Farm to Chef Gettysburg

Pardon Our Blog

2010-10-21T16:39:00.016-04:00

We are re-designing and updating our blog for the 2011. Please check back in March when the project is finished. Thank you and Happy New Year.

It's Officially Tomato Season!

2010-07-27T18:54:00.001-04:00

Over the past weeks, I've been finding a few ripe tomatoes here and there. However, after my walk through this morning, I'm going to say we are officially in our tomato season. Find us at Friday's Farm Fresh Market at the Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg. It looks like we'll cool off a bit this upcoming weekend.

Garlic Lovers, REJOICE!

2010-06-30T04:59:00.003-04:00

People who love garlic are very passionate about garlic and seek out the best varieties. Well, rejoice because we just dug up this year's garlic crop and it's ready for the market. Here's what I will have at Friday's Farm Fresh Market this week.

Premium Northern White: A good strong garlic in a large clove. The heritage of this unique garlic can be directly traced to Northern Germany. Especially good for baking.
Chesnok Red: One of the best all-around cooking varieties because of its full-bodied flavor lingers and is retained after cooking. Creamy texture when baked.
Bavarian Purple: Folks who regularly include garlic as a part of their diet typically like stronger-flavored garlic. If this sounds like you, please try Bavarian Purple. SOLD OUT!
Dutch Yellow Shallots: Yellow to cream flesh gourmet shallot and a pungent flavor.

Friday's Farm Fresh Market is conveniently located at The Outlet Shoppes in Gettysburg. Hours: 9:30 - 2:00 on Friday! If I'm unable to be at the market, find our garlic with Heirloom Farm - Gary Boynton.

Pile Them High and Let'em Fly....

2010-06-24T07:56:00.004-04:00

...well not just yet. Just harvested Candy Apple onions will require 3 days drying outside and then curing in the barn for another 2-3 weeks. Curing allows the onion skins to dry out and improve the quality of storage. Candy Apple onions are one of the most beautiful red onions on the market. They are ideal for fresh eating or cooking. Good in storage for approximately two months. We do have some ready to sell at Friday's Farm Fresh Market.

Getting Ready for the Gettysburg Festival!

2010-06-13T09:09:00.004-04:00

The Gettysburg Festival is less than a week away!

As part of the Festival's Culinary Arts program, I will assist with the Culinary Food Fair on June 19th at the Gettysburg College Main Stage. (Click here for more info.)

This year we will feature an assortment of mature micro greens in flats, growing instructions and starter kits for anyone that would like to give their green thumb a try at micro greens.

From a multitude of colors, flavors and varieties, micro greens are a welcome addition to any salad or as a gourmet garnish.

The Festival brings a great array of entertainment, arts, and culinary events to our area.

Who said Red & Green were Reserved for the Holidays?

2010-06-08T21:09:00.006-04:00

These beautiful cool nights have helped us maintain an abundant salad green harvest for Friday's Farm Fresh Market. From Red Galactic, Black Seeded Simpson, Green & Red Oakleaf, Tango, Deer Tongue, Rouge D'Hiver, Cherokee and more than I can mention, your dollar will be well spent on a bag of greens to last for a week. Grown by us, pesticide and chemical free for your dining pleasure.

Stop by and see us this week at Friday's market.
We'll also have garlic scapes, spring onions, Little Gem lettuce, Red Russian kale, white radishes and a smile when you stop to shop with us on Friday.
Don't forget to check out Boyer Nursery & Orchards for their fresh harvest of cherries, Sheppard Mansion Farms for beef, breads from New Oxford Coffee Company, table topping florals from Windborne Farm Flowers and more.
Make sure you visit the Gettyburg Festival-Culinary Food Fair on June 19th! Click here for our link to link you up.

Garlic Scapes

2010-06-02T21:16:00.001-04:00

We will have a limited amount of garlic scapes at Friday's Farm Fresh Market this week. To learn more about the mild flavorful scape, click here! Add garlic scapes to your shopping list this week. Don't just buy it, but learn to cook wiith it.
Peace & Love,
See you at the Market.

Getting Lots of Fresh Greens to Market.

2010-05-21T06:53:00.006-04:00

This has been a great spring for growing salad greens and other early favorites like radishes. These pictures are from just one of our salad gardens and pretty French breakfast radishes harvested fresh for market.
We are very excited that Fridays Farm Fresh Market is open for the 2010.
Just follow the signs to the market location. Easy access and plenty of parking.

The salad greens blend for Fridays Farm Fresh Market will consist of 5 different leaf lettuce and this week only - June 4th it's on sale. Sort of an inventory reduction sale on the lettuce. We will also have fresh spinach, kale and white radishes.

Our greens are grown pesticide free and without the use of chemical fertilizers. Just good planting methods and lots of hand weeding.
Support your favorite grower this week and buy lettuce. This picture was from last week so the greens are even more plentiful.

Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale!

2010-04-19T13:51:00.004-04:00

From the "Tomato Lady" herself!

Saturday, May 8th at Saturday's Farm Fresh Market

Location: The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg.

Hours: 9:30 AM - 2:00 PM

Great plants, started from seed, hardy and ready to plant.

Supplies are limited!

Be Beautiful Eat Fresh Food

2010-03-24T19:44:00.004-04:00

Spring has officially arrived and inspite of the hard work we did today, planting onions, cultivating, tending to the greenhouses, paperwork, I did take time to enjoy picking some borage flowers that surprized me by blooming in the greenhouse after a long dormant winter. Borage is a herb that produces the most beautiful edible flowers either in white or blue and an occasional pink flower. Chef Andrew Little absolutely loves the beauty of Borage as a edible garnish.

Stay tune for more about our spring seedling sale, including Borage seedlings.

Getting Beyond Groundhog Day!

2010-02-18T09:28:00.032-05:00

Today is Thursday, February 18th and yes, we are now beyond Groundhog Day, Valentine's Day, Fat Tuesday and Marti Gras!
So enough of the party, it's time to get back to work!
The winter does allow for some much needed time off but it's also the season to get a jump start on growing plans, visiting with Chef's and off season meetings with the Adams County Farmers' Market Association.

The daily grind and commute were more of a challenge this year than in previous years. So I dusted off my snowshoes and started the trek back to the greenhouse and enjoyed a walk through the kiwi berry vineyard.
What a great year for snowshoeing! While living in Rochester, New York, I abandoned my cross country skis to opt for snowshoeing instead. It's easy, fun and you can enjoy the freedom to carve out your own trails. Hopefully we'll have a few more weeks of snow left to enjoy this sport and the fresh air that comes along with it.

From outside to inside to get a start on this year's growing season. If you are craving for the taste of our great heirloom tomatoes, we have over 500 seedlings already started. I would like to thank all of my loyal customers for your support last year and I promise to grow another great assortment of heirloom tomatoes & lots more for this market season.

We hope to kick off our season with an heirloom tomato and plant sale in early May! Over 25 varieties of tomatoes, peppers, squash, artichokes, eggplants and more. All seedlings are started with a soil less mixture of peat moss, vermiculite and perlite. We will transplant most seedlings in large peat pots so you can plant directly into the ground and not have to deal with plastic containers. Follow our blog for updates!

Enjoying some time off!

2009-12-03T13:27:00.003-05:00

It's December and I'm enjoying slowing down for a change. Well not just yet.

The winter months allow us to work in the greenhouses, prune kiwi vines, spread compost, clean up the barn and plan for the 2010 season. A good snowfall may just help slow the process or give me a great excuse to cozy up to a warm fire.

I look forward to updating you in March of 2010 with planting plans and hopefully the launch of my web site. Peace & Love to All.

Greenhouse Expansion!

2009-10-11T11:55:00.003-04:00

In early September we broke ground on a second greenhouse. This greenhouse will primarily be used for micro greens and seedlings. For our market customers this will allow us also to add more micro greens into the salad mix.
The purple micro in the foreground is Purple Radish.
Enjoy and thank you for your business.

Getting the Dirt on What is Dug.

2009-10-11T06:04:00.004-04:00

There are just a few weeks left to support your local farms at Fridays Farm Fresh Market and that means we are harvesting the last of our root crops over the next few weeks. From heirloom beets, carrots, turnips, radishes to name a few, these roots are grown without the use of pesticides or chemical fertilizers.
Weather permitting we will be at the market on Fridays through October.
Hours: 9:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. on Fridays.
The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg

Fall's New Arrival - Kiwi Berries

2009-09-20T06:39:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! Just when I started to relax in late September, the arrival of our kiwi berry harvest brings on a whole new level of excitement.
If you love the flavor of kiwi fruit, you will absolutely love kiwi berries.
About the size of a large olive, these berries are sweet, nutritious and absolutely irresistible.
Find kiwi berries and us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market while supplies last. To learn more about this new fall fruit, please visit my friend, Dave Jackson's web site http://www.kiwiberryorganics.com/. P.S. Don't eat the whole pint all at once, not only are they nutritionally loaded with all the good stuff our bodies need, they are also high in fiber. Thought you would like to know.

Our Summer Farm Tour

2009-08-27T05:44:00.009-04:00

Recently Chef Andrew Little did a summer farm tour with food writer, Rochelle Myers. Her visit gives a great view of all the work that goes into putting fresh food on the table. We had a great day and I thank Andy for the visit and Rochelle for the great article. To see the post just click here.

Thank you for supporting local farms and find us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market located at the Outlet Shoppes in Gettysburg. Hours: 9:30 - 2:00 on Fridays.

T-O-M-A-T-O! Let the harvest begin!

2009-07-17T21:17:00.012-04:00

One of the joys of the summer harvest is when the tomato harvest begins. I just love when we linger around the 200+ tomato vines and spot a ripe tomato. It's like panning for gold or just something great for dinner.

When I started my business in 2003, it was the wonderful assortment of heirloom tomatoes that got all the attention. And with every year, our selection gets more fine tuned to capture the best flavors, colors and tomatoes with character.

In spite of early blight that has hurt many tomato growers this year, most of our plants are doing great but aren't as abundant. And best yet, many of your favorite varieties such as Cherokee Purple and Snow White will be at the market but somewhat limited.

Anyway, the early bird gets the tomato. So visit us next week at Fridays Farm Fresh Market to enjoy the taste of a heirloom tomato.

Located at The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg every Friday now through October, 9:30 - 2:00!

Cheers to the "real" garlic lovers!

2009-07-13T21:45:00.005-04:00

If you love garlic you need to visit me at Fridays Farm Fresh Market now! And I do mean now before I sell out!
Just harvested for your gastronomic pleasure, are a few of the garlics I selected this year.
Ontario Purple Trillium. Absolutely beautiful I may just add it to a floral arrangement. Anyway forget that, this garlic is described to be a garlic inferno with a ferocious punch and it's now available at the market.
Next in line is Kazakhstan. Proudly named for its homeland. This garlic belongs to a group of older varieties from which commercial garlics apparently originated.
To finish off my selection is Siberian. This is a clean to medium-to-strong flavored garlic that has very high allicin content. Allicin supports normal cholesterol levels, boosts the immune system and enhances circulation. So there, in spite of all the technical stuff, visit us at the market soon before we are sold out for the 2009 season.
More news to come. Visit our blog for weekly updates or other local interests. www.chefandrewlittle.blogspot.com

Summer Harvest Kicks In!

2009-07-07T05:01:00.008-04:00

For the past two weeks, my niece Lisa was a huge help in the fields! Thank you Lisa!!!!

Visit us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market to enjoy the summer harvest. Located at The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg, every Friday 9:30 - 2:00 p.m.

The First Ingredient is the Message

2009-07-06T05:51:00.006-04:00

This past June I had the privilege of being part of the Gettysburg Festival's culinary committee and working with Alice Estrada, Joanna Gresham and former White House Chef Walter Scheib. http://www.theamericanchef.com/

As a small niche grower catering to the gourmet market, working with Chef Scheib was not only a pleasure, but a tremendous opportunity to fine tune my own skills and to learn. His hands-on involvement with the Festival's culinary programs inspired more consumers to support their local farms and growers. Much of that consumer inspiration was from Chef Scheib eloquently promoting that great food originates by using fresh ingredients. And one of the best ways to get the freshest of ingredients is to purchase directly from a grower at your local farmers' market.

The culinary venues of the Gettysburg Festival were fantastic and showcased some of our area's best farms on the menu. A few of my personal favorites being Rettland Farm, Sheppard Mansion Farms, Brown Valley Berry Farm and Chef Andrew Little for bringing it all together on his menu. So whether adding berries on your breakfast cereal, a garden salad for lunch or pork chops for dinner, including local ingredients with every meal, is a great habit to get into. Get the message!

Big Flavor from a Tiny Green

2009-06-22T05:21:00.010-04:00

Thanks to everyone for stopping by and visiting us at the Culinary Country Fair during the Gettysburg Festival. Great local growers and producers with a wealth of food information to share. I had a chance to visit with Apple Valley Creamery and this weekend I will attempt to make my own homemade butter in less than 10 minutes! Cool stuff and I have control over the ingredients!

Now back to the micro greens. In many of my blog posts I do refer to micro greens. Micro greens are basically greens grown in flats and cut at a stage similar to this picture or when the top growth is about 1/2" in diameter. What makes these tiny greens so special is the punch of flavor they add to a salad or garnishing an entree. Many gourmet chefs use micro greens, not in any huge volume, but to do exactly what micro greens do best, enhance presentation and flavor.
If you would like to learn more about these fast growing, tasting additions to your home dining, please let me know. I have starter kits available with six of my favorite micro seeds, starting mix and instructions.
Email: farmtochef@gmail.com or find us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market in Gettysburg.
http://www.acfarmersmarkets.org/

Growing the Good Stuff

2009-06-17T05:10:00.011-04:00

This pretty tomato salad is one of the many seasonal creations by Chef Andrew Little from the Sheppard Mansion. I do say seasonal since Chef Little embodies each and every growing season on his menu. And with every season, I grow to meet Chef Little's culinary specifications. Therefore, I may harvest red thumb fingerlings early to have freshly dug baby spuds, cut micro greens the day of delivery to maximize the shelf life and tender salad greens get their first cut at 3-4 inches so they are tender.
So whether you are dining in or dining out, enjoy the true flavors of each season either at home or at restaurants that support local farms.
Check out these links for great upcoming events with the Gettysburg Festival.
www.http://www.gettysburgfestival.org/program/genre_culinary.asp
http://www.gettysburgfestival.org/program/event_detail.asp?event_id=680
http://www.chefandrewlittle.blogspot.com/

2009 Gettysburg Slug Fest

2009-06-15T06:07:00.006-04:00

Rain, rain & more rain.

For many of my market customers that love those freshly harvested salad greens, you will start to notice more holes in the leaves. The endless rain we've had over the past weeks has created an explosion of slugs. It kind of reminds me of the 150 lb. person that can consume 40 hotdogs for the local prize of consumption! I'm an outrageous consumer. Anyway, slugs are abundant and so are the holes. So in spite of the slightly imperfect leaves, close your eyes and enjoy the greens.

Thanks for supporting local farms and Fridays Farm Fresh Market. http://www.acfarmersmarkets.org/

Healthy Soil=Healthy Harvest

2009-06-14T08:04:00.005-04:00

To fertilize or not to fertilize. The key is to build great soil.

The awareness of many consumers purchasing direct from a grower is whether or not they use synthetic fertilizers.

My methods are pretty basic. Build your soil with well composted manure and if needed, supplement with an organic material, such as fish emulsion, bone meal, leaves, wood ashes, greensand, rock phosphate, etc. Whether your soil needs more nitrogen, phosphorus or potassium there is an organic source available to balance the needs. However, cattle manure usually has equal parts of all 3.

Our annual supply of manure is delivered in November from a large dairy farm that also converts manure into electricity. When the manure is delivered it is already well composted almost to the consistency of peat moss. We let it sit for the winter and add it to the soil in the spring. In addition, as our tomatoes and other plantings grow, I use the compost as a mulch. The mulch then supplies an extra boost of nutrients during the growing season.

Enjoy freshly harvested produce this market season and thank you for supporting local farms! Find us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market. Fridays 9:30-2:00 The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg or email: farmtochef@gmail.com

2009-05-29T20:31:00.003-04:00

It's Strawberry time. Many of you already know that besides what I personally grow, I seek out great growers with great products to promote with our chef's and sell at market. Well Tim & Marcia Brown's strawberries have arrived and that's all I need to say.
Pick up a quart of this spring tradition with us at Fridays Farm Fresh Market or the Gettysburg Farmers' Market over the next few weeks.
Have a sweet tooth. Recently I made a quick rhubarb sauce added strawberries and to our delight I served it over vanilla ice cream with chocolate chunks. The blend of flavors was great and we've been enjoying this for the past week.
2 cups of cubed rhubarb, cooked on the stove top with about 3/4 cup of sugar. Add 2 tbsp. of water just to get it started. Let it simmer for about 25 minutes and add 1 cup of sliced strawberries. Cook for 5 minutes, cool and serve over ice cream. What you don't use, put in the fridge for the next day.
We've been loving it.

2009-05-23T04:52:00.004-04:00

Hi Everyone!
A new look and a new market year! I am very excited that this Friday, May 29th Fridays Farm Fresh Market will be open. Same convenient location: The Outlet Shoppes at Gettysburg.
Hours: 9:30 - 2:00
So if you want to avoid the rush on Saturdays, please visit us on Fridays.
Lots of great, producer only farms at this market.
I will have an abundance of salad greens with an added touch of micro & Asian greens and the flavor is great!!
See you this Friday and thanks for supporting local growers. Kathy

.

2009-05-19T02:20:00.006-04:00

Rhubarb: This perennial herb is making a come back!

A recipe for Rhubarb Torte from my old Bakerville, Wisconsin church cookbook.

CRUST: 2 cups flour, 1 cup butter, 10 tbsp. powdered sugar. Mix like a pie crust and bake in 9x13 cake pan until light brown. 350º oven & then let cool.
FILLING: 5 cups rhubarb, cut into small pieces, 1/3 cup flour & 2 cups sugar. Mix to coat rhubarb and then….
ADD: 6 beaten egg yolks, 1 cup of milk. Add this to rhubarb mixture and cook until thick. Cool. Put on top of crust.
TOP WITH: 6 egg whites & 1/2 cup sugar and beat until stiff. Spread on top of dessert and bake at 350º until the egg topping is golden brown. Enjoy!

Per a customer request today at the farmers' market, here's another recipe from my Mother's Rhubarb Upside Down Cake. Preheat oven at 350 degrees.
Mix together: 1 Yellow Cake Mix, 1 cup water, 1/4 c. oil, 2 eggs. To save washing a dish you can mix this right in a cake pan.
Next: Mix together; 5 cups diced Rhubarb, 1 3/4 cups sugar; 1-3 oz. box of Strawberry jello.
Spread the rhubarb mixture on top of the cake dough.
Bake for 40 minutes. Cool slightly to serve. Cut and turn upside down on plant, top with whip cream or ice cream.

Now we see that this recipe has some short cuts, but my Mother cooked for a family of 8 so using a cake mix was considered her version of a "short cut".

Market Updates

2009-04-25T05:34:00.002-04:00

Hi Everyone,
Welcome to Farm to Chef Gettysburg's Blog. We will frequently update our Blog with what is available at Fridays market (opening May 29th) and this Blog will compliment our soon to be released web site.
Fridays Farm Fresh Market will open May 29th and the hours have changed slightly. The market will open at 9:30 am and closed at 2:00 pm.
Planting Update:
Normally we welcome all this rain, however it has really slowed down my planting, as the field is saturated. Hopefully things will dry out soon so we can resume our planting schedule.
In the meantime, enjoy a visit to this web site: http://www.thepeoplewhofeedus.com/ and check out Little's Big Idea post. Great feature of Chef Andrew Little of the
Sheppard Mansion http://www.chefandrewlittle.blogspot.com/
and a cool web site. Yes, I'm proud to say that I am the "Tomato Lady"! More to come.