Farm Journal 1/15/23

CSA and Garden Share Sign ups are OPEN!

We’ve got seed catalogs spread out on all the flat surfaces of the house…. and dreaming of what this year’s crops will be. Sign up and let us know what your favorite (and least fav) veggies are and if we should grow more of them this year!

CSA sign ups are open for 2023! There will be early bird discounts and then we’ll bump up the price a tad. Don’t forget that we do take SNAP benefits for CSA memberships, and for veggies, meats, canned goods, and seedlings. 

Join our Sausage of the Month Club!

Sausage Stuffer Shares are available for 5 months, running January through May. Get the best deal around on a monthly delivery* of 8 pounds of Sausage (4 pounds) and Bacon (4 pounds) with over 15 flavors and styles provided! 

Get $10 Off – enter coupon COMBO2023

When you purchase both a CSA share and the Sausage Stuffer Share, get $10 off by March 31, 2023


Garden Share 

Sign ups began on January 1st as well. We encourage more and more folks to dabble in a bit of backyard (or front porch) gardening. Grow some cherry tomatoes, try your hand at string beans and peas! The garden share helps you along on a monthly basis to plant a CSA’s worth of veggies all on your own!

Hands of child holding branch of parsley leaves growing in garden

Half Hogs!

We’ve opened up for Half Hog Orders! If you’re in the need to stock a freezer – this is the most economical way to go! We’ll help you sort out how to get the most of your money and maximize the use of the “whole (half) of a hog! Half hogs now available for $4.50/pound hanging weight, plus you’ll pay the custom butcher fee from Cunninghams Meats. Our half hogs usually weigh in at 100 – 130 pounds. Typically you’ll get about 90% of your cut weight back from the butcher if you receive the bones (5ish pounds), fat (15ish pounds) and organs, otherwise expect 70% of the hanging weight. We’ll contact you with a form to fill out for your desired cuts.

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New! – DOG TREATS! – we grind up organ meats, dehydrate, and chip for tasty doggie morsels. The farm dogs love it!

New! – Sicilian Bacon (seasoned with cayenne pepper) and Black Pepper Bacon. Join the sausage stuffer club and get a sampling of 4 pounds of back and 4 pounds of sausage each month!

How to Find Us

The Farm

For pre-orders only. Wednesdays (3 – 7). Park at the top of the hill, come to the patio at the house and you’ll see your order waiting for you. Check the white cooler for any meat orders.

DELIVERY TO CITY – MINIMUM ORDER OF $30, please.

Northside – Saturday 12 – 12:15 pm – meet up across the street from Mayfly Market(Arch St)

East End – Saturday 4:00 pm -4:30 pm. Fireman Creative Office (the Engine House No 16 on Penn Ave.): pull onto sidewalk along Lang and look for “Police Officer Entrance” door and look in the red cooler.


Farm News

Not much to report on the farm front here. We’re busy with making plans for 2023 and shoring up our systems (SOPs) and communications to plan for an easier and less stressful growing season. We have a friend who’s helping us with our book keeping and introducing us to software that will help with organization and task management.

We are scrutinizing our business profitability more and questioning the aspects that are grueling, difficult, and/or expensive. Do they pay? Is it a product or service that is worth our time, energy or money? If it’s not…. do we drop it or try charing more?

Farmers markets are one of those that we question each year. Which markets preform best? The Northside (starting our 6th year) and Squirrel Hill (our 3rd year) markets are are two best markets. Mount Lebanon, though we had a cadre of loyal regulars, just didn’t meet our financial goals and the market attendance wasn’t remarkable. We are sad to lose our lovely CSA members that picked up at that market. We’ll miss you!!

East End Market…. poor thing, has never lived up to its heyday of being at the Zoo parking lot, or even when it was by the McDonalds. The city keeps bouncing it around to new locations each year, leaving potential customers to totally forget when and where the market will be year to year.

Attending farmers markets (which we’ve been doing every summer since we’ve bought the farm in 2007) is no small task. Especially with our crazy setup; the grill, the tables, the tent, the dining area, the signage, the produce, the frozen meat, and the CSA shares.

Our goal this year is to make sure that each time we pack up and leave the farm, it’s worth it. We’re exploring loyalty programs and creating incentives for you all to purchase (and encourage your friends to purchase too) our products – whether it’s at our farmers markets or here at the farm.

Maybe you’ve seen other farms or business that have a system set up that makes buying and getting products easy and convenient…. let us know and we’ll see how we can adopt that into what we’re already doing and sell more meat, veggies, and seedlings!

Evelyn’s Perspective:

There are relatively new piglets who have found a way to get out of their pen, and now are roaming the barn. Their mom is Lilac, who is probably the Alfa Sow. There are six piglets and they are all really cute!

This is my puppy, Charlie…. When it’s chore time, Charlie gets so muddy, he needs a bath. Since one dog gets a bath… they all get a bath! It took about 3 hours to get all the dogs cleaned up.

I’ve started SCUBA diving lessons, and will be certified by Spring. My open water dive will be in a quarry up near Grove City. I like Scuba diving because it involves water and I find it really interesting to be able to breath underwater. I also hope to look at coral reefs and ship wrecks one day!

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