Author: bloomingglenfarm

17 Jul July Farm update

Here’s what’s happening on the farm: the crops are pouring in, but the weeds are growing just as fast. The continual wet weather is keeping our tractor cultivators out of the fields, which puts a damper on things. We are certainly at a scale where it is just impossible to hand weed the entire farm, so certain crops can and do fall by the wayside. Typically bare ground, direct sown crops are the hardest to manage in a wet season: carrots, arugula, broccoli raab, and radishes for example. Transplanted crops have the advantage of height and resiliency, so they have a head start on the weeds. Sometimes we are able to undersow a cover crop, like in this kale field. The undersown crop out competes the weeds, providing a living mulch.

The pick-your-own flower fields are in full bloom right now. It is a magical spot to be as the sun is setting, or on an early misty morning (though an extreme downpour soon followed that picturesque moment).

Our farm solstice blessing was a beautiful opportunity to stop and mark the changing of the seasons. Especially here on the farm it does mark the peak of the flurry of planting activity that begins for us with the sowing of the first seeds in early March. With the approach of the summer solstice we race to get the long season crops planted, for we know after the solstice the days start to shorten ever so slightly and the window of plant growth begins to narrow.

You wouldn’t know it though by observing the summer squash. This plentiful crop requires our constant vigilance- harvesting happens every other day. Picking squash requires a team of six- 4 pickers, one packer and one tractor driver. The cucumbers are on the same picking schedule. Lots of bending over- down to the ground, up to the conveyor, over and over again, every other day.

July on our farm means long days, at least 7am to 6pm, but sometimes stretching to 7 or 8pm. Almost every morning we are doing some sort of harvesting, trying to beat the midday heat. Make hay while the sun shines, or as pictured below, harvest celery before it’s too freaking hot.  Some days feel like we are just treading water, and every moment is trouble shooting a new problem, from leaking drip tape to broken trucks, tractor implements, I-phones and ez-ups. But then there are the triumphs, the beneficial insects released at the right moment in the beans, and the moments of joy- the taste of a sweet yellow wax bean, the beauty of the bright gold sunflowers against the vibrant blue sky.

In addition to our regular daily harvests for the CSA and markets and wholesale, we have to squeeze in the harvest of crops that will be done all at once, for storage and later distribution. Our garlic harvest went smoothly, and this year we were able to protect them from the allium leaf miner insect, which was a huge triumph. The crop is currently laid out on tables in our friend’s barn, drying down. Soon we will harvest all our onions, also to be cured. Currently however, we are all enjoying the beautiful fresh onions, such a wonderful seasonal treat.

The big question on everyone’s mind is, where are the tomatoes? It’s like a watched pot over here at the farm! The pick-your-own cherry tomatoes are just starting this week for the CSA, and the greenhouse heirlooms are beginning to trickle in…we’ll have a few on the roadstand and at market this week.

The field tomatoes look beautiful, and, very green! Yes, they are certainly behind schedule. We didn’t change anything on our end from previous years, but mother nature sure sent us a curve ball. With the cool wet spring, and overall cooler temps so far this season, their growth and ripening has definitely been delayed. But have no fear, we will all be swimming in the tomato bounty soon enough and you’ll be begging for it to stop 😉

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner  (Photos 1, 4 & 5 contributed by Matthew LaVergne). Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 12th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

28 May CSA starts week of May 30

What a wacky spring. Seems like we had better weather back in February. Though wacky is kind of the norm for our spring’s here in southeastern PA, the month of May has certainly been a mixed bag- from upper 90’s, lather on the sunscreen and break out the heat stress training guide kind of days, alternating with cold sweatshirt weather, ferocious wind, and pouring rain. This spring has certainly been cooler overall, so things are growing slowwwwly. The first few weeks of the CSA may be on the lighter side, but don’t worry, we’ll make up for it in the long run!

Our amazing farm crew has been jamming this spring, putting in long hours to stay on top of our to-do lists. From hand transplanting and weeding, trellising, tractor cultivating, seeding, thinning, hoeing, field and bed prep, tractor maintenance, harvesting, stooping, bending, shoveling, repeat, repeat, repeat.

We’d love to introduce you to all your farmers, so we will be featuring them here in the coming weeks. With the exception of just two of our crew members (in addition to Tom and myself) we have a whole new farm crew this season. So that means everyone is learning tons of new skills every day, especially spending many many days this spring tacking down row covers in the wind, (practicing remaining calm and good natured while tacking down row covers in the wind), to re-tacking down row covers the next day (and still remaining calm and good natured while tacking down those darn row covers every few days). Offering protection from cold weather and from insects, at times it felt like the majority of the farm was under row covers.

Skills can be taught but to maintain a positive attitude through the orchestrated chaos that is farming, that one is the most important skill, and not necessarily one we can teach. Thankfully farming is a job best suited for optimists, as every day something can and will go wrong and if you’re someone who focuses on the negative, you won’t get very far. True in much of life, I’m sure, but farming certainly has a way of exposing raw truths of human nature.

It’s amazing to see how much has been planted in the short window of time since winter started to wind down and the fields dried out. It’s only been two months, but we’ve got an incredible amount of food out in the fields growing. Tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, squash, cucumbers, lettuce, fennel, onions, beets, carrots, turnips, radishes, potatoes, kale, chard, cabbage, sweet corn, sweet potatoes and so much more.

We are very excited for the CSA to begin next week. We look forward to the shifting energy on the farm (it’s so quiet without you all!) as we welcome the energy and enthusiasm of the hundreds of families heading to the farm each week to take home and enjoy the fruits of our labors. You can look forward to strawberries, kale, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, scallions, and garlic scapes the first week.

The CSA will begin:

• Tuesday May 30 and Thursday June 1 for on-farm full shares (weekly pick-up) and half shares week A (every other week pick-up).
• Tuesday June 6 and Thursday June 8 for half shares week B (every other week pick-up).
• Wednesday May 31 for all delivery shares (weekly delivery of medium and large boxes).

Please pay your balance by June 1st. Please kindly be sure that you have at least paid your down payment prior to your first pick-up.

Remember to “subscribe” to our blog if you wish to receive email notification when new blog posts go live on our website. The blog is a great way to stay connected with what is happening out in the field. You can also follow us on Facebook or Instagram. We will post a labeled photo of the share on Facebook every Tuesday afternoon so that you can refer to that in case you are unsure what veggies you got. If you are someone who prefers to know a day or two in advance what you are getting in the share, then you would be better off choosing Thursday pick-up.

New to eating fresh veggies? Check out the cookbook we have for sale, From Asparagus to Zucchini. In this classic cookbook of seasonal eating you will find lots of storage tips for each vegetable, as well as fantastic recipes. Keep an eye on our blog for recipes and cooking tips!

On farm pick-up reminders:

• Please make sure you are aware of your assigned pick-up day and week (A or B if you are a half share) and come on the correct day during the correct hours (between 1 and 7:30pm: **Do not come before 1pm, as we need every minute of the morning to get everything harvested, washed and put out in the distribution room. We clean up at 7:30pm, so please come before 7:30 and allow yourself to have enough time to be finished gathering your share by 7:30pm.) If you need to switch pick-up days permanently please let us know asap. If you just need to switch for one week, let us know via email by Sunday at 7pm of the week you wish to switch. You do not need to let us know if someone else will be picking up the share for you- just make sure they sign in for you.
• We have a new page on our website which is displaying an event calendar. In addition to classes, chef demos and farm events, you will see the CSA schedule posted there, with color coding for weeks A and B (in case you forget where we are in the rotation). We’ve got lots of great stuff planned so check it out!
• BYOB- Bring your own Bags/Baskets/Box for picking up your share.
• Please remember to locate the sign-in sheet FIRST, and sign-in BEFORE picking up your share.
• There will be strawberries to pick the first few weeks of the CSA season. Please wear the proper footwear for heading out to the fields (depending on the weather, the fields can be very muddy). We will provide a quart container to pick into, but we ask you to leave it at the farm, so bring your own container or tupperware to take your strawberries home in.
• There is a port-potty and hand washing station located in the parking lot by the silo if you should need the restroom while you are at the farm.

Interested in a Fruit Share?  New for 2017: A 12-week CSA Fruit Share membership from our friends at North Star Orchard (in Chester County, Pa), which you’ll be able to pick up here at the farm on CSA day!  We encourage you to take a look at what the share has to offer here: https://northstarorchard.com/fruit-share This is not ordinary fruit, but unique and heritage varieties which are full of flavor: plums with pizazz, perfect peaches, amazing Asian pears, great (seedless) grapes, astounding apples, and a sprinkling of heritage pear varieties. North Star Orchard grows no standard varieties, but rather heritage and super-flavorful varieties which you’ve likely never heard of and will knock your socks off! Sign up directly with North Star on their website: https://northstarorchard.com/csa-locations-signup, or if you need to reach them directly, email Lisa@northstarorchard.com And for a quick view of North Star Orchard itself, enjoy this 90-second bird’s eye view: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=izdj6VIWyao

Interested in a certified organic pastured meat share? Sign up with our friends and neighbors in Sellersville, Pa: Hershberger Heritage Farm. You may have met Nate Hershberger last season, he was a regular here at the farm, set up in the parking lot on Tuesday and Thursday afternooons with his offerings of fresh certified organic pastured chicken, pork and eggs. He’ll be back again on Tuesdays and Thursdays during CSA pick-ups. However, if you join his new “Free Range” CSA, this flexible model gives members access to their provisions at a significant discount (10-15% off retail prices), and the flexibility of purchasing exactly what and how much you’d like throughout the season. For more information and to sign-up, click here http://www.hhf.farm/csa-info

Interested in a Bread Share? Bakers on Broad in Souderton will be offering their delicious artisan bread shares again this season. (Full shares will be delivered weekly, half shares will be delivered every other week on your corresponding pick-up days). The cost for the bread share is $5/ week for full shares ($120 total) and $5.50 for half shares ($65 total)- one loaf is delivered each time. The breads you will enjoy include: Spelt, Whole Wheat, Sesame Semolina, Italian, Olive, German Rye, Country Grain and many more! To register, click here for the sign-up form. You will need to print and fill out, then mail to Bakers on Broad with a check, or call them for credit card payment. All information is on the form.

*Fruit, meat and bread shares are only available to CSA members picking up at Blooming Glen Farm in Perkasie.

We are looking forward to a great 2017 farm season! See you soon!

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner  (*Header photo by Matt LaVergne). Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 12th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

29 Mar Spring is for sowing, not snowing!

The sun is shining and the birds are singing their songs of spring. Our greenhouse is bursting at the seams with beautiful plants. Now is the dance as we wait until the ground dries out enough to begin working the soil, sowing seeds in the fields and transplanting crops. In the warm and sunny greenhouse, Brienn pictured above and below left, is busy with the weekly sowing, moving flats around to make room as things gets more and more crowded, keeping the babies watered and happy. Our peas are beginning to sprout. Sowing them into flats and transplanting them enables us to get perfect germination, and stay on schedule despite the soggy soil. Peter, pictured below right, is in the barn dealing with the annual overflow of equipment, getting things organized, repaired and ready so when the time comes we can focus on planting.

Amidst the sounds of the melting snow, we ushered in spring with a beautiful vernal equinox blessing at the farm last weekend. Rebekah Barnes of Rooted Rhythms gathered us in a circle to honor the spirit of the land, the sky and within, moving us towards the directions and their corresponding elements. As we turned to the south we rubbed our hands together, feeling the heat generated by our own bodies, the fire within. To the west, as we licked our lips, we felt the water within and how it is connected to the waters around the world. Turning to the north, we felt the strength and stability of our own body, connected to the earth and hugged ourselves, feeling our solid presence. To the east we took a deep breath, inhaled, exhaled, feeling the breath of life in our body and around us.

I spoke of the wonder of the soil, and had everyone take a handful to feel and smell, and to offer up a blessing for the season ahead. In just one handful of soil there are more soil microbes than there are people on the earth!  These are the unsung heroes of our farm. These tiny microscopic creatures, the billions of bacteria, yards of fungal filaments, thousands of protozoa and nematodes, all lead incredibly active lives. They are a little more sluggish in the winter, but like us, they are waking up with the warmth of spring. And they each have incredibly important jobs to do. We take care of the soil so that it can do its important work and together we can raise healthy strong plants.

Did you know that snow contains nitrogen which can benefit the soil? As precipitation falls through the atmosphere it collects atmospheric nitrogen. When snow collects on thawed soil, it slowly melts, allowing a slow release of nitrogen into the soil profile, adding to the total nitrogen content that the microbes then convert to plant available forms.

We ended the vernal equinox ritual by making a spiral out of branches against the blanket of snow. Wood is an element of spring. The power of wood is gentle, persistent, and filled with creative potential. It has the power of both being and becoming. Thank you Rebekah for bringing this to our farm, and I am already looking forward to the summer solstice ritual on June 21 at 7pm.

CSA shares are still available! Please spread the word and help us expand our community. Those first juicy strawberries will be here before we know it! And for your friends that may have their own vegetable garden, let them know we are offering pick-your-own flower shares. For 10-weeks of pick-your-own bouquets, this is a wonderful opportunity to connect to nature in a field of blooms. In these tumultuous times, it is certainly my happy place, to be out in the flowers, under the rosy glow of the setting sun.

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.  (*Vernal equinox blessing photos by pro photographer Vanessa Lassin.) Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 12th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.

01 Mar March in like a lion, or is it a lamb?

The weather outside on the farm may be variable, with warm temperatures feeling like spring then cold windy days reminding us we still have 3 weeks of winter, but inside the propagation greenhouse it’s consistently beautiful and balmy. The tables are starting to fill up already as the sowing for this season has begun. The onions are the biggest wave of flats so far…200 cell trays, 1 seed per cell- hundreds spread across the tables, germinating on the warm coils of 70 degree water. Spring greens, early tomatoes, flowers, celery, parsley, slowly we move through the excel spread sheet seeding plan that we labored over this winter.

Here on our hilltop in Hilltown the wind can blow fierce and strong- our greenhouses take a constant beating. We reskinned one house that lost its cover in the worst of the storm, and are replacing two others that have ripped in the past year. We have grown accustomed to this part of farming here on this land…the howling wind used to keep us up at night. Now we roll with it a little better, for that which you can’t control is best let go.

The winter planning component is behind us, our annual organic certification paperwork has been submitted, seeds and supplies ordered. As CSA memberships steadily flow in we are thankful, for that income in the spring carries us until the crops can be harvested.

Winter is also the time for developing and tweaking systems of efficiency- be it tractor and equipment maintenance schedules and logs, creating food safety systems, planning for a larger cooler and wash facility, revising employee job descriptions and hiring practices…all the components that may not necessarily be horticultural, but come together to make our business stronger, safer and more efficient.

We are looking forward to trying some new crops this season. We are excited to plant asparagus in the spring. It will be a few years until this perennial is ready for harvest, and during those few years we will have to be vigilant with weeding and watering, but we are hopeful it will do well and reward our patience.

We are also looking forward to some new events and classes at the farm this season. We are partnering with my dear friend Rebekah Barnes of Rooted Rhythms for a series of short equinox and solstice blessings to be held out on the farm- one in spring, summer, fall and winter. We hope you’ll join us in the opportunity to connect with the rhythm of nature and the energy of the earth. The first event, a vernal equinox family ritual, will be held on Sunday afternoon, March 19, at 3pm so save the date! We will post event details on facebook very soon.

We are also planning a vegetable fermentation class with Amanda Feifer from Phickle in Philadelphia, scheduled for Wed. evening, June 7^th, details coming soon. This class was a huge hit when we held it a number of years ago.  Fermentation is all the rage, and it’s so simple and easy to incorporate into your weekly routine. And it’s a fantastic nutritional way to use up your CSA share! Amanda is the author of the must-have book,  “Ferment Your Vegetables: A Fun and Flavorful Guide to Making Your Own Pickles, Kimchi, Kraut, and More”.

Enjoy winter’s last hoorah- spring will be here before we know it!

Post and photos by Tricia Borneman, Blooming Glen farmer and co-owner.  Tricia and her husband Tom have been farming together since 2000. Blooming Glen Farm is celebrating its 12th season bringing high quality certified organic vegetables, herbs, fruits and cut flowers to our local community.