We are now taking deposits for the 2012 season. This is very useful for us since we start ordering seeds in January and starting plants in Feb! If you just want to get down to the nitty gritty of this post, scroll to the bottom, starting at "Pick-up Points."
I know many of you are growing your own local food…for you, this is an opportunity for you to pass this info on to others who may be interested. Thank you!!
Here is a general description of how things went last year. Each year is a bit different, depending on the weather and what new thing we decide to try growing. The season starts either last of May for first of June, with an abundance of greens such as arugula, lettuce, spinach, chard, parsley, mizuna, sorrel, and kale. Also at that time we usually have yummy Hakurei turnips, radishes, baby beets, pea shoots, and bok choy or related items. As the season progresses we move on to peas, scallions, broccoli, garlic scapes, beets, baby carrots, and cherries. Then it's on to basil, cauliflower, cabbage, baby potatoes, collard greens, carrots, and garlic. When summer gets into full swing in July, we add to these zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers, dill, onions, plums, and apricots. Harvest season really gets going in August, and here we add more hot crops, such as tomatillos, cherry tomatoes, shallots, perhaps some melons, sweet corn, and peppers. Seasonal weather depending, we can add large tomatoes here too, and start digging out some larger potatoes. Toward the end we get the sweet peppers to ripen, as well as more melons (including watermelon!), peaches, and winter squash.
What is a CSA?
A CSA works best for *adventurous eaters* who are willing to plan their meals around whatever comes in their share that week (or perhaps put some things into the freezer for a bit), folks who are willing to try new things, or for experience vegetable eaters. A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. In a CSA, full payment is given by the beginning of the season, so that the farmers can pay their expenses at the time they incur most of them. Members have the benefit of knowing exactly where their food comes from and how it is grown. Each week members receive an interesting variety of the freshest possible produce, and are often introduced to vegetables they may have never seen before. They will have the opportunity to visit the farm and even get their own hands dirty in the process.
What You Can Do
We are looking for 30 or so families who would like to join in this adventure. The CSA shares will start in late May/Early June and end in late Sept./Early October. We are offering both full and half shares. Full shares are meant to supply one family of 3-4, and half shares are for couples or folks who don’t want quite so much produce. We are selling a full share for $450, and a half share for $280. We aim to give you at least a 20-30% discount on the produce overall, compared to what you would pay in the store or farmer's market. This is more value than any other local CSA we are aware of! Each week or so, you will also receive an electronic newsletter about farm happenings, the produce of the week, and how to use it.
In the long-term, we will offer more fruits as they mature over the years…strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums.
What do we grow?
We will be growing at least one, and sometimes several different varieties of these items:
Arugula
Basil
Green Beans
Edemame soy beans
Beets
Bok Choy
Tat soi
Broccoli
Cabbage, red and green
Carrots
Swiss Chard
Sweet Corn
Cilantro
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Garlic
Peppers (hot, sweet, roasting)
Kale
Collards
Lettuce & Lettuce mixes
Melons & Watermelon
Onions: scallions, & yellow and red storage
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Radishes
Various winter squashes
Summer squashes and zucchinis
Tomato (paste, slicing, cherry)
Tomatillos
Celeriac
Celery
Cauliflower
Gourds
Sorrel
Turnips, "summer"
Pickup-Points
We have two pick-up points. Each one is a unique experience with it's own special advantages.
1. Tues. afternoons/evenings, 4-6:30 p.m. at the North End Organic Nursery (2350 Hill Rd. in Boise). This coincides with their weekly farmer's market, where we sell a little extra produce, and you'll have the opportunity to pick up some extra things we don't have from other vendors, or some organic products to you use in your own yard at home.
2. Thurs. afternoons/evenings, 5-6 p.m. at our farm in Eagle (3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle). The time on this one is a little more flexible, so please let us know what works for you here. This is usually a more casual, laid-back pick-up point since you get to see our farm, your kids can stay and play a while, and last year anyway, sometimes these folks sometimes got a little more, or interesting, produce for the week because it was a much a smaller group of folks.
To secure your membership, please send a check (made out to Evenstar Farm) for $100 (full) or $50 (half) to us at 3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle, ID 83616. Our payment deadline is April 30th, and you can make payments as you like up until that time. We really appreciate receiving deposits int the winter because our expenses begin here. Memberships will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. As members, you are welcome to come spend time on the farm and see what we do first-hand, which we encourage.
Prices
Full share (3-4 people): $450
Half share (2 people): $280
If you would like more details and are wondering a bit more about what the heck a CSA is, please feel free to email us here: evenstarfarm@gmail.com or call us at 333-9637. We are also on facebook.
Many thanks and happy eating!
Kristin & Isaac Hasselblad
EvenStar Farm
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Cole Slaw
Here's a great cole slaw recipe I found. It's nice and light as is has no mayonnaise. You can use your cabbage and carrots in this. Honestly, those are the only veggies I use in this, and I use more carrots then it says to. I also halve the ingredients for the dressing, 3 cups of dressing is a bit much!
We're having a quiet weekend here of fertilizing, harvesting, and making good food! I hope you are enjoying good food as well!
We're having a quiet weekend here of fertilizing, harvesting, and making good food! I hope you are enjoying good food as well!
Monday, August 8, 2011
A nice yummy easy way to use up some of those summer veggies!
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/07/skillet-summer-vegetable-lasagna.html
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
CSA Week 5 Update, Cherry Saga, Recipe, and Photos!
I can't believe we're in CSA week number 5 already! I am glad everyone seems to still be enjoying your greens! The 'summer' crops are just going to be later than normal this year with the weather we've had. Sigh. But, we'll keep things going the best we can. Some things to look forward to in the near future are cherries (cross fingers) and apricots! We'll have onions and garlic soon too. And more yummy beets! And carrots. And hopefully the peas will give us a few more before the poor things retire in the heat.
We had an eventful day Monday as we noticed it was do or die time to net one of the cherry trees. Last year the birds ate every single cherry the minute they ripened! We've been determined to not let that happen again this year. The tree itself is about 20 feet tall. Can you imagine trying to wrap a net around something like this? We had a 14x14 net for the top, and a roll of 7x100 netting for the rest of it. Isaac did a lot of climbing around in the tree while I stood on the ground or on the ladder helping. We got about two-thirds of it done and were already patting ourselves on the back for an amazing job done! It was really heating up outside and probably around 90 degrees...when we learned that cherry branches lose some strength when it gets hot (perhaps because they are more dehydrated?). :( Anyway, Isaac was standing on a branch somewhat precariously, thinking "this branch feels spongy," and then, Crack! There it went, the branch with Isaac on it. Somehow he ended up on his back underneath the branch. He jumped right back up though to continue on! I, on the other hand, was a bit too worked up to be very good help! By the next day he said he had "a few random aches and pains" but that was it. Phew, we are lucky! We have at least one more tree (much smaller!) to net, but there will be no more tree climbing around here, at least in the heat! We do really need to get an orchard ladder...saving up our money for that one! Anyway, so the cherries are looking really good, and as long as the birds don't find the gaps in the net, I'm thinking we'll all be munching away on them by next week!
I had an amazing cooking class last saturday at Peaceful Belly farm. I will share one of the appropriate recipes here with you.
One trick I have learned with kale and chard is to just rip the leaves away from the stems with your hands. Fold the leaf in half and pull apart...easy!
Creamed Chard
1 bunch chard, de-stemmed and ribbed, dice up the stems pretty small
1 med. onion
2 cloves garlic
1 pint cream
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
In a large hot skillet, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan (so it 'runs' quickly around in there). Add the chard leaves and let them wilt. Remove the chard and place in colander in sink. In the same pan add more oil and the onions, garlic, and chard stems. Cook these until tender and dry (add a pinch or two of salt here to help this). Add the cream and reduce until it reduced by half. Ring out the rest of the liquid from the chard leaves with your hands, give them a quick rough chop, and add them to the cream mixture. Season to taste.
And here's another one we made the other night, sans the seeds and almonds...still good!
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
Picking up our new commercial cooler from Morning Owl Farm. Thank you Sean, Seth, DC, and Rob!
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Beautiful beautiful lettuce!
New Wash Station we built with materials from our dismantled greenhouse.
The Cherry Tree
Yum!
Yep, he's going to fall out.
So beautiful and tempting!
We had an eventful day Monday as we noticed it was do or die time to net one of the cherry trees. Last year the birds ate every single cherry the minute they ripened! We've been determined to not let that happen again this year. The tree itself is about 20 feet tall. Can you imagine trying to wrap a net around something like this? We had a 14x14 net for the top, and a roll of 7x100 netting for the rest of it. Isaac did a lot of climbing around in the tree while I stood on the ground or on the ladder helping. We got about two-thirds of it done and were already patting ourselves on the back for an amazing job done! It was really heating up outside and probably around 90 degrees...when we learned that cherry branches lose some strength when it gets hot (perhaps because they are more dehydrated?). :( Anyway, Isaac was standing on a branch somewhat precariously, thinking "this branch feels spongy," and then, Crack! There it went, the branch with Isaac on it. Somehow he ended up on his back underneath the branch. He jumped right back up though to continue on! I, on the other hand, was a bit too worked up to be very good help! By the next day he said he had "a few random aches and pains" but that was it. Phew, we are lucky! We have at least one more tree (much smaller!) to net, but there will be no more tree climbing around here, at least in the heat! We do really need to get an orchard ladder...saving up our money for that one! Anyway, so the cherries are looking really good, and as long as the birds don't find the gaps in the net, I'm thinking we'll all be munching away on them by next week!
I had an amazing cooking class last saturday at Peaceful Belly farm. I will share one of the appropriate recipes here with you.
One trick I have learned with kale and chard is to just rip the leaves away from the stems with your hands. Fold the leaf in half and pull apart...easy!
Creamed Chard
1 bunch chard, de-stemmed and ribbed, dice up the stems pretty small
1 med. onion
2 cloves garlic
1 pint cream
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper
In a large hot skillet, add enough oil to coat the bottom of the pan (so it 'runs' quickly around in there). Add the chard leaves and let them wilt. Remove the chard and place in colander in sink. In the same pan add more oil and the onions, garlic, and chard stems. Cook these until tender and dry (add a pinch or two of salt here to help this). Add the cream and reduce until it reduced by half. Ring out the rest of the liquid from the chard leaves with your hands, give them a quick rough chop, and add them to the cream mixture. Season to taste.
And here's another one we made the other night, sans the seeds and almonds...still good!
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon poppy seeds
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup distilled white vinegar
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon minced onion
10 ounces fresh spinach - rinsed, dried and torn into bite-size pieces
1 quart strawberries - cleaned, hulled and sliced
1/4 cup almonds, blanched and slivered
Picking up our new commercial cooler from Morning Owl Farm. Thank you Sean, Seth, DC, and Rob!
In a medium bowl, whisk together the sesame seeds, poppy seeds, sugar, olive oil, vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce and onion. Cover, and chill for one hour.
In a large bowl, combine the spinach, strawberries and almonds. Pour dressing over salad, and toss. Refrigerate 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Beautiful beautiful lettuce!
New Wash Station we built with materials from our dismantled greenhouse.
The Cherry Tree
Yum!
Yep, he's going to fall out.
So beautiful and tempting!
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Solstice
So, I can't believe the Solstice already came and went! And that I haven't posted since May 10. Well, I guess I've been busy! The wet spring has really helped out our greens. I have never so much enjoyed rain! There have been the days where it's been frustrating to not be able to get out and plant the summer crops, but the rainy days have been lovely in many ways. No worrying about the greens wilting when we pick them! A lovely temperature to work in. Just nice, and mellow. I am usually one of those folks longing for the 80 degree weather, but not anymore!
Summer appears to be here now. We had probably our first day above 80 yesterday and it was 94!! I tell you what, even when it's only 85, kneeling on that bare soil is HOT! Last night we had one of the most incredible lightning storms ever... we just sat outside and watched it like a fireworks show. I'm sure the crops enjoyed that extra nitrogen! Today the peas finally popped out to a picking size...and the weeds really popped out too.
As for Lea, she is enjoying picking the few strawberries we have (perhaps a rabbit is getting the rest?), and running around naked or half naked peeing in the grass, etc. Oh the life of a three year old!
Also, she 'misplaced' our camera and we have yet to find it, otherwise I'd post some pics. Here's to hoping we find it soon!
Happy Summer to All!!
Summer appears to be here now. We had probably our first day above 80 yesterday and it was 94!! I tell you what, even when it's only 85, kneeling on that bare soil is HOT! Last night we had one of the most incredible lightning storms ever... we just sat outside and watched it like a fireworks show. I'm sure the crops enjoyed that extra nitrogen! Today the peas finally popped out to a picking size...and the weeds really popped out too.
As for Lea, she is enjoying picking the few strawberries we have (perhaps a rabbit is getting the rest?), and running around naked or half naked peeing in the grass, etc. Oh the life of a three year old!
Also, she 'misplaced' our camera and we have yet to find it, otherwise I'd post some pics. Here's to hoping we find it soon!
Happy Summer to All!!
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Working Open Farm this weekend: You're Invited!
Hello CSA Members!
I hope you are doing well and enjoying our (somewhat) lovely spring!
You may be wondering what is going on here with your food... The seedlings are coming up, and so are the weeds! Most things seem to be really exploding in growth right now.
It's a big-push sort of time, and of course the weather hasn't been super cooperative, so we are a bit backed up on work. Now is your opportunity to come out and help out *if you'd like*. (And if you'd like to do more later, let us know!) And you'll get to see how things are coming along so far! It looks good!
WHEN: Any time this weekend, just let us know about when you'd like to drop in. Sat. or Sun. any time between *10 a.m. and Sunset.*
WHERE: Our farm... 3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle. From Boise, take State St. to Hwy 55 towards McCall. Take a Left at the Chevron Station / Beacon Light Rd. Take a Right at the next 4 way stop, Eagle Rd. Take the next Left on Valli-Hi (Lillypad farm on corner). Then the next Left on Shadow Hills. Second driveway on the Right.
WHAT: Working Open Farm Weekend. We'll be shoveling, making new rows/beds in light weight / sandy soil that's been tilled. Then raking it. Planting lots of stuff! Corn, beans, carrots, herbs, greenhouse starts, maybe even tomatoes. Also need to hoe out weeds in already-planted beds and do some thinning. You can take home / eat thinnings if there's anything good. You could probably run the weed eater or mower if you really want to...there is plenty to do!
BRING: shovels, rakes, and hoes!! (let me know what you can bring here)
Thanks and hope to see you there! RSVP to this email... To be clear, this is totally optional, for folks who'd like to be a little more involved with the production of their food. Children are welcome, we have a netted-in trampoline, sand box, and play structure. There are some hazards around, so some sort of supervision will be necessary...we can talk about this.
Thanks again!
I hope you are doing well and enjoying our (somewhat) lovely spring!
You may be wondering what is going on here with your food... The seedlings are coming up, and so are the weeds! Most things seem to be really exploding in growth right now.
It's a big-push sort of time, and of course the weather hasn't been super cooperative, so we are a bit backed up on work. Now is your opportunity to come out and help out *if you'd like*. (And if you'd like to do more later, let us know!) And you'll get to see how things are coming along so far! It looks good!
WHEN: Any time this weekend, just let us know about when you'd like to drop in. Sat. or Sun. any time between *10 a.m. and Sunset.*
WHERE: Our farm... 3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle. From Boise, take State St. to Hwy 55 towards McCall. Take a Left at the Chevron Station / Beacon Light Rd. Take a Right at the next 4 way stop, Eagle Rd. Take the next Left on Valli-Hi (Lillypad farm on corner). Then the next Left on Shadow Hills. Second driveway on the Right.
WHAT: Working Open Farm Weekend. We'll be shoveling, making new rows/beds in light weight / sandy soil that's been tilled. Then raking it. Planting lots of stuff! Corn, beans, carrots, herbs, greenhouse starts, maybe even tomatoes. Also need to hoe out weeds in already-planted beds and do some thinning. You can take home / eat thinnings if there's anything good. You could probably run the weed eater or mower if you really want to...there is plenty to do!
BRING: shovels, rakes, and hoes!! (let me know what you can bring here)
Thanks and hope to see you there! RSVP to this email... To be clear, this is totally optional, for folks who'd like to be a little more involved with the production of their food. Children are welcome, we have a netted-in trampoline, sand box, and play structure. There are some hazards around, so some sort of supervision will be necessary...we can talk about this.
Thanks again!
Monday, May 9, 2011
May already! And Carrots...
So...we're just getting more greenhouse plants into the ground, in between storms as usual. Today's a good windy wet soil cold day for computer work. In the last couple of weeks, we planted about 70 asparagus plants...sorry, they won't be producing for a couple of years! Then I got some carrot seeds into the ground...now that is quite a job! My 250-dollar 'precision seeder' isn't really working out because our ground is too full of chunks, rocks, and such for now. I honestly haven't done a great job at growing beautiful, straight carrots in the past, and this year I am determined to do it!! And that means spacing the seeds out properly. So...that means I've been on my hands and knees planting carrot seeds out of a dial seeder, one by one...very time consumingly, but lovingly. I also waited until our 'new' area was ready for planting because it is nice and sandy...great for growing straight carrots, I hope! (last year they were in clay and not thinned enough, so were fat, stubby, twisted, and forked).
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
April Update
April 6, 7, and 8 (and some more days after that) we put a lot of crops in the ground, and now several have popped up! We've planted peas, potatoes, lots of green leafy things, summer turnips, beets, onions, and some other stuff I'm forgetting at the moment. It's so hard to put my little baby greenhouse plants outside into the dirt! I'm just scared they won't make it after all the work I put into them...but, so far, so good! We have an area we're trying to plant that is quite rocky unfortunately...and our precision seeder (for the smallest seeds) sure doesn't like it! So, so much for 'precision seeding.' I'll be out there hand-thinning all that stuff pretty soon.
We got our 50 baby chickies (red cornish broilers) a week ago! I know, I need to post photos! But, that often goes by the wayside when we are busy. Plus, one of our daughter's favorite toys is the camera, so we never quite know where it's at! They little guys started escaping their brooder tub on day 4, at 5 days old! So, we had to scramble around and make a new one for them out of some junk we found lying around here. It's actually pretty sweet. They're pretty happy now, and running *fast* all over their place, and growing wing feathers already. It's hard to catch them! Of course Lea likes to hold them as much as she can, and put them in a basket for Easter. Pretty cute!
*Will* try to post pics soon!*
We got our 50 baby chickies (red cornish broilers) a week ago! I know, I need to post photos! But, that often goes by the wayside when we are busy. Plus, one of our daughter's favorite toys is the camera, so we never quite know where it's at! They little guys started escaping their brooder tub on day 4, at 5 days old! So, we had to scramble around and make a new one for them out of some junk we found lying around here. It's actually pretty sweet. They're pretty happy now, and running *fast* all over their place, and growing wing feathers already. It's hard to catch them! Of course Lea likes to hold them as much as she can, and put them in a basket for Easter. Pretty cute!
*Will* try to post pics soon!*
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
First crops are in the ground!
So excited! It's been a rough spring with all this rain...most folks think "rain is good for the crops and farming," but this is not so this time of year when we are trying to work the soil and plant. You can't work in it when it's wet or you will compact it and do some long term damage. In between the storms, we finally did the final tilling on one of the fields and got some snow peas and snap peas in the ground, just before the next storm... with more to go in, but at least it's something!! And, probably my favorite spring crop, hence it's priority!
Saturday, April 2, 2011
Greenhouse Blues & Goats
So, we're brand spankin' new at this whole greenhouse thing. Now, don't worry about your produce, we can always buy starts if we need to as a back up. :) That said, here is the story. Isaac built a greenhouse. The pluses are: it's made mostly of 'junk' we found around here for free, and, it works, most of the time. The minuses: it doesn't have a way to ventilate in the heat. So, yesterday, I cut some of it open because it was 70 degrees out. Let's just say I provided a way to close it back up, but it wasn't very wind-proof. So, being Idaho in spring, it had to get super cold, wet and windy today. We looked out and saw the greenhouse practically blowing away! Well, the bones of it are sturdy, but the plastic was flapping all over and the ... other solid parts ... were falling over too. We had a fine episode out there trying to fix it in the wind and rain, while our newly 3-year-old daughter was inside potentially destroying our house with her new exploring abilities! It was enough to keep the plants happy for the day, but when I saw the temp dip to 37 at 9:00 tonight, I went out to rescue them. We do have a heated cold frame and our house as a back up for such emergencies, luckily. And, all of the plants out there are cold-types anyway, except the tomatillos, which do seem pretty hardy too. ... Tomorrow, we rebuild!
We also fenced the goats into a smaller area 'temporarily' while we rip down fences in order to bring in large trucks of compost and such. Well, they've figured out a way to get out. Today we came driving in from a birthday party and noticed they weren't there, but they came to us right away in the driveway. Luckily, they seem to want to get back to their new little home. But, we've got to do something about this before we set our precious little veggie plants out!
Also...3 days til chick time!!
We also fenced the goats into a smaller area 'temporarily' while we rip down fences in order to bring in large trucks of compost and such. Well, they've figured out a way to get out. Today we came driving in from a birthday party and noticed they weren't there, but they came to us right away in the driveway. Luckily, they seem to want to get back to their new little home. But, we've got to do something about this before we set our precious little veggie plants out!
Also...3 days til chick time!!
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Compost Delivery
I'm feeling pretty industrial looking at these! As a small farm, it seems you have to do strange things like this...we are too big for a pickup load, and too small for a full semi, so we got half semi. (It's 20 yards, or about 30,000 lbs). Now we just have to figure out how we're going to spread it!
Monday, March 21, 2011
Tractor!
We hired out some tractor work this weekend. Pretty exciting! We tilled up quite a bit more than we are going to plant in veggies, so we can plant some cover crop to put in some nutrients for the future. I sure hope we can get our own tractor soon!
Monday, March 14, 2011
March Update
Bit of a rough week with illness, but still getting some things done. Isaac started work on the hoop greenhouse (for transitioning the seedlings from indoors to out) and made a lot of progress. I planted some more seedlings in the house...they are all looking good! Next we are looking at more fencing for the goats as we expand the veggies out into their huge pasture. We're not going to make our deadline of first planting by March 15, but hopefully it will pretty soon!
We had some friends over to play and feed the goats last week. Then we had 'first tilling' day. I put one photo in sepia to make it look old-timey. Isaac and Lea worked on the indoor growing system. And I added in just an outdoor windy day cutie pie pic. :)
We had some friends over to play and feed the goats last week. Then we had 'first tilling' day. I put one photo in sepia to make it look old-timey. Isaac and Lea worked on the indoor growing system. And I added in just an outdoor windy day cutie pie pic. :)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
First crop is up!
Yep, officially our very first crop as a 'real farm' is up! The lettuce mix germinated in 5 days. Yahoo! Also we had some crazy storms yesterday and it looks like our farm is at the end of this gorgeous rainbow.
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
More info, esp. for Skeptics
I had someone who's husband was a 'skeptic' about CSAs ask what I would say, so I thought I'd post what I wrote here...it includes some more information you might be wondering about as a potential or committed customer...
The shares are a bit light in the beginning of the season, and generally get heavier as we go along, with the peak being in Aug. and Sept. It's a fine education in what exactly is *in season* in Idaho each week of the growing season. That said, we'd like to work with folks as much as is reasonably possible...so if there's something in there you really don't like, and we have something else we can replace it with, we'll try to do that, within reason.
CSAs are for those who are a bit adventurous, and don't mind being a little challenged to eat more and different kinds of veggies than they might otherwise. It's also very much about what type of business and agriculture you'd like to support. This is as small, local, and personal as it gets. It's like an investment in a food system that you trust and care about, and where your desires, concerns and feedback will be heard directly by your growers. The returns are not just in food, but in a peace of mind, a unique positive experience, a good feeling about what you are doing and who/what you are supporting. :)
The shares are a bit light in the beginning of the season, and generally get heavier as we go along, with the peak being in Aug. and Sept. It's a fine education in what exactly is *in season* in Idaho each week of the growing season. That said, we'd like to work with folks as much as is reasonably possible...so if there's something in there you really don't like, and we have something else we can replace it with, we'll try to do that, within reason.
CSAs are for those who are a bit adventurous, and don't mind being a little challenged to eat more and different kinds of veggies than they might otherwise. It's also very much about what type of business and agriculture you'd like to support. This is as small, local, and personal as it gets. It's like an investment in a food system that you trust and care about, and where your desires, concerns and feedback will be heard directly by your growers. The returns are not just in food, but in a peace of mind, a unique positive experience, a good feeling about what you are doing and who/what you are supporting. :)
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Shares officially for sale!
Hello Dear Local Friends!
We are writing to officially announce our CSA farm, our offerings for this year, and to invite you to come and be a part of this venture in Community Supported Agriculture! We are offering an 18-week program, where you will receive fresh, local, naturally-grown produce once a week (with a few breaks here and there) throughout this growing season (grown by yours truly, here in Eagle). We strive to follow the principles of organic and sustainable farming, while forming nourishing relationships with our 'eaters.'
What is a CSA?
A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. In a CSA, full payment is given in the beginning of the season, so that the farmers can pay their expenses at the time they incur most of them. Members have the benefit of knowing exactly where their food comes from and how it is grown. Each week members receive an interesting variety of the freshest possible produce, and are often introduced to vegetables they may have never seen before. They will have the opportunity to visit the farm and even get their own hands dirty in the process.
Our Story
When we moved to Boise 11 years ago, we brought with us our concern for the Earth. Kristin had a career as a wildlife biologist, and we had only begun learning about how our everyday choices affect the Earth and it’s wildlife. We did some research, and came to learn that if you want to have a big positive impact for wildlife on a world-wide scale, eating local and natural is the number one thing you can do. It’s all about our voracious use of fossil fuels and how this is drastically altering the Earth’s habitats. The average piece of food on the American plate has traveled 1200 miles to get there! The other issue is how big agri-business is ruining habitats for not only wildlife, but people too, in countries of the world that can still be exploited due to lack of environmental laws. So, we started gardening for ourselves, and signed right up for the first CSA we could find and found it quite enjoyable for many reasons! Then we had a baby and became even more concerned about what, exactly, we were putting into our bodies and hers. Due to an intensive organic farming class that Kristin took last year, and the acquisition of some land, we grew much more than we could handle ourselves! So, this year we were inspired to share the harvest in the form of a CSA farm.
What You Can Do
We are looking for 10 or so families who would like to join in this adventure. The CSA shares will start in late May/Early June and end in late Sept./Early October. We are offering both full and half shares. Full shares are meant to supply one family of 3-4, and half shares are for couples or folks who don’t want quite so much produce. We are selling a full share for $375, and a half share for $225. This is 25-35% less than established CSAs in the valley, being that we are beginning farmers. Each week’s share will come with a newsletter about farm happenings, the produce of the week, and how to use it. Delivery will be to one or two pick-up points in the valley, locations TBA.
To secure your membership, please send a check (made out to Hasselblads) for $50 to us at 3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle, ID 83616. Our payment deadline is May 1st, and you can make payments as you like up until that time. Memberships will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. As members, you are welcome to come spend time on the farm and see what we do first-hand, which we encourage.
Later in the season, we hope to be able to offer you some ‘extras’ of our orchard fruit (apples & pears), flowers, and chicken eggs, once the baby chicks are old enough to lay. These will be sold as add-ons and we’ll let you know as they become available. In the long-term, we will offer more fruits as they mature over the years…strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums. And if the birds don’t get all our cherries this year, we will certainly pass some on to you! ☺
I know many of you are growing your own local food…for you, this is an opportunity for you to pass this info on to others who may be interested. Thank you!!
If you would like more details and are wondering a bit more about what the heck a CSA is, please feel free to message me back or call (333-9637). Please come check out our new facebook page, “Evenstar Farm,” and our blog, http://evenstarfarm.blogspot.com.
Many thanks and happy eating!
Kristin & Isaac Hasselblad
EvenStar Farm
What do we grow?
We will be growing at least one, but usually several different varieties of these items:
Arugula
Basil
Green Beans
Edemame soy beans
Beets
Bok Choy
Tat soi
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Chard
Sweet Corn
Cilantro
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Garlic
Peppers (hot, sweet, roasting)
Kale
Collards
Lettuce & Lettuce mixes
Melons & Watermelon
Onions: scallions, & yellow and red storage
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes, 7 varieties
Pumpkins
Radishes
Various winter squashes
Summer squashes and zucchinis
Tomato (paste, slicing, cherry)
Tomatillos
Ground Cherries
Celeriac
Cauliflower
Gourds
Sorrel
Turnips, summer and storage
Various flowers
We are writing to officially announce our CSA farm, our offerings for this year, and to invite you to come and be a part of this venture in Community Supported Agriculture! We are offering an 18-week program, where you will receive fresh, local, naturally-grown produce once a week (with a few breaks here and there) throughout this growing season (grown by yours truly, here in Eagle). We strive to follow the principles of organic and sustainable farming, while forming nourishing relationships with our 'eaters.'
What is a CSA?
A CSA consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farming operation where the growers and consumers share the risks and benefits of food production. In a CSA, full payment is given in the beginning of the season, so that the farmers can pay their expenses at the time they incur most of them. Members have the benefit of knowing exactly where their food comes from and how it is grown. Each week members receive an interesting variety of the freshest possible produce, and are often introduced to vegetables they may have never seen before. They will have the opportunity to visit the farm and even get their own hands dirty in the process.
Our Story
When we moved to Boise 11 years ago, we brought with us our concern for the Earth. Kristin had a career as a wildlife biologist, and we had only begun learning about how our everyday choices affect the Earth and it’s wildlife. We did some research, and came to learn that if you want to have a big positive impact for wildlife on a world-wide scale, eating local and natural is the number one thing you can do. It’s all about our voracious use of fossil fuels and how this is drastically altering the Earth’s habitats. The average piece of food on the American plate has traveled 1200 miles to get there! The other issue is how big agri-business is ruining habitats for not only wildlife, but people too, in countries of the world that can still be exploited due to lack of environmental laws. So, we started gardening for ourselves, and signed right up for the first CSA we could find and found it quite enjoyable for many reasons! Then we had a baby and became even more concerned about what, exactly, we were putting into our bodies and hers. Due to an intensive organic farming class that Kristin took last year, and the acquisition of some land, we grew much more than we could handle ourselves! So, this year we were inspired to share the harvest in the form of a CSA farm.
What You Can Do
We are looking for 10 or so families who would like to join in this adventure. The CSA shares will start in late May/Early June and end in late Sept./Early October. We are offering both full and half shares. Full shares are meant to supply one family of 3-4, and half shares are for couples or folks who don’t want quite so much produce. We are selling a full share for $375, and a half share for $225. This is 25-35% less than established CSAs in the valley, being that we are beginning farmers. Each week’s share will come with a newsletter about farm happenings, the produce of the week, and how to use it. Delivery will be to one or two pick-up points in the valley, locations TBA.
To secure your membership, please send a check (made out to Hasselblads) for $50 to us at 3439 Shadow Hills Dr., Eagle, ID 83616. Our payment deadline is May 1st, and you can make payments as you like up until that time. Memberships will be sold on a first come, first serve basis. As members, you are welcome to come spend time on the farm and see what we do first-hand, which we encourage.
Later in the season, we hope to be able to offer you some ‘extras’ of our orchard fruit (apples & pears), flowers, and chicken eggs, once the baby chicks are old enough to lay. These will be sold as add-ons and we’ll let you know as they become available. In the long-term, we will offer more fruits as they mature over the years…strawberries, raspberries, peaches, and plums. And if the birds don’t get all our cherries this year, we will certainly pass some on to you! ☺
I know many of you are growing your own local food…for you, this is an opportunity for you to pass this info on to others who may be interested. Thank you!!
If you would like more details and are wondering a bit more about what the heck a CSA is, please feel free to message me back or call (333-9637). Please come check out our new facebook page, “Evenstar Farm,” and our blog, http://evenstarfarm.blogspot.com.
Many thanks and happy eating!
Kristin & Isaac Hasselblad
EvenStar Farm
What do we grow?
We will be growing at least one, but usually several different varieties of these items:
Arugula
Basil
Green Beans
Edemame soy beans
Beets
Bok Choy
Tat soi
Broccoli
Cabbage
Carrots
Chard
Sweet Corn
Cilantro
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Garlic
Peppers (hot, sweet, roasting)
Kale
Collards
Lettuce & Lettuce mixes
Melons & Watermelon
Onions: scallions, & yellow and red storage
Parsley
Peas
Potatoes, 7 varieties
Pumpkins
Radishes
Various winter squashes
Summer squashes and zucchinis
Tomato (paste, slicing, cherry)
Tomatillos
Ground Cherries
Celeriac
Cauliflower
Gourds
Sorrel
Turnips, summer and storage
Various flowers
Friday, February 25, 2011
Seeds and Chickens ordered!
I think it took a whole week or so...geez! I spent over 700 bucks (not including the seed potatoes!) so I hope that's enough! I tried to pare it down as much as I could, but I didn't want to sacrifice much variety. I love to go through and read all (or as many as I can stand) of the descriptions of varieties...and then try to pick what I need. I can't even tell you how many varieties we have of tomoatoes, peppers, and squash, but it's a lot. I like variety, how about you? Plus I like to experiment and see what will grow best in our conditions. I loved, loved, loved reading the seed catalogs, and learning all kinds of things, like where paprika comes from...it's a ground up pepper!
Anyway, it's DONE and I'm so relieved! Now I hope it gets here soon! We need to start some seeds, and ideally we would started some by 3 weeks ago. Isaac found some materials at a second hand building material store and built some shelves where we can start the seeds. He got some used flourescent lights too. Soon our dining room will be full of this operation, heated by our wood stove.
Isaac went to a local fruit tree workshop put on by U of I today. I think he learned a lot about caring for our sad old orchard trees. He is officially our orchard person now, thank God! I'm not sure the orchard thing is for me...it's pretty crazy what you have to do to grow fruit, especially organically.
I also just ordered our chicks we will grow for meat...50 Red Cornish. They are coming April 5th!
Anyway, it's DONE and I'm so relieved! Now I hope it gets here soon! We need to start some seeds, and ideally we would started some by 3 weeks ago. Isaac found some materials at a second hand building material store and built some shelves where we can start the seeds. He got some used flourescent lights too. Soon our dining room will be full of this operation, heated by our wood stove.
Isaac went to a local fruit tree workshop put on by U of I today. I think he learned a lot about caring for our sad old orchard trees. He is officially our orchard person now, thank God! I'm not sure the orchard thing is for me...it's pretty crazy what you have to do to grow fruit, especially organically.
I also just ordered our chicks we will grow for meat...50 Red Cornish. They are coming April 5th!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
The Beginning!
So...I've been wanting to keep a blog about our farm for about a year now, but we didn't have a name to attach to a blog. This blog is the story of our farm...how we got here, how we started, our journey as we continue.
Presently, I am taking a break from seed ordering. It has been a daunting, week-long job, with many interruptions from my 2 yr old sweetie of course. Checking out 4 different seed companies or so, reading the descriptions of each variety... in fact, it was through this that I realized the name for our farm! There was a variety of something, Tat Soi I think, that was called 'Evenstar' which of course took me back to Tolkein, and that is something that our whole little family can agree on, and we all actually liked it, so it stuck! And that was that, after almost a whole year of agonizing over the name choice. I really wanted 'owl' or some kind of raptor name in there, since that was what I studied (and loved) in my previous life, and we have plenty of around here, but alas, it was not meant to be. I like stars though too. The name EvenStar is an old name for "Evening Star" which is the planet Venus, who is also a goddess of fertility. Fitting for a farm, no?!
A big reason why we have this farm is because of my Dad, Don. He was also a lover of the stars and anything 'outer space' really. Stephen Hawking's stuff always blew him away, and it was fun to hear him talk about it. I believe he is in the stars right now, looking down and watching over us, our very own EvenStar.
Presently, I am taking a break from seed ordering. It has been a daunting, week-long job, with many interruptions from my 2 yr old sweetie of course. Checking out 4 different seed companies or so, reading the descriptions of each variety... in fact, it was through this that I realized the name for our farm! There was a variety of something, Tat Soi I think, that was called 'Evenstar' which of course took me back to Tolkein, and that is something that our whole little family can agree on, and we all actually liked it, so it stuck! And that was that, after almost a whole year of agonizing over the name choice. I really wanted 'owl' or some kind of raptor name in there, since that was what I studied (and loved) in my previous life, and we have plenty of around here, but alas, it was not meant to be. I like stars though too. The name EvenStar is an old name for "Evening Star" which is the planet Venus, who is also a goddess of fertility. Fitting for a farm, no?!
A big reason why we have this farm is because of my Dad, Don. He was also a lover of the stars and anything 'outer space' really. Stephen Hawking's stuff always blew him away, and it was fun to hear him talk about it. I believe he is in the stars right now, looking down and watching over us, our very own EvenStar.
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