Get farm fresh vegetables from the roadside stand

Open Dawn until Dusk

7 Days a week

611 Route 20 A Strykersville NY

First I started this batch with 1/2 a bushel of StoneFree Peaches… there were 67 peaches in the half bushel… I laid them all out on my kitchen table to examine them… and I knew it would be a day before I got to canning them and I like to take them out of their basket to breath…   

The I got my jars all ready… First I clean them in hot water and a little dish soap, and I make sure to rinse them well so that no soap remains in the jar… then I take the jar and in a wide sauce pan I place about an inch of water, and put the jars in mouth side down and bring the water to a boil leaving the jars in until I am ready to fill them with peaches…

The I get all of my stove ready, they just don’t make the burners wide enough… The large granite blue is the caner.. fill it up with water and put on to boil… it takes a while so if you start it now by the time you get the jars packed it will be boiling… The small sauce pan in front is for making the simple syrup you will top off the jars with… place one quarter cup of sugar with 6 cups of water and heat until the sugar dissolves, then remove from heat…. the tall pot in the front it my blanching pot fill with water and bring to a boil to drop the peaches in… the red pan in the back is for the jars…

Next in the boiling pot of water, take and make an X with your knife along the bottom of your peach, and drop into boiling water for a few minutes, this is to remove the skins… once they look like the skins will fall of, remove from boiling water and place under sink and run cold water over them, then pull off the skins, so easy now…

Next let the packing begin… cut them in half and then into quarters, remove the pit and layer them into the hot jars from the boiling water in the pot on the stove… once the jar is full of peaches, pour in a little of the simple syrup to fill in the air pocket in between the peaches… Then place a lid and a screw top on to the jar… once you get enough jars filled to fill up your caner place them all in at the same time… and boil for 7 minutes… the books all say for 30 minutes, but I find that makes the peaches get mushy in the jars, and as long as the lid on your jar pops down the cans are sealed and ready to go….

The freshly caned peaches … all ready for storage until winter!

We spent the afternoon in the gardens despite the rain we were able to get some picking done… We picked fresh snap peas… I ate almost as many as went into my basket… these guys are so delicious fresh off the vine…

Examined the summer squash, The yellow squash has so so so many blooms on it… as long as the weather, and the animals stay away we will all be eating plenty of summer squash.. zucchini included… Get those cooking ideas ready…

The kohlrabi is at its peek for the first round that we planted, round two should be ready next week

The cabbage is looking amazing, there was some loss to the deer, they have to eat too, but if all goes well we will also have lots of cabbage!!

Check back tomorrow members to see what will be in your bag on Thursday!

many many blooms coming along..

Alright CSA members it’s official… The Harvest Patch CSA will be veggie ready a few weeks early this season…

We were able to get lettuce and onions planted so early this year and they are so big and healthy and ready to be picked!

So the first CSA delivery of the year will be Thursday June 27th 2013…

Since the Thursday after that is July 4th we will take that week off for the holiday, and then begin our regular scheduled deliveries starting Thursday July 11th… Deliveries will be every week for the 17 weeks after that

So Members Yeah for a bonus week of delivery this season!

It  sure is very chill out there… But this cold freeze has given us time to look though all of our seed catalogs and make choices for adding some new things to the CSA… We are open for suggestions… So leave a comment let us know what would you like to see in your bag this year…

CSA Members… Get ready for this beautiful tender and delicious yellow summer squash:)

Harvest Patch CSA

2012 Produce List

– This is a list of plants we have planted this spring, with the help of mother nature all of these glorious veggies will bring a bountiful harvest and be in your bag this summer!!!

-beets

-carrots

-lettuces

-sweet potatoes

-green beans

-yellow beans

-bi color corn

-yellow sweet corn

-early girl tomatoes

-roma tomatoes

-lemon boy tomatoes

-beefsteak tomatoes

-green bell peppers

-red peppers

-Hungarian wax peppers

-broccoli

-kohlrabi

-celery

-eggplant

-leeks

-early cabbage

-late cabbage

-Brussels sprouts

-cauliflower

-Swiss chard

-purple onions

-cooking onions

-Spanish onions

-herbs

-garlic

-russet potatoes

-red potatoes

-fingerling potatoes

-yellow summer squash

-zucchini

-winter squash

-pumpkins

-pie pumpkins

-gourds

-ornamental corn

-apples

– Also included in each bag will be a bi-weekly bonus item

With this very late spring summer like weather the Maple Syrup season was a sort lived season. Now that the trees have budded up no more sap is running, and with no more sap running, that means no more syrup is being made… It was a great time while it lasted, and we made beautiful delicious syrup….

Lots of warm full half gallons loaded on the truck for delivery to their new homes:)

Standing over the boiling pans makes for a great maple facial with all that sweet sap evaporating!!!

We line up the sample from each batch that is pulled off the pans and then place them in the window so that they can shine in the sun… they were so light and perfect this season!

Some of the hard working crew… it takes a lot of people power to make the magic happen:)

Fresh and Hot Bottled Maple Syrup… this stuff was light amber and beautiful…. Who wants pancakes…

  Using a good skillet is key to the success of this dish….

Using a Tenderloin Steak…

With a sherry reduction the final shot, this was so delicious I could not get enough of it…