Notes from Farmer Dave
Welcome everyone, both new and returning members. It is exciting to be starting another harvest season here at Sisters Hill Farm. Its hard to believe that more than 9 years ago, I sat at a table with several enthusiastic Sisters of Charity, including Sister Mary Ann our director, as they explained to me the vision that they had for this land that I now know so intimately. After listening intently to their concerns, I let them know, in no uncertain terms, that I was the right man for the job. It was a match made in heaven!
I grew up on the other side of the river, in Orange County. But the town of Stanfordville and this community of people have really grown on me. This is now my home. My wife Margaret and I are not the most outgoing people in the world. Were it not for the farm, I’m sure our lives would not be nearly as rich as they are today. There is a certain spirit about this place, a sense of community I don’t feel anywhere else. It is good to be jumpstarting that community once again…
A couple of quick notes that might be useful... If you are new to the farm, you may be surprised by the profusion of greens, both familiar and unknown; you will be getting in the next few weeks. Our aim is to provide as much variety in each season as we can. When the farm first starts up the earliest things to mature are greens, so naturally that is what your early shares will consist of. Most weeks you will get two heads of lettuce or more. My advice to you would be to get a salad spinner if you don’t already have one. When you get home rip the heads up, wash them and spin them dry. In our house we just leave them in the spinner and put it in the fridge. As for other greens, don’t be afraid to experiment. Arugula is more or less spicy depending on how hot the weather has been. If it’s relatively mild, I eat it alone as a salad green. If its heat is off the charts, I mix it with lettuce or put it on sandwiches.
Pretty soon we will be giving turnips and beets. The tops of both of these are excellent eating. Unlike the usual purple top kind, the turnips we grow are so sweet and crunchy they can be thinly sliced and put on sandwiches. Swiss chard is another excellent spring green we grow. By the way, the colorful stems of swiss chard are meant to be eaten, not discarded. When cooking, just throw the coarsely chopped stems in the hot pan a couple of minutes before you throw in the leaves.
In the next couple of weeks we will be giving you bok choi as well. This is not a very familiar vegetable to many. I am no connoisseur, but I love to just chop it coarsely and cook it quickly over high heat with a little garlic and oil. Then just before I take it out of the pan I add some tamari. It is a great vegetable side dish with almost any meal.
I am getting hungry just writing about it… I’ll end with a quick note on washing your produce. Even though we don’t spray any pesticides what so ever, you still should wash your vegetables before you eat them. Healthy food is produced by healthy soil. We do many things to promote healthy earthworm and microbial life in the soil. We use cover crops extensively, but we also use organically certified fertilizers, well composted horse manure, wood ash, mulch hay, rock powders and our own composted veggie scraps. We sometimes wash the vegetables to keep our valuable farm dirt where it belongs, here on the farm. We also wash them to make a more beautiful and user friendly share for you. But you should always assume that we didn’t wash it; in fact, most of the time we don’t wash greens. They simply keep better for you if we don’t ever get them wet. The same is true of potatoes.
I hope you all have a wonderful season here at Sisters Hill Farm! Its my pleasure to be your farmer.
From the Apprentice Perspective
Hello there! My name is Melissa Rosenberg, and I am currently interning here at Sisters Hill Farm. With one month behind me and six more to go, time seems to be flying! It seems like yesterday that I was arriving at the farm in 35 degree weather, looking out at the bare fields wondering how in the world it would all turn into a half a year’s supply of wholesome vegetables for 200+ families. That wonder and uncertainty is quickly becoming an awe-inspiring reality. We have already put many crops in the ground, many of which have been nurtured first in our greenhouse. Lettuce, carrots, peas, onions, potatoes…the list goes on, and it seems like new crops are being thrown in every day. Lots of other work has been going on as well, including tuning up all of our equipment, cleaning out the barns, setting up irrigation systems, and any other nitty-gritty detail work that you might think would need to be done – we’ve been doing it all!
Let me back up for a moment to give you a little information about myself. After being raised in Port Washington, NY (on Long Island), I attended New York University for four years, living in SoHo and the East Village during that time. Beginning my studies in elementary education, I quickly switched my focus after falling in love with geology and environmental ethics. By my senior year, my required colloquial thesis was devoted entirely to the study of past environmental thought from Plato to Rachel Carson, and how these influences could be applied to today’s challenging environmental problems on a broad scale.
Well, as the saying goes, think global and act local. After wandering the planet for a couple of years after my graduation, from Alaska to Asia, and working various sorts of outdoor recreation/environmental research jobs, I decided it was time to get back to my home state. For several years, I had had the idea of organic farming always on the back burner of my mind. I had studied the benefits of community supported agriculture in college and had pictured working for one to be an amazing, rewarding adventure full of good, honest, and hard work. So after dreaming of farming and advocating the benefits of organically produced food, I decided it was time to throw myself into doing what I so whole-heartedly believe in.
But where to start? I come from a culture that would usually rather pay more for the newest IPod than for good, wholesome food. As a child, I was never told where my food came from or how it grew; it was just there in the aisles, at our convenience, anytime we wanted it. Enter Sisters Hill Farm. I was delighted to discover the farming apprentice system in the Hudson Valley, and Sisters Hill was just what I was looking for. It took a little convincing for my digitized/supermarket/Wall Street-style family to accept that this would be a worthwhile venture, but I think all that will change once I bring home some of our first harvest. I know this farm has already made a positive change in me, and that I will be reaping more than just good veggies this year.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to meeting you all and to a great season here at Sisters Hill Farm!
Let me back up for a moment to give you a little information about myself. After being raised in Port Washington, NY (on Long Island), I attended New York University for four years, living in SoHo and the East Village during that time. Beginning my studies in elementary education, I quickly switched my focus after falling in love with geology and environmental ethics. By my senior year, my required colloquial thesis was devoted entirely to the study of past environmental thought from Plato to Rachel Carson, and how these influences could be applied to today’s challenging environmental problems on a broad scale.
Well, as the saying goes, think global and act local. After wandering the planet for a couple of years after my graduation, from Alaska to Asia, and working various sorts of outdoor recreation/environmental research jobs, I decided it was time to get back to my home state. For several years, I had had the idea of organic farming always on the back burner of my mind. I had studied the benefits of community supported agriculture in college and had pictured working for one to be an amazing, rewarding adventure full of good, honest, and hard work. So after dreaming of farming and advocating the benefits of organically produced food, I decided it was time to throw myself into doing what I so whole-heartedly believe in.
But where to start? I come from a culture that would usually rather pay more for the newest IPod than for good, wholesome food. As a child, I was never told where my food came from or how it grew; it was just there in the aisles, at our convenience, anytime we wanted it. Enter Sisters Hill Farm. I was delighted to discover the farming apprentice system in the Hudson Valley, and Sisters Hill was just what I was looking for. It took a little convincing for my digitized/supermarket/Wall Street-style family to accept that this would be a worthwhile venture, but I think all that will change once I bring home some of our first harvest. I know this farm has already made a positive change in me, and that I will be reaping more than just good veggies this year.
Thanks for reading, and I look forward to meeting you all and to a great season here at Sisters Hill Farm!
From the Directors Desk
Welcome to all as we begin another season at Sisters Hill Farm. I look forward to meeting our new shareholders and to welcoming back familiar faces.We are grateful to you for joining us to make our mission a reality- “ growing healthy food which nourishes our bodies, spirits, communities and the earth” as an expression of our reverence for creation.
In this time of food “ insecurity “ you can be secure in receiving fresh, wholesome, organic food thanks to the hard work of our wonderful farmer Dave and our two apprentices Melissa and Andrew.
May Sisters Hill Farm be for you a place of peace, healing and connectedness with all that is. It is a gift to all of us.
Enjoy!
Recipe Corner
This week by Gail Haas
Here is a recipe from Mississippi; I hope you enjoy it!
GRITS AND GREENS
6 oz. sausage
1 cup chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teas. Salt 1/4 teas pepper
4 oz spinach or asian greens
2 cups low fat milk 1-14 oz can chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked quick cook grits
1 tbs. butter
Heat a large skillet over med. Heat and add the sausage. Brown
(about 4 mins) stirring, add bell pepper, onion and salt. Sauté
3 minutes until tender. Add greens and cook 1 min. remove pan from heat.
Combine milk and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Slowly add the grits, stirring constantly, cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until it thickens and grits are tender. Stir frequently. Remove from heat and add the sausage mixture and butter. Serve and enjoy!
GRITS AND GREENS
6 oz. sausage
1 cup chopped red bell pepper, 1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 teas. Salt 1/4 teas pepper
4 oz spinach or asian greens
2 cups low fat milk 1-14 oz can chicken broth
1 1/4 cups uncooked quick cook grits
1 tbs. butter
Heat a large skillet over med. Heat and add the sausage. Brown
(about 4 mins) stirring, add bell pepper, onion and salt. Sauté
3 minutes until tender. Add greens and cook 1 min. remove pan from heat.
Combine milk and broth in a large saucepan and bring to a boil. Slowly add the grits, stirring constantly, cover, reduce heat and simmer 5 minutes until it thickens and grits are tender. Stir frequently. Remove from heat and add the sausage mixture and butter. Serve and enjoy!
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