For Our Hungry Readers

Many of our CSA Members have children and/or grandchildren. Some are teachers. Some have nieces and nephews who spend the weekend with them. For those of you who spend time with little ones and school age kids we thought you might like to know about some books that go great with your weekly share!

We would like to recommend just a few of our favorites:

I Can Eat a Rainbow by Annabel Karmel

Eating the Rainbow by Rena D. Grossman

Muncha! Muncha! Muncha! by Candace Fleming

What books do you love to read after receiving your weekly share?

Where To Find Us

The Avon Farmers Market begins today from 3pm-6pm in the Tops Plaza on Main Street. We will start selling our fresh produce at the Market next Wednesday June 27^th.  If you find you need more delicious vegetables and fruits than you expected, please stop by to visit us. If you make an outstanding dish or meal using produce from your weekly share and are in town on Wednesdays, please stop by to tell us all about it! If you just want to visit with us, we would love to see you!

We will also be selling produce at the Geneseo Farmers Market this year! We are excited to be expanding into Geneseo and hope you can stop by if you are in the area! The Geneseo Farmers Market is located at Center Street at Main Street. The Market is open from 3pm-6pm on Thursdays. We will be there beginning next week, June 28^th.

Weekly shares will be available for pickup beginning June 25^th as follows:

--Kindred Ground Farm on Mondays and Thursdays from 4pm – 7pm

--Penfield (location TBA) on Tuesdays from 3pm – 6pm

--Avon Farmers Market on Wednesdays from 3pm – 6pm

We will also be opening our Kindred Ground Farm Stand soon. The Farm Stand will be open 10am – 7pm everyday of the week. We are excited about the Farm Stand offering all of our harvest items to supplement shares and to sell to our community at large.

See you soon!

Eggciting Announcement!

Kindred Ground Farm is excited to announce we will be selling fresh chicken eggs this summer! We are thrilled to be expanding our healthy, organic food options. The eggs will not be included in the weekly shares, but will be available for purchase by the dozen and half dozen.


Our chickens will be free-range, cage-free, organically fed animals who will provide delicious, wholesome, healthy eggs! It is estimated that organic eggs have significantly better nutritional value than factory raised chicken eggs. Mother Earth News (in a 2007 report) “found that eggs from hens raised on pasture, as compared to those commercially raised factory farm eggs, contain:
• 1⁄3 less cholesterol 
• 1⁄4 less saturated fat
• 2⁄3 more vitamin A
• 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
• 3 times more vitamin E
• 7 times more beta carotene”


Additionally, research is starting to indicate these eggs contain increased amounts of Vitamin D as compared to factory farm eggs. That is great news for all of us Western New Yorkers!


Individual reports from those who eat farm fresh eggs report a more robust flavor and more texture in farm fresh organic eggs. We are looking forward to hearing what you think.


Eggs will be available when weekly shares are picked up and most days at the Kindred Ground Farm Vegetable Stand. (Pricing to be competitive and announced soon.)

Not So Inland?

That is 1200 feet of blue plastic carefully laid and ready.  We lovingly refer to it as "the ocean".  This is where we will soon have lots of melons and squashes.

So much is happening this week as we prepare for our shares to begin distribution next week!

What will you eat first?

The First Peas of 2012 Are Here

 

Update from the Field

We have been busy planting, growing, and even harvesting this week.  We added two new herbs to the herb garden. How does orange thyme and Spanish lavender sound?  We also harvested all the garlic scapes.

With quite a bit of rain this week (almost an inch of a good soaking rain yesterday) there is the potential of a slow down in the field work. We can't take Kevin* out because driving on the wet field could cause compaction.

Despite the extra rain, we expect to harvest our first crop of peas tomorrow! As the days of June march forward we will be harvesting more and more. We are still on target for the first day of this year’s CSA to be June 25^th. Remember it is not too late to join if you have not already done so. Visit our page on Local Harvest to ensure you have a variety of fresh food on your pantry shelves and in your kitchen door this summer and autumn.

*New to Kindred Ground Farm? Kevin is our wonderful tractor. He is named after Kevin, the giant bird in the 2009 film Up. If you haven’t seen Kevin, you will know him when you arrive to the farm because he is large, beautiful, and bright orange!

Delicious Mashed Potatoes: Coming Soon!

 

Let the Season Begin

 

Farmers of Old

Kindred Ground Farm is growing each year. Every season we add new crops (strawberries, anyone?), expand our plots, and add ways to share our bounty. We are happy to be among a long line of excellence in farming.

We thought it would be fun to do a quick review of three famous farmers tonight!

Jimmy Carter was a famous peanut farmer in Georgia before he became President of the United States! He took over the family farm after his father died. President Carter and his wife, barely made a profit their first year, but did expand as time went on.

John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed brought apple trees to Pennsylvania, Indiana, Illinois, and Ohio. He firmly believed in conservation and was also a missionary. We bet Mr. Appleseed would love to join us in eating some of our wild apples!

George Washington was a farmer before he became President also. He is one of the earliest known farmers to compost in order to improve nutrients to the soil! What a rich tradition we have. Did you know we compost at Kindred Ground Farm too?

One last famous farmer for the Little House on the Prairie fans: Almanzo Wilder, better known as the husband of Laura Ingalls Wilder grew up on a farm in Burke, NY. One of Laura’s best selling books, Farmer Boy, is about Manly!

Enjoy your week. Only two more weeks until we have crops to harvest!

Join Us in 2012

Remember it is not too late to sign up for the 2012 Season! We still have a few openings at this time. We don’t have a cut off date, but get in early so you can experience a whole summer and early autumn of harvests!

To join Kindred Ground Farm in a truly memorable and delicious experience please, visit our sign up page at Local Harvest.

It is raining now, but we had two days of sunshine…so we are looking good for a bountiful season! 

Give Beets a Chance!

Despite their nutrient rich red beauty, beets have a bad reputation. They are labeled as “yucky,” “gross,” and even “inedible,” if someone wants to be fancy with his disgust! At Kindred Ground Farm we want to give all vegetables and fruits a fair chance, so this summer we will be talking about some of those classic veggies seen as disgusting. We know almost all vegetables can taste delicious as long as you know how to prepare them! Before we prepare them let’s learn a little about beets.

It is believed that the wild beet (the ancestor to today’s beets) grew in prehistoric times when people ate the greens from the beet versus the actual beet root. The ancient Romans were among the earliest people to begin using the beet root as the source of food. The importance of beets became known in the 19^th century when it was “discovered that beets were a concentrated source of sugar.  At this time the first sugar factory was built in Poland. When access to sugar cane was restricted by the British, Napoleon decreed that the beet be used as the primary source of sugar.” ¹ It was in the 19^th century that beets were brought to the United States and began to gain popularity here.

Beets are best prepared with a gentle hand. In other words, don’t overcook them! Whole Foods recommends roasting for no longer than an hour and steaming for no more than 15 minutes. When cooked too long the red betalain pigments lose too much of the benefits of this phytonutrient. These nutrients have been demonstrated to have antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and detoxification properties.

A few ideas for preparing this delicious root vegetable (and remember you can prepare and eat the greens too!);

Steam your beets for 15 minutes, test doneness with a poke of a fork, remove the skins by placing the steamed beets on a cutting board and gently rubbing them with a napkin.

Once steamed you can serve them whole or in slices with salad dressing. Trying dicing them to place into a soup. Marinating in oil, lemon juice, and your favorite spices is another delicious and quick serving idea.

You can also use grated raw beets in a salad

Cooks.com has many recipes for both beets and beet greens. To make Sunshine Beets (and who doesn’t want to eat something with the word sunshine in it?) visit their website here.

Beets may have a bad reputation, but give them a second chance this summer. You might discover that you and your family have a new favorite to add to your summer days!


To learn more about beets visit Whole Foods.
1. Beets, Whole Foods, Retrieved 06/08/2012 from http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=49

Growing Cities!

We are in a growing mood! And we had lots of sunshine today! Life is busy, but good!

We have done a lot of weeding this week! The following plots are weed free (for the moment!): Little Peaville, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Leeks, Cutting Garden, Onionville, and the Lettuces! Whew, those were a lot of weeds to pull!

We did more mulching! Little Peaville, Spinach, and the Beets plots now have straw mulch! We mulch with straw because we find it is healthy and as it decomposes over time it helps to feed the soil.

We also have been busy planting! Today we planted three varieties of carrots, two more rows of zucchini, and another two rows of green beans! Who loves to eat green beans while picking them? We are already looking forward to those crisp, tasty beans!

We like to recycle at Kindred Ground Farm! Two of Alex’s old teepees are now standing among the crops for what else, but the pole beans!

If you come to the farm for a visit you will notice we have three large fields or plots that we refer to as East 40, North 40, and West 40. However, our other big (but not quite as big) plots have names too: Onionville, Beatville, Peaville, and even Little Peaville! Imagine we have little cities and villages filled with growing veggies for you and your family this summer! We are excited! Are you?

Dirt is Good for All!

Our weather is very unpredictable this year! A farmer is always watching the weather! Our CSA Members are true investors in Kindred Ground Farm, so you may be monitoring the weather closely too. We have had plenty of rain to help with growth and so we were thankful for the spots of sunshine today! It looks like we have one more day of rain and then four days of sunshine! Our fruits, vegetables, and flowers need both to thrive, but we are excited for more sun!

Kindred Ground Farms loves to share and teach! We always welcome our youngest CSA Members to explore, help harvest, and run in the fields! This year we have a new addition for all our children farmers! We have made a special space to dig in the dirt! We have a dirt hill (about two and a half feet high by three feet wide!) with a backhoe loader, excavator, and, the always essential, dump truck! These toys and the clean dirt will allow children to explore in a multisensory way. Feeling the dirt running through their fingers, scooping and pouring dirt with toys, smelling the fresh air, seeing a working farm surround them are all learning moments. We are excited for lots of fun play on the Kindred Ground Farm Dirt Hill!

If you haven’t already joined for the 2012 Season please visit Local Harvest soon! You won’t want to miss a single share! The price for full share is $475, a half share is $350, and a mini share is $250. Imagine having your fruits and veggies farm fresh every week, imagine having your fruits and veggies be so local they were picked the same morning you get them, imagine having your fruits and veggies waiting for you! All that and more is yours with a CSA Membership at Kindred Ground Farm! 

Strawberry Alert!

 

We picked our first strawberry of the season yesterday! It is quite large, juicy, and plump! Most importantly, it is organic (like all our produce!) and delicious!

 Things are really shaping up for a wonderful season this year! Sure, we have had lots of rain the past few days and we will be happy for sunny days, but there are lots of seeds in the ground, buds are sprouting, and we are excited for those first share pick ups on June 25th!

Growing Season

Chives, May 2012

Growing season now.
Buds, blooms, weeds! Nourishment soon.
Join us as we grow.

Snow Days!

Last Friday it was 80 degrees and by Monday morning we had several inches of snow on the ground. Our plants seemed to fare this crazy Rochester weather just fine!  Peas in particular like colder weather, so not to worry!  This week we're expecting 60's and 70's, maybe we're done with snow for the season?

The Season is Beginning!

The flowers are blooming, the sun is shining, and the seeds are being planted at Kindred Ground Farm! Spring is in the air, in the dirt, and in our new greenhouse!

We have lots of exciting news and developments as our farm continues to grow each year! This year will mark the beginning of our use of a beautiful (gently used) greenhouse to start seedlings earlier in the spring. We will also have more flowers and fruits in this year’s basket. Did someone hear a chicken? We will have farm fresh eggs too!

We have already planted the peas. Raspberry and blueberry bushes arrive in the next few weeks. The strawberry plants will be here soon also! This is going to be a great year with lots of new produce and our traditional crops as well. Can you already taste the slow bolt lettuce, swiss chard, beets, cucumbers, tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, yellow beans, summer squash, bell peppers, hot peppers, basil, parsley, lemon balm, cherry tomatoes, pickling cucumbers, edible flowers, spearmint, mixed greens, and more?

Please join us on our mission to enjoy fresh, organic, delicious vegetables and fruits grown with love for all people. Enrollment for the 2012 Season is now open. A full share (generally feeds a family of 4) is $475 and a half share (generally feeds a family of 2) is $350. To join please contact Tammy at 585.703.3800 or via email at kindredgroundfarm@gmail.com.

We are looking forward to a great season with delicious foods shared by new and old friends!

2012 Season

 

The 2012 Season is beginning! Please check back soon for updates, membership information, and news from Kindred Ground Farm

Weekly pickups and what do I need to do?

Yay! Weekly pickups are starting! Happy Day! Indeed. Weekly pickups are starting and they will be on the very light side as veggies are several weeks to a month behind "schedule" this season. Ah, Mother Nature. So come to Kindred Ground, come to Penfield or come to the Farm Market and we'll get the season rolling! Bring your reusable bags to help transport your veggies and herbs home. Wear comfortable shoes for walking around the garden(s) and barn. We'll give you a tour!

2011 CSA pickups will start Monday, July 11th!