February News

Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!  Happy Valentine’s Day!

I looked at my flower beds last weekend, before the latest snow, and thought – “wow!  Spring is coming!”  The bulbs are growing and in some cases are almost an inch or more above the soil surface.  This made me formulate ideas for a “signs of spring” newsletter.  But, I took a step back and realized it is only the first part of February.  These signs I am seeing are most likely do to the goofy mild and snowless winter we have been experiencing.  In fact, as I type this newsletter, there is snow on the ground, the temperature outside is a balmy 10 and lows the weekend are predicted to be below zero.  So, yes, Mr. Groundhog there are plenty of weeks of winter left.  But, have you noticed how long the days are getting?  Now that, you cannot argue, means spring is coming!

On farm, we are still in rejuvenation mode.  Farmer Don and I spent a weekend at a Bed and Breakfast in Gettysburg in January.  We had an extremely relaxing time, but one entire day was spent in our room having our annual farm business meeting.  We did lots of brainstorming about what has historically worked for us and what we still struggle with.  There will be no grandiose changes for next year.  We have plans to really build our soil and possibly cut our production numbers a bit to focus on taking better care of what we have in the fields.  Most of you already know, we have added a poultry share to our CSA.  Depending on how successful the poultry share is, in the future we add a pork or mixed meat share to the CSA.  Our vegetable share will remain a full choice CSA, allowing members to choose exactly what they receive in their boxes each week.   We are hoping to expand our winter buying club somewhat by increasing delivery dates and products offered.  Our plans are to extend our season in the spring and into the fall and market this product, primarily, through our winter buying club.

Last week we made our annual pilgrimage to State College for the Pennsylvania Sustainable Agriculture Conference.  This conference is a premier event in the sustainable agriculture community.  We gather, each year, with literally thousands of like-minded producers and consumers to attend lectures and workshops and to exchange ideas.  It really is a special conference and Farmer Don and I return home each year energized and excited to be sustaining our small farm for future generations.  For us, and for many farm families, this conference is our main vacation for the year.  Not only do we enjoy the educational and motivational presentations, but we kick back a bit and visit with many friends whom we only see during these few days each February.  At this year’s conference, we both attended workshops on soil health and we had the opportunity to hear fermentation guru Sandor Katz speak.

Speaking of the conference and fermentation.  We came home with a fermentation crock!  There is a large fundraising auction at the conference each year and we had the winning bid on the crock.  I seriously could not be more excited, as I have been dreaming of owning one of these crocks for years!  It is a German style crock with a lid and gutter for water to keep the air from entering the fermentation chamber.  We returned home from the conference late Saturday night and Sunday we put a batch of sauerkraut!  Stay tuned for how it turns out.

We are still busy in the kitchen making dog food!  But, have also been making some really good people food as well.  The other week we made delicious pulled pork and decided rather than serve it on a bun we topped a baked sweet potato with this tangy pork.  If you have never tried pulled pork on a baked sweet, I would highly recommend it!  I think we have found a new favorite way to prepare pork shoulders.

I want to personally thank everyone who has signed up and sent us payment for the 2016 CSA.  As I have said in the past, we are always humbled not only by the number of people who return to our CSA every year, but also by how many new names we see each year.  We do still have spots available for 2016, but please be aware that we will be capping membership this year and memberships are reserved by when we receive your payment.  If you have questions about the CSA or our farm in general, please do not hesitate to contact us.

We do not have a date for our next buying club delivery.  Please watch your email for announcements.  We do have eggs, pork and chicken available for on farm pick up.  If you are interested in picking up product on farm, please email us and so we can have the items in our cooler for you.

Farmer Don will be placing his seed order in the next few weeks.  He is always looking for feedback on crops our CSA members and customers would like to see us grow.  If you would like to provide some suggestions, please email us.  We are considering a greater variety of snap beans and increasing our production of shelling peas. 

I think I have babbled long enough here.  The sun has come up and it is time to move onto the next chore.

Thanks again to each of you for your support.  We are excited to, once again, get growing, for you, our community.

The plastic is off!

Let the cleanse begin! Yesterday we removed the plastic from our large unheated greenhouse. This will expose the soil to the elements this winter. Accumulated salts will be washed from the soil and pests will be exposed to the elements. Today's heavy rain is a good start for this process!

Buying Club, Farm News and home made dog food!

Greetings from a frozen Dancing Hen Farm!

We are delivering buying club orders this week.  Ordering is now open and will close Thursday morning.  Deliveries will be this weekend.  We have eggs, chicken, pork, potatoes, sweet potatoes, carrots and a very limited supply of cooking greens available.  Farmer Don did not put many greens out on the buying club this week, since he is unsure how our plants handled the recent cold temperatures.  He did not want to remove the plants protective coverings with temperatures still below freezing.  With warmer temperatures predicted, we will assess our fields this week.  Watch future newsletters for more availability on our buying club.

Speaking of below freezing temperatures.  Welcome winter!  While we were enjoying the unusually mild December, Mother Nature was planning a not so mild start to the New Year.  It was 4 on our back porch this morning, with temperatures only rising into the 20’s during the day.  But, the weatherman is assuring us this cold blast will be short lived and we will be back in the mid 40’s by the end of the week.  So the warm weather will be back for at least another short stay.  What strange weather we are having this year!  And still no real measurable snow? 

We have been busy in the kitchen lately.  Busy making dog food!  Our older dog, Shady, has been having multiple health problems which all seemed to point to a problem with her food.  This is not a new problem for us with Shady and over the years she has been on all sorts of commercial dog food and I don’t even want to think about how much these foods have cost us!  We are now making her (and Rosie) something akin to doggy meatloaf.  The base of the food is our own ground chicken (including some bones, necks and organs) to which we add eggs and vegetables.  I have to say she is looking and acting better than she has in years. Over the weekend I even witnessed her jumping over row covers in the field!  I am a bit worried my kitchenaid mixer can’t handle the grinding, so we may need to invest in a meat grinder.  And I am worried when we are crazy busy in the summer it will be hard to find time to make dog food when I can’t always find time to make us dinner!  If anyone has a good dog food recipe, please share it with us!

Thank you again to everyone who has signed up and remitted payment for our 2016 CSA.  Egg shares are going fast and our new chicken share is also a popular add on.   As always, if you have questions concerning the CSA, please do not hesitate to contact the farm. 

Ok, time to send off this note!  Stay warm!

  

Happy New Year!

Greetings and Happy New Year from Dancing Hen Farm!

Hopefully everyone enjoyed the mild November and December.  Last night brought a bit of winter with some snow and sleet and temperatures are to be in the 30’s over the New Year holiday.  But, the long range forecast is for warmer than usual temperatures next week.  We are not complaining, at least not yet, here on farm.  Our greens are still surviving under cover and like everyone we are thankful for lower utility bills.  I have to admit, the mud is starting to wear on me a bit and being a bit of a worrier, I am worried about the effect this mild weather will have on our farm ecosystem. 

This time of year, when we open up our CSA for sign up, is always rewarding for Farmer Don and I.  It is so nice to see so many new and returning members signing up for next season’s CSA.  Thank you to everyone who has signed up and remitted payment for a CSA share.  If you have not yet signed up, there is still time to take advantage of our early bird discount of $30.   The early bird discount expires January 31.  We also offer a returning member discount of $20.  The returning member discount does not expire.  We utilize these early memberships to help us raise funds for farm supplies.  Our supplier offers a fairly large discount for orders placed during the winter months and without this early support we would be unable to take advantage of this offer. 

We are excited to be offering a new addition to our CSA.  This year we will be offering a chicken share.  This is an add-on share to our main vegetable shares.  Members purchasing chicken shares will receive chicken 6 times during the main csa season.  Each delivery will include one full chicken and two halves.  In addition, you will receive a stew hen with the last chicken delivery. 

Please watch your email for the continuation of our winter buying club.  If the weather holds, we should still have greens to harvest.  Our chickens are still laying, so we should also have eggs, in addition to chicken and pork to offer.  This winter buying club is separate from the buying club associated with our CSA.  To participate in the winter buying club, you will need to sign into our website and purchase a free winter buying club share.  As always, if you have questions, please contact us. 

In our kitchen, Farmer Don has been the chef recently.  We received some new cookbooks for Christmas and he has already been making recipes from them.  Last night he made some delicious parmesan encrusted pork chops, roasted potatoes and spicy sweet and sour sautéed cabbage.  We generally have a roast chicken once a week.  The chicken bones are then utilized to make a broth base for some soup or stew.  We are, of course, planning a traditional pork with sauerkraut for New Year’s Day.  Pork and sauerkraut is one of my favorite meals!!!

With so many new faces signing up on our website, I thought I would again remind everyone of our internet presence.  I am sure most everyone has found our website at www.dancinghenfarm.com.  In addition we also have a farm facebook page ( https://www.facebook.com/Dancing-Hen-Farm-111155465564952/ ),  a blog (http://dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com/ ) and a pinterest site (https://www.pinterest.com/dancinghencsa/ ).    I try to update facebook and the blog regularly.  Pinterest is a bit of a work in progress and is one of my projects for this winter.

Time to give this newsletter to Farmer Don for a proof read.  Welcome new members and thank you to everyone for your support.

Buying Club open and CSA Registration starting.

Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!  Happy Spring?  I mean Winter? 

Our buying club is open this week.  Ordering in underway now, and will end at 5 am Thursday morning.  This will be our last delivery for the year.  Watch your email for winter deliveries.  Farmer Don has purchased in some produce from area farms this week, including sweet potatoes, carrots, kale, chard and onions.  All veggies are grown organically.  We also have turnip greens, mustard, Asian greens and braising mix from our farm.  If you are looking to do some holiday baking, our chickens are still laying and we have plenty of farm fresh eggs available.  Our apple orchard pork has been very popular and cuts are starting sell out.  We also have half and whole chickens available.  As always, if you have questions concerning the buying club, please see our website or contact us at the farm.  This will be the last buying club of this year.

Registration for our 2016 CSA is now open!  We are offering early bird and returning member discounts.  Early bird discounts of $30 are available to anyone registering and paying by December 31, 2015.  The returning member discount is $20 and can be redeemed by all renewing members, regardless of when they sign up.  As with previous years, we will have 3 delivery options and two vegetable share sizes.  Our base price for shares starts with pick up at our farm in Stillwater, Pa.  Then there are one time delivery fees added to this base price if you choose to pick up at a central pick up site ($50) or have your share delivered to your home ($125).   Dancing Hen Farm is a full choice CSA with all CSA members able to choose the vegetables they receive each week in their box.  Our CSA runs for 22 weeks, from approximately June 1 to November 1.  In addition to vegetable shares, we also offer several add on share types, including egg shares and new this year, a chicken share.  CSA members are also able to participate in a CSA buying club.  This buying club is separate from our winter buying club and requires a $50 deposit.  Purchases are deducted from your deposit and delivered with your shares.  Please see our website or contact the farm for more details.

How about this spring weather?  Forsythia and dandelions are actually blooming!  And my flower bulbs are trying to poke their heads up.  We have not checked our garlic, but I am sure it is growing as well.   But, a change is on the way.  High temperatures are predicted in the 30’s this weekend.  However, Farmer Don tells me this cool down is short lived with warmer weather returning again next week.  I am not complaining about the warm weather.  I actually am kind of enjoying it.  But, it is so very odd to not be wearing a coat outside in December in Pennsylvania!

On farm, we are still in clean up mode, although this weather makes us itchy to start planting seeds!  This year we did not plant our large unheated greenhouse for the winter and in the next few weeks we will remove the plastic from this structure.  This will expose the soil inside this greenhouse to the weather.  The soil will freeze (hopefully!) and be exposed to rain and snow.  Although we will miss the early spring greens, removing the plastic will help to reduce disease and insect pressure and rejuvenate this otherwise protected soil.  We are also getting our supply lists together for next year.  Seed catalogs are rolling in and we are already pouring over them comparing varieties and prices.  We try not to over order seeds, but it is so tempting to order one of everything!

I almost forgot!  Other farm news includes the purchase of a new delivery van.  Our new delivery vehicle is a shiny black minivan.   For the last half of this season, we rented a minivan for deliveries and found it more than large enough for our needs.  We are gradually starting to downsize our farm operation and a large gas guzzling cargo van was just way more vehicle than we need.   Our biggest challenge was finding a used minivan within our price range and with low miles.   The internet has really changed how we shop for cars!  Farmer Don was finding vehicles all over the east coast.  Thankfully we located this vehicle near Scranton.

With this I will end this newsletter.  Thank you to everyone for your support this last year.  Take time to enjoy the magic of the holiday season! 

Buying Club is open with deliveries December 11 and 12

Greetings from Dancing Hen Farm!

The buying club is open this week.  Ordering is now open and will close 5 am Thursday morning.  Deliveries will be Friday and Saturday.  Please see our website or contact us at the farm if you need more information.

Our apple orchard pork is selling quickly.  We have already sold out of roasts.  In addition we have placed a hold on pork chop sales.  Pork chops are always one of our most popular cuts and the last few weeks we have sold a large number of chops.  Before we can offer any more for sale, we need to make sure our inventory is accurate and up to date. 

We continue to have a good supply of eggs and chicken available on the buying club.  Currently, you are able to purchase up to 5 dozen eggs on the buying club.  If you are in need of more than 5 dozen, please contact us, at the farm, and we will do our best to fill your order.   

The fog in our area has been really amazing the past few mornings.  So very thick, with dangerously low visibility.  In addition the cool morning temperatures causes the fog to freeze on surfaces, including trees, grass, and wires.  Unfortunately it can also freeze on the roads, so be careful driving if you are experiencing this fog locally, in your area.  On farm, this frozen fogs creates such a beautifully eerie scene!  I posted some pictures on facebook and on our blog (www.dancinghenfarmcsa.blogspot.com). 

Farmer Don (and myself to a limited extent) have been taking advantage of this mild fall and early winter to enjoy some time in the woods.  Hiking is one of Don’s favorite activities and we are blessed to live in an area with miles of wonderful trails to enjoy.   I have a couple of new pictures to post and will try to do so later tonight.

Please watch your email for the announcement of the opening of 2016 CSA registration.  This year we will again be offering early bird and returning member discounts.  As with past years, you will be able to add an egg share, if you desire.  We are excited to this year be offering a new chicken share.  These chickens are raised on pasture on our farm.  If you purchase a chicken share, you will receive chicken 6 times during the CSA season, or every 4 weeks.  Each delivery will include one whole broiler and two halves and on the final delivery you will also receive a stew hen.  All chicken will be delivered frozen in a cooler separate from your vegetable box.  As always, if you have questions, please contact the farm.

It is getting late and I still have a long list of household chores to do before bed, so I will bid you all “good night”.  Be safe, be well and thank you once again for supporting our small farm.

Frozen Fog

We have been waking up to a foggy farm the past few mornings.  The thick fog combined with below freezing temperatures cause the fog to freeze on everything creating some beautifully eerie farm scenes.