Farm Happenings for July 23 & 24, 2019

New this Week: Heirloom Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Cucumbers, Lisianthus & Zinnia Bouquets, & Clarion River Organics Green Beans!

Small-scale, organic agriculture is sometimes a difficult reality. We cannot always grow every crop that we would like efficiently and at a profit, due to lack of space or the right equipment. One of those crops is green beans. Most large scale farms harvest beans with a mechanical bean picker. Since we do not have a mechanical bean picker, we have partnered with Clarion River Organics (CRO) to offer USDA certified organic snap beans as part of our farm share this season. We hope to be able to offer a few other CRO crops as well as the season progresses!

Clarion River Organics is a cooperative of 16 farms, mostly Amish, farming organically with horse power along the Clarion River, north of Pittsburgh. For more information about CRO, check out their website:

https://www.clarionriverorganics.com/

Also, look for some of Clarion River Organics' jarred specialty products in our Extras section this week!

This Past Week on Our Farm...

So hot again this week on the farm! We have to rearrange the schedule a bit to take the best care of ourselves when it is this dangerously hot. We typically harvest all morning, starting at 7 am, until about 1 pm, and then we spend the hottest part of the day in the packing shed washing and packaging the produce items for your shares. Unfortunately, the packing shed is not air conditioned, but as long as we have fans blowing on us, it's not too bad. On our field work days, Wednesday and Friday, we try to get the work done before the hottest part of the day or hope for overcast! Last Wednesday, we worked all day in the rain, but we'll take it instead of intense heat and sun!

Last week, we also began our garlic harvest in earnest and we'll be pulling and drying onions this week as well. We're very happy to see the cucumbers (finally - they have been a little pokey this year) and tomatoes starting!

There are lots of tomatoes to come...

Have a great week ahead everyone!

Jodi, Allie, Jessie, Katie, and Kitty

The CVO Growing Team

Cherry Valley Organics began in 2001 as a USDA certified organic farm, producing a high diversity of agricultural products, including vegetables, herbs, cut flowers, and potted plants. Since those early years, we have grown into an organic lifestyle company, producing a wide diversity of products that support a clean, organic lifestyle, including our herbal teas and herbal body care products, all of which are grown or hand-made at our farm.

At Cherry Valley Organics, we believe in…

*Living the healthiest life possible (full of organics!)
*Fair, livable wages for our team members
*USDA certified organic growing and production practices
*Minimizing our carbon footprint and ecological impact
*Supporting our local community

Cherry Valley Organics is a collaboration. Unlike traditional family farms, we come from diverse geographical, family, and professional backgrounds. We are growers, scientists, food & health enthusiasts, teachers, caretakers, chefs, and nutritionists. We are all farmers. And, all of us here at Cherry Valley Organics are committed to growing and producing high quality certified organic products for our community. We would never compromise on organics. Ever.

Cherry Valley Organics, founded by Jodi Danyo, began as a one-third-acre “urban farm” in the Pittsburgh suburb of Crafton, Cherry Valley Organics now encompasses approximately 36 acres in nearby Cherry Valley, Washington County, PA. Despite this expansion, the footprint of the operation is still quite small with farming operations encompassing less than 8 acres. The farm was built, quite literally, from the ground up!

Our Farm Share Growers, Emily Kramer, Vanessa Davis, Lindsay Henry, Alexis Williams, and Alliy Gundlach, love producing high quality organic products for our local Pittsburgh communities. You can find our products at the Sewickley Farmer’s Market on Saturdays (April through November), and also at local florists and specialty shops. In 2018, we opened a Farm Market & Cafe along the Panhandle Trail in Burgettstown, PA.

What makes our Farm Share unique?

*We wash the produce. Thoroughly. You are unlikely to get any mud in your CVO Farm Share bag. We still recommend that you wash our veggies, but many items will be ready to eat (and may make for excellent snacking in the car on the way home from the pick-up location).

*High diversity of veggie crops. We grow over 150 varieties of vegetables and herbs per season, on average.

*Specialty crops, like microgreens. It's a bit unusual to see this high value crop in farm share programs. They are a bit tricky to grow, but wow do they pack a nutritional punch! Despite their small size, they are the most nutritious veggie in the share!

*We believe in minimizing our environmental impact, and we use biodegradable and compostable packaging wherever possible. And we have a variety of new packaging products in the works for 2021.

*Specialty cut flowers are a niche crop for us. We grow many of the hard-to-grow flower varieties like Ranunculus, Bells of Ireland, Delphinium, and more. Many more. Nearly 300 varieties! Our flowers are not your run of the mill market flowers. Our bouquets are carefully crafted, and absolutely gorgeous!

*We have extensive partnerships with other local businesses and farms, including Primrose Farm (pasture-raised eggs), Paul Family Farms (maple syrup), Tait Farm (jams, butters, shrubs), Weatherbury Farm (flours, milled products), Big Bob's Honey (honey), Clarion River Organics (potatoes, sweet potatoes, melons, winter squash), Woolf Family Farms (blueberries, apples, peaches), Cherish Creamery (cheese), Emerald Valley Artisans (cheese), Steel Cup Coffee Roasters (organic, fair-trade coffee), Conover Family Farm (pickles, hot sauce) and more! A selection of these items is available on a weekly basis and can be added onto your Veggie Farm Share in any quantity you choose. We believe in the value of small business and keeping dollars in our Pittsburgh neighborhoods.

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