Farm Happenings for October 21, 2020

New this Week: Spinach and Red Kuri Hubbard Squash!

This Week at the Farm:

Well, we are still irrigating crops here. Seems to be a recurring theme this year. We're hoping for more rain in 2021!

Harvesting was the primary focus this week. Since heavy frost and a potential freeze threatened this weekend (Friday night), we spent a large portion of this week making sure that our cool season crops were tucked in under row cover, shade cloth, or insect netting. It was also time for final harvests of peppers and eggplants. That means we pick everything that is left regardless of size or ripeness. You'll be seeing a lot of these crops in this week's shares.

We were also racing to get the last of the sweet potatoes out before frost, which involved some late evening digging in the dark! Although digging sweet potatoes is hard work since every plant has to be dug by hand, we always get excited when we see HUGE tubers being unearthed! And, that makes it a pretty fun task. We always joke that we should teach Nahla and Zoe, our farm dogs, how to strategically dig in the right place to make our work easier. They never go for it...they are too busy chasing and digging mammal critters to be concerned about our plants.

We also continue with bulk harvests of winter squash, which are tucked away for curing for about a week or so before distributing. The week ahead includes some high tunnel clean-up and plantings, and lots of field clean-up since the warm season crops are officially wrapping up. In the meantime, we are enjoying the beautiful weather, cool temps, and beautiful fall colors.

We have just a few weeks left in our main farm share season, but we have an exciting announcement coming later this week. Stay tuned!

Value-Added Products:

We promised exciting announcements about our value-added agricultural products during these fall months, and we are VERY excited to introduce this week: Primrose Farm Garlic Dill Pickles made with our Cherry Valley Organics cucumbers! If you enjoyed our cukes earlier this summer, you will love these pickles! You can add them to your farm share order as an "Extra" starting this week.

Primrose Farm is a local, family farm located just about 10 minutes from our farm. Just like CVO, Primrose Farm is a woman-owned and operated business. Mandy Fedinetz, the farmer, does a great job at providing eggs and other products for our farm share. Her 700 heritage breed chickens are free-range and produce eggs in a rainbow of colors, as many of you know. Mandy uses only supplemental feed without growth hormones, antibiotics, or GMO grains. Humane treatment, and quality of life are key factors in her operation.

If you have any questions, please reach out to jodi@cherryvalleyorganics.com or to support@harvie.farm at any time. Thank you for being a farm share member this season!

Jodi, Emily, Annie, Allie, Meghan, Nicole, Hannah, and Vanessa

The CVO 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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