CSA Week #7 is here & Field to Fork Dinner #2 is coming up!

CSA Week #7 is here! The list is looking great again this week! More and more variety is being added each week.

CSA Week #7

We're also excited that our next Field to Fork Dinner with MacGregor Mann of Junto is right around the corner! MacGregor has joined us before for our Field to Fork series and everyone had an amazing time. Of course we're excited to have him with us again!

MacGregor and HG at last years Field to Fork dinner

MacGregor Mann has been a chef since 2000. He started his career at Penne at the Inn at Penn, moved on to Washington Square and then started at Amada under Chef Jose Garces in 2005. Wanting a change he moved to Chicago in 2008 to work at Mercat. He came back to Philadelphia to work at Amada again in 2009, becoming head chef this time around! Wanting to add to his culinary experiences he move to Denmark for 4 months in 2012 to work at Noma. Following his trip to Noma, he landed at Henry’s Fork Lodge in Idaho but returned to his roots during the winter of 2013. At this time he began working on the process of creating Junto which opened in May of 2014.

Our mouths are still watering from this Lima Bean Succotash MacGregor created for one of the dinners last year!

We can't wait to see what menu MacGregor is creating for the dinner on August 3rd! HG has some delicious veggies that are being harvested for MacGregor to choose from!

An evening with Cocina Lolo

We had our first Field to Fork Dinner of the 2016 season on July 13th with Bryan Sikora of Cocina Lolo. It was an amazing night! We had some rain but it cleared up and provided the perfect backdrop for the evening.

The menu included corn and tomatoes grown at SIW

The dinner was served family style so everyone socialized and mingled in the barn. 

             

The lighting and flowers set the perfect ambiance in the barn for the night

Bryan and the team prepared a delicious meal starting with fresh salsa & guacamole along side swordfish escabeche. This was followed by grilled skirt steak and chicken, a divine pasole with vegetable jasmine rice. The grill was going and the food was flowing!

Grilled corn getting ready to head to the tables for guests to enjoy.  This was the first taste of the season for HG's sweet corn and it was delicious!

Bryan slicing up the grilled steak for tacos! The meal was amazing and showcased the farms delicious veggies perfectly. We would like to say a huge THANK YOU to Bryan and his team for making the evening such a delight. We also want to thank everyone who attended and make our Field to Fork series a success!

We can't wait for the next dinner!

CSA Week #6 & what's new!

CSA Week #6 is here! The share contents are exciting and growing with each week!

CSA Week #6

The farmstand is bustling with new items each day! We have Mexican Sour Gherkins, HG's tomatoes and corn are rolling in as well as bell peppers!! They're just coming out of the fields today!

Bell Peppers being picked in the fields!

Stay tuned on Facebook and Instagram for more updates about what's available at the farmstands!

CSA Week #5

The fields are really starting to "produce"!

CSA Week #5

We'll have HG's sweet corn until the end of summer! The tomatoes are coming along nicely as are the figs. 

The onions and garlic are in the barn curing and fresh are available at the stand. Keep an eye out on Instagram and Facebook for specials and what's hitting the stand as it's coming out of the fields. We had our first Field to Fork dinner on Wednesday night with Cocina Lolo and it was amazing! We'll have a recap of on the blog soon.

Paste tomatoes soon!

Stop by the stand and see all the beautiful produce!

Cocina Lolo CSA Dinner

Next week is our first Farm to Fork Dinner of the season at the farm! On July 13th Bryan Sikora of Cocina Lolo will be joining us to prepare an amazing meal using SIW produce. 

Chef Bryan Sikora

Chef Bryan Sikora is a graduate of Culinary Institute of America in Hyde Park, N.Y. and spent most of his early career traveling and cooking in different kitchens across the United States. In 2001 he opened Django in Philadelphia, at the time it was the first BYOB to receive four bells from the Craig LaBan, renowned food critic of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Sikora and his then wife made the decision to sell Django and move to Chester County and there found the inspiration to open Talula’s Table. From his time at Django and Talula's he has moved on to open La Fia, an artisan bakery and bistro using locally sourced ingredients. Since he has opened Cocina Lolo which features a Mexicali menu using locally sourced ingredients. You might just happen to see Bryan at the SIW Farmstand once or twice a week buying ingredients to use in menu items at his restaurants.

An amazing dish by Bryan at Cocina Lolo

We're excited to have Bryan joining us at SIW for our first Field to Fork Dinner of the season! This dinner is sold out but you can find other dates on our events calendar page.  

CSA Week 4 is upon us and the share contents are looking great!

CSA Week 4 Share Contents

Don't forget to find us on Instagram and Facebook for updates about items hitting the farmstand!

Lots of Lettuce!

The farmstand is bustling with delicious items from the field!

We all know and love HG's tomatoes and corn but did you know that the stand has delicious, field grown lettuces as well?

Devil's Ears, Pandero, & Fallstaff Lettuce Varieties

Brent is the resident SIW lettuce grower, and boy does he do an amazing job! There isn't anything better then a fresh cut head of lettuce or freshly cut and blended lettuce mix to make a salad for lunch or to accompany your dinner. Brent has been busy seeding, curating mixes and growing these beauties! They're available fresh at the farmstand daily!

Red with Green Spots Selection (top) and Sucrine Lettuce Varieties

One of Brent's most prized accomplishments is he has grown this red lettuce with green spots shown above from a single seed of "super spotty" Double Density. This variety of lettuce was bred by Frank Morton just recently and Brent was intrigued when he first tried it.

From each crop of this lettuce, Brent saves seeds, over time he will have collected from several different variations within this crop to capture more of the diversity of this amazing lettuce. Double Density is crunchy with an amazing flavor and is in most of the lettuce mixes at the farmstand. You can see how gorgeous this lettuce is in the photo below.

Brent's Seed Saving at its glory!

I bet you want to make a huge salad with HG's tomatoes now, don't ya? HG picked the first of his tomatoes yesterday and they're available at the stand! We also have local sweet corn!

CSA Week #3 is here!
The share is abundant this week with:

CSA Week 3 Share Contents

Don't forget to stop by and get all your Fourth of July BBQ fruit and veggie needs from SIW!

CSA Week #2 is here!

The first day of summer has come and gone but left behind the sunny, warm weather!

Stop by the stand for a gorgeous bouquet!

This week's share includes:

CSA Week 2

The share is full of summer this week! The sunflowers bring a burst of color, the basil is one of the familiar smells of summer, and the snow peas are a tasty treat that aren't around for long. Garlic scapes are the flower bud of the garlic plant and taste exactly like garlic. They can be used in all the same ways you would use garlic. One of our favorite ways things to do with garlic scapes is turning them into pickles!

The first corn is coming along nicely!

We took a walk around the fields to see what is almost ready and we found some tomatoes gaining some color. Blackberries are close, so close! The raspberries are just starting to turn, the burst of heat we're getting will help them to ripen quicker. 

The tomatoes are starting to ripen!

Don't forget we have our Wild Edibles Walk on Thursday evening. If you are interested in joining, please send us an email at siwveggies@gmail.com to let us know. Also, check our calendar for the Field to Fork Dinners! They're filling up quickly!

Things are rolling in!

The weather has been lovely and this means the crops are bursting and coming along nicely. HG and the crew are busy tending the fields and checking on the progress of each and every crop. It looks like this week we'll have more great things on the farm stand so keep your eyes peeled for cucumbers, squash and green beans.

These beautiful snow peas are part of the CSA share this week

The share this week is pretty well rounded. You'll get some delicious fresh veggies and beautiful sunflowers to get you through the week!

CSA Week 1 Contents

We also have Styer's Peonies at the stand. You don't want to miss these beauties so stop by and grab some while we still have them!

Styer's Peonies

We're crossing our fingers for green beans to come in sooner, they're about a week from being ready to harvest. The blackberries are close, so close we can already taste them! Blackberries have a short season around here, usually lasting 5-6 weeks. Since it's a short burst, one of our favorite things to do (aside from eating blackberries fresh) is make blackberry jam! One of the easiest recipes to follow is Marissa at Food in Jars recipe for Blackberry Jam.

Blackberry Jam | Food in Jars

Don't forget to check the events calendar for upcoming events on the farm. We have the Farm Tour on June 16th, our Wild Edibles Walk on June 23rd and the Field to Fork Dinners are fast approaching. We hope to see you at the farm stand!

We're officially open for the season!

The crops on the farm are coming along slowly but surely. A few things are a little behind from the late cold, 2 week stretch of rain and then the crazy burst of heat. The weather seems to be balancing out now so we are well on our way.

Tomatoes have some good size, just waiting on them to ripen!

View of the tomatoes staked in the field

We have a lot of growth and green in the fields. We're patiently awaiting everything to ripen to be harvested. HG and the crew haven't harvested much just yet. CSA members please be patient, the good stuff is coming! This week we have garlic scapes.

Squash in the fields! A few more DAYS and it'll be the perfect size for picking!

A peek at the corn!

June begins a lot of happenings on the farm! We have the Farm Tour, Wild Edibles Walk, and then the Field to Fork Dinners begin in July! We're extremely excited to see everyone this summer!!

We're Open!

The stand is open for the 2016 season as of today!

We are so excited that opening day is finally here! As we're coming to a close for the first day we wanted to let everyone know, THANK YOU! The season is starting to roll, and we can't wait to share the delicious items that will soon be in abundance. We can't get enough of the beautiful flowers that are blooming already. We like them so much that we have sunflowers and peonies at the stand this week!

We do have a few reminders for everyone! The CSA pick ups begin next week, the week of June 6th starting with full shares, half shares begin picking up the following week. The Farm Tour is on June 16th at 6pm and the Farm to Table Dinners are on the events calendar. If you'd like to reserve a spot for the tour or a dinner please email us at siwveggies@gmail.com. We also have a Wild Edibles Walk coming up on June 23rd, you can read more about this event here.

That's all for now! We hope to see you at the stand this week!