Price of Applesauce

Price of Applesauce

Next Wednesday, December 13, the price of applesauce will be going up from $7 to $8.

Applesauce is a popular product, a staple in our apple enterprise. One way we let no apple go to waste on the farm! It also takes a lot of time, our most limited resource on the farm.

For the first time since we started making it we have costed it out to include our labor that we put in; what it would cost to pay someone else to do it. We have to honor our time and efforts.

This is something many small farmers (and small business owners) are guilting of doing, not paying themselves for their time. It kicks us in the butt.

Moving into our 13 season of farming in 2024 we are being more conscious about honoring our work so we can better thrive. So we can continue to serve our community the way we want to. May we all be as robust and resilient as we can be.

December Farm Store Updates

 December Farm Store Updates

The farm store is open all year long and farm fresh goodness is abundant!

Open Tuesday-Friday 9-7 & Saturday 9-2, or by appointment.

What's New or Returning

Golden Milk Mix - a warming turmeric tea blend, made like cocoa, that boasts anti-inflammatory properties and digestive benefits. Restocking this week!

Sore Throat Spray - healing and soothing herbal spray, give the immune system a little boost and help sooth a sore throat. Restocking this week!

Various gift packs!

Salad greens!! - delicious blends of tender mustard greens. Now in regular rotation.

Watch for Winter Wellness CSA Sampler shares!

Great Items for Gifting

Gift packs, Calendula Lotion Bars, Jams, Apple Butter.

Microgreens and jam make a great host gifts!

On the Shelf

Eggs - Very limited ATM.
Microgreens 2oz/4oz  As available: Zesty Mix!, Mizuna (mild), Radish and Arugula

Pea Shoots 2oz/4oz

Sourdough bread   limited!

Applesauce

Apple butter

Apricot Jam - last call!

Elderberry Syrup Kits

Herbal Tinctures: Astragalus, Motherwort, Ashwaganda, Stinging Nettles, Holy Basil, Willow Bark

Sore Throat Spray

Healing Salve gone til next summer!

Golden Milk Mix

Watch For:  new jelly, more herbal wellness items!

Watch For:  our new girl Strawberry!! A gentle giant who joined the farm crew.

November Farm Store Updates

November Farm Store Updates

The farm store is open all year long and farm fresh goodness is abundant!

Open Tuesday-Friday 9-7 & Saturday 9-2, or by appointment.

What's New or Returning

Golden Milk Mix - a warming turmeric tea blend, made like cocoa, that boasts anti-inflammatory properties and digestive benefits.

Sore Throat Spray - healing and soothing herbal spray, give the immune system a little boost and help sooth a sore throat.

Applesauce - back in stock after a little hiatus!

Watch for Winter Wellness CSA Sampler shares!

Great Items for Gifting

Healing Salve, Calendula Lotion Bars, Jams, Apple Butter.

Microgreens and jam make a great host gifts!

On the Shelf

Eggs
Microgreens 2oz/4oz  As available: Zesty Mix!, Mizuna (mild), Radish and Arugula

Pea Shoots 2oz/4oz

Sourdough bread   limited!

Applesauce

Apple butter

Apricot Jam

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam   last call!

Elderberry Syrup Kits

Herbal Tinctures: Astragalus, Motherwort, Ashwaganda, Stinging Nettles, Holy Basil, Willow Bark

Sore Throat Spray

Healing Salve

Golden Milk Mix

Watch For:  new jams, more herbal wellness, salad mix!

Winter Wellness CSA

 ***Winter Wellness CSA Shares are limited! If interested contact me directly to be put on a wait list. We only offer 10 shares each season. One off Samplers Shares are sometimes offered during the winter as well. Organic greens and other farm goods are available 5 days per week at our farm store and at the Winter Mankato Farmers Market, held the 1st and 3rd Saturdays Nov.-March at Bomgaars from 9-Noon.

Winter Wellness CSA 2023

I’ve just marked another trip around the sun, feels like a good time to mark another start to our Winter CSA!

This year the CSA is going to change up a little bit!

Winter Greens CSA is evolving into our Winter Wellness CSA. As always, the highlight is our winter greens! Pea shoots, microgreens and salad mix will be accompanied by canned goods and herbal wellness items. This season the apple harvest was not abundant, so unfortunately, I don’t think we’ll be able to add apple bags, as we do most years.

What's in the Shares? 

Winter Greens Feature – organic pea shoots, zesty microgreens, mustard greens salad mix.

Canned Goods Feature – applesauce, apple butter, jam/jelly, pizza sauce, salsa – with 1-2 items in each share pick up.

Herbal Wellness Items Feature – salves, lotion bar, elderberry syrup kit and more – holistic wellness comes from more than just food.

 

When are the Shares?

Winter Wellness CSA will have 7 pick-ups November—March. We like to start the week before Thanksgiving. Pick ups will look like à Nov(1), Dec(2), Jan(1), Feb(2), Mar(1), by my best estimate. Greens are picked up at the farm store, or the Mankato Winter Farmers Market (ONLY if dates line up). Shares are roughly every several weeks, dependent on the growth of greens. I am better at anticipating this now, but every once and a while I may have to push back a week if growth is slow (clouds and cold and such). Some flexibility must be honored to be a share member.

 

Cost is $240. $140 due up front for reservation, with remaining $100 due by first pick up.

 

Eggs – This year I’m not reserving ahead (it’s all based on the current batch of chickens), but I will take reservations the week of share pick up, as available. Eggs are $6/dozen.

 

How to get a share?

Shares each year are first offered to returning members. If spaces open up then they are offered to folks on the wait list. If any shares need further filling I'll post on social media (rarely happens!). 

 

Thank you!!

 

Brooke 

A Dozen Wonderful Ways to Use Your Apple Butter

Alternative Roots Farm apple butter is made with love, local and organic ingredients. We use only our organic apples, organic spices and it is now made with local honey from Moody Bees Farm. But what should you do with it besides putting it on toast?!

1. Top your oatmeal or pancakes! This is a great way to add some clean-eating sweetness to your breakfast routine.

2. Add it into baked goods. This is a great way to add some subtle apple pie flavor and make a great moist, delicious baked good. Think muffins, pancakes, bread and more!

3. Freeze into ice cubes. Toss the frozen ice cubes into your smoothie for a delicious apple pie flavor! Try it with bananas, almond milk and vanilla protein powder. This is also a great tip for using up apple butter that you aren't going to use up.

4. Spread on sweet potatoes. Dip sweet potato fries! Again, a great clean-eating option.

5. Yogurt topping. Drop a blob of apple butter in your yogurt, maybe add a squirt of Moody Bees Honey and enjoy a bowl of delicious yogurt of breakfast, a snack or healthy dessert! You can always add another dash of cinnamon or cardamom to add flavor and health benefits.

6. Muffin spread. Choose apple butter, instead of regular butter, for your next muffin indulgence. In summer it’s a great way to add flavor to those zucchini muffins. ;)

7. Add to your pork! Drop a dollop on your pork chop or loin.

8. PB & AB. Make a simple sandwich with apple and peanut butter - a double-butter sandwich. I think the kids will like this one!

9. Cottage cheese swirl. Drop a dollop in and swirl it into your cottage cheese.

10. Just eat it. Grab a spoonful of apple butter and enjoy the apple pie flavor. No guilt, just pure joy.

11. Add to roasted nuts. Drizzle over nuts that have been warmed in the oven and enjoy.

12. Top that ice cream! Add some natural goodness to your bowl of ice cream. Feel free to warm it up.

BBQ Bonus tip from a customer! Put a jar of apple butter, a jar of BBQ sauce and an ARF pork roast in the slow cooker, HEAVEN!!!

Made with Organic apples, local honey and organic spices. Apple butter is a clean eating treat!

September Farm Store Update

 

That's right, it's apple season once again and we are up to no good...

Farm fresh this week is fresh, raw apple cider.

We press fresh cider 3-4 times during apple season and it's available until it runs out. So, grab it while it's on the shelf and watch for updates. Use or freeze within 2 weeks of the pressing date.

Apple Updates

It's a less than bountiful apple season. After our early Pristine and Zestar! apples hitting the farm store shelf we haven't been able to stock apples for a couple weeks. We'll be doing our best here this week to bring apples back onto the farm store shelf - watch the socials for updates. The bulk of our apples harvested have gone into our Apple Shares, who make an up front investment in the season. 

We had a bountiful season last year, for which we are grateful, so we see some reduced crop on some more biennial bearers, but we also have had a hard year with pests. Bear with us! Grab apples and cider when you can and know that your support makes a difference to small business owners like ourselves. 

On the Farm Store Shelves

Garlic

Eggs

Raw apple cider

Apples - as available

Applesauce

Jams/Jellies - Apricot NEW, Elderberry Jelly LIMITED, Strawberry Rhubarb, Apple Butter

Elderberry Syrup Kits

Herbal Tincture

Salves - Bug Bite, Healing

Calendula Lotion Bar

More Farm Store Details

Fruits Update!

Plums - Crop came in really nice! Decent crop. There will be some plums at the farm store yet this week and if they do make it to market Saturday there will just be a handful!

Apples - Our early season apples are not bountiful this year, most of them headed into early Apple Shares (benefits of being a CSA member!). This means kind of a slow start to the season! Usually we start cranking up mid-August and go into high gear in September. Feel a little like hurry up and wait right now! Folks grabbed the last of the delicious crabapples and Kindercrisp at market last Saturday.

McIntosh and Cortland coming up! Watch the socials for updates on farm store stocking and market lineups.

We are picking over 40 varieties of apples! Much more goodness to come!!

Apricots & Elderberries - Grab an Apricot Jam! Elderberry Jelly is a new seasonal item!

BACK TO MARKET - Find us Saturdays 8-12 at the Mankato Farmers Market in the Best Buy parking lot, through October 14.