Farm Happenings for October 5, 2022

We are grateful once again that we got some needed rain and did not experience any high winds, flooding, or extended power outage as the remnants of the storm Ian rolled through our area.

We're harvesting fall crops in their glory right now, getting in the last couple weeks of the summer crops, planting winter crops, and diving into class time and field trip time with our crew members that are participating in our educational program.

For our every-other-week members who didn't get to see this last week:

We loved chatting with everyone who attended our Farm Share Member Social and Farm Tour! We loved having you here, sharing delicious food, sipping sparkling water, and looking at plants and soil while talking biology and weed management and variety selection.

Cooking suggestions/Recipes from our table on Saturday:

-> Make Baba Ghanoush! But don't ask our daughter for a recipe...she doesn't use one. Roast the Eggplant (any variety). Blend in food processor with tahini, olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, salt...See this recipe here for guidance such as measurements! :)

-> Make Pesto out of anything green! Sylvie used a combination of Kale, Chard, and Basil for the pesto she made for us on Saturday. Same formula as above but using greens instead of Eggplant, plus sunflower seeds and Romano cheese. Switch things up as your fridge and taste buds guide you! This Kale-Basil Pesto recipe is similar.

-> Stuff and bake those little non-spicy jalapenos! So seriously good.
-> Cook down our onions or scallions plus eggplants and tomatoes. After they are all soft, blend with stick blender to make a delicious red sauce that your children don't know includes eggplant.
-> Layer sweet peppers, tomatoes, onions, and cheese on slices of our bread and press into grilled/panini sandwiches. Delicious!
-> Dry and powder our Rainbow Chard and use later in smoothies, soups, baked goods, etc.

If you've received this email, you have a share scheduled to pick up in two days. (Sudden need to be out of town? No problem -- log in and click on "Reschedule or Hold this Share" BEFORE 6am the day before pick up.)

For Pick Up:

- Please remember to bring your own bags each week.

- At Self Serve locations: Our vegetables are in green plastic boxes at the pick up location, labelled with members' names. Find the box with your name on it. - Empty the vegetables into your bag and leave the empty, green box for us to collect.

- Loaves of bread, for those who have ordered one, will be near the green boxes, labeled with your name. Pick up your loaf if you are due one. (Some people have purchased a Bread Share for a loaf each week of the season. Some people order a loaf when they please.)
- Same for cooler(s) at pick up locations with any cold items that aren't vegetables (fermented vegetables, etc...)

- At Staffed locations: One of us will be there to quickly gather your items for you to bag up and bring home.
- Preparation ideas and recipe suggestions are below your share contents in this email. Also check out our Pinterest Page for lots of recipe ideas, organized by vegetable.

Thank you, once again, for being part of our Farm Share! Our farm wouldn't exist without you, and we're so happy to nourish you with what we grow (and bake).

With huge gratitude ~
Janet, Dan, and the whole Broadfork crew (Julie, Mia, Natalie, Sophie, Magda, S., Zach, and the farm kids)

Want to follow along during the week, including Farm Stand updates? Visit us on Facebook or Instagram

Owned and operated by Janet Aardema and Dan Gagnon, Broadfork is a small family farm in Chesterfield, VA providing the metro-Richmond area with Certified Naturally Grown vegetables, herbs, and flowers.
We use traditional European methods of biointensive, raised bed production while maximizing soil and plant health for nutrition and sustainability. No synthetic/chemical fertilizer, pesticide, herbicide, or fungicide is ever used in any part of the process of growing your food. Everything we sell is grown by us, and we farm full-time, supporting ourselves and our four children through our farm business.

Growing practices at Broadfork utilize only ecological methods: compost, cover crops, organic fertilizer, and minerals are used to feed the soil that feeds our plants. Raised beds are used to prevent soil-compaction, allowing for happier plant roots. We use organic potting soil and fertilizer, as well as amendments like fish emulsion and sea minerals. No chemical fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, or pesticides are ever used on your food and we are Certified Naturally Grown (which follows the same national standards used for Organic Certification). We are also proud members of the Virginia Association for Biological Farming and Slow Food RVA. Janet and Dan both hold Bachelor’s Degrees in Biology from Davidson and Lafayette Colleges, respectively. Janet holds a Master’s Degree in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. We both thrive on putting our biology backgrounds to use in a farm setting and share a passion for farm education.

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