Blog

Howdy farm fans! Check out this year's Plant Sale Poster, original art by Heather Willey. She made a woodblock to print the flower design around the sprout images. Save the dates! May 19th and 20th.

Our plant sale is right around the corner - so prep your gardens! We have been potting up plants like crazy and our greenhouse is so full! Any plants that can take the cold go out to harden off and are then whisked away to be planted in the field, where GLORY BE they got some RAIN!!! Hurray Hurray Zippity do da.

Everyone is asking what to expect from this season with the winter being so mild and the spring so hot and dry. I honestly have no idea. Does anyone, really? Some effects could be earlier emergence of insect pests. We have certainly been able to work the soil earlier. Flowers and trees are blooming earlier than normai. We might get some crops earlier. Let's all hope for the perfect mix of sun and rain and a temperature that is just right for the time of year.

What is new at White Barn Farm?

Farmer Christy is pregnant! Chris and I are expecting our bundle of joy towards the end of the growing season, October 21st. We are not going to find out if it is a boy or a girl. We just hope it will be a healthy little one. A summer full of fresh veggies can't hurt! We are happy and scared, excited and anxious. I have had no morning sickness, thank goodness, I'm just much more tired and hungry than usual. And I suppose we are going to have to hire some more help for the fall. Perhaps you'll see me at the farmstand more often!

We got a grant from the USDA's Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) to put up a greenhouse for season extension. We decided on a 30' x 72' structure from Rimol Greenhouses that has extra high sidewalls so we can work right up to the edges. We plan to be growing in the ground (after the plant sale overflow has passed) so that means more later and earlier crops. I don't want to jinx ourselves, but I'm hoping we can extend the season for cucumbers, zucchini, and tomatoes which are the real crowdpleasers at the stand. Then we'd like to have a good crop of greens that will overwinter. Looks like our month long winter vacations to warm places could be on hiatus with a newborn joining us - might as well harvest some spinach! Maybe next spring we can push for extra early tomatoes. Who knows? Another adventure begins.

Our Farmstand hours may be easier to remember this year! We will be open: Tuesday through Thursday from 2pm to 7pm (until early September when we'll begin closing at 6pm). Saturdays we will be open 10am to 2pm, as always. We had lots of requests from parents who pick up their kids at 2:30 and then are busy busy for the rest of the day and can't come back to the stand. When we didn't open until 3pm they couldn't make it. We actually had the same request from the schoolbus avoiders. Some folks like to whiz up to the farmstand before the afterschool traffic begins. So we will try it! It will be a little more pressure on us to get everything harvested and washed and packed and hauled and displayed on time, but we are going to have a little more help this year, so wish us luck! 

We are going to accept Credit and/or Debit cards at the farmstand this year. We got a little gadget from SquareUp that plugs into an iPhone so you can swipe cards. The app is free and the % deducted is not too bad and we will be able to accept Visa, MasterCard, American Express, and Discover. A receipt can be emailed to you. We will still always accept cash and checks, of course.

That's probably enough for you to digest for now! We are happy to be doing what we love to do and look forward to sharing the rewards of our work with all of you here in our community.

Thank you always for the wonderful support! Morale boosting must not be undervalued!

Enjoy the green bounty this rainfall is sure to inspire in all of the plants around us. Don't forget to see the beauty in the little things and to look at the stars so you remember what little things we all are!!

Christy at White Barn Farm. with wonderful support from Farmer Chris at White Barn Farm :)

HELLO EVERYONE!!!

We are home from our annual vacation, and the 2012 growing season is right around the corner.  There are a lot of new things cooking in the pot this season at White Barn Farm.  Soon enough, we will send a more complete post about our vacation, a reflection on 2011, and the adventures to come for 2012.  But this email is for people jonesing for local farm hoopla.  Our good friends and farmers at Medway Community Farm, Kevin and Brittany, are hosting a Film Festival/Winter Market this Saturday at Medway High.  They asked Christy to be on the discussion panel following the films and we will be selling WBF eggs and onions at the market.  Here is the press release for the event: 

FILM FESTIVAL THIS SATURDAY, March 3, 2-4 pm
Celebrate the beginning of the season at the Medway Community Farm Film Festival.  Don’t fret, it’s free (donations welcome) the films are short and inspirational and we have some other, awesome farmers joining us to sell produce from their root cellars (someday we’ll have one too). Expect to find onions, potatoes, eggs and more!!  All produced within 10 miles of our high school.

We will be screening “King Corn”, “Big River”,  and Boston born “Know Your Roots” between 2 and 4 PM at the Medway High School, 88 Summer Street, Medway, MA.

If you have little ones, your kids can watch “Wall-E” with friends and Medway High School’s Project Green students in the other room!  

Spend your rainy Saturday with some farmers, friends and community members!

See you Saturday!

We hope to see some familiar faces, and maybe some new faces.  This should be a great event so come on down!

Hope to see you there!
Chris and Christy Kantlehner

White Barn Farm

Hi everyone! The last two weekends' farmstands have been super thanks to all of you! Now it is already the Saturday before Thanksgiving. Our annual Thanksgiving Sale will be at the farmstand this year, 9am to 2pm. This is your chance to gather up what you need for the feast, to stock your root cellar, or just to eat well this weekend!

Here is the lineup as of now:

PRODUCE AND EGGS. White Barn Farm with fresh produce including potatoes, onions, carrots, beets, celery root, winter radishes, broccoli, lettuce mix, and more. We will have a limited supply of our eggs to sell and eggs from Brambly Farms in Norfolk.

CRANBERRIES. White Barn Farm has brought in gorgeous whole organic cranberries from Cranberry Hill Farm in Plymouth.

VEGGIES AND APPLES. Cook's Valley Farm from West Wrentham will have their apples and squash and more potatoes and other treats.

PRODUCE. Medway Community Farm is making their debut this year! More fresh organically produced veggies.

SEAFOOD. Jordan Brothers Seafood will have fresh fish and shellfish for some diversity in your meals leading up to the big feast :)

MEAT. Burnshirt Valley Farm. Floyd will be selling pastured pork and grass-fed beef to stock your freezer for the winter.

HONEY. Franklin Honey. Roger and Lauren, the beekeepers who have hives here at White Barn Farm, will be selling honey and wonderful bee products: hand cream, lip balm, beautiful, fragrant soaps, and more.

COFFEE. Sheldonville Roasters. Our local coffee roaster, Phil, will be selling his freshly roasted beans and fresh brewed coffee.

POTTERY. Karl Ziegler, Our young, talented potter friend from Norfolk. Many of you have probably seen his work at our HarvestWeen sale or last weekend. After each sale, he's been working hard to get more pieces ready for the next event.

DOG TREATS. 4Paws Animal Shelter. These ladies are raising funds to establish an animal shelter here. They've been baking up organic dog treats to sell.

* * * * * * * * *

We are looking forward to seeing you all! If you know someone who might be interested in the sale, please don't hesitate to pass along this email. Don't forget to bring your own bags or baskets or boxes. We can accept cash or checks.

We can take empty egg cartons, those bluish-green paper pint and quart boxes in good shape, and mason jars. Sorry, we find used twist ties and rubber bands too unreliable to reuse.

We wil not be open the Saturday after Thanksgiving, November 26th. Stay tuned for an announcement about whether we will be open for more dates in December. Let's hope so!

Thank you, as always, for your support and enthusiasm!

See you tomorrow!

Chris and Christy at White Barn Farm

Hi everyone!

Looks like tomorrow is shaping up to be another stellar Saturday: 55 degrees and sunny.  We had another great week on the farm, and we managed to fill the root cellar once again! We will be open tomorrow, Saturday November 12th, from 9-2. We will have carrots, lettuce, bags of greens, kale, broccoli, potatoes, and many other scrumptious delights.  Also Jordan brothers seafood will be at farmstand from 9-1, and Floyd from Burnshirt Valley Farm will be at the stand from 10:30-2.  So you can stock your fridges and freezers with fish, pork, beef and veggies.  And finally our good friend Karl Zieglar will be selling hand-made pottery.  Karl was at our harvest-ween festival and is great addition to our white barn family.  Last Saturday was such a success, and we hope that this can be even better.  Thanks for everyone for the support.  SEE YALL SOON!

 
with cold hands and warm hearts,

chris and christy kantlehner

P.S.  Next saturday we will be having our 3rd annual Thanksgiving blow out, due to the addition of more vendors we will be having our sale this year at the farm.  We will send an email out next week with further information.  thanks.

FACEBOOK PAGE

We are also on Twitter. Look up whitebarnfarm. Chris has an iPhone now, so get ready to be updated with photos and descriptions of our activities :)

Hello everyone,

Finally got the bountiful harvest in the root cellar for tomorrows market.  Despite the snow, and crazy weather the end of october brought us we harvested beets, carrots, kale, lettuce, potatoes, turnips, cabbage, and some other fall favorites.  We will be open from 9-1 this saturday.  Oh, by the way Jordan Brothers seafood will be at the stand to fulfill your fish friday cravings.  Cant wait to see everyone.

on another note; just in time for the end of the year, white barn farm has got an iphone, and can be followed on twitter and facebook, with up to minute harvesting hoopla.  check us out! we would love to be able to share more farm info with you. 

and a big thank you to everyone that supports the farm, with out our dedicated members/shoppers we couldn't do what we do.  you keep us going on the coldest days and the warmest days.  THANKS

with love and care

chris and christy kantlehner

You did it! Some of you for three years!!! Congratulations and Thank You for Supporting Us! We hope you have discovered some new vegetables and/or recipes and have enjoyed being a part of the CSA. We certainly feel very fortunate to have you as customers! I will send an email with renewal information in the next couple weeks. We give you all a chance to renew and then open up shares to the waiting list. More details later. For now, get cozy in the kitchen, cause it's getting cold out there!!

1 Head Garlic. Glorious Garlic. If you have a mortar and pestle it is quite exciting to make a garlic-chilli paste. I like to smash up garlic, salt (for abrasion as much as for flavor, perhaps), and little dried Thai hot peppers, cracked open and seeds removed. I use that for the base of the dressing I make for a Napa Cabbage Slaw.  You could also add it to some onions and use as the base for a stir fry or soup.

2 lbs Mixed Beets. These can stay in the back of the fridge in a plastic bag for some time. You can roast them and serve as a side or on a salad. Raw beets are not bad. A shredded salad of beets and carrots with a light dressing and some fresh parsley is quite yummy.

1 bunch Hakurei Turnips. These are the tender turnips that you can eat like a radish. The greens are pretty nice too. You guessed it, just sautee them up with garlic and olive oil. If you are going to cook these turnips, just sautee them lightly in butter. They will not hold up to a long oven-roasting.

1 small bunch of Carrots. Shiny, delicious, young carrots. A quick steam is a great way to prepare larger pieces of carrots or whole peeled baby carrots for a sautee – think garlic or ginger and a pinch of brown sugar, splash of orange juice. Shred onto a salad. Chop for a soup. Roast along with your other hard veggies.

1 Butternut Squash. These should be cooked this week or next. We have been under attack from Chipmunks and Gray Squirrels in the greenhouse, where our squash was curing. The little devils would take a bite of each one. If we threw them all out, we wouldn’t have enough to give you a squash for the last share, so most of these have marks and therefore won’t store long. The last time we distributed the Butternut we also got a few reports that they were rotten inside. If this happens to you, please come see us at the stand for a replacement. Same for onions. If you got some rotten ones, please come get some at the stand to take their place.

2 lbs Mixed Potatoes. Adirondack Red, which are pink-fleshed, and Yukon Gold. Roast or boil. It is a great time of the year for those cozy mashed potatoes.

1 bunch Tuscan Kale. Cooked greens are a good side and are probably even good mixed with roasted roots. Finely chopped Kale, sautéed with garlic could go inside Enchiladas with a Salsa Verde (made with tomatillos).  White Beans are another good partner for kale. You could make a very simple soup with onions, garlic, kale, white beans, and chicken stock.

3 heads lettuce. Time for a nice fall salad. I love a salad with toasted nuts (walnuts, pecans, or hazelnuts), a soft cheese (goat, feta, blue), and dried cranberries.

2 lbs Red Onions. Try that Red Onion Jam or Caramelized Onions or just make lots of tuna salad! Slices are great on a burger or a Cheddar Melt. Or in a black bean, garbanzo bean, or pasta salad.

1 Celery Root. Use it whenever you start a soup or stew, boil it along with your taters for mashers. Make a half potato half celeriac gratin. Shred it on a salad. Dress Julienned Celery Root with a Dijon, Honey, Citrus Vinaigrette.  Or just roast it. 

1 bunch Cilantro. I love the smell of Cilantro! My dad told me today that Julia Childs did not like cilantro! She must not have had it prepared right! Cilantro is the magic ingredient to turn a jar of salsa into a tasty dip for tortilla chips. It is wonderful in a quick miso soup or in a broth with chicken stock, coconut milk, and lime juice. Cilantro is perfect to finish Nachos with or put in a burrito. Tequila, lime, onion, and cilantro makes a super marinade for chicken, shrimp, or fish on the grill. Chopped onions and cilantro along with some sliced cabbage and white fish are one of the keys to fish tacos.

1 head Broccoli. Don’t forget to check for caterpillars.  One of my favorite combos is garlic and soy sauce for an easy sautee or grilled dish.

1 Bag Fall Salad Mix. Our special mix of fall greens for your salad bowl. These greens are tasty! I enjoyed a kind of weird sandwich on my way out the door last Saturday to waitress at Al Forno. Wheat bread spread with cream cheese and drizzled with balsamic vinaigrette, a handful of our fall mix and a handful of clover sprouts. Weird but good. Have you ever tried a peanut butter and scallion sandwich? It’s a lot better than it sounds.

Hi there Holiday Feasters! Most of you White Barn Farmstand shoppers and CSA members are familiar with the Brambly Farm eggs we have available for sale, but laying hens aren't the only animals loving life over in Norfolk!

For a wonderful locally raised heritage turkey for your Thanksgiving Table, Brambly Farms has your bird!

This is a recent email from Phil Johnson, the man behind Sheldonville Roasters. He is always educating about the different coffee he roasts. Anyone who has bought his coffee at our farmstand is surely familiar with the quality of his product. I thought I would share his latest triumph!

To be added to the Sheldonville Roasters mailing list send an email to: sheldonville.roasters@gmail.com

To meet Phil and try a cup of freshly brewed coffee made from freshly roasted beans, visit him at our "HarvestWeen" Market on Saturday, October 29th, from 10am to 4pm (brewed coffee maybe on the earlier end). The delicious coffee should be a great accompaniment to the baked goods for sale to fundraise for the 4Paws Animal Shelter. Hope to see you there!

Hi Folks,