This is one of the beautiful Blue Hubbard squash we are packing for CSA members this week and next. Happy Autumn! A Circle M gift to you… continued »

It is truly fall! We’ve got giant hard squash coming to you in the boxes (actually, they won’t fit in the boxes…) and we’re starting to parcel out the root storage crops. That means it’s time for us to celebrate a season well spent in the gardens – and we’d love to have you join us! Next Saturday from 2 til 10pm is our Homestead Harvest Festival here at the farm. We’ll have tours and wooly activities and music and food. Click here for the full schedule. continued »

All are invited to this little homestead open house. Celebrate the harvest of a great growing year with us! Bring lawn chairs or picnic blankets, drinks for the day and a potluck dish to share for dinner. We’ll have swings to swing in, trees to climb, goats to get in and romp with, music to dance to, as well as lawn games set up all day. In addition to the events listed below, there will also be Homestead Meats for purchase at 10% off (bring a cooler), as well as Maidmarion Cottage Industry wool products and other locally made foods and crafts for sale. continued »

Click here to watch the video and check out all the recipes. Yum – Cashew Kale and Chickpeas! Thanks, Sheila…

Well, we are eating our way towards the end of the garden year now – and it’s delightful to bring spring favorites back to the table, along with some juicy summer treats, too. So many things seem to taste even better with that hint of frost in their cells. As the kale, red lettuce and cabbages turn brighter along with the leaves lining the edges of our fields, our thoughts turn toward fall. It’s about time to celebrate the months of food and fun we’ve reaped from the farm this year. Please join us at our annual Homestead Harvest Day on October 8! From roughly noon til night we’ll open the farm to members, neighbors, friends and family. We’ll get an invite up on facebook this week and a schedule on the website, so check back. continued »

Oh, my. So many of a a farmer’s best-laid summer plans can be thwarted by an early September frost. But we shouldn’t lose much tonight that’s terribly important to us, and we’ll exert ourselves today in an effort to rescue those things which we simply refuse to let go without a fight. Like sweet peppers. Our plants are absolutely loaded with giant blocky green fruits. So we’ll blanket them entirely this afternoon with several layers of floating row cover. That’s after we pick all the green tomatoes we have space for in the Cool Room. continued »

We’ve got our lovely pastured heritage Delaware roosters off the field and into the freezer. You can come pick some up while they are fresh at the farm or meet me for delivery in Madison tomorrow, Tuesday the 13th. Drop me a message here or call at 558-0501 if you want me to bring some for you. After that they will be available frozen.

Delivery schedule is:

5 pm: 6400 Schroeder, InterVarsity parking lot
5:45 pm: Community Pharmacy, 341 State Street
8:45 pm: Bunky’s Cafe, 2425 Atwood
9 pm: Willy Street Coop Parking Lot

Click here to link to Sheila’s recipes for Box 7. And watch the video below!

The transition from summer to fall is always an awkward one for us since we lose most of our farm crew when school starts up again. We have a crack team of teen neighbors – and one daughter left of our own – who work for us throughout the summer and do a terrific job. They are very much missed. But thankfully this week, we had a ton of help from cheerful friends and farm members who got the harvest in and the boxes packed. They brought wonderful food for potluck, too! We’ll try and get a few of their recipes (and pictures of the Labor Day Work Party) up on facebook this week. Make sure to check back here tomorrow, for our Box 7 Video Blog. We missed Sheila’s video and recipes last week, when she was on vacation out west. In the meantime, here’s what’s in the box: continued »

We find ourselves this week in a transition between summer crops and fall. Some things are petering out (cucumbers), others are just getting rolling (eggplant), many are peaking (tomatoes) and a few are just barely starting to produce in these surprisingly harsh warm days (lettuce). This is one of the few times of year you can pick everything you need for a recipe (ratatouille) or salad (cukes and salad greens). Enjoy it while you can! These are mighty heavy boxes what with tomatoes, melons and squash all jammed in there. continued »