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Tessa DeMaster

Creepy guy scoping the farm? + VIDEO

Published almost 2 years ago • 4 min read

Hi Reader,

It looked like suspicious activity.

I noticed black SUV driving slowly down our road with the window open. It turned down a side road and slowly turned around and continued driving slowly along the field side of the road.

What in the world?! Why would anyone be scoping our vegetable fields and pastures?

I wasn't the only one who noticed. Farmer Reuben said the guy had been spying on our farm for several days.

Everything was finally revealed when the "creep", Todd A Watkins, Ph.D., stopped to talk to my brother.

Rare bird sightings!

Yep, on our farm!

I bet you've never seen a Dickcissel:

Wow!

Why here? Why our farm?

Two Reasons

1. Organic farming! Beneficial birds, insects and wildlife thrive in natural environments that aren't being sprayed with synthetic and poinsonous chemicals in the form of pesticides, weed-killers and fertilizers. You already know that humans thrive on clean, chemical free food.

2. We couldn't cut the hay. You wouldn't guess it, but growing and harvesting our hay for feeding the cows in the winter is a complicated process. The hayfields were tall enough to cut four weeks ago but it is necessary to have at least 3 sunny, warm days in a row in order to do the job right. A farmer watches the weather closely to find the perfect window of time. We've had wonderful growing weather for our vegetables with rain coming every few days but not enough time to cut hay.

Farmer Reuben waited. And waited. And waited.

Other farmers cut their hay previous weeks but each time their hay was rained on. Getting wet lowers the nutrition of the hay and changes the way it is stored --> white plastic wrapped bales are more expensive. (My kids call them "marshmallows".)

The grass grew taller and taller.

Unbeknownst to us, the birds moved in to see if our farm is a good place to breed.

We cut the hay

Unfortunately, our cheese customers don't donate money to create a wild life habitat so this week we cut the hay. On Monday it was cut by a neighbor farmer we hired with a big tractor. Then we flip and stir the hay for two days to make sure it all gets dry. Wednesday night we got it all stacked and covered before the rain came on Thursday morning. To get it done, Farmer Reuben and his hard working guys stayed until midnight, working by truck and tractor headlights.

rarely seen birds photographed on our farm

No more birds?

But the hay is already growing again and we hope that the Dickcissel, the Grasshopper sparrow and the Blue grosbeak will find a home in the parts of the farm that we don't have to cut for hay.

Knowing that these birds are here, other members of the local Audubon society will probably be stopping by to see what they can see.

It wasn't on our bucket list but I guess our family will be learning more about local birds and bird watching.

Now, you are too! See what supporting your local farmer can do?!

Local farming isn't just about the market box subscriptions that we sell, enabling us to send you high quality farm fresh food all year round.

Organic farmers are passionate about improving the land and the soil, so that the healthy environment attracts beneficial birds, insects and native plants that all work together to repair and increase even more healthy soil.

We've been farming organically for 14 years and we are still just beginning. But it's wonderful to see the fruit of our labor spread to other aspects of the environment.

More labor and more "fruit"

Speaking of the fruit of our labor, did you receive any summer squash in our farm food deliveries this week?

This perfect growing weather is producing our summer squash earlier than we've ever experienced before and so much that we are donating BUSHELS of extras to the food pantry with the help of the Interact Club volunteers.

Lots of summer squash in different green and yellow varieties is headed your way for the next weeks, even months.

You are going to need lots of great recipes so you can enjoy them lots of different ways. Summer squash is so versatile and delicious. It takes on the flavors of the seasonings and other ingredients with which you cook it. The first recipe my kids always ask for is what they call Zucchini Fries. It's really just roasted, seasoned summer squash cut into sticks.

My recipe for Shortcut Zucchini Fries is available here. But be sure to look for other great recipes for Zucchini Fries on the internet. Sometimes they are breaded for extra crisp and crunch. I bet they'd be perfect for an Air Fryer - I don't have one of those yet.

This is my customized farm food delivery this week. I put one of everything in so I could show you the variety of what we are harvesting this week. From top left: Red russian kale, red butterhead lettuce, cilantro, asparagus, napa cabbage, snap peas, scallions/green onions, dill, spinach, collard greens and purple kohlrabi. (The amount of some items is more but we remove some for a nicer picture.)

Sunshine Bread (gluten free) and Cherry Vanilla yogurt smoothies were extra items I added this week for the kids to enjoy. If you are not a member yet, you'll be surprised how much really great food we have available to fill your weekly market box.

my farm food delivery this week

Were you surprised by purple kohlrabi this week?

Kohlrabi is often a new favorite vegetable for rookie farm members.

As a member, you'll get lots of support, tips and tricks, storage guides and recipes to help you get the most out of your fresh veggies and enjoy them in new ways.

We've started our season but there are lots of weeks to come for fresh farm grown goodness.

We'll keep farming for you!

Reuben and Tessa DeMaster
Willow Haven Farm
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Are you new? More info about our farm:

The Next and LAST Pizza Night is Saturday, August 20. Reserve your table HERE.

SUMMER MARKET BOX: Get all the details on our website before you make your purchase. See the Market Box options here.

WHAT'S IN A MARKET BOX? Yep. I get it. You need to know what comes in a box. What's available? What's in season and when? Find out if our MARKET BOX deliveries of local farm food will fit your life and your goals. YES! SEND ME THE GUIDE.

FARM STORY VIDEOS: The Willow Haven Farm YouTube channel has fun, informative, and educational videos of our farm life and what organic farming looks like here. Check out it out here >>> VIDEOS!


Thinking of unsubscribing? current CSA members need to stay connected to our emails but you can limit them to just vital information about your membership by clicking here.

Tessa DeMaster

Growing up on my family's farm in Pennsylvania, I never would have pictured the life I live at Willow Haven farm. As a kid I spent summers in our large family garden we called, “The Truck Patch”. I helped mom every summer, picking beans, weeding, and cutting fruit and vegetables for the hundreds of jars of canned and frozen produce we put up. Now I spends less time out in the field and more time in the kitchen doing the same preserving for my own farm family. Farmer Reuben values my many hours doing much of the behind the scenes marketing, writing emails to cultivate customers and capturing the farm story each week. I'm always learning along the way in my quest to improve the farm experience for each of her current and future farm members in our 500+ member, year-round customized farm box delivery program. Reading our stories will connect you with your food in a way you never experienced before. Someday soon you will want to fit local food into your life and we'll be here to help you.

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