Farm Happenings for October 28, 2020

New this Week: Dried CVO Herbs and a few Sweet Potatoes!

This Week at the Farm:

Finally. Soaking rain, and more in the forecast for this week. Although it will take a while to reverse the effects of this summer's drought, we are grateful that our weather has finally turned a corner. Here comes the muddy season!

This week at the farm, we worked to get our high tunnel prepped for overwintering veggie crops, planted some more head lettuce (of course!) and completed some additional field clean-up, in addition to harvesting, packing, and delivering farm shares of course! We're also approaching full-on holiday sales mode, including an exciting announcement that I hinted at last week...

Holiday Farm Shares will be available in November and December!

In our Holiday Farm Shares, we'll be gathering veggies, cheeses, coffee, jams, and other holiday goodies from many of our farm partners. And, of course, the shares will include CVO greens, herbs, squashes, and more! We will have a limited number of shares available so you'll want to get yours before they run out. Sign-ups will open on Wednesday, October 28th! More details will be sent in a separate email when it's time to sign-up!

Value-Added Products:

This week, we reintroduce our dried culinary herb packs and jars! Allie Logue, our Herb Grower, has been hard at work drying fresh herbs throughout the season. Allie will tell you that there is no comparison between the flavor of our dried herbs (freshly grown, dried, all carefully processed by hand) and those that you buy in the grocery store, which are mass produced and likely years old. If you dry herbs from your own garden, you know what we mean!

We are so excited to bring these products back into the CVO line-up that we are offering dried Sweet Basil, Thai Basil, Parsley, and Celery Leaf as veggie swaps this week and next. So, if you need a salad-free zone this week, swap that lettuce, salad mix, arugula, or any other veggie item for dried herbs to stock your pantry for the winter.

This week, we are offering our dried herbs in biodegradable, resealable bags. Jars will be available in the coming months.

Thank you for being a farm share member this season! And, have a great week!

Allie and Vanessa (one of our Assistant Growers) bringing in the herb harvest.

If you have any questions, please reach out to jodi@cherryvalleyorganics.com or to support@harvie.farm at any time.

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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