Hawthorne Valley Farm Greenmarket Blog

Krunch Bars Are Back!

2011-12-13T15:59:00.002-05:00

After a brief hiatus our beloved Krunch Bars are back at the stands. Come and enjoy!

-Sarah

Farm Learning Center Workshops Announced for Fall 2011

2011-09-16T18:54:00.000-04:00

What is Biodynamics?

An Introductory Workshop

October 23, 2011 • 9 am to 4 pm

If you are a home gardener, farmer or an interested learner, this is the workshop for you! This day will include an overview of biodynamic agriculture, as well as several hands-on opportunities to see biodynamics in practice. Hands-on activities will include the crafting of compost piles and the application of biodynamic preparations. We will also discuss how to design a two-acre vegetable garden and how to integrate the presence of small livestock into an operation.

Understanding Soil

Sunday, October 2 • 9 am to 4 pm

Healthy soils are the foundation for developing sustainable farms. Dr. Conrad Vispo of Hawthorne Valley Farmscape Ecology Program will lead a panel of farmers and soil specialists as we explore and deepen our awareness of the different soil types that form our farmscapes and influence our farm planning.

Scaling Up Your Farming Enterprise

Sunday, November 20 • 9 am to 4 pm

How can I evaluate my farming enterprise and plan for its growth? How do I scale up my farm infrastructure, marketing and capital investment over time? This Farm Beginnings skills workshop led by Jean Paul Courtens of Roxbury Farm will bring together experienced vegetable and livestock farmers as well as other agriculture experts to explore this intriguing and important question.

These workshops are offered by the Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center and are $50–100 sliding scale. The fee includes all materials and an organic lunch. For more information or to register, please contact Caroline via phone at 518-672-7500 x 232.

Dodging a Hurricane Bullet

2011-09-04T21:57:00.000-04:00

Thanks to all of you who have expressed concern and good wishes leading up to, and in the aftermath of, Hurricane Irene.

Here at Hawthorne Valley we were very fortunate to have avoided the serious flooding, destruction, and power outages that struck many other areas of the state. We were distressed to miss a Saturday of markets in NYC, but we are grateful to be able to pick up where we left off without too much damage.

Once again I have to applaud the decision of the farm team to turn some of our most flood prone vegetable fields back to pasture last year. (See earlier post - "Pigs in Heaven") Though it has been a tricky transition, it certainly saved us from significant flood damage to veggies, and lots of soil erosion.

We were glad to see so many customers back at markets this past, post hurricane week. Check out our new, colorful yogurt containers, and taste some of our Sharp Cheddar Cheese, now back in consistent supply!

We are looking forward to an abundant fall season!

-Sarah

September Events at the Farm

2011-09-04T21:42:00.000-04:00

SEPTEMBER EVENTS

Saturday, September 17 · 9 am to 12 pm · $40

Food Skills Workshop: Pasta Making

Have you wanted to make pasta from scratch but haven't known where to start? Learn all the steps for making pasta dough, pluck the strings of a pasta chitarra (that's "pasta guitar" in Italian), roll out dough for ravioli, prepare different ravioli fillings, and learn the secrets to simple Italian sauces. Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center.

To register: 518-672-7500 x 232 · caroline@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Saturday, September 17 · 1 to 3 pm · $50

Cheesemaking Workshop: Cheese Appreciation

Taste your way around the world with a stunning array of the best cheeses available. We will talk about the history, politics, and philosophy of what has to be one of the most interesting foods around.

To register: 518-672-7500 x 232 · caroline@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Saturday, September 17 · 2 to 4 pm · Free

Farmscape Ecology Walk:
Fall Wildflowers of Meadows and Forest

Ecologists Claudia and Conrad Vispo will take participants of all ages to forest and meadows at Hawthorne Valley Farm and will introduce "the stars of autumn" (also known as Asters and Goldenrods). Meet in front of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

For more information: 518-672-7994 · fep@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

What's Happening at the Farm? Come and See Us in August!

2011-08-02T14:47:00.000-04:00

AUGUST EVENTS

Saturday, August 13 · 10 am to 1 pm · $40

Food Skills Workshop: Pickling

Learn the specifics of hot water canning, extending shelf life of foods, and preserving produce for your-round enjoyment. Taste pickles and relishes made in class and leave equipped with new skills and step-by-step instructions for each recipe. Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center.

To register: 518-672-7500 x 232 · caroline@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Saturday, August 20 · 10 am to 1 pm · Free

Open Garden Day

Explore Hawthorne Valley Farm's Corner Garden and taste foods grown and made right here on the farm. Visit the Corner Garden for a tour, activity, and to meet the farmers and apprentices.

For more information: 518-672-5808

Saturday, August 20 · 2 to 4 pm · Free

Farmscape Ecology Walk

Ecologists Claudia and Conrad Vispo will take participants of all ages to different parts of Hawthorne Valley Farm to explore "who lives in our ponds and streams." Meet in front of Hawthorne Valley Farm Store.

To register: 518-672-7994 · fep@hawthornevalleyfarm.org

Saturday, August 27 · 7 to 9 pm · $10 suggested donation

The Power of Money:

Rudolf Steiner and a New Economic Paradigm

This panel discussion features three individuals who have worked closely with Rudolf Steiner's economic ideas: John Bloom, Director of Organizational Culture, RSF Social Finance; Arthur Edwards, Co-Director, Centre for Associative Economics; and Gary Lamb, Co-Director, Hawthorne Valley Center for Social Research. They are currently working together on a "collaborative model for researching and developing an approach to economic literacy in Waldorf High Schools that is intended to inform and transform the way students view and work with money, finance, and enterprise."

The purpose of this panel presentation and conversation is to explore some of Steiner's key indications on money and how they might be helpful in our personal and professional lives today.

To register: 518-672-4465 x 223 · glamb@thecenterforsocialresearch.org

Apprentice Eye View

2011-06-03T08:51:00.000-04:00

Hawthorne Valley Beets in the Fog from Ginny's Blog

Ever wonder what it would be like to apprentice on a farm like ours?

Apprentice Breakfast Art by Ginny

Now you can find out with this wonderful firsthand account from 2011 Hawthorne Valley Farm apprentice Ginny.

Click Here to visit her beautiful blog and share in the tastes, views and ruminations of a thoughtful new farmer!

Scenes From the Farm

2011-05-17T10:36:00.000-04:00

Here's another chance to visit with the farm on video and learn a bit more about biodynamics.

The video-makers were very interested in the relationship between CO2 emissions and farming, and on the way to examining this they show a lot of interesting aspects of Hawthorne Valley Farm.

Click on the full screen view arrows on the lower right for a better view! -Sarah

Welcome Cows Back to Grass!

2011-04-20T18:18:00.000-04:00

Thursday, April 21st

10:30 am

Spring is here! The cows at Hawthorne Valley

Farm will return to the pasture for their first

taste of spring grass.

All are invited to watch the cows as they make

their way out to the fields after a long winter.

Meet at the Farm Learning Center for a brief

introduction before heading out to the pasture.

All are invited to return at 2 pm to welcome the

cows back to the barn.

Hawthorne Valley Farm Learning Center

327 County Route 21C, Ghent, NY 12075

518-672-7500 x 231

Opportunities at the Farm

2011-04-11T15:30:00.000-04:00

Spring on the farm brings a sense of new possibilities, as seeds are sown and plans are made for the busy season ahead. This spring also brings new opportunities to get involved, beyond the fields, in food production at the Farm.

As we grow and strive to bring more delicious food to fruition, we have positions available for enthusiastic, dedicated people interested in pursuing the crafts of cheese making, baking, and lacto-fermentation.

We are looking for an Assistant Cheesemaker to learn from our master cheesemaker and dairy manager Peter Kindel, as well as for an additional Baker to join the staff of our Organic Bakery. These are both full time jobs, and are great opportunities for the right candidates.

We are also offering a part time opportunity for involvement in all three on-farm food production areas: dairy, bakery, and kraut.

If you, or someone you know, might be interested, follow this link to read more specifics about our job opportunities. Then please look around our site to learn more about the farm, and get in touch with us!

Our Green Market program also has opportunities for folks who live near the farm to get involved.

The scent of spring is in the air now, and we look forward to seeing you at markets, or visiting the farm!

-Sarah

Ice and Birth

2011-03-16T10:18:00.000-04:00

Once again this past week the farm was beautifully coated in ice. We lost power for days in this latest storm, but fortunately our diesel generators kept the bakery ovens baking, the yogurt filler filling, the milking machines pulsing, and so on.

This weather was somewhat reminiscent of the day our daughter was born, which I did promise to write about!

The Birth Day of Hannah Yael, Saturday, February 5th, 2011

That day started cold, but fairly clear, with just an occasional snow flurry. We ran some errands in the morning and the weather seemed fine. I had been feeling some mild sensations since we finished loading the truck the night before, but nothing too serious.

Then suddenly, everything started to happen fast. First deliveries tend to be slow, and we had assumed that we would have plenty of time to get to the birth center in Rhinebeck, a 45 min.drive away. Instead, my labor kicked into high gear right away, and so did the freezing rain.

I wasn't thinking about much at this point beyond making loud noises and trying to find less uncomfortable positions. In between helping me Ben was in touch with our incredible doula who was trying to navigate the icy roads to reach our house. (And by the way, if anyone reading this is going to be involved in a birth, I highly recommend working with a doula -- "Doulas are non-medical professionals who provide continuous physical, emotional, and informational support throughout labor. They have knowledge and experience that parents, especially first-time parents, often don't have." Click here to learn more about doulas...)

After 2 hours, and a very treacherous journey through the storm, the doula finally reached our house. She advised us that it would not be safe to drive and that she had called in an ambulance for us. Ben asked her if she thought the ambulance would take us to the birth center in Rhinebeck, or just to the closest hospital, and she said, "We might not be going anywhere, I think the birth might happen right here."

Boy, was I happy to hear that! Not because I liked the idea of an unplanned home birth, but because it meant that this intense labor would be over soon!

The local ambulance crew arrived and was extremely calm and helpful, letting Ben & the doula both ride in the ambulance with me. Just about four hours, give or take, after my labor had started in earnest, I was "fully dilated", so they took me to the closest hospital in Hudson. There just wasn't time, on these icy roads, to make it to Rhinebeck, although we did make it to Hudson....

In Hudson we were fortunate to draw a very mellow obstetrician who mostly stood back and let us do our thing. With Ben supporting me on one side and the doula on the other Hannah Yael was born, just as the Saturday market ended in Union Square. In fact, just as her head emerged, Ben's cell phone rang (no, he didn't answer it!) with a report from Joy on the day's market!

Ben cut the umbilical cord. Our baby was healthy and robust at 8 lbs. 8.4 oz. I was exhausted and needed a few stitches but in generally good shape. The external circumstances had not gone as planned, but all the important things had gone fine!

-Sarah

Catching up with Melissa

2011-03-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

It's always fun for us to hear from the amazing array of Hawthorne Valley Farm "alums" and learn about what they are up to now.

Some day I hope we can take a road trip where we stay with former coworkers and see what fantastic and interesting things they are involved in. But for now we will stick with vicarious, digital fun and visits.

You are invited to join us on a quick side trip by checking out this blog from Melissa who worked at the stand in, I think, 2007, and is now an "urban homesteader" in Burlington, VT. She recently came by the stand for a visit and told us about her blog.

-Sarah

She's Here!

2011-02-14T20:44:00.000-05:00

Hannah Yael Borkovitz arrived on Saturday, Feb 5 at 8:23 PM.

She weighed in at a sturdy 8 lbs, 8.4 oz.

Details of her arrival make quite a dramatic story (to follow in a future post).

Baby and Mom (and Dad too) are healthy and happy, and grateful to our awesome crew in both farm and city for keeping the markets rolling while we adjust to our newest farm team member.

-Sarah

Mache Is Back!

2011-01-25T21:53:00.000-05:00

Although the weather is looking dicey for tomorrow afternoon (Wed. 1/26), we will be at Union Square. Please come early if you can, as it looks like the precipitation will come in the afternoon and evening.

Mache lover's please take note, it will be worth the trip: our first mache of the season will be at market tomorrow! This tender winter green is so unique it inspired a fairy tale. Its uncanny ability to grow in cold weather may have been how it earned a role in the magical tale.

According to the story, when Rapunzel's mother was pregnant with her, she had a strong craving for the Mache growing in the local enchantress' garden. (It is no wonder a pregnant mother in winter would crave a nutritious green.) Rapunzel's father sneaked into the witches garden in an ill fated attempt to satisfy the craving of his pregnant wife. Cornered by the terrifying sorceress, he was forced to promise her his daughter in return for his life. Thus Rapunzel fell into the clutches of the evil person who would later imprison her in a tower.

And all for want of some Mache.

Come satisfy your own winter greens cravings, in a much safer environment, by visiting the market stand tomorrow... There may be some snow, but no sorceresses! So don't let mere weather keep you away.

-Sarah (Very pregnant, but fortunately able to satisfy winter greens cravings with relative ease!)

Happy Holidays

2010-12-30T20:22:00.001-05:00

Happy Holidays from all of us at Hawthorne Valley Farm to all of our customers and friends!

We won't see you at market on the holiday Saturdays as they fall on Christmas and New Year's Days. But we will be down on all of the Wednesdays, so you can stock up then if you like.

Sarah & Ben will be using the holiday break to catch up on some "nesting". As many of you may know we are expecting a baby in early February (or whenever she chooses to come along)...

There's a great crew in place to keep markets humming while we are otherwise occupied, so you can continue to get your yogurt, granola, bread, kraut, cheese, meat, and so many other goodies all winter long.

Thanks to everyone for your support this year. Seeing you at markets brightens our days and warms our hearts, even through the winter. 2011 looks to be an exciting new year full of possibility, for us, for our family and for Hawthorne Valley Farm. (G-d willing.) We look forward to continuing to share it with you.

Have a Wonderful New Year!

-Sarah

Winter Wheat

2010-11-15T14:48:00.000-05:00

Just a few short weeks after our community seed sowing (see last post) our wheat field is carpeted with bright green shoots (the flat green field in the foreground). Looks like spring!

If all goes well, this wheat will be ready for harvest late next summer. We will hire our neighbor and his combine to cut it when the time comes. This is always a little tricky as the window between when the grain is ready to harvest and when it starts to lose some quality, or even "lodge" (ie lie down flat which reduces yield and makes harvesting difficult) is rather short. And bad weather at the wrong time can shorten it further.

Assuming the combining goes well, the next job is to "clean" the wheat seed, i.e. to separate the wheat berries out from whatever weed seeds or other undesirable debris may have gotten mixed in. For this, we rely on our good but not-so-near neighbor Al at Lightning Tree Farm in Dutchess County, who has appropriate equipment for cleaning grain.

Finally, once the wheat berries come back from Al, we grind them in our small stone mill in our bakery. We grind in small batches so that our flour is always fresh. Whole grain flours start to lose their nutritive qualities quickly after they are ground, so it is important to us to bake with the flour within a few days after it is ground.

As you can see, it is a long way from seeding grain to eating the results!

And we are excited this week to begin eating the results of this past season's rye harvest. Our 2010 Rye made it back from cleaning at Lightning Tree just in time for Grow NYC's Greenmarket Grain Week -- this week we will be able to feature our Hawthorne Valley grown rye grain in our Rye Breads, and Rye Reuben Rolls.

And speaking of rye, have you tasted our NEW Rye Reuben Rolls??!! These tasty morsels are made with Hawthorne Valley Farm Sauerkraut, and Hawthorne Valley Farm Aged Alpine Cheese (aged over 1 yr.), in a dough made of rye flour freshly ground from whole rye berries in our own bakery, and mixed with white flour from Champlain Valley Milling in Westport, NY (all certified organic, of course). Delicious! If you haven't had one yet, please come by the stand and try it. We have them at Inwood on Saturdays as well as at Union Square on Wednesdays and Saturdays.

And while you are at it, check out our new Apple Muffins made with organic apples from Thompson Finch Farm in Ancram, NY, and our Cranberry Scones, made with fresh organic cranberries from Western Massachusetts.

Happy Munchings!

-Sarah

Sowing Seeds, Catching Up

2010-10-07T16:57:00.000-04:00

Fall is a busy time on any farm, and at farmer's markets as well. There has been so much going on that I have a lot of blog entries to catch up on!

Our Sowing the Future event a couple Sundays ago was a great success, and as a result a field full of wheat is already sprouting behind the creamery near the night pasture, on the way to the main vegetable field. Dozens of community folk, including a local girl scout troup, turned out to hear presentations on the history of grain growing in Columbia County, and on the future of heritage grain varieties.

Anna and Conrad from Hawthorne Valley's Farmscape Ecology program prepared beautiful and informative displays about grains for the group to take in, and spoke about the historical role of grains in the local economy. (And thanks to Farmscape for sharing these photos with us.)

Eli Rogosa of the Heritage Wheat Conservancy spoke engagingly about her work travelling through the Middle East (where wheat was first domesticated from a wild ancestor) and collecting seeds gifted from traditional farmers. Participants learned of some of the essential differences between these older varieties, which are tall and robust with strong root systems, and the newer, agribusiness created varieties, which are short and scrawny plants with weak root systems, designed to support large seed heads suitable for efficient mechanical harvest. The "overbred" commercial varieties are far more vulnerable to disease, and require increased inputs of chemical fertilizers, fungicides, and pesticides to grow.

Then the whole group of us spread out across the field to sow wheat seeds the old fashioned way, flinging with abandon.

Sowing accross generations:

Ben gets into the act...

Eli left Hawthorne Valley with a gift of a dozen heritage wheat varieties to grow out and trial. Our trial garden will be used to save seeds and increase seed stocks of these rare varieties in the hope that we can plant more of them in the future, as well as widen the circle of seed sharing with other biodynamic growers.

In the meantime, we have been battling through a dry season which has left pastures and vegetables very thirsty. Fortunately for our vegetables, there is a remedy - all be it a time consuming one- and Katy and the farm team have been spending countless hours running, moving, and trouble shooting the irrigation (or as Katy sometimes affectionately terms it, "irritation", since it never seems to run smoothly).

For the pastures, though, there is not much to be done to remedy the dry conditions. To avoid overgrazing, we have had to start the cows on their winter feed rations of hay and fermented hay much sooner than we would in a typical season. The cows would prefer fresh grass all the time, but unfortunately there is not much growing right now. We do have a good stock of winter feed laid by, luckily, as good grass growth in the spring followed by the dry weather this summer allowed Steffen and Michael to "make lots of hay while the sun shined".

Greenmarkets in NYC have been wonderfully energetic the last several weeks, as folks went to town on a great crop of tomatoes, broccoli, and cauliflower. As those wind down, we are coming into a colorful abundance of kale, hakurei turnips, carrots, and huge heads of lettuce, all of which thrive in the cool fall conditions.

And there's nothing that says "fall" quite like the return of our delicious Pumpkin Spice Bread, which has been flying off the shelves as fast as we can bake it. Karen and the rest of our bakery team are busily baking and scooping out fresh pumpkins to keep us in warm bread as we speak.

Thank you for all your support at markets!! We love to see good food going to good homes. Seeing you there makes it all worth the effort!!

In the meantime, back at the farm, a major milestone was reached as construction efforts leapt forward on our new maintenance space. For the first time ever, we will have a heated space to work on equipment this winter! No more huddling in the cold while performing the essential tasks that keep the farm moving forward for another season. (Here's Wayne with a warm hat on working in our unheated shop last winter.)

And last, but certainly not least, preparations are in full swing for the sixteenth annual Fall Harvest Festival at Hawthorne Valley Farm!

There is so much to see and taste at the farm now, and we hope you will come up and see us this weekend. See the Fall Festival website for details, including a link to local lodging info if you are coming from afar. Its free and fun a great place for the whole family to see a farm, explore traditional crafts, take in a puppet show, learn to make sauerkraut, or tour our K-12 Waldorf school.

Hope we'll see you at the farm this weekend!

-Sarah

Violet Queen Purple Broccoli Returns!

2010-09-03T19:20:00.000-04:00

We are blessed this week with an incredible abundance of Violet Queen Purple Broccoli.

This amazing plant shares characteristics with broccoli and with cauliflower, two plants that are so close botanically that they are members of the same genus and species, brassica oleracea.

The florets of the Violet Queen taste like broccoli, while the stem is more similar to a cauliflower stem.

Sometimes it seems like a shame to cook these plants because they are so beautiful. Perhaps they should really be used as centerpieces on the table, in place of a vase of flowers. But they do also have great flavor. They turn light green when you blanch them.

Come see, and taste, for yourself!

-Sarah

It's All Connected...

2010-08-26T17:39:00.000-04:00

Hawthorne Valley Association espouses the ambitious goal of "social and cultural renewal through education, agriculture, and the arts", so it is perhaps not as surprising as it might seem that an ever evolving constellation of creative people tends to pass through and around our Greenmarket stands in NYC.

Our current stand team includes people who wear many other fascinating hats such as a couple of actors, a modern dancer, a teacher, a poet/painter/herbalist, and a musician who also works in a recording studio and just finished cutting an album of his compositions.

In a project deliciously crossing classifications as art, education, environmentalism, and direct action, another one of these folks, Glenn, has created and nurtured a nonprofit startup called Bags for The People, to make reusable bags using recycled fabrics, and to teach kids and adults alike about how to sew and how to reduce their environmental impacts. You can learn more about this great group, and how to get in on the sewing fun yourself, at the website bagsforthepeople.org.

Bags for the People holds sewing workshops for school children, and you may have also seen them sewing reusable bags at Greenmarkets around the city this summer. They also hold regular "sweatshop socials", complete with live music (provided by local musicians such as former Hawthorne Valley Farm stand staffer Matt, on sax at one such Social, below).

In addition to his other creative outlets, Glenn enjoys working with food, adding another link in the education/agriculture/arts chain. After yet another tomato filled Greenmarket session this summer, Glenn shared with us some recipes he created to help make use of this summer's bounty. Thanks Glenn! We hope you will give his Tomato Tart below a try!

-Sarah

Tomato Tart adapted from David Lebovitz by Glenn Robinson

Crust:

1 1/2 cup flour

4 1/2 ounce butter

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 large egg

2 tablespoons cold water

Filling:

2 large ripe tomatoes

dijon or whole seed mustard

2 tablespoons olive oil

ground pepper

pinch chopped chives or scallions (Sarah says: You can also use Hawthorne Valley Leeks)

pinch of chopped thyme

8 oz fresh goat cheese (Sarah says: or use Hawthorne Valley Bianca)

Procedure:

Place flour and salt in large mixing bowl. Cut chilled butter into cubes and integrate into dry mixture with hands or mixer with dough attachment. Combine until mix resembles crumbs. Beat egg and pour over flour mix. Incorporate egg into mix and add cold water. Mix until dough forms ball. Roll out dough on flowered surface to approximately 1/4" thick. Place dough in pie tin, tart pan, or simply flat on a cookie sheet.

Spread mustard liberally at base of dough. Slice tomatoes a quarter to third inch thick. Layer tomatoes over mustard, covering entire tart. Cut goat cheese into rounds and place on top of tomatoes. Sprinkle chives, thyme, and fresh ground black pepper over cheese and tomatoes.

Preheat oven to 450˚ F. Place tart in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until cheese begins to brown on edges. Once finished, allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes, then drizzle top with olive oil and serve."

Sauce Time?

2010-08-20T19:23:00.000-04:00

Well, the crows haven't figured us out yet, and the tomatoes are going strong! This is a great week to stock up on tomatoes to make sauce for the winter. We have a ton of juicy red gems, and if you are buying a large quantity for a big project, talk to us about getting a bulk deal. We like to see our tomatoes going to good homes. And there's nothing like pulling a bunch of sauce out of the freezer in January to chase away those winter blues...

See you at the markets!

-Sarah

Tomato Protection

2010-07-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

This has been one of our earliest tomato seasons ever. July's heat has been about as ideal for these rambunctious plants as last years damp chill was dismal. Their precious orbs are coming in early, prolific, and sweet. And the vines are heavy with green fruit that we hope will keep us supplied with ripening treats well into the fall (frosts permitting).

Unfortunately, humans are not the only great appreciators of these delectable fruits. This season the neighborhood crows have developed a sudden taste for our tomatoes. It's pretty disappointing when you crouch down to pluck a ripe fruit, only to discover as you place it in your harvest bucket that it is drilled through with beak holes.

Fortunately, Katy has arrived at a devastatingly clever low tech, low impact solution: pie tins, baking pans, and plastic owls, as you can see.

Miraculously, it seems to be working. Even a slight breeze causes an unpredictable riot of shifting light as scraps of metal catch the sun's rays and reflect them off at wild angles. And the stern owls oversee the field tirelessly. When I went out to take photos today, there was not a (real) bird in sight.

But I'd best not "crow" too much, too soon, about our success. These birds can be clever. I only hope they won't wise up over time.

For now, at least, Hawthorne Valley Farm tomatoes are safe for humanity.

-Sarah

Beating the Heat

2010-07-23T14:14:00.001-04:00

A question we’ve been getting a lot lately is “How do you deal with all this heat?” Well, we’ve been trying to do a Mediterranean style day. 4:30 in the morning is actually a very nice time to be outside. So, we start early, and take a huge break in the middle of the day. Then by 6 or 7 in the evening, when the sun goes behind the West Hill, the air gets a little lighter, a little more breathable, and I go out to turn on all the irrigation.

Pouring water onto the vegetables is pretty important in the extreme heat of the last two weeks. Our creeks are low, but not too low, and we can safely pump water onto the fields, and the plants appreciate that.

For our farm apprentices, I am constantly saying “Drink more water. Where is your water bottle? Did you drink enough water yet?” Also, I made them some home-made ice cream with cardamom and vanilla. Ice cream is a pretty important way to deal with the heat. But mostly it’s water, and more water.

Swimming in the swim pond becomes essential. Even if it’s just a dunk in the middle of the day.

I think our tomatoes, eggplants and peppers are loving this heat, a heat we haven’t really experienced here since 2007. The summers of 2008 and 2009 were very wet and cool growing years, and the fruiting vegetables like a bit of warmth and dry-ness, as long as they are also irrigated. I am glad that our leafy vegetables, especially the lettuces, are doing well in this heat, also. Leafy greens typically don’t like hot and dry conditions. But with a lot of attention from our irrigation system, the lettuces and greens are getting a cool bath most nights, and are doing well.

Last Saturday morning it rained almost an inch, and the whole farm soaked in the cool water, grateful for some respite from the heat. The farmers were grateful, too.

Here’s to some cool salads, maybe a mint and cucumber and yogurt salad. Beets and feta cheese salads have also been popular here, as well as cold borscht soups. Pasta salads with stir-fried vegetables, all cooled down and marinated, have been feeding us, too. And, fruit smoothies with yogurt or buttermilk. Basically, anything simple and cooled. With lots of water to drink, maybe even some lemonade made by neighborly five year-olds. We’ll just have to remember this heat wave when January comes around again…. In the meantime, stay cool, and drink lots of water!

-Katy

I also wanted to remind folks who may be looking for excursions to escape the urban heat that Hawthorne Valley Farm is always open to visitors, and that our on Farm Store is open 7 days a week. (It is one of the few places where you can legally obtain raw milk, but call ahead to make sure that it is in stock when you are coming.)

Just a couple days ago I saw an online account of a visit by a NYC greenmarket customer, complete with fun photos. Click here to take a look.

Also another nice cool food I recommend for those of you with ice cream makers is Hawthorne Valley Farm Frozen Yogurt. Just put your favorite flavor of our yogurt into your ice cream makers (or for fun with kids, try a colorful "ice cream ball"), and you can create a most delicious, not-too-sweet-but-just-right snack, no other additions needed. My favorite is Maple Vanilla...

-Sarah

The Art of Harvest

2010-07-16T11:00:00.000-04:00

Sarah: I was talking to a customer in Union Square recently about an unusually large bunch of Rainbow Swiss Chard that was out on display, and how it can take a lot of practice for new farm apprentices or other workers to learn the art of bunching. I though some of you might be interested in reading some of Katy's thoughts on the spring harvest with the farm team:

Much of the harvest time we are physically harvesting your vegetables, pulling the pea pods from the plant,
pulling the Japanese turnips from the soil, cutting the rainbow chard stalk from the plant. In those physical
motions a lot of judgment calls are made, which pea is the sweetest (the ones with the chubbiest cheeks), which turnip is the right size, which leaf is the brightest.

One’s hands learn the motions and one’s eyes learn to discern the best within the row. Along with the actual harvesting, there is also a wider view to learn: the organization of the harvest buckets, to put them where they will be needed, making sure the knives are sharpened, putting enough rubber bands in the special harvest bucket.

Recently, we had a high school volunteer helping us, a kindly fellow. At the end of a long harvest day, involving hours upon hours of bending over, counting the number of bunches or pounds, learning a dexterity with harvest knives and bunching rubber bands, he said, “You know, I never realized the rubber bands or twist ties were put on by an actual person.”

He was referring to the bunches of produce in a store. There may well be a machine that puts on the twist ties or bands at a big, industrial agri-business farm. It may also be the work of professional farm workers, who work hard and know a vast amount about the world, agriculture and life. Here, the act of harvesting is a bit less industrial -- it’s almost more personal.

Over weeks, months and years, the lessons become absorbed into each person’s physical body, intellect and heart. Each farm team member has to get the feel of the right size bunch, the quality control of taking out any funny yellow leaves, the aesthetics of a nicely finished harvest. And, we do that while our muscles are learning the motions and the stamina for the all day harvest.

In the end, what we all learn is the powerful will to get it done well, to feed and share with everyone what we have on the farm. -farmer Katy

Pickles and Zucchini

2010-07-09T13:05:00.000-04:00

The return of the cucurbit family is always a sure sign of summer. Zucchini is back at the stand this week, along with bi-color Zephyr squash, the nutty yellow summer squash with pale green markings.

And perhaps most exciting of all..................

PICKLES ARE BACK!!!!

It takes a big plant to make a small zucchini. As you can see below.

And speaking of small, this zucchini would already be way too big to make the cut for harvest if it were a pickling cucumber. Pickling cukes have to be very small and crisp, otherwise they become mushy when they are pickled. They have to be pickled fresh. The cukes can't sit even a couple of days before going into the pickling brine without losing quality. In short, it takes a great cucumber to make a great pickle.

Fortunately Katy and the farm team are great at growing cucumbers, and Seth and the Kraut Cellar team are great at making pickles.

The miracle of traditional "pickling", aka "lacto-fermentation" is deceptively simple. Small, freshly picked cucumbers are soaked in a brine of well water, organic fresh garlic, organic spices and Celtic Sea Salt.

The cucumbers are totally submerged to create an "anaerobic" i.e. oxygen free environment. They are kept at a controlled temperature for several days or weeks while the naturally occurring "good bacteria" on the cucumbers cause the pH to drop and the ecosystem of more "good bacteria" to develop. The end result is a tangy, delicious pickle that is amazingly refreshing in the hot weather of summer, and also preserves a taste of summer all the way into fall and winter!

We think the salty crisp spicy flavor of a Hawthorne Valley Farm kosher style pickle is the perfect complement to summer heat. They are great by themselves, or try them on a thick slice of Hawthorne Valley Farm Seven Grain Bread with our hot dogs or hamburgers.

Come sample a cool pickle at the Union Square or Inwood stands this summer, and see what you think. We're always happy to give you a taste. (Unless we've eaten them all already!)

See You At the Stand...

-Sarah & Ben

Cows and Community

2010-07-02T14:51:00.000-04:00

For a close up look at one of the special people who helps Hawthorne Valley to thrive check out "The Way of the Cow" in the current issue of Chronogram Magazine. They do a great interview with Martin Ping, Hawthorne Valley Association's Executive Director, or as he likes to say "Executive Servant". Martin talks about some of the amazing range of activities taking place around Hawthorne Valley, and about the wisdom of cows and community. Click Here for the article.

Please come visit us at the markets tomorrow. We'll have lots of delicious produce as well as hot dogs and burger patties for 4th of July grilling. And don't forget some kraut to top those hot dogs, or some Maple Vanilla Yogurt to help you stay cool on a hot day.

Garlic Scapes Are Here!

2010-06-25T19:14:00.000-04:00

Garlic is a remarkable plant. The hard-neck varieties favored by many small growers, ourselves included, send up a green "bulbil" similar to a traditional scallion. In June, we harvest these "garlic scallions", and enjoy the pungent taste of garlic long before the bulbs underground are ready to share their flavors with us. Then, in a couple of months, we can harvest the bulbs from these same plants. So we get garlic two ways from these small beauties.

Garlic scallions won't be around for long, probably just this week, so enjoy them now!

-Sarah

Sweet Peas Have Arrived!

2010-06-18T18:56:00.000-04:00

On Saturday we plan to have some delicious sugar snap peas at our market stands. Come on by (early, preferably - we're open at 8am) and try one - like me, you'll probably be hooked! -Ben

Pigs in Heaven

2010-06-04T14:29:00.000-04:00

I had a nice visit today with the newest Hawthorne Valley Farm residents, a healthy litter of energetic piglets. Nothing makes them happier than a wallow in the mud.

The piglets were an entertaining diversion from some gloomy thoughts I was having about the state of modern industrial agriculture.

I was walking by the new cow pasture, on what used to be part of our vegetable fields. After too many years of heavy rains and floods, which drown vegetables and steal precious top soil, we decided to move the veggies onto higher ground. So this same fertile but flood prone ground is now protected by newly seeded perennial pasture grasses which will develop strong roots and keep the soil in place. The cows are happy on their new pasture, which you will taste in your yogurt and cheese in the coming weeks and months.

All this made me think about Wendell Berry's idea (described in his book of essays What Are People For?) that farmers need to be in a two way conversation with the land, not only proposing uses, but paying attention to how the land responds to these uses. This is not always easy to do. It took us some time and a lot of logistical shuffling to figure out how to listen to the land in this instance. But I am glad that we did, and looking at the cows I felt very clearly that the right choice has been made here, thanks to hard work by Steffen, Katy, Andrea, and the rest of the Farm team.

But this "rightness" here did serve to remind me of how often the land is ignored in the oxymoron known as "industrial agriculture" (Where is the "culture" in "industrial" processes?). As Wendell Berry describes it, land use decisions are too often treated as a "monologue" rather than a two way "conversation", in which the land itself plays an essential part.

The piglets were a good lesson to me, though, --especially the laughing piglet above-- reminding me that there is much goodness in the world-- even the mud. It is a great and treasured opportunity for me to be a party to the kind of dialogue that can happen with the land at a place like Hawthorne Valley. And this work is only possible because the local community and the Greenmarket customers in NYC, and the CSA members up and downstate are all part of the conversation in many different ways -- by choosing to eat and support this kind of food and farming instead of another, and by guiding us in how to make it all better.

So thank all of you for this opportunity. I hope to see many of you at Inwood and Union Square greenmarkets this Saturday. The weather will be hot, with a chance of showers, but the yogurt will be cold, and along with the breads and krauts (look out for a kraut profile in "Time Out New York" next week) and cheese and meat and the first early veggies, should still make it a delicious day!

Head Lettuce Arrives

2010-05-27T18:34:00.002-04:00

Just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, Heads of Lettuce are Back at our Stands!

Get the lush, light green Black Seeded Simpson variety while you can. It likes cool spring weather but not summer weather, so we only grow it in our early planting. It tastes amazing, and every spring folks get very excited to see it. Some of these heads are huge, too.

And try some of our Hot Dogs or Ground Beef on your Memorial Day grill. (You could be the only one on your block topping your Burger with Curry Sauerkraut!)

-Sarah

Community In the Rye

2010-05-20T18:45:00.005-04:00

First, allow me to indulge in a brief Rye History:

Last fall dozens of friends of the farm-- including some folks from all the way down in NYC -- joined us as we sowed the seeds of our Rye Grain crop.

Steffen and Rachel fill our hats, jugs, and baskets with seeds (saved from our 2009 Rye Crop).

We line up to cover a long stretch across the six acre field, seeds at the ready.

Steffen shows everyone how to sow.

This is how the field looked newly sown:

Now back to the Present:

Last week, we were excited to welcome a visit from Joy Prem, who has worked with us at the Union Square Greenmarket stand for several years. Of course Ben & I took her to see how the rye was growing!

This is the Rye Grain last week!

Joy and I got into the Rye, and Ben worked the camera. It is short still, as you can see when we kneel in the field. But it is a nice thick stand.

Harvest time won't come until late August. Until then, we hope for some rain, but not too much and not too heavy. One of the riskiest times for the Rye crop is when it is tall and almost ready for harvest in July and August. A storm with heavy winds (like we had last year) can knock down the tall stalks, making them impossible to harvest. So keep your fingers crossed!

I plan on bringing you updates on the crop as it progresses on its long journey from now until harvest, followed by cleaning and bagging by our neighbors at Lightning Tree Farm, milling back in our own bakery, and finally into our Rye and Sunflower Flax breads -- and hopefully into all of our mouths!

The weather report for this weekend is beautiful. It should be great growing weather for the rye, and great market weather in NYC. See you there!

Seedlings and Green Shoots

2010-05-07T12:13:00.005-04:00

(Above, Tomato Seedlings)

Once warm weather arrives, the wait for the first field harvest can seem hard to bear. All the evidence of our senses tells us that a new season is here; even in the midst of Manhattan there is a fresh scent in the early morning air. Tulips are blooming in urban community gardens. The exuberant cacophony of bird song at dawn can be heard in certain places near parks or sheltered court yards.

But at the farm, the new warmth marks a beginning, not a fruition, in the growth of our plants. Seedlings crowd our greenhouses and young shoots emerge in our fields. Frost sensitive young growth still needs to be protected from cold night air under blankets of row covers or in heated hoop houses.

There is much growing still to be done, and these natural processes take time, which is really a good thing in the end, though we may wish to hurry them in our human impatience. Though it is too soon to enjoy the fruits of harvest, the teeming life in nurse beds and greenhouses brings a satisfaction all its own. The sense of possibility is everywhere in spring. As is the awareness of all the responsibility that goes with it -- the soil preparation, the transplanting, the cultivation, and ultimately the harvesting that will be required of us as inevitable consequence of the immutable cycle that spring growth foretells.

We can't bring any field produce to you yet, but we can share some images of its beginnings, the signs of new life and future promise that surround us and occupy us at the farm these days. A feast not for the stomach, but for the eyes:

Young Pea Shoots Emerge

Lettuce Seedlings awaiting transplant.

Leeks in greenhouse nurse bed

Enjoy these thoughts of spring, and come see us tomorrow at Union Square and Inwood for bread, yogurt, cheese, and all the other good things at the stand. We hope the weather stays fair, but we'll be there with tents and awnings to shelter us all regardless of conditions.

Real Cows, Real Actors, Real Milk

2010-04-29T17:27:00.001-04:00

If you were putting on a play about a dairy farm in NYC, how would you prepare your actors? Well, the folks behind the new play, Milk, decided to bring their actors to visit and even pitch in on a real dairy farm, and fortunately they found us at Hawthorne Valley. Being actors, they chronicled their trip on film.

You can see our cows, and the Milk cast, in their Milk preview video posted here and embedded below.

MILK preview video! (If it's running slow, turn HD option off). from Rehana Mirza on Vimeo.
They had a great visit, and even captured one of the highlights - a new calf being born - on film, where you can see it too...

If you want to learn more about the play, which is being performed at the nonprofit New Georges theater on W. 27th Street in Manhattan, check out their website here.

Making Sauerkraut On TV

2010-04-21T16:04:00.005-04:00

The folks from Albany Public TV came to the farm to film Seth making kraut for their show From Farm to Table: From the Cabbage Patch.

They took some great footage of the farm and of the kraut making process. Kraut fans might enjoying watching Seth at work, and hearing about the benefits of lacto-fermentation. Click Here to watch the show! Kraut's star turn comes early in the show, just after the intro.

P.S.
Our Kraut even scored an oblique mention in the April 21st New York Times Dining Section. In a piece on a new Cooking Channel show called Unique Eats, "...taped earlier this month at Bark, a boutique hot-dog shop in Park Slope, Brooklyn, the cameras lavished attention on baked heirloom beans and franks topped with Columbia County sauerkraut."

Thats right, that would be Hawthorne Valley Farm kraut they are describing. Our friends at Bark are doing a remarkable job sourcing local ingredients (check out the "Resources Menu" on their website like I just did, and you'll likely be impressed). They pickup kraut from us at the Union Square Greenmarket on a regular basis.

Farmers "Make Lemonade" - Or, "If You're Given Stony Fields, Make Stone Walls"

2010-04-19T07:32:00.001-04:00

Last summer, after a portion of our vegetable fields flooded yet again, we decided enough is enough. The most flood prone portions of the fields are now being turned over to pasture, and a new, dryer area is being prepared for vegetables for the 2010 season to make up for some of the lost growing space.

Preparing new land for produce is an elaborate process. And challenges are already emerging -- not the least of which are a prodigious quantity of rocks. The farm team and some helpful volunteers have already spent countless hours pulling stones out of the new fields. A fine new stone wall is now emerging, in the old New England tradition. This is how it looks in April of 2010. Let's see how big it grows by next April!

First Grass of Spring

2010-04-15T00:16:00.002-04:00

The cows were intent on grazing the short spring grass this week. It was their first fresh grass this spring. There was no mooing, and definitely no sitting around. All that could be heard was a rhythmical tearing as strong cow tongues ripped off the tops of the grasses and gathered them into eager mouths. Grass season is a bit early this year, but you wont hear these bovines complaining.
-Sarah

Visit The Farm

2010-03-05T17:48:00.003-05:00

Visitors are always welcome at Hawthorne Valley Farm.

Feel free to walk around and visit the animals (and the plants).

Our Farm Store is open 7 days a week, and is the only place you can get our Raw Milk. Check here for Farm Store Hours, and call the store at 518/672-7500 before you come to confirm hours and/or availability of any particular item you might be looking for -- such as raw milk, which is not always in stock.

Guided Tours are given on the 1st & 3rd Wednesdays and 3rd Sunday of each month. Please call ahead to sign up to 518/672-7500 ext. 105. We may also schedule group tours and tastings at other times. Our sister K-12 Waldorf School also holds periodic festivals and Open Houses. Please call 518/672-7500 ext. 105 for details.

If you are exploring the farm on your own, we ask that you observe a few basic ground rules:

Do not bring dogs beyond the parking lot area.
Young children should always be accompanied by an adult.
Do not touch tractors or other farm equipment.
Do not touch fencing, as some may be electrified.
If you open any gates CLOSE them securely behind you.

Driving Directions to the Farm