The hog peanut is an unassuming plant of immense importance producing a delicious small tuber.
Continue readingMarch 9, 2018 in New Plant Discoveries , News from the Farm
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November 27, 2017 in Blog
Usually I do my own thing with fresh fruit and veggies, but for the sunchokes, I was curious to know what others had attempted. As usual, I aim to keep things simple. A quick google search instantly pulled up a simple recipe and I decided to give it a try. This recipe from oliveandherb.com only had five ingredients and took a total of thirty minutes. Love the sunchokes? Tell us which variety you like the most and how you cook them.
Continue readingJuly 26, 2016 in News from the Farm , Recent Articles
When I first purchased my land, I needed a lot of seeds. Acorns were my first seed obsession. You could find me in parks, strips of land along busy roads and front yards meticulously picking acorns one by one and taste-testing them. When I asked my brother Chris and my ‘agri-buddy’ and musician Jesse to help me plant a few on my property, I purposely omitted the detail of having 400 lbs of them in my pickup truck. When we met on a cold Saturday morning in September of 1981, the frost had ...
Continue readingJuly 26, 2016 in Recent Articles
One of the draws of the wild blueberry is a flavor that can only be described as “true blue.” This certainly describes the flavor of the Dryland Blueberry, recently harvested on our farm and currently in production for fall 2017. These bushes are self-fertile and very productive, with loads of smaller-sized fruit growing in clusters. Although most blueberry plants on the market come from swampy, wet areas, this blueberry was found growing on a sand dune. After fifty years, the ...
Continue readingJuly 12, 2016 in Blog , Recent Articles
Thimbleberries are interesting to harvest. You have to have very light fingers to not smush the fruit. The proper picking motion is almost like peeling a sticker off a bowling ball. After an hour, it will seem like you hardly have any in the bucket, but the fruit is dense. I was happy to harvest almost two cups, which is enough to make something delicious….like scones! I wasn’t sure how these would turn out, mostly because of the consistency of the berry. It was obvious they ...
Continue readingJuly 11, 2016 in Blog , News from the Farm
American Chestnut Wood Bowls can be created using both diseased older trees and larger prunings from standing trees.
Continue readingJuly 8, 2016 in Blog , Recent Articles
Is there any greater joy than harvesting fresh fruit or veggies, making a delicious dish and enjoying it with friends? Last week we harvested a batch of Japanese Mulberries, Northern Red Raspberries, Wild Black Raspberries and Yellow Black Raspberries at the farm. Picking Japanese Mulberry It was a hot day, and the bees were out, but we enjoyed marveling at what was produced over the growing season. 3 types of raspberries (left), Japanese mulberries (right) We had a small harvest of about ...
Continue readingJuly 8, 2016 in Blog , New Plant Discoveries , Recent Articles , Tips for Healthy Plants
More on the people behind the plants and the origins of blight… (To read Part 1, click here). The Plum Guy The Story Behind the Plant: Ralph loved the idea of a tree crop farm. Having worked in the paper industry his whole life, he purchased 30 acres of land and began planting large amounts of heartnuts, butternuts and English walnuts, all of which he purchased from Oikos Tree Crops. He planted over 10 acres of walnuts alone. He also planted a few types of Japanese plums from ...
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