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It seems like the chilly days will be here for a while yet.  It does not feel like it outside, but spring is here!

Check out some of the plants we have growing in the greenhouse.  Your food is growing well! 🙂

Let’s start with my favorite right now, tomatoes!

Slicer tomatoes are looking good!  We plan to be harvesting these in May.

We are starting to see some color in the cherry tomatoes!  We are just picking a couple every day, but the plan is to be picking more in a couple of weeks. I can say from experience, these are amazing!!

Here are the baby cucumbers!  This kind of cucumbers grow up the strings just like the tomatoes.  You can see the ladder in the background, they are working on getting the strings in place.

We will be picking these in May.

Peppers in the greenhouse.  It looks like we will be seeing some blossoms soon.  We have not grown peppers in the greenhouse like this before.  We are excited to give them a try and hopefully have some early peppers!

This is another favorite around here.  Baby celery.  This celery will be heading into the field once it warms up.  We plant to be harvesting late June.

These plants look very similar!  Cauliflower is on the left.  Broccoli is on the right. These plants will also head into the field, and we will be harvesting late June.  You can see the various colors in the cauliflower plants on the left.  The seeds are mixed and the plants with the purple tint are the purple cauliflower heads.

It is the season of baby plants.  Watch for more pictures come soon.

Have a great week!

This weather has us excited for spring!

They got started in the field today.  Mitch has been talking for the last week about getting peas & green onions planted.

All kinds of fresh produce will be heading your way soon!

Have you heard about our market club?

If you often shop at the markets or market at the farm this club is for you!

Here are a few perks of joining:

• Members will receive 7% added to their farm card for supporting the farm.
• 3 sizes available – $200, $400 & $600.
• Flexibility.  Shop at any of our market locations on everything we have available.
• Receive monthly email just for Market Club members.
• Support local farms!

Find out more about the club HERE.

Any questions please let me know.

See you soon!

– Lindsey

PS – Our market club program is a great way to support local farms!  Learn more HERE.

Happy March 1!

March is one of those confusing weather months.  Can’t decide if it wants to be spring or winter.  But the best part is that we know that spring will win. 🙂

We had a birthday party for my father-in-law this weekend and this lettuce salad was one of the sides.

It is one of my favorites and I wanted to share it will all of you!

She used a variety of the lettuce from the greenhouse.  She also added some spinach that we have growing. The spinach was a fantastic addition, and I would highly recommend.  It was fresh and so delicious.

Check out the recipe HERE and stop by the markets this weekend to pick up some lettuce and spinach.

Mix and store the dressing separate.  Add on top of the lettuce as needed.  Then you can enjoy the salad for a few lunches!

Let me know what you think of the recipe. Enjoy!

Spring is coming, anyone else have spring fever?

We do too but seeing all of the green plants growing in the greenhouse is a reminder that spring is coming.  We wanted to share some of fun with you!

Take a look at what we have going on in the greenhouse right now:

We are finding the first baby cherry tomatoes.  So excited!  We plan to start picking these in April.  The slicing tomatoes will follow in May.

It is a bit of transition time in the greenhouse.  The plants that we had growing for winter harvest will be taken out and we are switching over to crops for spring and summer.

The kale plants know that spring is coming!  They are starting to flower out which means it is time for them to come out.  Perfect timing as the pepper and tomato plants we are growing to replace them are going to be ready to go soon!

We are planting lots of greens for this spring and are making plans for what we will be having available for the first weeks of the summer markets.  Here is a spinach plant that was transplanted last Friday.  Check out those good-looking roots!

The first onions and leek have been started.  These candy onions are one of our favorites!  They are typically ready in June and they are amazing on the grill.

Celery is also started.  We plan to start harvesting this in late June.

We have so much great lettuce ready right now.  I love the color and shape of this red lettuce. It tastes great too!

All right, that is all for now!

Thank you for coming along with us on a tour of the greenhouses.  We hope it helped to cure some of your spring fever! 🙂

Don’t forget the farmers markets are open year-round!  HERE is where you can find us.  We look forward to seeing you soon!

Yes, I know.  There is snow on the ground.

There may be a lot more coming.

But, the farmers markets are still open!

You can eat fresh, local produce in the winter!

Here is what we have available right now:

Apples
Beets
Brussel Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Celery Root
Chard
Collards
Green Onions
Kale
Leek
Lettuce
Microgreens
Onions
Parsnips
Potatoes (SO many potatoes!)
Radishes
Rutabaga
Salad Mix
Spinach
& Sweet Potatoes

Are you hungry yet?!

Here is where you can get your veggies:

• Muskegon Farmers Market:  8am – 1pm.  (Address is 242 W. Western Ave, Muskegon)
• Kalamazoo – Michigan Egg Exchange: 8am – 12pm. (Address is 923 Walter Street, Kalamazoo)
• Holland – Market at the Farm:  Monday – Friday, 8am – 6pm & Saturday, 8am – 5pm.  (Address is 5888 120th Ave, Holland.)

We can’t wait to see you!  Have a great week!

Have you ever been to the market or farm store and thought…

A potato is just a potato, right??

What is with all of the colors?

Those purple ones…are they really potatoes?

Find out what is special about each one of 7 potatoes we grow!

Blue Potatoes – This beautiful potato is full of antioxidants because of its color.  It has a sweet, nutty, earthy flavor and is perfect for boiling, baking, mashing, grilling and frying.

Butterball Potatoes – A creamy, rich, buttery potato.  Perfect for steaming, baking, frying & mashing.

Fingerling Potatoes – This potato has an earthy, nutty flavor.  Good for roasting and steaming.

Red Skin Potatoes – This customer favorite has a mild, earthy, buttery flavor.  They are perfect for boiling, mashing, baking or roasting.

Russet Potatoes – This dry potato has a mild, earthy flavor and are good  for baking, mashing or fries.

White Potatoes – The white potato is more starchy and has a rich, nutty flavor.  It is perfect for baking, roasting or frying.

Yukon Gold Potatoes – This all purpose potato has a creamy, buttery flavor.  It is great for roasting, grilling, mashing, sauteing and boiling.

The best way to store your potatoes is in a cool, dark place.  **Note:  In the early summer when we have our new potatoes it is important to keep them in the fridge!  The new potatoes are dug when the plants are still green and the skins are very tender.

Potatoes are one of our favorite things to grow. While we love to eat them all I think some of our favorites are Red Skin & Yukon Gold potatoes.  Of course, Red, White & Blue potatoes are a must during the summer holidays!

Let us know below which kind of potato is your favorite!

Here we are the start of January.  Time for some winter recipes!  Here are some of our favorites:

Farm Market Breakfast

Ingredients:

3–4 strips bacon
2 large potatoes or the equivalent
½ onion, chopped into bits
3 cloves garlic, chopped into bits
1 generous bunch of leafy greens (kale, chard, spinach, whatever is fresh)
Eggs
Cheese (optional)
Hot pepper flakes (essential, depending upon your palate)

Directions:

1.  Cut the bacon into medium-size bits and start frying it over high heat.
2. Wash the potatoes, cut out the bad bits; peel if you must. Score them with a fork and put them in the microwave whole for 2 to 4 minutes until they are almost done.
3. Chop the heated potatoes into medium-size chunks and add them to the skillet (with the bacon). Stir to evenly coat them in the bacon fat.
4.  Let potatoes cook with the bacon for a few minutes. When the potatoes start to crisp up, add the onion bits and garlic. Stir.
5. When everything is just about ready, fry the eggs in another skillet.
6.  At the last minute, add the greens to the potato, bacon, and mushroom mixture. Stir, allowing the heat of the other ingredients to cook them just slightly.
7. To serve, add a whopping spoonful of the vegetable mixture to a plate. Add grated cheese (if you wish). Add the egg. Add a splash of hot pepper flakes (if you wish).

Shared by a CSA Member.  I love this recipe for an easy, delicious lunch!

Potato Kale Soup

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 10 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 tablespoon red chile flakes or to taste
• 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
• 6 medium potatoes, peeled and diced into 3/4 inch cubes
• 3 cups coarsely chopped kale
• black pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in soup pot; add onions, garlic, chile flakes, and salt; sauté until onions are translucent.  Add potatoes and enough water to cover by 4 inches.  Bring to boil and cook, covered until potatoes are about half done.  Add kale and cook, uncover until potatoes are tender about 10-15 minutes.  Puree soup in blender or food processor.  Season with pepper to taste.  Makes 6-8 servings.

From: Asparagus to Zucchini cookbook – This soup is one of my daughter’s favorites!

Roasted Root Veggies

This is a great, easy way to use a variety of winter vegetables. Vegetables such as carrots, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, turnips, parsnips, winter squash and rutabagas are perfect for roasting in the oven.

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Peel and cut all the vegetables into 1 1/2-inch pieces.
3. Toss all the vegetables with olive oil in a large bowl. Add seasoning of your choice. We like to add salt, pepper & parsley.
4. Place all veggies one layer deep on baking sheet.
5. Roast the vegetables until tender and golden brown, stirring occasionally, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

What is your favorite winter recipe? 

We welcomed these little babies to the farm just about 2 weeks ago and we have been loving to watch them grow!

Any idea what kind of plant they are?

They are tomatoes!

This first group of greenhouse tomatoes that we will begin harvesting late April.  We grow cherry tomatoes and regular slicing tomatoes.  We are giving a new gold tomato a try this year.  Excited to add some more color into the mix.

Look how much progress they have made in just 2 weeks!

Make sure to follow the farm on facebook or instagram to watch these tomatoes grow!  They are one of our favorite crops to grow and I take a lot of pictures and videos of them.

From our family to yours we want to wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

– Lindsey

How is your shopping going?

Do you have a few of those people left? You know, the hard to shop for people.  They have everything or you just don’t know what they would like?

We can help!

Here are a few suggestions we have for those hard to shop friends & family:

I am doing something similar to this for the kids teachers.  Yummy tortilla chips, salsa and a couple of sodas.

Plan a movie night and give them this basket!  Kettle corn or kettle chips with sodas for everyone.

Fill a basket with a bunch of delicious local products!  Go with drinks like tea & coffee.  Then add some local treats like granola, cinnamon rolls or a Bakewell brownie.

Do a basket filled with local meats!  Sausage, bacon, pork chops or some delicious steaks. Add in a jar of BBQ sauce.

Got some kids on your Christmas list?  Check out these handmade wooden toys!  Great quality and a unique gift.  My son is getting the toy truck. 🙂

We have a variety of gift baskets all ready put together at the farm store.  Or feel free to stop by and pick out some items and have Kathy put it together for you.  She makes an awesome veggie gift basket too!

Gift cards are also available.  Order online and we will mail the card to you.

Alright, that’s all for now.  Have fun with your shopping.   Enjoy this holiday season!

– Lindsey

PS – All of these great gift ideas are at our farm store.  Here is the address, hours and everything you need to know about the farm store!

We want to say a big THANK YOU to each & every one of you!

Thank you so much for your support this past season. Thank you for your kind words and smiles.  Thank you for coming to see us each week!

We are having our annual customer appreciation sale this Saturday, November 20.   Purchase 6 produce baskets get 1 free!

Stock up on all of the veggies you will need for your Thanksgiving meals.

Here is what we have available this week:

Cauliflower
Salad Mix
Kale
Chard
Collards
Cranberries
Celery Root
Fall Squash
Brussel Sprouts
Apples
Pie Pumpkins
Cabbage
Radishes
Carrots
Potatoes
Parsnips
Turnips
Rutabaga
Beet
Onion
Leek
& So much more!

Find us at the Muskegon Farmers Market, Kalamazoo Farmers Market & Crisp Country Acres Farm Store.

Thank you again for supporting our farm and family.