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.

Fruit Update

Apricots - done for the season! These aren't predictable, given their early bloom, SO, we'll see them again...when we see them! Apricot Jam will continue!

Raspberries - done for the season! We're hoping the patch recovers for a bountiful crop next year! An 80% crop loss, plus drought, made for a short season. We'll be mad rabbit hunters this coming winter...

Blackberries - a good, small start to a new crop! expect more in years to come!

Coming...

Plums - not looking like a big crop, so watch for updates. I may take some of the small crop for jam/jelly, as that was a hit 2 years ago!

Apples - getting started in August!!! Apple butter should be back in stock by September!!

Pears - a small crop like last year, perhaps, also still getting started!

BACK TO MARKET - August 12th is the plan! Saturday in Mankato only - 8-12 in the Best Buy parking lot!

Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods & Lost Skills

Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods & Lost Skills

Sunday, July 23^rd - 11:00am-3:00pm - Alternative Roots Farm, Madelia

Together let's plant the seeds of a more sustainable and resilient future! Join the Minnesota River Chapter SFA for a fun and memorable afternoon that’s all about celebrating local foods and rediscovering traditional self-sufficiency skills! 

Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods & Lost Skills is coming up on Sunday, July 23^rd. The event runs from 11:00am-3:00pm and features kids activities, a food truck, pop-up farmers market, 10 skill share demos, organic farm tour, and a flax-to-linen demonstration. 

Skill shares range from Canning 101 to Mushroom Prep & Preservation to Seed Starting 101 and more. The event is being hosted by Alternative Roots Farm, a certified organic farm focused on organic perennial fruit, pastured heritage pigs and more. 

Tickets: $10 for adults, kids under 12 free. Reservation only, no walkups please. 

Parking: Gravel road. 

Join the Facebook event for more updates, full schedule and information. 

Register HERE. 

Volunteer HERE.

Brooke Knisley, Alternative Roots Farm

Mary Fischer, K & M Fisher Farm

 

 

July Farm Store Updates

July Farm Store Updates!

July brings an uptick to the season, more bounty and blessings from the land!

Fruits

We have been berry picking! Daily raspberry picking is now added to the schedule - get them while they're available! Limited inventory, and no bulk orders, this year, due to large crop loss (rabbits). You may be lucky enough to snag a rare container of black cap wild foraged raspberries!

Fruits will just continue to roll in over the next month - apricots are blushing, plums will be on their way and NEW to the shelf will be blackberries this year!

We are also truly on the cusp of apple season, as we pick our earliest varieties in late July.

More In Store

Garden produce is coming in and more selection will be available over the coming weeks. Kale is in stock. Watch for cucumbers, green beans, celery and tomatoes.

NEW Bug Bite Salve is in stock!! Wild harvested and hand crafted, this salve is sure to cool and soothe itchy bug bites.

In Stock: Eggs, kale, seasonal garden produce, herbal healing salve, bug bite salve, calendula lotion bars, herbal tinctures, applesauce, apply syrup, strawberry-rhubarb jam, herbal bug spray, cool it spray, raspberries, black caps.

Sowing Seeds: Celebrating Local Foods and Lost Skills

Register HERE

Volunteer HERE

Facebook event HERE

We can't wait to see you at the farm for this unique event!! It's going to be a great day for the whole family - kids activities, food truck, skills demos, farm tour, market shopping! Hope you can make it!

 

New Item: Bug Bite Salve

New at the farm store - Bug Bite Salve!

Soothing, cooling relief for itchy bug bites. Plantain (yes, that weed in your yard), is the star here, with a little help from yarrow and comfrey. Pain relieving, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.

Plantain also has a drawing action, pulling out what shouldn’t be there - we use it also for stubborn splinters.

Calendula Lotion Bars and fiiiiinally back in stock!! Not my only lotion, but it’s my fav!!

This statement has not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease

Fall 2023 Apple Shares Update!

Sign up is opening now for returning Apple Share CSA members! Return members always get first dibs, then folks on our wait list...then, if any shares remain, we open to the general public. 

What is an Apple Share?

Our Apple Share CSA is a way to connect deeper to your food source and support you local farmer, while getting the BEST Organic and local apples at the best price of the season. Our members routinely tell us the flavor of store apples just does not compare. 

Each week enjoy a 4 lb bag of fresh & local apples, for 6 or 8 weeks. Each bag sports 1-2 varieties of our organic apples. A mix of standard, lesser known and old heritage types. We'll send out a short weekly newsletter weekly.

Full deets on Apple Shares

Apple Shares are a core part of our farm! This will be our 11th season!!! Last year we served about 75 Apple Share members.

The 2023 Season

Despite an interesting winter. and the boatload of rabbit damage we incurred at the home orchard, we are seeing a good amount of apples on the trees. We are also seeing increased pest pressure this season. A new pest at the Lake Crystal orchard, in larger volume. For this reason we are going to open fewer shares to begin with this season. With how dry it has been this year we expect that apples may not fully size up, as with our 2021 crop. Flip side, crops that are stressed tend to put out more sugars and antioxidants as defense! Building flavor and nutrition (and higher ABV in our hard cider)!

We continue to partner with Cedar Crate Farm for their Apple Share add-on to their CSA, as well as Nature's Pantry Farm for an apple share pick up location. This year Straight Up Outside farm will also be a pick up location option (provided we get enough shares for that spot). We love that our Apple Share program gives us an opportunity to build community - direct with our members and our farmer friends!

Other Notes

Regarding other farm fruits...Apple Share members get first dibs on other Fruit Shares that may come up. We see this as a future part of the farm, when more fruits mature with more dependable harvests. In 2021 we were able to offer Plum Shares!

Raspberries - large crop loss, due to rabbits, harvest will be available at the farm store.

Blackberries - first year in more abundance

Plums - looking like a decent crop

Rhubarb - season has ended

Pears - future crop, maybe a small amount at the farm store

Apricots - looking like our first crop this year!

Elderberries - looking like a decent year! Small season.

We have young pear trees, more plums trees, 50 more blackberries, 60 new raspberries (will double the patch) and 50 new rhubarb plants that will have the farm bursting at the seams with more bounty in future years. Plus, 5 cherry trees, but those may just be personal (and cider) trees.