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2009 Farmers Market Schedule Tuesday Wednesday Wednesday Saturday Saturday Saturday Sunday
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| Hello Loyal Farmers Market Customer,We’d like to introduce you to our newest market, just added at the end of May…..Every Sunday in Lorton, VA at the VRE Parking Lot from 9:00 to 1:00!
So far the outlook for all crops appears excellent this year. We’ve made it through Spring with very few problems and no catastrophic killing freezes. You know things are good when you have a full apricot and cherry crop 4 years in a row (we’re usually lucky to get a full crop 1 in every 4 years!) But we’re not out of the danger zone completely. Still have to face summer hailstorms and there is always the potential for drought. Keep your fingers crossed!! We’re in the process of planning our next apple orchard to be planted in 2010/2011. Do you have a special apple variety that you would love for us to grow? Stop by one of our markets and let us know, or drop us an email and we’ll certainly take it under consideration. We want our plans to correspond with your tastes! Finally, we are happy to be back at the markets and see all of your familiar faces. Thank you for your business. Sometimes knowing how much our customers enjoy our fresh produce gives us the motivation to work hard through the week! Sincerely, David, Mary Margaret, and Sidney Kuhn Sandy Lombardi and Rusty Lamb
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At the MarketJune is all about……. Berries and Cherries!! During the month of June, we will have the following available for sale:
* Strawberries – Our own Chandler berries are in season, grown on raised black plastic covered beds, available until late June. * Asparagus – The season is coming to an end shortly, probably the 2nd week of June. Get it while you can!* Rhubarb – All month.* Fuji, Pink Lady and Goldrush Apples – from Storage. Ripening in Mid-June: * Sweet Cherries – Grown on dwarf trees, our ten different varieties allow a longer season.* Red Raspberries – Our earliest variety, appropriately named ‘Prelude’.* Leeks* Beets –Rainbow bunches of baby beets with greens.Ripening in Late June: * Tart/Pie/Sour Cherries* Gooseberries and Red Currants
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| Our Favorite Cherry RecipeCherry Pudding (aka Cherry Cobbler)
½ cup milk 1 cup flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1 cup sugar ½ tsp. salt 3 Tbl. butter 1 quart seeded sweet cherries ¼ tsp. cinnamon splash of almond extract
Mix all ingredients, except cinnamon. Add milk and blend well. Melt the butter in a 2 or 3 quart baking dish. Pour the batter on top of the melted butter. Heat the cherries in saucepan with ½ cup sugar; add the cinnamon and almond extract and remove from heat; pour over the batter mixture. Bake about 35 minutes at 350°. You can also use blueberries, peaches or other tart fruit with the same recipe. |
Have you seen them?
Kuhn Orchards is now selling our own reusable shopping bags at market. They’re only $1.50 each, but how can you put a price on saving a plastic bag?? Purchase one next week, they’ll be a collector’s item before you know it!
Raspberry Sauce
Toss ½ pint Red Raspberries with 2 Tablespoons Sugar. Let sit 5 minutes. Pass through sieve into another bowl, pressing with a spoon to extract as much liquid as possible. Discard solids. Use immediately or refrigerate.
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On the Farm …………..
Planting and thinning were the words of the month for May. All the vegetables, herbs, flowers and our great variety of Tomatoes have finally gotten in the ground. A large part of the month was either too wet or too hot and dry to plant. We’re always poised to plant at the most opportune time, no matter when that appears.
We are currently in the second stage of thinning (green fruit) all of our peach and nectarine trees. So what does thinning mean and why do we do it? If the fruit is not thinned on a tree, it will create a large crop, but the fruit will be of minimal size. Fruit trees can be thinned either by removing blossoms or removing the tiny green fruit as it forms. With less competition, the remaining fruit will then have a greater chance to grow up big and healthy. Blossom thinning can only take place while the tree is at a certain stage of bloom, and so we are often left with a 1 to 3 day window to thin per variety in early May. By removing the blossoms, the remaining fruit gets the benefit of a longer time period to size up. In May we blossom-thinned by hand and also tested out a new mechanical string thinner, known as the ‘Darwin’ that was originally constructed in Germany. This new tool is mounted on the front of a tractor, and as the horizontal bar spins around, the strings knock off blossoms as they move through the tree canopy, kinda like a huge weed-whacker. We have been cooperating with Penn State, who has experimented with using the device in our peach orchards (along with several other growers) in order to evaluate its labor saving benefits and affect on fruit size. Looks like promising new technology!
We’re still in the thick of Rhubarb and Strawberry harvest. Check out this photo of Sidney with the largest Rhubarb stalk we’ve ever harvested. With the leaf intact it weighed 1.6 pounds! Asparagus harvest is very much slowing down. As Barbara Kingsolver described in her book Vegetable, Animal, Miracle“For most crop species, the season ends when all the vegetable units have been picked and the mother plant dies or gets plowed under. Asparagus is different: its season ends by declaration, purely out of regard for the plant. The key to the next spring’s action is the starch it has stored underground, which only happens if the plant has enough of a summer life to beef up its bank account. Of all our familiar vegetables, the season for local, fresh Asparagus is the very shortest, for this reason.”
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| “Let us learn to appreciate there will be times when the trees will be bare, and look forward to the time when we may pick the fruit.” Anton Chekhov******************************************************************************** |
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Box 95
Cashtown, PA 17310
(717) 334-2722
www.kuhnorchards.com
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