Hello Friends,
Well, we certainly have been enjoying these gorgeous Fall days here on the Farm, although today was definitely a preview of what's to come this Winter. We have been winterizing the coops, and putting the garden beds to bed for the Winter with cover crops to keep the soil covered. We hope that you are somewhere warm and cozy tonight.
We have some exciting news! We've been nominated for Best Farm/Farmstand in Somerset County. We kindly request that you take a minute and vote for us. We would really appreciate it. Here's the link:
https://shopyourcounty.com/nj/somerset/best-of/
We are so happy to be back at the Willow School Holiday Bazaar tomorrow (Saturday). It's definitely one of the best Holiday markets in our area, and we look forward to it every year. Stop by and say Hi. We will have some cool holiday gift bundles that make great Teacher or Hostess gifts.
If you've stopped by the Farm in the past few weeks, you've probably been wondering what all the earth work is about. We've been operating this season with a diesel powered generator for the irrigation of the CSA garden. Well, after a year of waiting patiently, we are very close to having "juice"! God willing, our electric utility should be installed by Christmas. We can then continue building out our infrastructure. First up, we will be installing two high tunnel greenhouses for seed starting and growing crops in the ground.
I am deeply grateful to our Lead Produce Farm Steward Katie, our Farm Operations Steward Sam, our Farm Production Steward Martha, and our entire Farm Team for the remarkable teamwork they've shown this entire growing season to ensure that ramping up to 46 CSA shares was hugely successful. In addition to delivering amazingly beautiful and delicious veggies for the past 24 weeks, we have also created 24!! Harvest Pantry products that you will be able to buy throughout the Winter to continue enjoying the bounty of the Farm.
While there are some products already available in our on-line store, there will be another 10 by the end of next week, and then another four a week or so after that, so please check our store often. There are many items that would be great additions to Holiday Charcuterie boards.
We will be creating a Pantry Playbook for suggestions about how to use each of them. A few examples of the new products are:
Mushroom Bolognese Pasta Sauce made with our own Shiitakes and veggies
Ketchup sweetened with Grape Juice instead of corn syrup
Poblano Hot Sauce
Sweet Heat Pickles
Lacto-fermented East Meets West Giardiniera
/collections/harvest-pantry
Our farm store will be closing for the season after next Thursday, November 19th. You can still continue to order throughout the Winter in our online store, and Martha will reach out to coordinate pickup at the store. We are also offering free delivery within a 15 mile radius of the farm for the Winter as well, so please consider supporting the Farm as we begin our crop planning and seed starting for the 2027 growing season. The work continues for us, even though the fields are resting.
We also offer custom curated gift baskets for the Holidays. Please contact us if you are interested. We can create them for most any budget.
Wishing you and your Family a lovely weekend. Stay warm!
May God Bless you and your family today and always. Thank you so much for your support of the work we are doing.
Sincerely,
Michele & the Maranatha Farm Team
