Farm News, week of Saturday, May 11, 2013

On the farm (and off)…
Anna and I had a wonderful time on our week’s getaway to Ireland! We left last Sunday morning (after delivering your CSA boxes in DC) and arrived on Aran Island in western Ireland around noon on Monday. We hiked to a 3000-year-old Iron Age cliff fort, rode bikes along rocky lanes overlooking Galway Bay and caught up on our jet lag. Then we returned to the mainland, rented a little car and spent 4 days driving about every paved road in Connemara, a wild, desolate, boggy, mountainous and beautiful region just north of the Bay, where many folks still speak Irish Gaelic. We visited Connemara National Park and climbed about a thousand-feet up a mountain, as far as we could get before we were into the clouds and it started raining. We visited little villages, crumbling castles, fishing harbors, stayed in B&Bs, ate picnic lunches, dined in pubs. One of our biggest surprises was that it was not yet green there, the grasses still winter brown. (Getting home, I was pleased to realize that our farm was considerably greener — and perhaps just as pretty — as Ireland!)

Photo: Anna and Randy along the Sky Road in southern Connemara.

Saturday we rode the bus back to Dublin just in time for Bank Holiday, a 3-day-weekend that nobody seems to know the purpose of. The city was hoppin’, nowhere more so than the Temple Bar district, thronged with Dubliners, Irish tourists, and other visitors from around the world. We heard some good music, saw some crazy people, walked a lot, ate and drank in a pub built in 1198. Had a great time, were ready to come home after a week, and I’m back at it, though now jet-lagged the other way.

Chris kept the home fires burning; Sam kept the farm going. He planted potatoes, tilled fields, and cleaned out a year’s worth of chicken manure from the larger henhouse. (Gee, too bad I missed that!) The new flock is supposedly on its way later this week.

I’m going to let the update stop there. Ask me at the truck if you want to know more. There are more Ireland pictures on our website at www.starhollowfarm.com, right below this post, if you’re interested. I still haven’t had time to glance but quickly through them, and may throw in a few more next time.

Photo: Another view from the same evening ride in Connemara.

Back to business…
We’re back just in time for the good stuff — asparagus and rhubarb and spinach and ramps and more.

This week’s planned produce list
Lots of new items this week, as well as a number on sale!

• Greens: micro greens mix, pea shoots, arugula, beet greens, braising greens mix, mixed chard, young kale, lamb’s quarters, wildfire lettuce mix, salad mix, big bag-O-spinach, watercress, Romaine, Simpson & green oakleaf lettuce. Also bunched chard & kale.
• Veggies: asparagus, beets, cabbage,carrots, hothouse cucumbers, bunched fresh garlic, onions, radishes (French breakfast, Black Spanish, green meat), ramps, rhubarb, rutabagas, scallions, sweet potatoes, hothouse tomatoes (red & green), turnips (baby white).
• Herbs: basil, parsley (curly & flat), chives, leaf celery, dill, lovage, rosemary, sage, savory, French sorrel, spearmint, peppermint, sweet marjoram, orange thyme & Scarborough Fair mix. 
• Mushrooms: crimini, portabella, farm-grown shiitake, royal trumpet & white.
• Chicken & eggs: frozen stewing chickens, brown eggs.
• Butter: salted and unsalted.
• Cow Cheese: cheddar (sharp, Italian), jack (Monterey, Wallaby, Dragons Breath), Vermeer (Gouda), havarti (Danish type).
• Goat Cheese: regular and garlic/chive curd.
• Glass jars: honey, apple butter. Jams & jellies: (apricot, blackberry, blueberry, grape, peach & strawberry). Pickles: (dilly beans, red beets, watermelon rinds). Relishes: hot pepper, zucchini. Salsa.

Farmer’s Pick
The Pick for this week is asparagus, English hothouse cucumber, Swiss chard, Simpson green leaf lettuce, onions, a parsnip/potato mix, small bunch of ramps (wild leeks that are sort of like scallions), a red tomato, a small bunch of spearmint and a jar of pickles.

Thanks much to all of you for your support,
Randy, Chris & Sam @ Star Hollow Farm

General farm info:   starhollowfarm.com.
CSA-specific info:    starhollowfarm.com/csa.
Online store:            store.starhollowfarm.com.
Randy’s cell phone (Saturday only): 814.386.5015

7 May Permalink