Vegetables snuggled up in their beds

So here it is January 10th. Where did the time go?? I intended to put together a holiday blog, along with a photo of the winter time hoop house so that you could see how things are progressing, but the time got away from me. I'd even penned a Holiday poem to go with the photos. Bummer! So I think I will amend the poem and post it anyway, as a winter tribute!!

Twas the week after New Years and all through the hoop house,

not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse (thank goodness).

All the vegetables were all nestled under their row covers, snug in their beds,

while thoughts of springtime breezes danced in their heads . . . . . .

As you can see the produce is all nestled under their row covers . . . . by providing this protection for the plants it allows the temperature under the row cover to increase by about two growing zones. The row covers are similar to an interfacing type of fabric (for all you seamstresses out there), that same density and weight. This extra layer help keep the plants a little warmer at night. We keep the row covers on the rows 24/7 now. The row covers are thin enough that they allow light to penetrate. Here take a peek at the produce under the covers . . . . . not bad, huh?!?

With the temperatures as cold as they have been our harvesting hours have been cut down. You don't want to be cutting greens when they are frozen, and believe me they do freeze. So we have to wait until mid-day to cut any orders. We have few things that didn't handle the extreme cold like we've had. The salad bowl lettuces, and the romaines are pretty much done. Although I'm still using romaine for my sandwiches. The asian greens are doing great, as are the carrots, turnips, rutebagas, and beets. How are the spinach and swiss chard you might ask?? OUTSTANDING!!!! The spinach is so sweet tasting. And the swiss chard has surprised me the most, it's got a nice subdued flavor now, no bite to it like you might have in the spring/summer. It is sweet, and sometimes hard to tell from the spinach.

Today,Duane was out in the hoop house harvesting, the temperatures outside are in the 20's and he said it was 53 in the large hoophouse. That's in the early afternoon. He had his jacket off and his sleeves pushed up. Wow!!! He did say that temp didn't last long, and by the time he headed back to the house it was in the 40's in there. We are noticing, as I'm sure you are too, the days are longer and the warmth of the sun is more apparent. Yesterday afternoon, on the back deck it felt like spring to me. Remember, I'm adjusting to Michigan from Minnesota, so we don't see too many upper 20's, low 30's in January. Yesterday reminded me of March in Minnesota at the ski hill. Ah, memories!!!

We're still processing a lot of produce orders, so feel free to give us a call and place your order. We'll let you know if what you want is available. Don't forget we also have farm fresh eggs and raw honey available.

Our thoughts are already turning towards spring and what we'll plant early this year. One item on the "early" schedule snap peas. We're also trying to decide what to plant where. This will be the first summer with the large hoop house, so we need to determine what will grow in there, the best. It's funny, we thought we'd have January to rest and relax, and ponder the spring/summer growing season. Yet, business has been brisk, keeping us hopping, and this we are thankful for!

Meet the Chickens Behind the Eggs!!

Here is the flock from Three Willows Farm, where we're proud to be able to share their eggs with you!! April and Mark love their chickens A LOT, I can definitely atest to the fact that they are members of their family, guaranteed. I asked her to tell me a little about the chicken "business" and here's what she shared with me .

"The chicken in the photos that has the white mantle is our rooster. We call him The White Cowl. He is *very* protective of the hens and is never far from them. If a hen wanders away, he will bring them back to the flock. You can see that the rooster is larger and showier than the hens. Ideally, we would not have a rooster because he crows about 1,000 times/day, but he protects the flock like no hen would be able to.Often, a rooster will compete with a human male, trying to attack him, but The White Cowl really seems to like Mark and often will follow him around the yard. The hens need 14 hours of light in order to produce a single egg. We have a light on an automatic timer in the barn. In good conditions, they will usually produce an egg about every 28 hours, so a "good layer" will lay about 5 eggs/week until they are 2-3 years old, then fewer until they only lay about an egg/week at age 5. Although our hens will live their entire lives here-living until they are around 8 years old, most hens don't live more than a few years. "

I wonder what the chickens and the White Cowl are doing today, what with the freezing rain and all. Yuck!! I suppose they are like my dogs . . . . all cuddled up in their hen house sleeping away the day. The dogs are enjoying a day on the couch . . . . . although we will get out for a walk in the woods yet today.

Mark and April also have chunk honey available for sale from their bee hives. If you'd care for some please feel free to mention it to us and we'll include it with your order. It is a great substitute for sugar in all of those holiday breads.

Holiday Recipe Ideas

Somehow I missed wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!! We had a nice holiday filled with family and friends. I do have to share that we did try the Fruity Rutabaga recipe that Duane shared in our market e-mails. It was outstanding. So I think I will try and include recipes that we mail out to our market friends in this blog as well. The blog can now be your virtual Veges from the Ledges cookbook. This recipe is courtesy of Jenny Sanders ---

Fruity Rutabaga

Serves 6

4 cups peeled diced rutabagas
1/2 cup apple cider or juice
3/4 cup halved cranberries
2 apples, cored and diced
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter

1. Cover the rutabaga with water and boil until tender.
2. Drain well, and add all the remaining ingredients to the rutabage.
3. Simmer, stirring frequently, until well amalgamated.

We found this tasty, but did have the debate over the Thanksgiving dinner table if this should be eaten cold or warm. The consensus was it should be eaten cold. That's what we did with the leftovers and we loved it that way. Give it a try and let us know what you think!!!

Diamondale's Holiday Craft Show

Don't forget we'll be at Dimondale's Holiday Craft Show, next Saturday November 21st from 12:00 pm - 4:00 pm. Our table can be found within the First Presbyterian Church, 162 N. Bridge Street, Dimondale MI. Please stop in and say hi. We still have gourds available for fall decorating, they are a nice way to spruce up that Thanksgiving buffet table. I've also got cotton twill vegetable bags for sale. I've always been irritated by the plastic bags that grocery stores use in their produce section . . . . . well, one of our customers this summer at the farmer's market had great cotton bags that you can reuse for your produce. Well, I grabbed that idea and made a few. If those plastic bags bug you, you might want to check these out.

A Potluck of Ideas

Since I've just started this blog, my mind is swimming with possibilities and ideas. I want this space to be a Potluck of ideas for all of our friends, from all of our friends that are out there interested in sustainable agriculture and buying locally. Feel free to send me your favorite places to shop, websites for our local area that encourange buying local, or recipes you'd like to share with others. I have found that people in general love to try new things, they just need to know how the heck to cook it, or what to eat it with. So help us, help everyone by sharing ideas, and recipes.

Turnips . . . .

Take a look at these babies . . . . they are beautiful. It's hard for me to believe that anything can grow in the earth and come out of the ground and be so pure white . . . . when you wash these up they are beautiful, and oh so tasty!! We have these coming out of our ears, so drop us a note if you'd like a bunch or two. We've been enjoying them cooked and raw in salads. This is the Hakurei variety of turnip. The best thing about the turnip, is it's a 2 for 1 deal. You can eat the turnip AND the greens! Keep an eye out here for recipes in the future, and if you have some to share, feel free to e-mail me and I'll add them to this blog to share with others, and I'll give credit where credit is due.

Since a picture can say a thousand words

Since I have been meaning to create a blog all summer long, and just haven't made the time to do it . . . I have accumulated photos upon photos of produce that I wished to share with everyone. One thing you'll learn about me is I love photos!!!!!!! Especially of things that I find in nature, I'm the kind of gal that enjoys the small things in life that you find each and every day in the world around you. That being said, take a stroll through my produce photo album from this summer and fall :)