What's 'Hot'?

Vitamin-Packed Chard

Have you seen the January edition of "Better Homes and Gardens?" This venerable old magazine was always on the coffee table when I was growing up and I have been a subscriber for years. Except for a few years when they editors went far afield, recipes are dependably good. This month "winter greens" are featured. How about some Toasted Couscous and Chard Salad? Sounds divine!

As our customers already know, we grow great Swiss Chard. It's one of the first vegetables available in the late spring and, if the farmer plants successively, harvest continues well into October. We have several Farmers' Market customers who come to our table specifically to snap up the tasty greens each week.

Swiss Chard is just the latest in the string of vegetables that become "hot" and turn up in recipes on the Food Channel, magazines and in the blogosphere. Along with the chard, the magazine also featured other hardy greens – kale, chicories, collards and spinach – all of which thrive in our cooler climate.

Shall we grow some for you?

 

Winters Past

Wanda Gooch Metzger in the mid 1950s.
A typical winter on the farm.

The farmer lady in the picture photo above has weathered the big northeast blizzard of 2016 from her home in the capital region of Pennsylvania. She kept us updated throughout the storm by telephone and email. But, of course, she's no stranger to snow as this photo attests.

Arthur Metzger Jr. and Carol Metzger (now Wilkerson)
in front of the farmhouse on Dingman Run Road

The little boy in this picture recently enjoyed sled riding with his grandchildren on a recent visit to their home in northeast Washington (state).

(These and other vintage Metzger Heritage Farm pictures are published on the Our Farming Heritage page on this blog.)

Winter Rest

"Ah, world, what lessons you prepare for us,

even in the leafless winter,

even in the ashy city."

– from Mary Oliver's poem Starlings In Winter

Garlic • January 21, 2016

Garlic • January 8, 2016

 "In seed time learn, in harvest time teach, in winter enjoy"

– William Blake

January 8, 2016

January 21, 2016

"What good is the warmth of summer
without the cold of winter
to give it sweetness"

– John Steinbeck

What lessons are we working on this year?

Even as we are writing the last entries in the ledger for our 2015 growing season, planning for 2016 is well underway. We'll share details in coming posts. Let me know you're here!

Vegetable Sunshine

Who needs the sun when you have a beautiful Red Kuri squash to share its golden beauty on a gray January day?

We still have a limited quantity of Red Kuri and Butternut squashes in storage. Email metzgerfarm@gmail.com if you're interested.