Fodder from the Farmer

  • July 21, 2010 11:40 am

Typically on the farm we are looking forward. Our eye is pealed toward the future, the future can be the work for the week, the next harvest to be scheduled, the next crop to become ready to harvest, the next season that we will be entering, maintenance & repairs coming due.

To plan ahead however sometimes we need to look back, in retrospect so as to best lay the course for the future. I was reading the recent copy of the Pa. Vegetable Growers News last night; mainly scouring the publication for tomato late blight forecasts, when I came across two articles of interest: 1st) this years bleak Strawberry harvest. Due to an irregular late frost and an early blossom the tri-state area ; including our farm, suffered heavily and production was about a third of the norm. Even the commercial farmers who focus primarily on berries suffered this result. 2nd) It seems the late blight scenario is in check for tomatoes and potatoes with no reports here in western Pa. The Strawberry issue though had a negative impact on the CSA and the localharvest website. A CSA subscriber not truly understanding the program used the site to post viral exaggerated comment, I could not filter. This issue and a couple of previous issues with localharvest focussing on fees and their limiting other posts on the website, has led me to decide to shut down our listing on the site. This however, is probably a good thing, for the farm now has the catalyst to further promote our site : Sarverhillfarm.org and out Penn State listing Agmap.psu.edu/businesses/831 .

By renewal time there will be an online info and application download. Currently we have copies of previous newsletters in a blog format and some pictures. In the long run there is a planned recipe corner as well, a place to upload pictures and other points of interest for our embracing farm community!

This weeks Selections

  • Sweet Corn
  • Peaches
  • Leaf Lettuce
  • Cabbage
  • Carrots
  • Beets
  • Basil
  • Italian Tropea Onions

Fodder from the Farmer

  • July 15, 2010 11:20 am

July is a month of transitions here at the farm. We are winding down on the early season crops and beginning to embrace what are called Main Season Crops ; and with that statement we introduce Sweet Corn this week. Yesterday we finished mulching the first of 3 pepper patches, the tomato patches are mulched & are beginning to be loaded with tomatoes, and we have Summer crookneck squash in your shares this week as well. We will strive to have lettuce all season for you, but many times August can be difficult due to the heat.

    This weeks Selections

  • Sweet Corn
  • Red Potatoes
  • Leaf Lettuce
  • Cabbage
  • Swiss Chard
  • Beets
  • Garden Beans
  • Summer Squash

Fodder from the Farmer

  • July 9, 2010 8:57 am

With the heat we have been experiencing this past week, the farm is being challenged to keep up with irrigation along with the usual weeding, cultivating, and striving to keep out succession planting on track, therefore this week I’m keeping my message to you all brief. Our volunteers are also being stressed in picking your harvest, & I feel my time needs to be allocated today to the harvest, which is the prime directive this day. It is summer, & with it brings it’s own challenges & rewards.




This weeks selections

  • Carrots
  • Red Potatoes
  • Green Leaf Lettuce
  • Garlic
  • Swiss Chard
  • Broccoli
  • Garden Beans

Fodder from the Farmer

  • July 1, 2010 1:09 pm

With the celebration of Independence Day only a few days away, let us remember that our Nations heritage is steeped in Community & Local Farms. We talk so much about sustainability, but with that, we must also realize the foundations of that., is our ability to feed ourselves. At the turn of the last Century the valley we overlook here at our farm was the prominent supplier of fresh produce for the City of Greensburg. As a child I use to know what time it was late afternoon by the sounds of the local Dairy Farms getting ready to do their late day milking. Now there are no dairies left on Rt 66 between Greensburg & Delmont, & our farm is the last of the full time farm operations. For the size of the local population there is a great need to have more growers & consumers who are aware of the need to support & utilize Local Farms. For it our communities can’t support themselves, in stable times, we will have no communities in the future.

This weeks selections

  • Carrots
  • Red Potatoes
  • Green Leaf Lettuce
  • Snap Peas
  • Parsley
  • Chioggia Beets
  • Yellow Wax Beans