Clagett Farm

Gleaning--come on over

I'm surprised to see it, but indeed, the greens did grow a bit in the last 2 weeks.  Here's what's available:

• kale
• collards
• watermelon radishes (a few)
• purple top turnips
• carrots
• various salad greens, such as spicy mix, frisee and a wee bit of lettuce
• daikon radishes (lots)
• herbs (cilantro, sage, onion chives, oregano, mint, sorrel, a little parsley)

We also have eggs for sale ($4/dozen) and garlic ($4/pound). 

All CSA members, and any worksharers who came at least twice this season are welcome to come glean as much as they want from that list, beginning Friday.  It is a standing offer for the rest of the year, but we suspect most things listed will be picked by the end of the weekend, and anything left will be frozen solid not too long after that (depending on the weather, of course).    

At the washing station, there is a map on the dry erase board showing you where to go.  The eggs and garlic will be there, too. We'll post signs in the field Friday morning, which we'll leave up until sometime next week. 

Gleaning is not an activity for everyone.  You'll be picking it yourself, and because the pickings are slim, it will take a long time to get a significant amount of anything (with the exception of the daikon radishes, which are super-abundant, since they are part of the cover crop).  Bring a knife to make cutting the salad greens easier, and a bag.  Wear sturdy shoes, and be prepared to walk about a quarter mile to get from your car to the field.  You can drive there with a rugged vehicle, but don't forget that walking is good for you!  And I don't want to pull anyone's vehicles out of a ditch with a tractor on my day off. 

Coming Saturday morning?   From 10am to noon, Michael will be distributing beef in the parking area in front of his house (which is also the office).  To get to the fields with most of the items listed (A1and A2), we would normally suggest that you park at that house and walk.  But Saturday morning, parking at the house will be limited, so you will need to park beside the set of three barns. 

 

Christmas trees for sale soon

Thinking of buying a Christmas tree this season?  Our trees are especially large and beautiful this year, and they're all priced at just $40. 

Christmas Trees straight from the farm!

Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Clagett Farm

11904 Old Marlboro Pike, Upper Marlboro MD 20772

10am - 2pm on the 3 weekends after Thanksgiving

Nov. 26 & 27, Dec. 3 & 4, and Dec. 10 & 11

or by appointment (301-351-4940) any other day.

• Locally grown
• Pesticide, herbicide and fertilizer-free (you won't find that from any other tree dealer near you)
• Served as a great nesting and hiding place for birds and critters. 
• A fun outing for the whole family.  
• We'll help cut the tree and strap it to your car. 
• Just $40 for any size!

All trees are Scotch Pine and White Pine, which are the best type for our region. 

CSA members--your feedback needed, and other updates

We've just e-mailed a survey to all of our CSA members.  If you are one such member and you didn't see the e-mail, here is the link: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/LTZRQ3N.  We need your feedback so we can make the CSA match YOUR preferences next year.  And if you're not planning to re-join, we need to know why! 

We'll post the results here in a month. 

Some of you asked about gleaning next weekend.  If there's anything to pick, we'll post a note here by Thursday November 17, and all CSA members will be welcome to come pick freely beginning Friday November 18. 

We'll send you an e-mail in December or January inviting you to re-join our CSA for 2012 (we have to wait until we know where the Dupont pick-up will be).  If you didn't get the survey e-mail we sent today, please tell us!  We need to be sure we can reach you when it's time to re-join.  

It's a blustery, sunny day today and we're preparing a winter coop for the chickens.  And just this morning, in a burst of optimism, I ordered 1350 pounds of seed potatoes for next spring.  Farming continues, even in the winter!

Take care,

-Carrie

 

Fall Beef Sale

As you many of you know, we have beef cattle on our farm. They are the responsibility of Michael Heller, our farm manager. He sells the meat once or twice a year, and one of those sales is coming up on November 19th. There are still three "lateral quarters" (explained below) that haven't been reserved yet. If you would like to buy our beef, act fast!  [Sorry, they are now sold out.]  To reserve a quarter, you must send an e-mail to Michael at mheller@cbf.org.  Below is the information he sent to his customers.  Be sure to note there is a 2-hour time window on the 19th when you must come to the farm to pick up your meat. 

If you can't buy it now, but would like to hear about beef sales in the future, send Michael an e-mail he will add you to his list.

Chesapeake Bay Foundation’s Clagett Farm
Chesapeake Grass-fed Beef

Your purchasing choices can help ‘Save the Bay’!

Fall 2011 Beef Sale

It’s that time of year!  We had a lot of rain in September, which means the grass is growing!  So the cows have been grazing some fine pastures and will soon be heading off to the meat shop.  By feeding our cows only grass we avoid the use of herbicides, pesticides, and commercial fertilizers used to grow grains (corn, soybeans, and wheat) that fatten traditional beef cows.  Also the cows, as good ruminants, know what’s good for them – great grass.  This leads to healthy cows, healthy meat, and a cleaner Bay.  The cows are raised without any hormones or antibiotics.  There is a reasonable, but limited, amount of meat available so, if interested, please don’t delay in ordering.

High Quality Beef Processing

• Meat is frozen and vacuum packed (which helps retain cold, prevents freezer burn, and greatly prolongs storage life).
• Meat is dry-aged for 2 weeks at the meat shop to enhance flavor and tenderness.
• Our butcher is Mount Airy Meat Shop, a family run, well respected, and USDA certified shop.

Meat is sold in ‘lateral quarters’.

What is a ‘lateral quarter’?  The front quarters of a steer produce mostly ground beef and the back quarters provide a variety of steaks and roasts.  So we mix a front and back quarter and then split them to provide more variety.  A ’lateral quarter’ will weigh between 85-100lbs and will include approximately the following: 35-45 1lb packages of ground beef, 2 T-bone steaks, 2 porterhouse steaks, 3 sirloin steaks, 1 tip roast, 3 rib steaks, 3 1lb packages of beef cubes, 1 eye roast, 1 bottom round, 2 London broil.

A ‘lateral quarter’ will come in two boxes approximately 2’x2’x16”. Soup bones will be available at no cost for any who would like some. (If you want specialty cuts such as liver, tongue or heart, please indicate in your email specifically which cuts, as I must make special arrangements for these cuts.  These cuts are sold at the $7.00/lb price.)

A ‘lateral quarter‘ is sold @ $7.00/lb.

The weights will vary based upon the individual cows.  You can request to have a smaller quarter or a larger quarter, depending on your needs. (Soup bones are available free of charge.)  Checks can be made out at the time of pick up when the exact weight and cost of your quarter is known.

Pick up - Meat must be picked up at Clagett Farm on November 19th between 10a.m. and noon. (Directions are available upon request).  An email reminder will be sent out to all who order.  Meat will be vacuum packed and deeply frozen.  (We recommend that you bring a cold storage chest to carry the meat home.)

TO ORDER – Send an email to mheller@cbf.org and request a lateral quarter.  At this time mention if you would prefer a larger or a smaller quarter.  Also, if you are interested in specialty cuts (livers, tongues, heart, etc) mention this in your email as well.  Because of the limited supply, meat is sold in the order that emails are received.  If you have questions let me know and I’ll get back to you as quickly as I can.

The Final Share: Sunchokes, Carrots and Beets

(Photo of sunnier days from CSA member Euodia)

It's our last update for the weekly shares for the 2011 CSA season! But first, a bit of housekeeping:

• Thank you! Thanks for all of your support and comments this season. I've very much enjoyed posting here each week and sharing news about the farm with you.

• Survey is Coming. Sometime soon, Carrie will be issuing a survey to all CSA members, so that you can weigh in on your experience with the CSA this year. You can see the 2010 survey results here on the blog. 

• Gleaning. We may offer some gleaning the week before Thanksgiving, once we access the fields. We'll post an update here if we do plan to offer that. 

• Dupont Pick-Up in 2012: We have a strong lead on a new pick-up location for the Dupont Circle area for the 2012 season. We'll share details on that as they firm up. 

And here are the details of the final share:

• 1 1/2 pound total carrots (juice carrots) and beets (red beets and striped beets -- Chioggia variety) . We were able to purchase these from the Tuscarora Organic Growers Cooperative in the Pennsylvania Juniata River Valley. 

• 3/4 pound garlic (we ask that you take 1/2 in loose cloves, and 1/2 in bulbs). 
  • Since you're getting a lot of garlic, here are some storage tips: The bulbs store better than cloves, so use the cloves first. Garlic can be either be stored out on the counter or in the fridge. If you want to preserve garlic, you can chop it up and freeze it in small quantities in olive oil, inside ice cube trays.

• 1 pound total combination eggplant plus sunchokes. Here's a recipe we like for Pan Roasted Sunchokes. 

• 2 1/4 pound total combination peppers (most of them are green peppers) + radishes + turnips 

• 1/2 pound total combination greens (chard, kale, collards, salad greens) + rhubarb + green tomatoes + chile peppers 

 

On U-Pick:

• Herbs remain on U-Pick.   

If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask.

Thanks!

-- Clay