Farm Happenings for October 1, 2019

New this Week: Hakurei Salad Turnips, Broccoli Raab and Pac Choi! Also, we'll have Clarion River Organics Butternut Squash.

This week, we highlight again Primrose Farm, one of our farm partners. Owner, Mandy Fedinetz, aka "the chicken lady" is the one that raises all those wonderful chickens producing farm fresh eggs in your shares each week. Mandy also produces value-added agricultural products like dilly beans and pickles, and we'll be adding them into the "Extras" this week for you to add to your deliveries.

This Past Week on Our Farm...

Well, maybe one of these days it will start to feel like fall! (Here I am, complaining about the weather again.) In all seriousness though, the farm is in a state of drought. It's been about 5 weeks since we have had any significant rainfall, and it's been unseasonably warm. We need rain desperately.

This past week, it was more of the same...harvesting, harvesting, harvesting! We know frost is imminent, but we do hope freezing temps hold off a while longer while we get the remainder of the warm season crops out of the fields.

Here at CVO, we just love trying new crops. This fall, we tried for the first time, Hakurei Salad Turnips. These crisp little turnips are sweet and fruity, unlike what you would typically expect from a turnip. When we pulled the first batch to check them for harvest this coming week, we just couldn't stop eating them! Emily, our Cafe Supervisor, said "I could eat these all day long, like an apple." Just watch out, whoever in your household picks up your share may just eat them in the car on the way home.

Thanks again for being a farm share member this season, and have a great week!

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.

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