Tag Archives: farms

In Search of Seedlings

Posted on April 16, 2013 by AnnieRie

The primary objective this week. Get my seedlings and veggie plugs to be ready to plant the garden in about three weeks. I will be going to two farms, and hitting Earth Day at the Conservancy to achieve this.

last year’s tomatoes

I will add these two farms to my farms series after I get there, Sharp’s at Waterford on Friday and TLV Tree Farm on Saturday.

I will be getting heirloom tomatoes and also cucumbers at Sharp’s. Love their extensive selection of heirlooms. I will get all my herbs from TLV, except for that African blue basil, which will come from Greenway at the farmer’s market in May.

As for Earth Day, the Master Gardeners bring veggie and flower seedlings to the Conservancy to sell. I got some awesome heirlooms last year from them.

Add to all these seedlings, the ones in my window at home.

Kale. arugula and mesclun.

Thelma Sanders squash, including two that took weeks to germinate (slow metabolism maybe?). There are nine seedlings now. I am giving a few to friends to grow, as nine squash plants would take over my garden.

The organic garlic is going gangbusters.

Oh, and this was just for fun.

Starting ruby chard in an egg carton. These will get transplanted all sorts of places, to see where they do the best. Chard is so beautiful, you can use it as an accent plant, and then have it for dinner.

Getting that green thumb itch, and waiting until after the last chance of frost to move it all outside.

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Checking Out Greenfest

Posted on April 13, 2013 by AnnieRie

Another of those spring rituals. Going to the Greenfrest at Howard Community College. Looking for plants, and picking up a few items of interest from the displays. As usual, there was a large enthusiastic crowd there this morning, and lots of greenery for sale.

The fest takes over the quad, the parking area, and two floors inside the Burrell Galleria. Lots for families to do, outside and inside. The Howard Astronomical League was outside with scopes, there were family activities outside, and food for sale.

I only had an hour there today as we had a conflict with a dinner engagement and I needed to get food ready to take to it. Still time to pick up another reusable bag (like I need more shopping bags!). A few brochures, and then out to the Master Gardeners area.

They were doing a brisk business in native plants, but I was looking for heirloom veggies. I will have to wait until Earth Day at the Conservancy to get those. Great to find out from them that our master gardeners have so many places for us to find really good starter plants.

I then headed off to see TLV where I wanted some greens and some short ribs. A request from my husband for me to do short ribs over the collard greens from this week’s CSA. TLV did not disappoint. I came home with short ribs.

They were doing a very good business, already sold out of all the basil plants they brought. Many more herbs available. I will be heading out to the farm in two weeks to get mine. Just in time to plant.

Many of their customers were commenting on how good it was to see them, and how we all can’t wait for the Howard County Farmers Markets to start in just 3 1/2 weeks. Keep checking their website and facebook pages to see the lists of vendors when they get posted.

Notice all those lovely containers of greens. Quite a few of those were sold as I was there talking to them. This is a great way to have fresh microgreens on the table. I use window boxes outside my kitchen, but these tubs would do great on a porch, or a deck, keeping leafy goodness out of the reach of bunnies and deer.

On my way out, I saw that a number of bikes were being loaded onto the trailers for the bike collection.

It was a beautiful breezy spring day, and it looked like another successful event in this, its sixth year. Driving home through Columbia and across Folly Quarter, I couldn’t miss all the flowering trees and shrubs. At home, the cherry tree is in full bloom. I need to pop out tomorrow and see how the azaleas are coming at Brighton Dam. It should be a sunny but cool day, perfect for a ride.

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Posted in Community, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Nature, Weather and tagged community, crock pot cooking, farmer's markets, farms, Food, gardening, heirloom tomatoes, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, nature, spring flowers, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

Breezy Willow Farm, In West Friendship

Posted on April 11, 2013 by AnnieRie

I know I first encountered Breezy Willow at the Glenwood Farmer’s Market, but I don’t remember when. The market was small when we first moved out here, but as a Saturday market it was easy to attend while we still had day jobs in DC. I buy quite a few veggies from them on Saturday mornings and still do much of my purchases of items I don’t grow in my garden from their stand. Things like the sweet corn, the radishes, the summer squash, peppers, and more. And, of course, their lovely free range eggs.

market closing day 2012

Breezy Willow offers all sorts of items, including eggs, honey, breads, soap, herbs, rare veggies, and fruit. They are a certified organic farm. Here is a very detailed description from their website.

Besides, who can resist the alpacas? And, the sheep, the chickens, the dog, any or all of them will greet you when you pick up your Community Supported Agriculture “basket” in the farm store. Visits weekly to the farm really do create that connection between us and the source of our food.

They also make and sell other goodies, like handmade jewelry, alpaca scarves and socks, felted soap balls, scented soaps, the list goes on. It is truly a labor of love on a family run farm. I love to buy the soaps to give as Christmas gifts.

RJ, Ken, Casey and Jason are all out and about. You may run into them at the markets, on the farm, and CSA pick up points beyond the farm. The farm does offer work for your CSA options, for those who staff the CSA pick up points, or the market. They work for their share, instead of paying for it.

This is an incredibly popular CSA in the county, one that has been adding pick up sites every season, and now has more than 700 members.

For the summer and fall CSA, which runs 24 weeks, starting in June, the vast majority of your items come from surrounding farms and from Breezy Willow. They do bring in goodies like mushrooms from PA and a few farms are outside of the county. To me, that is a good thing.

The success or failure of CSAs depends on happy customers. Some people are leery of taking risk if weather could wipe out part of a harvest, and the only source of their veggies is one farm. By diversification, and use of a cooperative venture among small regional farms, CSAs like Breezy Willow are a very good value for those looking for healthy foods to serve themselves and their families. The diversification mitigates some of the risk, and by paying up front for your future “shares”, you assist the farm in getting cash flow in spring when they need it for planting. It is a good thing for both sides of the transaction.

In the early spring, Breezy Willow added an “early bird CSA” a few years ago. It runs 12 weeks from March through May, and supplements cold storage fruit and vegetables with greenhouse grown, high tunnel grown, and some shipped in items from the South. Items like fresh Florida citrus at the height of the Florida growing season. For those of us weary of winter and ready for spring, this CSA gives us really fresh outstanding veggies and fruit from small farms along the coast. I can’t wait to see if we get some early berries from Carolina or Virginia.

Breezy Willow also works with the other farms in the area to offer their dairy products, and meats out at the farm. I am partial to the yogurt, and if they have Bowling Green Farm feta in the fridge, I grab it. The farm store was open on Saturdays this spring from 10-2, and is open for CSA members on CSA pick up days.

Now that they have added an extension to the farm store building, we were told that the CSA will pick up in the extension and the farm store will take over the entire original section.

If you want a real treat find out what flavors of ice cream are in the cooler. My personal favorites, salted caramel, honey graham and maple bacon. Yes, maple bacon ice cream. The sweetness of maple with the saltiness of tiny pieces of bacon.

If you get the chance, check out the farm on one of their open days. Call ahead if there isn’t a notice on the web site. You can see what they offer by browsing on the site, and if you want to order, they will arrange a convenient pick up time.

You can’t miss them on Old Frederick Road (Rte 99), just west of Rte. 32 and the West Friendship fire station.

Or, stop by when they begin their participation in the Glenwood Saturday market at the library and community center parking lot. Last year, they started selling in early June, once they had a good supply of veggies to bring to market.

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Posted in Community, CSA, Farmer's Markets, Farms, Food, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, West HoCo and tagged community, CSA, farmer's markets, farms, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, West HoCo. Bookmark the permalink.

Week Six of the Breezy Willow CSA

Posted on April 10, 2013 by AnnieRie

Tomorrow I will be writing about the farm, today was CSA pickup day.

Week Six. Halfway through the Early Bird. I know why people love this CSA. The trip to the farm alone is worth it. The sheep need shearing! It was 88 degrees up there!

This week we got some new items. I know this value added CSA for early birds brings some items in from farms further south of here, but I have no problem with that as I get very fresh veggies that haven’t been sprayed or transported thousands of miles from foreign countries.

We got:
1/2 pound salad mix
1 pound bean sprouts
1 pound brussels sprouts
2 pounds beets
1 bunch rainbow carrots
3 pink grapefruit from Florida
1 bulb garlic
1 pound collard greens
1 bunch radishes
1 dozen eggs
Toasted Sesame Seed Bread

We could have swapped eggs for cheese, and of course, there were at least six different bread choices out there. I already used some bean sprouts with the last of the spinach, the last of the sugar snap peas, some garlic and onion to make a stir fry for dinner tonight.

I will be making pesto. Sort of like this one. I will be using the carrot greens, the radish greens, some basil from my windowsill pots, and maybe some of my baby arugula from my seedlings in the patio doorway.

basil growing on the windowsill

The picture directly above is my starter tray that contains arugula, kale and mesclun. If I thin out the arugula, it will add a touch of that peppery bite. If I wait only three or four days to make this, I will also have enough mint in the pots out on the deck to add. Pesto just needs that ratio of greens mixed with the nuts, parmesan, garlic and olive oil. I started experimenting using this post about not wasting food as a starter.

I also picked up a container of blueberry yogurt today, to mix with some of my Butler Orchard blueberries picked last summer and frozen. I am using these berries in all sorts of things.

Spring is definitely here. My cooking will be getting lighter. More salads and less stews. Grilling quite a bit, too. This week’s basket will easily get consumed with little leftover. We already started nibbling those gorgeous radishes as an appetizer tonight.

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Posted in CSA, Farms, Food, Gardening, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Real Food, Weather and tagged cooking, CSA, farms, Food, gardening, Howard County, local businesses, Locavore, real food, weather. Bookmark the permalink.

A Trip Down Memory Lane – Clark’s Farm

Posted on April 8, 2013 by AnnieRie

First and foremost to me these days it is all about the Enchanted Forest. Seeing this image when I drive down Rte 108 brings back amazing memories.

I was 2 1/2 years old when the Enchanted Forest opened. I don’t know how many times we went there. The Clark family preserving these magnificent fairy tale figures and buildings is truly impressive.

But, this is still a farm. A great farm. One that has been here for more than 200 years. I also can’t remember when we started buying sweet corn and tomatoes, almost weekly on our way home to our house off Cedar Lane. Clark’s farm is a working farm surrounded by Columbia.

Sweet corn. Something my parents bought on the way to and from the ocean. Something we found at small farms all over Baltimore, Howard and Anne Arundel counties. The produce stand was how many Columbia residents first learned about Clark farm. Incredibly fresh, just picked, sometimes the pick up truck full of corn arriving when we did.

Now, they have diversified, like the smart farmers around here do. Some do CSAs, some do farmer’s markets, Christmas trees, tours, pumpkin patches, pick your own, mazes, you name it.

Clark’s. being very close to Columbia, has an advantage. Come see animals, ride the ponies, take a hay ride, walk the new pine tree maze.

The maze is fun. I found the black goose, the tortoise and the hare, the teakettle and teacups. Hickory dickory dock.

Besides all the attractions at Elioak, the farm is selling pasture fed meat. The castle store has their beef and Bowling Green Farm cheese for sale. You can pop in and get meat, now expanded to include lamb, pork and chicken. Twice a week on Tuesdays and Saturdays, they sell eggs from free range chickens.

The produce stand is open July-September. You can get meat year round. This is a farm nestled right up against Columbia. Thriving, due to Martha and Nora. Take some time and stop in. If you grew up in Maryland, pay that $5 for a trip down memory lane. I just crossed another childhood memory off my sixty@sixty list.

There is an old lady who lived in a shoe …

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Posted in Adventures, Community, Farms, Howard County, Local Businesses, Locavore, Remember When, Sixty@Sixty and tagged farms, Food, hoco loco, Howard County, local businesses. Bookmark the permalink.

The Sunday Night Eat Local Report

Posted on April 7, 2013 by AnnieRie

It’s Sunday, the day our small group of bloggers puts up our latest meals made using mostly local ingredients, bought from farms and artisans in our 100 mile radius.

As for the farm reports, which I am working also, I hope to do at least two farms a week, and make them part of my Eat Local Challenge. They will be spaced out to take advantage of visits once they open for the spring and summer seasons.

Tomorrow I will talk about Clark’s and later this week, Breezy Willow. Clark’s just opened their Elioak site last week, and I stopped by today to see how they were doing. Busy, busy, busy. As I said, more tomorrow, but how can you resist such a beautiful scene?

Today I want to showcase some local foods from my Breezy Willow Early Bird CSA, which found their way into dinners the past two nights.

And, since wineries are farms, too, I will touch on the wines from VA that made their way to the table.

Friday night stir fry.

The Napa cabbage, sugar snap peas, mushrooms, onions and spinach all came from Breezy Willow. The Canadian bacon in there came from Orchard Breeze Farm in PA, bought at the Olney indoor winter market. Orchard Breeze raises Berkshire hogs. This bacon made its way into many meals the past few days. The Japanese sweet potatoes that you see in the pan came from my fall CSA, Sandy Spring, which uses Lancaster Farm Fresh Coop, a nonprofit Amish coop from PA (80+ farms). I divide my CSAs between the two, using the strength of each one to keep me in fresh foods most of the year.

Looks good, doesn’t it? The shrimp came from the new Harris Teeter in Marriottsville, and the noodles are from Nature’s Yoke. I picked them up in the farm store at Breezy Willow when I got my CSA.

Served with one of my favorite wines for slightly spicy dishes. Since this dish also included some of the red peppers from the olive bar at Harris Teeter, some garlic from last week’s CSA, and grated ginger (another Harris Teeter purchase), it had a little kick to it. Enter Linden Vidal Riesling, a slightly sweet yet acid balanced white perfect for Asian styled foods.

I include Linden and his wines in my farm categories, as if you ever meet the owner of Linden, Jim Law, he will introduce himself as a farmer. To him, growing the grapes and tending his land is extremely important in the success of his winery.

Last night we had another local meal. Venison tenderloin. From my stash of venison. The farm across the way from us. My neighbor helps them in herd management and we got one of them for the cost of processing. This was the tenderloin, a prized part and one that demands careful handling.

I did a dry rub with RubJoeMeat. I can’t explain it. Read it on their web site if you really want to know. Trust me, though, it is a great rub for beef and for venison. I found the recipe to use for the tenderloin here.

I did not use a BBQ sauce, I made my own sauce from my berry vinaigrette, local PA maple syrup, balsamic, cinnamon and cayenne. Grilled it on that lovely evening yesterday.

The sweet potato is from last week’s CSA. The salad made with eggs, spinach, mushrooms, onions, all from Breezy Willow, the last of the bacon from Orchard Breeze. Perfectly cooked venison, not tough or gamey at all.

It looks great, doesn’t it? I will definitely use that web site again, for other venison recipes. As for the wine last night, I mentioned wanting to use a really good wine, and decided on a very old lovely Barboursville Octagon. From 1998, as a matter of fact.

Luca Paschina makes exceptional wines near Charlottesville. And he is one of the sweetest people to talk to, we spent 15 minutes in a buffet line at RdV last fall talking about his winery and his love of Virginia, coming here from Piemonte to be the winemaker at Barboursville.

1998 was the vintage year for the third edition of Octagon. Beautiful wine, that stood up to the venison and had that smokiness that matches grilled food so well.

You don’t have to buy imported wines, or food shipped halfway around the world to have first class meals. This weekend we celebrated the arrival of spring, using some of the best in the area.

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From Farm to Freezer – Larriland

Posted on April 6, 2013 by AnnieRie

I don’t remember when I first heard about Larriland Farms, in Lisbon. They have been there for 50 years, ever since they sold their Guilford farm which became part of Columbia. They started the pick your own farm ten years later in 1973. We rarely got out there, until we moved here to west Howard County.

Now, they are just up the road.

I was there for opening day of strawberry season in 2012. School was out that day and lots of families with their children were having fun picking strawberries.

This was the year we picked strawberries and blackberries, and visited a few times to pick up goodies in their farm store. You don’t have to do all the work, you can just stop in and buy already picked delicacies. I picked almost 10 pounds of strawberries. You get the price break at twenty pounds.

If you don’t have a garden and want to freeze veggies or fruits, this is the place to go. The Moore family runs the farm. It is so organized, and the fruit is amazing quality. Plus, they encourage noshing while you pick. This is close to ten pounds of strawberries.

What did I do with them? Besides the fresh salad that day for lunch?

Whole strawberries, strawberry puree frozen. I put the puree in wine, or club soda, or sangria. The jars I use to make berry vinaigrette. The frozen whole berries I drop in smoothies or juices. Same with the blackberries. This year, though, with my smaller garden I am looking to pick veggies. Can’t think of a better place to spend a few hours. I have begun monitoring their website to see when the 2013 season will start.

Follow their site, or sign up for email newsletters. Anyway you look at it, these lovely fruits could be in your freezer.

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England Acres

Posted on April 5, 2013 by AnnieRie

One of my favorite farms to visit. I am going to profile local farms, why I shop at them and what they offer. I first found England Acres during a visit to South Mountain Creamery and Wegmans in Frederick. Driving home the back way I ended up going through New Market on Rt. 144 and found a sign.

I never got back to check it out until June 2012. It was love at first sight. The house is one of those very old farm places that kept expanding as the family grew, and the market was just next to it. I fell in love with the house.

Judy runs an amazing business. Partners with lots of local farms and artisans. If you want really good farm raised meat, or free range eggs, this is the place to go. How about duck eggs? They just starting selling those for a local farm. They have all sorts of sources. Cheese, yogurt, spelt flour, homemade baked goods. You name it. She works to bring it in and make it available. I love the fact that they are open year round, and that they really do support small local farms.

In February, Super Bowl weekend, I found.

Popcorn and cookies.

Salad mix and mushrooms.

The meat is amazing. Chicken soup from their chickens. Awesome.

Eggs, I can’t begin to describe. Between Breezy Willow and England Acres, the eggs from free range chickens have spoiled me, and I won’t ever have to buy grocery store eggs again.

The size of these eggs. If you love sunny side up eggs, this is the only way to go. How about a double yolk egg?

We just ordered a side of lamb from them, to be picked up in two weeks. I have to admit, their meat is by far some of the tastiest we have found. A half a lamb. 20 or so pounds, at a price that makes it so worth it. You get to customize your cuts, specify how you want it, boneless or not, and you have a ready source of food not tainted with hormones or antibiotics.

Tomorrow they are having a crafts swap at the farm. I will probably pop out there to leave my stained glass equipment and supplies for swap or barter. If I can find them tonight.

The farm does lots of fun things. Feed the chickens. Picnic on the property. Come to a corn freezing party in late summer. Local farms are the life of our area. Check them out.

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