Honey!

We did the spring inspection today, and were lucky enough to locate our star - the queen! (in the center, with the red dot).

The honey supers are already full so I plan to experiment with a mini honey harvest this weekend... and I say experiment because we've never done it before. Like so many things here, it's all just a learning experience ;)

Some frames we pulled from the hive still have fall honey, leftovers that the bees didn't eat over the winter (this is the dark honey, on the right). Spring honey (below - I scooped some out with my finger but it's practically clear) has a light, less intensely sweet and more flowery taste, while the amber-colored fall honey has a deeper, richer flavor... probably what most people expect when they taste honey.

It's pretty incredible to pull a heavy frame out of the hive, scrape off a bit of the wax capping, and taste the fresh honey. CSA shareholders will have the opportunity to do this soon, and judge the difference for themselves!

Spring update

Things have been busy on the farm! We've been doing a lot of spring planting and even added some new varieties of fruit to our growing repertoire... Todd and I planted a few more fruit trees (another sweet cherry and two more peaches) and three blueberry bushes.

And a few weeks ago, my "crew" (my parents and Rockacy family members Gene and Joan, who were wonderful enough to lend their hard labor and potato expertise) planted two varieties of early potatoes.



The most exciting news - over the weekend our partners in beekeeping, Tony Indovina and Gary Marshall, delivered our second hive! So far the ladies appear to be enjoying their new home. We are planning to do a spring hive inspection this week and I will post those photos as soon as I can.

For our 2009 CSA members I've put together a list of the crops and varieties we are growing this year. A few varieties are missing but I would say the list is 95% complete. Here is what we are hoping to provide you with over the next four or five months:
beets
early wonder tall top
golden detroit
chioggia
radish
easter egg
french breakfast
amethyst
peas
super sugar snap
sugar snap
snow wind
onions - bulb
sweet georgia
red
supersweet
shallots
picasso
potatoes
red thumb (fingerling)
red gold
nicola
german butterball
onions - bunching
ishikura
deep purple
carrots
parmex
early mokum
vitana
purple haze
cucumber
vertina
olympian
lemon cucumber
summer squash
sunburst patty pan
bennings green tint patty pan
beans
provider
carson
jade
royal burgundy
kale
redbor
pumpkin
white pumpkin
pie pumpkins
autumn gold
greens - leaf
winter lettuce mix
summer lettuce mix
arugula
lettuce mix OG
spinach, bloomsdale
mache (lg-leaf round)
greens - head
red fire leaf
green bib buttercrunch
radicchio
butterhead, speckles
red sails
corn
spring treat
tuxedo
brussels sprouts
diablo
oliver
eggplant
inda paint
listada
Fla. High bush
peppers - sweet
yummy
aji dulee

(+ at least 3 more varieties)
peppers - mild/hot
ancho
anaheim
mariachi
chichimeca
peppers - hot
jalapeno
habanero
new mex joe parker
leeks
bleu de solaize
herbs
cilantro
bouquet dill
basil - sweet
basil - cinnamon
basil - siam queen (thai)
basil - sweet dani (lemon)
chives
stevia
mint
parsley

chervil
chard
bionda di lyon
gator perpetual spinach
bright lights
melon
orange honey
winter squash
hubbard - blue ballet
buttercup green burgess
acorn
waltham butternut
tomatoes
brandywine (heirloom)
yellow pear (h)
green grape (h)
big rainbow (h)
cherokee purple (h)
copia
persimmon (h)
caspian pink (h)
sungold (cherry)
sweet million (c)
box car willie (h)
golden mama (paste)
olpaka (pst)
garden peach (h)
grape
brandy boy
san marzano (h)
green zebra (h)
hungarian italian (pst)
victoria supreme (pst)
(+ several more varieties) mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Fruit included in summer shares: blackberries and raspberries (the new blueberry bushes aren't likely to produce enough berries for shares during the first year), sweet cherries and peaches.

Cutting flowers will also be part of your shares -
salvia
celosia red velvet
celosia pink
pumpkin on a stick (ornamental eggplant)
zinnia tequlia lime
zinnia white wedding
daisy zulu prince
marigold snowball
queen anne's lace
bells of ireand
zinnia (tall red)
sunflower (several varieties)
nastirtium

amaranth
alyssum\

seeds!

Several weeks ago we planted seeds for more than 300 veggies and flowers to be grown for CSA shares this season. Peppers (sweet, mild, ridiculously hot), eggplant, lettuces, herbs, brussels sprouts, and over 30 varieties of tomatoes (mostly heirloom), along with bunches of annual cutting flowers, are currently getting their early start indoors. Soon I plan to post the complete list of the crops and varieties of each that we will offer this year... All told, we're growing more than 80 varieties of over 25 different vegetable crops.

CSA at Churchview Farm

Please visit our website at http://www.churchviewfarmpgh.com/ for updated information regarding CSA and membership at Churchview Farm

(cats may sniff your produce)

(our first honey bee hive)

About Churchview Farm

In 2006 my husband Todd and I moved to what had been my grandparents’ small farm, located in the South Hills of Pittsburgh. With help from our parents we spent that summer renovating the small three-bedroom farmhouse where my father and his nine brothers and sisters grew up, and moved in October. This amazing piece of land, on a hilltop surrounded on three sides by woods, is a place where I spent a large portion of my childhood – picking berries with my grandmother, tagging along when my grandfather fed the pigs, cows and chickens, and spending time with my parents and myriad cousins. My grandparents were homesteaders, feeding their family with the produce they grew and preserved, and the meat and dairy from the animals they raised. And in a time before all-natural growing methods were trendy or widely practiced, they utilized them on their farm.

We have never used chemicals, pesticides or herbicides on the farm. The soil is supplemented with composted manure from a nearby farm, compost that we make on the property, and with organic minerals and soil amendments. We practice IPM (Integrated Pest Management) and crop rotation, and this year I will begin using a combination of cover crops and living mulch to amend the soil. Though we use organic, sustainable and all-natural growing practices, we are not certified organic. Organic certification is a daunting, time consuming and very expensive process that is not practical for many very small farms. Also, organic certification does not always necessarily equal sustainable practices. Sustainability involves the production of safe, healthy food while respecting all aspects of the farm - nurturing the soil, treating the animals humanely, and working with the natural ecosystem. In essence, it is about striving for a completely self-sufficient system – the farm using all of its natural resources to sustain itself. We are moving toward a completely sustainable system.

What is CSA?

CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) is a way for the food buying public to create a relationship with a farm and receive a weekly basket of produce. Subscriptions can be as different as one farm is from another – they vary in price, duration, options and goods offered. By making a financial commitment to a farm, individuals and families become "members" (or "shareholders," or "subscribers") of the CSA, therefore sharing the risks and rewards associated with farming. In return, shareholders receive a weekly basket (or crate, or tote…) of fresh, seasonal, healthy produce that is (in this case) grown using sustainable and organic methods. In short, CSA programs connect people with their food. The closer you are to the food you purchase, the better it is for you, your family, the local economy, and the environment. The Pennsylvania Association for Sustainable Agriculture has a wonderful quote about the local food movement that they call the Ten Dollar Solution:

If every household in Western Pennsylvania spent $10 a week on regionally-produced food, $15 million dollars would stay in the local economy each week. That's $60 million every month, and over $700 million per year. Spending money on local food not only sustains our economy, it provides us with greater nutrition, preserves family farms, generates job opportunities, and beautifies the rural and urban landscape. And don't forget that locally grown foods are likely to be fresher, tastier and safer for you and your family.