Blog Posts

Ground Cherries- the food with its own wrapper

10/12/2013

You've gotta respect a fruit that comes in its own wrapper! To parallel Michael Pollan's argument, this concept is such a marvel of design between man (who greatly benefits from having his food wrapped) and plants. The banana is one great example. And so is the ground cherry!

These "volunteer" ground cherries came up from our compost and are one of the surprise highlights of our first season on the farm. Some research revealed that they are in the same family as tomatoes and go by multiple names including winter cherries, cape gooseberries and strawberry tomatoes. They are high in pectin and were reportedly eaten by the Pilgrims as part of the autumn harvest. Surprisingly, the taste is more reminiscent of a pineapple that a tomato.

While dining at a "farm to table" restaurant in Santa Cruz, CA this summer, I was surprised when a few of these arrived with the check. Kudos to the chef for realizing that offering these sweet little treats (so beautifully wrapped) would be a fun and creative play on the traditional offering of mints.

Pumpkins

10/1/2013

The Old Millpond Pumpkin Patch has a special significance. It brought us our first pumpkins and, more importantly, a new friend.

In our early dreams of grandeur, Simone and I had envisioned our first pumpkin patch to spawn the new world record holder, include a chicken and goat petting zoo with tractor rides along the Musconetcong River, and hot mulled cider.....dream on!

As it turns out, with the many farming challenges overcome along the way, we are really happy to have gotten a modest harvest of sustainably-grown beauties. And this wouldn't have been possible without the help of our good friend Bob, who keeps a meticulous 120 acre grain/egg/and cattle farm up the road. Everything Bob does is perfect.

We first met Bob when he stopped by puzzled over what we were doing with our little farm and the little 2 wheeled Italian blue contraption I called my "tractor". After all the tree planting in the spring, I was desperately behind in planting my summer crops and had all but given up hope of getting them in the ground. Bob assured me that I still had time explaining that many farmers in the county plant pumpkins around July 4. And without the slightest hesitation, he devised a plan for getting our pumpkin patch planted.

Bob is a true "gentleman farmer" and a master of using machinery on the farm. Seeing the work ahead of me, he graciously offered to drive his 50 horsepower John Deere tractor 3 miles down the road to chisel plow and disc our land. He kept his tractor on the field for 2 weeks and came down the hill each day to plow a bit more. Eventually, the hard packed "Gladstone Gravelly Loam" soil coughed up the boulders that would have mangled my "Blue Bomber" tractor and gave way to its loamy potential.

And so it was with Bob's help and advice, that we were able to plant our peppers, tomatoes, eggplant, delicious sweet corn and, of course, pumpkins by mid July. The pumpkin patch opened on Oct 1, 2013.

And for next year? A campaign for the new pumpkin world record? Chicken and goat petting? Hot mulled cider? With neighbors like Bob, anything is possible!

Peppers

9/22/2013

One of the concepts of organic farming is that you plant what grows naturally in your soil and climate. Therefore, fewer inputs (fertilizer and pest deterrents) are needed to put some food on the plate.

Lucky for us, peppers grow very well on our farm with minimal "input". I like that they thrive into the late summer and fall when other members of this plant family (tomatoes, eggplants) are exasperated from the raucous summer growth. Peppers stretch out our season and give us beautifully fresh and colorful produce up until the first freeze.

This is the great thing about utilizing plant diversity. By studying and planting appropriate varieties, a farmer can always find a plant to fill a niche. Roasting red peppers over the fire in October? There's a niche that needs to be filled!

The Very Hungry Caterpillar

9/21/2013

We found this amazing caterpillar on one of our young apple trees. It is huge! And from the looks of it, I think it could have eaten the whole tree...stems and all, if we hadn't of brought it in to show our son. As is turns out, we kept it as a pet long enough to learn about it and watch it spin the chrysalis (above right).

This is a Cecropia moth which has a fascinating story........including the fact that the adult moth has no feeding mouth parts. Therefore, all of its energy is stored from its summer days as a hungry caterpillar. And its life as a moth is strictly for reproduction. Also interesting, is that the energy is stored through the long and cold New Jersey winter before the mouthless moth emerges to find a mate in the spring.

Yet another example of the endless wonders of life on the farm.

Green and Purple Beans

9/2/2013

2014 was a banner year for our beans. They grew beautifully without any pest or disease pressure. How often does that happen?

We planted two rows of green bush beans and 1 row of purple beans. Mixed in with the harvest are a few wide heirloom "goose beans" from Pennsylvania Amish country and some green pole beans (think Jack and the Beanstalk style here).

With so many beans hanging off the plants, we took the opportunity to have the grand opening of our first farm stand on the Labor Day weekend. It was bursting with green and purple. Special thanks to Ruthie and Russ our neighbors who were our first customers!

The different colors and textures were fun to work with (although the purple beans turn green when cooked). And beans, being "nitrogen fixers" do nice things for the soil. Because of their benefit to the garden and versatility in the kitchen, I highly recommend adding beans to your garden plan.

Stinging Saddleback

8/20/2013

I never knew that caterpillars could be dangerous. Did you?

Meet the Stinging Saddleback Caterpillar- This beautiful creature, named for the incredible markings on its back, was found chomping on our black currant bush. Wow...Nature is really a master of patterns and design.

And even though other caterpillars look ominous, I have handled countless without incident....until today! All it took was one touch to learn that caterpillars can cause a painful sting (even deadly in some cases).

Live and learn.

Wildlife- raptors

8/17/2013

One of our goals is to create a balanced biological community on our farm.

When a family of fledgling hawks visited the farm this summer, we enjoyed watching their antics knowing that the farm is supporting wildlife at multiple levels of the energy pyramid

This great photo was taken by our neighbor, Sam.

Tomatoes

8/10/2013

The flavor of a home-grown tomato is unsurpassed. And this is reason enough to start a garden...Really!

Sprinkle in some chive and basil seeds and you can create an artwork.

Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and olive oil and watch it disappear.

Lavender

7/15/2013

Hidicote lavender is one of the hardier cultivars that can survive the winter in zone 7. And with its beautiful color and invigorating fragrance, we are thankful for its fortitude.

Mixed berries

7/12/2013

This harvest of mixed berries came in July on the farm. What's in the mix? Early blueberries, olallieberries (lower left corner) red raspberries, and black raspberries.

We took the opportunity to host a mid- summer party and made a low sugar jam for our guests. What a summer treat!

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