20. July 2011 by admin.

 We are becoming known for our hairy garlic (with roots still on!) and our traditional drying technique of hanging the garlic in the barn. Reminiscent of a tobacco barn maybe? But much better for you!

We have been saving our own garlic seed for a bunch of years now, so its our own variety. Our seed originated from “Music” variety, so we call ours “House in the Woods Music”. I like the connection to our decade of concerts on the farm, in the same barn that housed the concerts. Some of the concerts were held under the hanging garlic. I hope the walls will always be permeated with garlic, music, and good times all around.

CSA members are enjoying our fresh, local, organic garlic–a difficult to find commodity. It is now also available at The Common Market, so you don’t have to be a CSA member to enjoy our garlic and heirloom tomatoes:

Posted in Veggies, On the Farm | No Comments »

2. July 2011 by admin.

First tomato of the season, a Cherokee Purple. CSA members each received a precious ONE tomato, a first taste of what’s to come very soon. Not bad for the first day of July! (Note to non-gardeners: this is early for tomatoes…). Yes, I’ll admit it with full disclosure for fairness in the competitive world of the “first ripe tomato race”: these were grown in our hoophouse, a little head start to the season.

Here a happy little one gobbles hers up like an apple. I love that.

Posted in Weekly CSA Harvests, Heirloom Tomatoes, Veggies, On the Farm | No Comments »

4. June 2011 by admin.

 Happy people at House in the Woods Harvest Day

CSA members selected 8 of the following harvested items this week, plus some treats from the u-pick herb garden:

red leaf lettuce
kohlrabi
scallions/spring onions
kale
chard
sweet japanese turnips
arugula
bok choi
garlic scapes
cabbage

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14. May 2011 by admin.

March/April Newsletter

The Common Market hosted a Crop Mob at our farm, and it was a great collaboration! Thank you, Alexis and The Common Market Education and Outreach Department for organizing the event. The mob helped with so many jobs that I started feeling downright pampered by the end of the event. They even did the job of writing up a summary, so my blog entry is taken care of. Along with The Common Market’s write-up, there is a nice article in The Frederick News Post.

View the story on The Frederick News Post web page by clicking here or pasting this into your browser: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/art_life/display_features.htm?StoryID=120718

I am including The Common Market’s write-up here, written by the great education and outreach staff at the market, but I encourage you to click on their link to see their nice collage of photos from the event: on The Common Market’s website.

The Co-op’s First Crop Mob: Story from the Field

“The care of the Earth is our most ancient and most worthy, and after all our most pleasing responsibility. To cherish what remains of it and to foster its renewal is our only hope”
-Wendell Berry

It’s official; our first Crop Mob
was an enormous success!

  A HUGE thank you goes out to everyone who participated in our Mob and to Phil, Ilene, Noah, and Jonah for being wonderful Crop Mob Hosts! Mobbers ranged in age from 2 - 60+ years proving that Crop Mobs are truly for everyone! Our Mob included House in the Woods CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) members, Common Market employees, shoppers and Owners, a Frederick Community Action Agency employee and even a few folks who just found out about the event on the internet. We were fortunate to have had not only a beautiful day, but enthusiastic participants who came prepared to help out and to learn a thing or two about organic farming from real life farmers. Participants got a chance to have their hand in growing food that will be sold at the Co-op, included in the weekly shares of House in the Woods CSA members, and enjoyed by those members of our community who utilize the Frederick Food Bank. Look for more Common Market sponsored Crop Mobs in the future - I can assure you this is not our last Crop Mob!

Not only did we raise money to provide fresh vegetables for the Frederick Food Bank, we also completed a commendable amount of tasks including:

-weeded the entire garlic patch
-weeded the onions
-transplanted eggplant seedlings in the hoop house
-transplanted bok choy seedlings in the field
-transplanted cabbage seedlings in the field
-prepared beds for planting by spreading the landscaping plastic over them
-planted bean seeds
-transplanted herbs into the herb garden
-filled “dirt bags” to use as row cover weights
-raised money to purchase CSA shares for the food bank
-mixed up a batch of potting mix
-pre-loaded trays of small pots with potting mix for seedlings
-erected the pea / tomato trellis
-grinded corn for chicken feed
-watered all the seedlings in the hoop house

Frederick County’s first crop mob was also featured in the Frederick News Post. View the story on their web page by clicking here: http://www.fredericknewspost.com/sections/art_life/display_features.htm?StoryID=120718

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9. May 2011 by admin.

 Thanks to all the happy gardeners who came to our Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale! I enjoyed seeing all of you and appreciate your support of the farm. May your gardens be blessed. Here are some photos from the sale.

I still have plants available, by appointment on the farm. Or you can visit The Common Market, they are well-stocked with our plants as well and should be selling plants for a few more weeks. If you are planting later in May, check with me or The Common Market, I have some late plants started.

Peppers and Eggplants

Suzi Hanson wore this t-shirt especially for me. Eat More Kale! Check out her beautiful pottery in my Mothers Day post.

Posted in Seedling Sale, Heirloom Tomatoes, On the Farm | No Comments »

3. May 2011 by admin.

Heirloom Tomato Seedling Sale

The House in the Woods Seedling Sale is THIS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY! 10a-5p

Organic heirloom plants for your garden. We feature beautiful heirloom tomato plants, and we’ve got some new ones to share with you, along with old favorites. I should have plenty of basil plants, peppers and eggplant. Make it a nice country drive, bring friends and family, a picnic, visit the farm animals.

Sale Hours — Use our NEW FARM LANE, see below!
Friday May 6th, 10am-5pm
Saturday May 7th, 10am-5pm

***USE OUR NEW FARM LANE ON SALE DAY, on PARK MILLS ROAD***

Address for GPS purposes but there is no mailbox: 2225 Park Mills Rd, Adamstown, MD.
Take 270 to Rte 80 West, go two miles, take a left on Park Mills Road, go about three miles, pass Mt Ephraim Rd and Bear Branch Road. Watch on your left side–you will cross over Bennett Creek, pass a house, then immediately look for our new farm lane with a big “House in the Woods” billboard on sale day. Gone too far if you get to Lilypons Road. Drive up the lane and follow signs for parking.

Our tomato plants are now also available at The Common Market (www.commonmarket.com).
We may have more plants available later in May as well.
Contact: ilene@houseinthewoods.com or 301-607-4048

House in the Woods Farm 2011 Organic Heirloom Plant Sale

$4.50 per tomato plant. Ask about other plants for sale.
Bring a box for your plants. Return pots to our mailbox, we’ll re-use them!

May 6/7, 2011. More info–ilene@houseinthewoods.com    301-607-4048

REDS AND PINKS, PURPLES AND BLACKS (ie dark red)————————————
____ Black Krim–Dark red beefsteak with rich sweet taste from Black Sea of Russia
____ Brandywine–Pinkish red, most popular heirloom originated in 1889.
____ Cherokee Purple—A favorite, from Tennessee cultivated by the Cherokee Tribe.  Plants loaded with beefsteak tomatoes. Deep red interior flesh, rich, complex flavor.
____ Rutgers– From 1934 “the Jersey tomato”, red tomatoes great taste for fresh slicing or cooking.
____ Cosmonaut Volkov– From the Ukraine named for the famous Russian cosmonaut. Red slightly flattened fruit with good acid-sweetness balance.
____ Black Prince– From Siberia, one of the most popular black tomatoes. Rich taste for cooking or fresh. Smaller fruit.

UNIQUE COLORS————————————-
____ Old German/Pineapple—a mild sweet fruity tomato, with red-yellow streaks to skin and flesh. Low acid, as are most yellow, orange and green tomatoes.
____ Green Zebra–A magic tomato, green with dark green stripes, skin blushes yellow when ripe. Green salsa or even green sauce! A hit for contrast on a potluck platter. Also have some Cherokee Green.
____ Valencia– Beautiful round bright orange tomato—mild, fruity sweet that might remind you of a Valencia orange. From Maine.
____ Garden Peach–Yellow blushing pink, fruity sweet and juicy, with a slightly fuzzy skin. Just like a peach! Cute little 2 inch tomatoes.

PASTES for cooking and saucing————————————————
____ Speckled Roma–Paste tomato, Red with a hint of orange and wavy yellow
streaks, a beauty! And sweet, you’ll want to cut some for the salad too.
____ Orange Banana –another unique paste, this one is orange! Plum-shaped orange paste with pointed ends and a good sweet-tart flavor.  An all-purpose plum tomato with good disease resistance.
____ Amish Paste–reliable traditional red roma with thick skin and less juice, ideal for cooking and canning, but sweet enough to eat fresh.
____ Heinz– Red plum tomato 2 oz firm fruit ideal for cooking.

CHERRY TOMATOES————————————————
____ Matt’s Wild Cherry–Mini red wild cherry tomatoes, prolific. Cute little stems
with six bite-size tomatoes on each. Kids love ‘em!
____ Sungold Cherry–Orange, super sweet mini tomato. A rare exception to our
heirloom rule in our tomato collection, this hybrid is worth it. Our CSA members
eat them all up on the car-ride home.

HERBS AND MORE (prices vary)—————————————-

Chamomile—beautiful little daisy-like flowers, dry them for tea

Sweet Basil and Thai Basil—great culinary herbs for any herb garden

Peppers–bell peppers, pimento, paprika, jalapeno

Eggplant–Italian Nadia, Japanese Orient Express, and an heirloom specialty Beatrice

Posted in Events, Heirloom Tomatoes, On the Farm | No Comments »

28. April 2011 by admin.

I was not industrious enough to go out in the rain this morning to photograph the flooded garden for you. But Noah came running in and said “The garden is under water!”.  Overstated, I am glad to report. The troughs in our raised bed system were full of water. The tops of the potato hills were only a couple inches above the water level in the troughs between them. Phil wondered if he would need to do something to help drain them. But it was amazing, by evening, the rivers between the hills had disappeared underground. All nicely seeped in and away, for the most part. Another blessing of gratefulness to the hill system. I wish I had taken pictures for you of the rows this morning and evening, but you get neither. It was that kind of day. Here is a picture of our friend Loran from Red Wiggler Foundation surveying the garlic rows, to show you the hill and trough system into which we plant all our crops.

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23. April 2011 by admin.

Getting your garden space ready for planting tomatoes? Last year Phil set up a new system for caging tomatoes that we are really enjoying. These are two cattle panels set together to make a long triangle, and the tomatoes are planted underneath. If you can grow your home garden tomatoes in a long row, you might be able to set up a system like this as well. The rest of you can take advantage of our new system–we are selling our wonderful tomato cages! Yes, they are rusty and big, classic tomato cages. But these are hand-made from rebar, very sturdy and tall. They handle our tall heirloom tomato plants very well. Storebought cages are flimsy and three times the price as these. They work well and we used them for years. Clearance sale on tomato cages will begin at our Tomato Seedling Sale.

Here is a close-up of our old tomato cage supports.

Posted in Heirloom Tomatoes, On the Farm | No Comments »

23. April 2011 by admin.

Look what Phil and the boys brought home from Southern States last week! Five baby ducks.

And see how they’ve grown:

Posted in Animals, On the Farm | No Comments »

22. April 2011 by admin.

The House in the Woods Seedling Sale is approaching, organic heirloom plants for your garden. We feature beautiful heirloom tomato plants, and we’ve got some new ones to share with you, along with old favorites. I should have plenty of basil plants and some other plants to offer as well.

Sale Hours — Use our NEW FARM LANE, see below!
Friday May 6th, 10am-5pm
Saturday May 7th, 10am-5pm

***USE OUR NEW FARM LANE ON SALE DAY, on PARK MILLS ROAD*** for GPS purposes but there is no mailbox: 2225 Park Mills Rd, Adamstown, MD.
Take 270 to Rte 80 West, go two miles, take a left on Park Mills Road, go about three miles, pass Mt Ephraim Rd and Bear Branch Road. Watch on your left side–you will cross over Bennett Creek, pass a house, then immediately look for our new farm lane with a big “House in the Woods” billboard on sale day. Drive up the lane and follow signs for parking. Gone too far if you get to Lilypons Road.

Our tomato plants are now also available at The Common Market (www.commonmarket.com).
We may have more plants available later in May as well.
Contact: ilene@houseinthewoods.com or 301-607-4048

House in the Woods Farm 2011 Organic Heirloom Plant Sale

$4.50 per tomato plant. Ask about other plants for sale.
Bring a box for your plants. Return pots to our mailbox, we’ll re-use them!

May 6/7, 2011. More info–ilene@houseinthewoods.com    301-607-4048

REDS AND PINKS, PURPLES AND BLACKS (ie dark red)————————————
____ Black Krim–Dark red beefsteak with rich sweet taste from Black Sea of Russia
____ Brandywine–Pinkish red, most popular heirloom originated in 1889.
____ Cherokee Purple—A favorite, from Tennessee cultivated by the Cherokee Tribe.  Plants loaded with beefsteak tomatoes. Deep red interior flesh, rich, complex flavor.
____ Rutgers– From 1934 “the Jersey tomato”, red tomatoes great taste for fresh slicing or cooking.
____ Cosmonaut Volkov– From the Ukraine named for the famous Russian cosmonaut. Red slightly flattened fruit with good acid-sweetness balance.
____ Black Prince– From Siberia, one of the most popular black tomatoes. Rich taste for cooking or fresh. Smaller fruit.

UNIQUE COLORS————————————-
____ Old German/Pineapple—a mild sweet fruity tomato, with red-yellow streaks to skin and flesh. Low acid, as are most yellow, orange and green tomatoes.
____ Green Zebra–A magic tomato, green with dark green stripes, skin blushes yellow when ripe. Green salsa or even green sauce! A hit for contrast on a potluck platter. Also have some Cherokee Green.
____ Valencia– Beautiful round bright orange tomato—mild, fruity sweet that might remind you of a Valencia orange. From Maine.
____ Garden Peach–Yellow blushing pink, fruity sweet and juicy, with a slightly fuzzy skin. Just like a peach! Cute little 2 inch tomatoes.

PASTES for cooking and saucing————————————————
____ Speckled Roma–Paste tomato, Red with a hint of orange and wavy yellow
streaks, a beauty! And sweet, you’ll want to cut some for the salad too.
____ Orange Banana –another unique paste, this one is orange! Plum-shaped orange paste with pointed ends and a good sweet-tart flavor.  An all-purpose plum tomato with good disease resistance.
____ Amish Paste–reliable traditional red roma with thick skin and less juice, ideal for cooking and canning, but sweet enough to eat fresh.
____ Heinz– Red plum tomato 2 oz firm fruit ideal for cooking.

CHERRY TOMATOES————————————————
____ Matt’s Wild Cherry–Mini red wild cherry tomatoes, prolific. Cute little stems
with six bite-size tomatoes on each. Kids love ‘em!
____ Sungold Cherry–Orange, super sweet mini tomato. A rare exception to our
heirloom rule in our tomato collection, this hybrid is worth it. Our CSA members
eat them all up on the car-ride home.

PERENNIAL HERBS—————————————————-

Chamomile—beautiful little daisy-like flowers, dry them for tea

Sweet Basil and Thai Basil—great culinary herbs for any herb garden.

Do you grow a garden at home? Treat yourself to the rich flavor and unique colors of heirloom tomatoes. There is no comparison to most standard hybrid varieties, even homegrown, to these delicious varieties that have been cultivated for over fifty years, sometimes 150 years.

What are Heirlooms Tomatoes? Heirlooms are old, pure varieties known for their unique colors and wonderful flavor. More than hundreds of these family-heirloom varieties exist, seeds passed down and treasured for generations. Hybrid tomatoes were developed by industry in the fifties for red color and thick skin for transport to grocery stores. You won’t find tomatoes this good in the grocery store, and you won’t find these seedlings at a megastore garden shop.

These varieties are indeterminate. That means they set their fruit continuously, for a longer harvest than determinate plants. Determinate plants set their fruit all at once, so they will ripen about all at once. If you are growing especially to can your tomatoes, and want to harvest them all in a concentrated few weeks, a hybrid determinate variety might be a good choice for you. That would match the needs of big big farm businesses that pull up whole plants on a combine machine to harvest all the fruit at once. Way different needs than the average homegrower, but we’ve been marketed the same varieties. Time to re-educate and take back the old varieties!

House in the Woods Farm raises over twenty unique heirloom tomato varieties, seedlings for purchase in May by home gardeners. Certified organic and sustainably grown. The plants start from seed in our greenhouse, grown in our own compost mixture and all natural organic ingredients. When you plant, pour all the great compost in with the plant.

~~~~~~~~Planting timing and tips~~~~~~~~

When to plant? Plan to plant your tomatoes between May 5-20. The old wisdom of planting tomatoes and flowers Mother’s Day weekend is a good one. Some people plant early (with some extra risk of frost damage) and some wait until early June. We have risk of a night frost through May, so watch the forecast if you plant early. You can even rig up a sheet or row cover over some t-posts, chairs or tomato cages for a cold night!

How to plant? Dig a hole deep enough to bury the lowest leaves. You can even bury a couple sets of leaves if the stem is that long. Tomatoes like it that way. They are really vines and will grow quite tall. Put the compost from your pot, and extra if you have it, into the hole too, or pour it around the plant. Pour a couple cups of water around the stem area, to melt the soil around the plant. Sometimes the leaves look sad for a couple days but then they perk up. In a week the leaves will deepen green and be happy. Put a sturdy tomato cage over each plant, right away or within a week before the plants get too big.

Transition time– Your plants would benefit from a couple days of protection, if you can offer it. You can keep them in the pots on the sunny side of the porch for a couple days, bringing them in on colder nights. Next to your house, they will have some wind protection.

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