Summer Subscription or be purchased on its own.
Cost $120 - Actual value approximately $12/week. You save 10-15% on normal farmers mkt prices.

Herbal Subscription: (optional add-on)
A once a month Herbal Surprise Box created especially for Herbal and natural product lovers who enjoy living close to the earth. You will receive a unique, delightfully crafted box each month for 5 consecutive months beginning in June. Each month will contain an assortment of 5 products that are carefully crafted and of the season by our resident folk herbalist. Some of the products you will receive are salves and linaments, body balms and butters, elixirs, syrups and infused oils, scented herbal room spray, herbal lotion and creams, hand made scented candles, assorted teas and chai blends made from wildcrafted and cultivated herbs, seasonal tinctures (detox in the spring, cooling in the summer, nourishing in the winter), culinary herb blends and salts. Each box will come with an explanation of ingredients, instructions and suggestions for product use. Cost $250

Payment Plan
Your CSA subscription is broken into 2 payment amounts. The first deposit is due with your application by as soon as possible, March 30th at latest. This secures your spot as there are only 25 shares available this year. The deposit makes it possible for us to purchase seeds, potting mix, amendments and other supplies to begin the busy season! The second deposit is due at time of first share pickup week of June 17th or any time before the first pickup is much appreciated. Talk to us about volunteering for additional discounted rates!

The Details:


First Pickups Begin Tuesday June 17th at the MainStreet Warner Evening Farmers Market from 3-6 pm and tentative site at Colby Sawyer College in NL. Other drop-off arrangements can be made if there is significant interest. Please talk to Ben about drop-off information @ benjidob@gmail.com. Last week of pickup is October 29th.





Wondering what to expect in a summer subscription?




A mix of high quality farm fresh produce (5-8 items) per week including but not limited to greens, potato, cabbage, tomato, garlic, cucumber, squash, radish, salad mix, rhubarb, shiitake & oyster mushroom, culinary & medicinal herbs and other surprise goodies. We aim to please!




Events Throughout the Summer!


In addition to receiving your share(s), Greenhill Collective Farm will host several potlucks and cob oven pizza gatherings for CSA members only. These events will be announced throughout the season and are a great way to connect with farm and enjoy the fruits of our labor! There will also be a harvest festival coinciding with last pickup!




Join A Community!




Industrial scale farms across the country receive government subsidies to help them assume risk and spread costs out through the growing season. Our small family farm does not qualify for these subsidies, so we are forced to take on all the risk. In order to continue growing food for the community many small farmers have implemented the CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) model which asks the local community to join in partnership. This model spreads out the risk of any potential crop loss among the community and is often made up by an abundance later in the season. By asking our members to pay upfront at the beginning of the season, the farmers pledge to do their best to supply members with an bountiful box of farm produce each week.




To sign up or ask questions email Ben at benjidob@gmail.com
Please fill out form below and send this whole page with your name, address, phone number, email address, share type, add-on, pick-up location as well as first payment to:

Ben Dobrowski
Greenhill Collective Farm
PO Box 382
Warner, NH 03278   

Date: _______________

Name:______________________________________________________

Address:____________________________________________________

Town:_________________________________State:_________ZIP:________

Email:________________________________________Phone:____________

Type of Share:___________________________________________________

Add-On:________________________________________________________

Pickup Location:________________________

Check Amount:_________________________

Let us know if you are interested in joining!
Ben 
Greenhill CSA Organizer
benjidob@gmail.com

Tuesday, December 17, 2013

2013 Wrap-Up

2013 was the Year of Mushrooms for us. Our shiitake logs literally went  crazy in the sping and early summer and we were able to sell the majority fresh at farmers markets and restaraunts. 





We also did a lot of foraging for wildcrafted mushrooms in our woodlot forest. We were able to find many edible varieties including black trumpet, hedgehog mushroom, oyster, hen of the woods, yellow chanterelle, and chicken of the woods. Having them available at the farmers markets turned many heads. It blows me away how many people are interested in mushrooms and trying new types. I look forward to expanding our mushroom enterprise in the upcoming years. 


Tomatoes were great this year dispite the crumby wet spring  we had. It did a number on our summer squash and eggplant. But tomatoes were plentiful.  This picture is of the varieties Soldaki, Rose de Berne and Moskovich

Potatoes also loved the wetter conditions this late spring/summer . Here are most of the varieties for this year. Adirondack Blue, French Fingerling, German Butterball, and White Salem.

Turmeric was planted as well, pushing the envelope on what can be grown in the greenhouse at latitutde 44ยบ. We can't wait to start next years crop!


In early November, thanks to our good friend Miles, we began a series of land conversion projects before the snow would hit. We were looking to expand gardens and fields around the house. Using his bulldozer/winch we were able to stump much of the lot for the immediate switch to field crops and the possible construction of an additional hoophouse next growing season. 







Here is Miles with a big rock he dug. We grow Certified Organic Boulders around these parts.  
Freshly Dug Everday.




We want to thank all our loyal customers and friends that support our business every week. Thank you so much and we can't do it without you. We look forward to 2014 and all that it will bring. Happy Holidays from Greenhill Collective Farm!


Monday, June 3, 2013

NHPR Mention

I just heard that we got mentioned on NHPR today! There was a short segment during All Things Considered that featured Chef Ed Aloise from Republic Cafe in Manchester talking about product he buys in NH. We are famous for our spinach and arugula! Have a listen!

http://nhpr.org/post/what-nh-food