This week Eris and I got away for a couple of days to take a break from our business and celebrate our anniversary. With the top down on our Jeep we cruised along country roads to the western part of the state stopping off for lunch in Frederick and continuing on to our yurt at Savage River Lodge in Frostburg. As we drove the final stretch down a potholed gravel road we couldn’t help but notice a pleasant dip in temperature and how fresh the air. It felt spectacular. The towering Norwegian spruce forest lining the drive opens like a curtain revealing the lodge with it’s rough cut timber. Bikes dangle from the entrance way bejeweling the facade inviting guests to go for a ride while a sleek and modern backdrop of solar panels make me think this is eco-tourism. We enjoyed a bottle of wine in the early evening with the hummingbirds, more than I’ve ever seen, sipping at their feeders and whizzing by us. The owner explained the history and his initial vision for the lodge and how he and his wife wanted to bring a bit of Colorado to the east. A great deal of effort went into fulfilling that dream and you can sense the care and vision that transformed old pastures into picturesque English gardens and well groomed trails tempting us into the woods. He told us to take a deep breath and appreciate all these trees producing oxygen in comparison to the recycled air we breath in buildings in cities. We made some new friends over a very nice locally sourced meal and listened to the owls sing us to sleep in our yurt. The next morning we galavanted off to Frank Lloyd Wright’s Fallingwater through storybook roads and outdoor adventure towns like OhioPyle then ended the day with a glass of wine at Black Ankle Winery not far from our farm in Mount Airy. Their seemed to be a common theme to our journey consisting of a reverence toward nature and a creativity toward finding solutions to live in harmony with it. It both inspired me and gave me a sense of reaffirmation for the effort that goes into growing food and the considerations that go into being as sustainable as possible.
Back on our farm we are at the peak of heirloom and cherry tomato season. Expect to see these piled high this week at the stands. We have noticed some impact from the heat wave we felt last week. It may have impacted some of our plants ability to take in potassium while it’s also evident in the corn at the stands where many haven’t filled in all the way to the tip. We finally received our new bush hog for our BCS tractor and getting caught up with the weeds. We are picking cantaloupe and watermelon as well as the rest of our onion patch. Also we are getting the ground ready to plant strawberries in a couple weeks. We’ve brought in some extra weekend help so we can keep up with picking as well planting and other maintenance. Our blackberry and raspberry plants look good but we are still trying to find the time to trellis them. That’s all for now. Enjoy our produce this week.
Hi my name is Nadia, I am new born a week and few days old to this wonderful heaven like world of CSA as I stopped to check out fresh produce summmer blessing as I call them to to prepare dishes to take with me for a cookout and if I’m not about the CSA program and I met this wonderful lady a machine to tell you I did not get her name I definitely will for my next pick up and she was very patient and she walks me through the woods and she explained to me in a plain English as if she explained into a 2 years old because I have a lot of questions in house Works What’s happen if I cannot come in since I have a full-time job during the year and wouldn’t be able to come in to the stop from 11 to 1 pick up time on Friday so I was concerned I don’t want to sign up and of course other things I have questions about. I am very pleased of the selection is like going to a treasure chest Anna crossword to see what to pick next even some Veggie I was not adventurous time to cook with them out of fear they might not come well on my family might not like them although we are not vegan but we are 90% vegetable and fruit eating household. For example, I never cooked with poblano pepper this wonderful lady which I promise I won’t ask for her name next time to give her credit when credit is due so I looked up a recipe for poblano pepper I served it to my family which they have max level of heat intolerance palette but for my surprise it was a hit another dish I try Swiss chard I believe it’s cool on the rainbow Swiss chard and I have made a stir fry and everybody loved it. I loved it so much the experience that’s how I sharing my fruit and produce with neighbors and friends and and co-workers never heard of CSA and I was an advocate and educator to give it a try they will not be disappointed so I’m spreading the Goodwill in the good word to share via several social network . I love reading I bought you a trip I have been to Ohiopyle and Frank Lloyd Wright waterfalling falling house both imagistics and a gift these are few of the fine memories I have traveling with my daughter’s Girl Scout Troop which antibiotic cause I advocate and educate girls and their parents to get involved surely open doors two endless opportunity for the traveling and exploring in volunteering appreciate when our food come from and how to be a global citizen of the world so I thank you for sharing this with us thank you for providing us a piece of heaven on Earth Norman’s Farm Market❤