Farm Happenings for September 24, 2019

New this Week: Collards, Japanese Long Eggplant (finally!), Sweet Peppers (a few), Delicata Squash, and Jalapeno Peppers!

Many of our winter squash were out-competed by weeds this year, but we have a great crop of delicatas, along with a few butternuts, acorns, and red kuri. We'll be adding these to the shares in the coming weeks, along with some pie pumpkins in October!

If you are not familiar with delicata squash, this great little tasty squash can be roasted just like its squash cousins, the butternuts and acorns. Delicata is typically thought to be more flavorful than acorns, making it one of our favorites!

This Past Week on Our Farm...

It still feels like summer on the farm this week with temps in the 80s. Personally, we love the cool brisk mornings though, as we watch the sunrise on the farm.

This past week, we caught up on some weeding in the beets, salad mix, and arugula and we harvested the next round of sacred (holy) basil for our herbal Tulsi tea. If you have not already, please check out our line of herbal teas in the "Extras." Most of our teas are fully stocked now, and are great iced or hot. The packaging is really special too - it is fully biodegradable and compostable!

If you would like to sample some of our teas, they are always available in our Farm Market & Cafe in Burgettstown (https://www.cherryvalleyorganics.com/farm-market-and-cafe/) or this weekend, you can sample some teas with Allie at the Covered Bridge Festival at Mingo Creek County Park (https://www.visitwashingtoncountypa.com/downloads/CBF-PDF-for-website.pdf).

We will be vendors at a festival just about every weekend through the fall season. Next weekend, we'll be at the Cecil Fall Festival (https://ceciltownship-pa.gov/index.asp?SEC=1AF9EE21-CC31-4056-A36B-663B990CEDBD&DE=319EDAAF-5544-4602-8F4D-7EEC5A08FAB2&Type=B_PR).

Hope to see you there!

And, thanks again for being a farm share member this season!

Jodi, Allie, Katie, Emily, and Annie

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.

Go to farm profile

About the farm

Archive