On The Farm

The Latest on A+ Produce.

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This Is What Happens To Your Body When You Switch To Organic Food

A family that has never eaten organic is challenged to eat organic for two weeks and the results are truly incredible.

An interesting little article and video from Sweden. 

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For the Love of Garlic!

  We’ve pulled the Garlic & arranged it for drying!  This may seem like a lot, but we can never grow enough!  We love growing it and we especially love eating it!  We flavor nearly all of our meals with it.  Sure, Garlic’s flavor is fabulous, but do you realize the numerous healthful benefits it packs in its little cloves?   Did you know that Garlic is a fantastic way to ward off & kick colds, flus, & sore throats to the curb?  Did you also know that it helps with poor & sluggish digestion?  Or, that Garlic stimulates white blood cell production, thus boosting the body’s immune function?  Garlic’s essential oils make it a potent internal & external antiseptic, antibacterial, and antimicrobial; which renders it an effective treatment against many types of infections.  Studies have shown that Garlic is even effective against several antibiotic-resistant bacteria!   The benefits of Garlic don’t end there, it is an effective vermifuge and can be used to treat worms in humans and in pets.  How lovely, I know, but still pretty cool random information for those sticky situations.  

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Orange you in Love...

         ....With these gorgeous blooms? Organically grown, harvested & arranged by our Farmer-Florist, Amber.

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That Sublime hit song was Garlic Grove, right?  Or, was it Garden Grove?    :P

Either way, our “Garlic Grove” is sizing up!

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Pest Control, One-By-One

Amber & her younger sister were on pest control Yesterday.  One-by-one they removed these guys, with only their hands. These naughty little critters are Potato Beetles, which will devour the leaves of your potato plants if left alone to frenzy.

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First Bouquet of the season!

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Need we say more? :)

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  The Flowers are [finally] a bloom! 

We started off with a strange spring, followed by a mostly cloudy early summer, which seemed to delayed our flower growth.  We’re happy that the wait is over, and delighted to see the riot of colors the flowers create for us!   We love having flowers as an addition to our markets & CSA, for they truly instill a happiness within the soul as soon as one’s eyes meet them.  They have an even greater impact when they are meaningfully gifted to a special someone; with each passing glance upon their magnificent beauty, a smile brimming with happiness is sure to emerge.   We not only grow flowers for that very effect, but also for our native pollinator friends.  We’ve all heard the [worthy] commotion about the declining Honey Bee & Monarch Butterfly populations, due in part by the gross over usage of pesticides and herbicides.   We are happy to be proactively doing our part, with the numerous varieties of flowers we have growing throughout the farm.   We are striving to create a sanctuary that our pollinator friends need to thrive.

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Veg Quiche

Made with Kale, Swiss Chard, Spring Onions, & Garlic Scapes; all of which was straight off of our farm! [recipe is on our farmfood blog, farmnivore.tumblr.com] We baked this delicious dish to take along to the Meet The Farmers Potluck hosted at Yoga Nature last Sunday.  The potluck was a fantastic gathering in which we met our new CSA site hosts (Yoga Nature) & our new market comrades & Market goers.  Good Vibes!  It certainly is the beginning of a good thing. :)

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Our Veg CSA started this week!!

Check out this beautiful box of fresh. :) Naturally Grown using Organic/Biodynamic methods Absolutely NO - Synthetic Herbicides NO - Synthetic Pesticides NO - Synthetic Fertilizer

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Ladybug Love

As a preventative measure against possible damaging pests, Avery and I released 1,500 Ladybugs throughout the farm.  Ladybugs are part of the team because they eat a variety of "bad bugs" such as:  Aphids, Mites, Leafhoppers, & other soft bodied insects.   Releasing them was an interesting experience; their tiny legs tickled us so much, it reminded us of an electric shock crawling up our arms!

Ladybug fun facts: -Ladybugs beat their wings 85 times per second, while in flight. -Ladybugs chew from side-to-side, not up and down like we do. -The life cycle of a Ladybug is 4-6 weeks long. -New adult Ladybugs do not develop their spots until after the first 24 hours of adulthood. Growing Good Food,   Amber & Avery

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Fresh Market is BACK

@The Bagel Bunch in Jim Thorpe! Stop in for a tasty breakfast, come say Hi!, and take home some healthy deliciousness! Kale(s), Red & Green Head Lettuces, Baby Chard, Spring Onions, Salad Mix, Pac Choi, and Grow Your Own Garden-Starters! We will be there from 9am-12pm, hope to see you there! :)

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Food's a growing!  We have some delectable veg that is nearing it's prime, so we have decided to set up our Fresh Market outside of The Bagel Bunch a little earlier than originally anticipated.  We will be there next Saturday, April 25th, 9am-12pm! Stop by for a tasty breakfast, say hi, and take home some nutritious, delicious greens & garden starters!  We are looking forward to chatting with everyone!  We will post what we will have available next Friday, stay tuned! :) Just a reminder: Please!  Bring Your Own Bag or box if possible!  We are hoping to kick the habit of buying plastic bags this year.  Thanks for your help in advance!

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  I spent this past Saturday afternoon carefully separating our dahlia tubers.  One of the tasks around the farm that I quite enjoy; it's like an intricate puzzle, only you are cautiously taking it apart instead of patiently piecing it back together.    I adore dahlias; not only are they just simply gorgeous, but they are also prolific bloomers. From mid-summer until frost, they continuously dazzle the eyes of passers-by with their vibrant colors.  If you are considering growing flowers in your backyard this year, have I got good news for you!  As we have more tubers than what we can possibly grow, we will be selling our extras when they are sprouted and ready for planting.   And, here's a fun fact:  the tubers themselves are actually edible.  They are potato-like, but their insides are moist and florally scented.  I haven't personally consumed any, but have researched recipes and found tubers used in types of coleslaw.  I prefer a vase of flowers over a belly full of tubers! :P ~Amber

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First planting of the year! :)

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What a wildly majestic view we had this morning!  We counted 24 altogether!  It was a beautiful start to a gorgeous, sunny winter day.  Come summertime though, seeing that many deer won’t spark quite the same feelings; when they stumble upon our #leafygoodness and mistake it for their own personal #saladbar!  YIPES!

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This A+ dried arrangement keeps color in my eyes during this frozen white February. #aplusproduce #aplusproduceflowers #driedflowers #fightingwinterblues #frozen