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

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

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 44º. 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!

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

A Beginning

Hello All,

I have the honor of being the first to post to our new blog! Before I get down and dirty I just wanted to say a quick something Over the last few weeks I have met a lot of new farmers and heard about just as many new farms in NH. I am sure I don't speak for myself when I say that I finally feel like I am part of something. That something is a beginning. It's a beginning of a community. A community with a clear voice for what they love. And its spreading, slowly but surely. 

While on the topic of beginnings, I have to mention the start of the 2013 growing season! And what a beginning it has been. The two days of endless sunshine (saturday/sunday) recharged my system with outside highs in the upper 40's & even lower 50's! YEEHAW! Sugar Maples were flowing like non-other with the sweetest sap, and the snow was perfect for an afternoon snowball fight.

I happened to be off-farm for the start of sunny Saturday morning, and in the midst of my drive realized that no one was home to open the greehouses...I hastily finished my errands so I could get back and relieve the little plants of their humid sauna-like conditions. I finally made it back to the farm and ran down to the High Tunnel. As I opened the main door, I was swamped by HOT Humid air reminiscent of late August, rushing out. I threw open the rear doors and both vents and let the cool new air rush in...good thing I didn't wait any longer. I read the thermometer and it said 102F. Yikes Thats enough to turn the delicate green inside to liquid while making the spinach bolt. I immediately began hauling water to quench the parched soils. It was nice however to feel that heat again. It means the sun is back on our side again. But it also means we need to water. 

Our watering system is rather improvised at this time of year, as our main gravity fed system is frozen up under the snow pack. For the next few weeks I will continue watering via hauling 5 gallon buckets out of a hole in our frozen pond (to the right of the picture) up to a tub (green) then filling up watering cans. It is a slow process and I am in the midst of researching alternatives, but until I find one or mother nature melts the gravity feed, I will continue hauling by hand. 

Here is a strawbale cold-frame inside our greenhouse using a recycled sliding glass door. This is for the less-hardy varieties. Will be starting tom's, melon, cukes in this in a few weeks. 

Out of all of our overwintered crops, High Mowing Spinach did the best. It showed very little damage from the cold. Extremely hardy. I will definitely be planting the majority of our greenhouse space with spinach next fall.  The cold weather also generates the sweetest tasting spinach I have ever had. The sugary sweet flavors are the plants cold-defenses systems, like an edible antifreeze if you will....

Here is some Sylvetta Wild Arugula, a slow growing, yet cold tolerant variety. Its wild characteristics add a very pungently delicious flavor, perfect for spicy salad mix. My favorite flavor in the greenhouse. 

Here is a section of our hardy salad mix bed. The densely planted salad mix showed much less damage then the head lettuce beds. The closer plantings must thwart off the damaging frosts better.

Not the best picture...but with all these warm temperatures, especially in the greenhouse, there's been some germination of lettuce, kale, onion and spinach seedlings. I have planted a slew of early season crops in 98-cell trays and have been noticing slow but sure germination in most of them. Still dropping below freezing at night, I have been continuing to cover the trays with floating row cover for additional protection.

This wraps up my post for this week. Just think, some of these precious organically grown NH greens could be yours.  We still have plenty of shares available for our 2013 Fair Share Permaculture CSA which includes much more than just greens & vegetables. Be on the lookout in the next few days for more blog posts from our other Fair Share farmers and makers.  If you are on the fence about joining our CSA, please drop us a line. We are more than willing to work with everyone.  

check it out!
www.fairsharepermaculture.blogspot.com

-to a new beginning!

 Ben @ Greenhill Collective Farm

Shiitakes and Kiwis appear!

And just like that Greenhill gives us Kiwis and shiitake mushrooms in one day. The kiwi vines have finally reached an age at which they feel comfortable producing a lot of fruit. We set up ladders and scaffolding under the tipi arbor and still couldn't reach all of the fruit. We will try some new techniques tomorrow, hopefully harvesting the most ripened.  Here is a picture of a few ripe ones on our kitchen table!

4 medium sized shiitake mushrooms were popping out of the bottom of a small log Luke had inoculated 

a number of years ago. The log didn't fruit quickly and was discarded into the woods. Recently it was pulled from its forested grave and soaked in water for 2 days to possibly force fruiting of the questionable colonization. The log must have fruited sometime over the weekend while we all were away volunteering at the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, ME. After quick inspection this morning we shouted in joy at the site of the first Greenhill Shiitakes! here they are-->

The Warner Fall Foliage Fest Approaches! Stop by our booth to purchase Local Organic Produce from Sutton, NH!

The Mother-Load

The Greenhill Collective earthen cob oven is almost all finished! The last layers of cob (clay, sand, water and straw) were added last night under overcast skies.

Over the weekend, Luke was able to extract 5 gallons of clay from the site of the mother load clay jackpot on the bottom of Lake Winnipesaukee at our family camp in Moultonborough. The clay surpasses all other clays we have managed to come across in quality and mixability (if that's a word haha) as we added it to the final layer of plaster-like mix that will be the exterior layer of the oven.
Its only a matter of time before we begin its first firing and from there let the pizza, bread and pie making begin!

In other news...big news that is... all of the solar panels have been installed to the new array adding up to 8 in total and man are they BIG!! With the array being finished its now up to the electricians to wire in the components that will be in the house including the inverter/charge controller, batteries and battery box. I am still shocked that we will have clean renewable electricity in the next short few days and can't even wait for it....
The first of a series of Greenhill Collective BYOPizza Toppings parties are about to be announced so stayed tuned for dates and time!!

I will keep up my blogging with this new app  I just got for my phone...hopefully it will allow me to post more.