Farm Journal 9/5/21

Click here to place your order for this week (please give us 24 hours lead time before your desired pick up date/time).

** There’s no longer a limit on the number of eggs you can buy!

You can now find us at:

Sundays – Squirrel Hill Farmers Market – 9am – 1 pm

CANCELLED for Labor Day: Mondays – East Liberty 3 – 7 pm

Wednesdays – Here at The Farm – 11 – 7

Fridays – Northside Farmers Market – 3 – 7 pm

Saturdays – Mt. Lebanon, Uptown – 9am – 12pm

Farm Fam & CSA Party!

Save the date – Saturday September 25th! We’re hosting our CSA picnic from 4 – 9 pm. We’ll have a pig roast and s’mores. Feel free to bring sides, desserts and/or drinks to share. We’ll have dishes and cutlery available, but you may want to bring your own picnic blanket or chairs, lawn games, and bug spray. Farm tour starts promptly at 4:30 and campfire later in the evening. There’s a good chance that Greg’s going to want to get the ol’ cider press out – so be prepared to help with that too (it’s messy)! Feel free to bring along extra apples and we’ll press your apples for cider for you too! RSVPs are appreciated.

Field Update – by Jen

Sometimes I go back to old newsletters to see what I have written in year’s past. Usually, none of it comes as a surprise, “weather, tomatoes, weather and WOW fall is here”. Well, 10 years ago, to this date, I was complaining about the cold nights slowing the ripening of the tomatoes. How a couple of years before (2009), we’d been wiped out by Late Blight.

Do you remember when the big box stores (namely Walmart and Lowes) sold and distributed tomato seedlings (shipped in from Tennessee) that were contaminated with Late Blight spores? Small scale farms and home gardeners purchased these seedlings, took them home to plant, and essentially dispersed the Late Blight spores across the whole mid-Atlantic. It was a total tomato disaster, as the spores travel on water droplets in rain, fog and dew. I’ve wondered…. was anyone held accountable? Who paid the price for crop loss for the tomato farmers? The USDA has a crop insurance program which is funded by tax payer dollars. Corporate America got sloppy and the Everyman got handed the bill.

Small scale farms, like us, took the hit too. Luckily, we were buffered by our community of farm fans who invest in our farm upfront. The CSA model helps to take 100% of risk of farming off the shoulders of the farmer and spread the weight around. I’m sure our members were as bummed as we were to miss out on our farm fresh tomatoes that year. But that was a prime example of when the CSA model comes up to bat for the farmer. Thank god we grow a little bit of everything and have you all to enjoy it! We didn’t’ go under because we lost our tomatoes, as there was plenty else to harvest for that summer. We diversify, duplicate, innovate and create redundant systems – all to ensure that we keep on keepin’ on! We couldn’t do it without you!

The Menu

tomatoes, cherry tomatoes (slowing down!), tomatillos, peppers, hot peppers, beets, scallions, basil, turnip greens, and husk cherries

CHUNKY TOMATILLO SALSA


1 lb tomatillos, husked, washed and chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped onions
1-2 jalapeno peppers – minced
4 garlic cloves – minced
1/2 Tbs ground cumin
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 cup lime juice
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro


Combine tomatillos, onion, jalapenos, and garlic in a large pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and
simmer 10 minutes. Add the cumin, sea salt, lime juice, and cilantro. If you prefer a smoother salsa, you can
use an immersion blender to break down some of the salsa at this time.
Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Taste the salsa and add more salt, cumin, or lime juice if necessary.

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