The Weekly Harvest: "The first trickle of tomatoes"

Hello Folks, 

Well, it's finally here....I know a lot of y'all have been waiting and asking since it stopped snowing...the first trickle of tomatoes are finding their way into the Farm Stand this week! Cherry Tomatoes, Heirlooms, Red Slicers, and Romas are all starting to come in.  As we start riding this harvest wave, hopefully the abundance will allow us to offer bulk boxes of tomatoes, although this doesn't really happen until September, but who wants to stand in front of a boiling vat of water and a hot stove till then anyway? 

Also making their appearance this week are the first of the bell peppers. I know folks are waiting for sweet bell peppers but we will have to wait a couple more weeks, because peppers have to be green (or purple or yellow etc) before they change to their sweet and ripe color. They are still great and super crunchy and juicy and I hope they find their way to your dinner table and daytime snacks. 

This week also marks a change on the Farm where we now pretty much harvest almost all the time. You can feel the angle of the sun change here at the beginning of August, even though it may still be warm, the quality and intensity of the light changes as the days grow shorter. It's always a huge relief when the big Fall carrot planting (think almost two miles of carrots)  have germinated in clean beds. Phew. These carrots will be harvested in October and will be with us until next April along with many of the other storage crops. We also start seeding spinach, arugula, radishes, etc again. And don't worry, I check the cantaloupes daily for ripe ones! I'm guessing these gems will start to trickle in the beginning of August as well. 

Also this week, the U Pick Flower patch is open at the Farm (2100 CR 54g). There will also be beautiful bouquets at market and the farm stand ready to grab and go. But if you want, come on out, the flower patch out at the new Farm Stand is looking great and is loaded. We provide cups and snips and you fill a cup for $15. Tell your friends!

Eat Local & Be Well, 
Nic and The Native Hill Crew

This Week's Harvest:

• Salad Mix

• Carrots

• Beets (red and gold)

• Kale (green curly)

• Rainbow Swiss Chard

• Zucchini

• Yellow Squash and Patty Pan Squash (Farm Stand only - limited quantities)

• Broccolini (Farm Stand only - limited quantities)

• Heirloom hardneck garlic

• Candy Sweet Onions

• Cucumbers

• Green Beans!

• Green Purple Bell Peppers

• Herbs: Parsley, Shiso, Lovage

• U pick Basil at the farm stand

• Flowers! (Bouquets at Market and Farm Stand)

• U Pick Flowers at the Farm Stand

• Tomatoes at the Farm Stand (the first trickle of cherry, heirlooms, red slicers, and romas) 

The Weekly Harvest: "Middle of the lake"

Carrots are back y'all!

Hello Folks, 

We are officially in what we call on the farm "the middle lake" season. We are so far into it but there is still a ways to go in the season; we can't see either shore and there is no choice but to swim on to the seemingly distant shore of Fall and Winter.  So give your farmers at Market and in the Farm Stand a socially distanced elbow bump, they are working hard to get you this great food in a safe way. 

Carrots are back y'all! It has been a seemingly long time but it's good to have them around again. Make sure to grab some at the stand and market and simply snack on 'em. Storage tip: take the tops off and store the carrots in sealed bag in your fridge and they should last many weeks. I hear you can make carrot top pesto but I have never done that myself. Green beans have started in earnest as well. Full size sweet onions will show up this week as well, great on the grill, onion rings, and caramelizing to name a few. 

We are seeing the very first cherry tomatoes and heirloom tomatoes and they are pretty much on schedule as well as delicious and we hope to start in on harvesting them the very beginning of August. And, I did spy a cantaloupe sizing up very nicely. August is looking to be a tasty month!

Flowers are coming in strong and beautiful bouquets will be at the Farm Stand and Market. Making good flower bouquets is a work of art and Christa is arranging some stunning displays. We hope to open the U pick flower field in the next coming weeks so stay tuned.  

Heck there are lot of great things in this weeks harvest, please enjoy them! 

Eat Local & Be Well, 
Nic and The Native Hill Crew

This Week's Harvest:

• Salad Mix

• Carrots

• Beets (red and gold)

• Kale (green curly)

• Rainbow Swiss Chard

• Zucchini

• Yellow Squash and Patty Pan Squash (Farm Stand only - limited quantities)

• Broccolini (Farm Stand only - limited quantities)

• Heirloom hardneck garlic

• Candy Sweet Onions

• Cucumbers

• Green Beans!

• Herbs: Parsley, Shiso, Lovage

• U pick basil at the farm stand

• Flowers!

The Weekly Harvest: "Turning the river into food"

Hello Folks, 

What a gift yesterday was - a nice cool day with clouds for us all to take a breather from the heat wave. It looks like heat will still be here, but yesterday your farmers were super thankful for a breather (and the crops as well). Farming teaches us to celebrate the now of the weather, of our current achievements, and to look and plan diligently for the future even though we know not what it will bring. Right now is that time on the farm that we celebrate the beautiful nourishing crops coming in from Spring planting while also diligently planning and planting so that our coolers and your fridges are full well into next March. I think we can all agree Tuesday was some seriously nice weather though!

New to the line up this week is a crop that is new to us, Red Long of Tropea (called Red Longs on the farm) - an Heirloom sweet onion which comes from Calabria on Italy's very southern tip. These elongated onions have a sweet, mild taste and are great for the grill, braising, caramelizing, salads, and general cooking. Also on the list this week is our heirloom hardneck garlic. Hardneck garlic has less and larger cloves with less wrappers which make them easy to peel. This variety, Duganski, have violet tinged cloves that burst with a fiery fresh flavor and then mellow out. Its purple striped skins make it even beautiful to admire on kitchen counter. Definitely pick some up as this years garlic crop was really good. 

This is the time of the season that my thoughts often turn to the river (the Cache La Poudre) as we irrigate nearly around the clock and are gifted this clean, abundant and cool water. We literally turn this amazing river of ours into food for you and your family. What a blessing to have water with which to grow good food on good land for our community. Cheers to that. 

Eat Local & Be Well, 
Nic and The Native Hill Crew

This Week's Harvest:

• Salad Mix

• Green Summer Crisp Head Lettuce

• Red Romaine Head Lettuce

• Carrots

• Beets (red and gold)

• Kale (curly and tuscan)

• Rainbow Swiss Chard

• Zucchini

• Yellow Squash and Patty Pan Squash (Farm Stand-limited quantities)

• Golden Cauliflower

• Broccolini (Farm Stand-limited quantities)

• heirloom hardneck garlic

• Cucumbers

• Red Long of Tropea heirloom Sweet onions

• Napa and Personal Size Green Cabbage (Farm Stand only)

• Basil

• Parsley

• Shiso

• Lovage

The Weekly Harvest: "Your farm is a community venture"

Photo credit: Jimena Peck

Hello Folks, 

Happy Independence Day! Wow, time flies as July always sneaks up on us here at the Farm. I hope you all will be able to pull out that grill and relax with family and friends at whatever distance you feel comfortable doing. This week's harvest should be able to get you all set up with salads of all types and grillable veggies (think zucchini, broccoli, garlic scapes, etc).  The english shelling peas are in and delicious, and will be a quick flash in the pan for this week and next, so make use of them in salads, pastas, even Mac N' Peas for the kiddos

On the Farm we continue to plant for the fall and winter and tend to the summer crops. Believe it or not, this coming week will be harvesting the garlic that was planted last October and seeding the storage carrots which we will have on hand from October through next March and beyond.

There are green tomatoes on the heirloom tomato plants so we may be right on track for beginning of August to be into the heirloom tomatoes and possibly cherry tomatoes. The peppers, eggplant, beets, carrots, Sweet onions, and beans are not far off. So lets celebrate this last push of Spring produce till it joins us again in the Fall. 

The blur of planting, planting, planting has slowly begun to slide into tending to Summer crops, harvesting, weeding, and looking towards our Fall and Winter crops. Garlic marks the start of storage crops coming out. We hope to have some fresh garlic at market and the Farm Stand starting next week or two so keep an eye out for it. 

My farmer thought of the week that I have been meaning to convey to our community is that your farm is a community venture in all aspects. We serve the community and are run by the community and strive to create community.  Thanks for being a part of it and we hope it is delicious, healthy, and brings value to your family. 

Reminder for Farmers Market goers: we will be back in our original spot starting this Saturday and onward, which we are very excited about!

Eat Local Be Well, 
Nic and The Amazing Native Hill Crew

This Week's Harvest:

• Salad Mix

• Arugula (last week)

• Spicy Mix (last week)

• Spinach (last week)

• Red Romaine Head Lettuce

• Green Leaf Head Lettuce

• Green Curly Kale

• Tuscan Kale

• Rainbow Swiss Chard

• Kohlrabi

• Fennel(last week)

• Cherry Belle Red Radish (last week)

• French Breakfast Radish (last week)

• Hakurei Salad Turnips

• Garlic Scapes (last week)

• Broccoli 

• Zucchini 

• Yellow Squash and patty pan squash (Farm Stand only)

• English Shelling Peas

• Napa Cabbage (limited)

• Broccolini (Farm Stand only)

• Cucumbers

• Spring onions (Farm Stand only)

The Weekly Harvest: "June is for getting through"

Happy almost beginning of summer folks, 

It sure has arrived with some heat and sunny days. The spring crops are slowly on their way out and the summer crops are soaking it all up. We are through the huge spring planting push and are still pushing hard on the spring weeding of beets, carrots, and beans. Lots of growth happens in these few weeks around the summer solstice so we make sure that the crops have the most ideal environment for growing to become great food for you. The saying on the farm is that "June is for getting through." Your farmers are digging deep and bringing it all to the table to get this food to your family, it is an honor to do this work. 

In other news, we are thrilled about the positive comments about the new Farm Stand and we are excited to announce that we are working on getting the farm stand back to honor system over the next two months, think modern honor system. We are working to keep improving the Farm Stand experience for everyone. Don't worry, the amazing team of Lasha, Christa, and Madzie will still be around the Farm! 

Get excited about the flash in the pan end of spring delicacy of Garlic Scapes. This is the flower stalk of hardneck garlic which we have to snap off in order for our heritage garlic varieties to size up even more. We grow a handful of garlic varieties which have been grown on this farm and in this area for almost 35 years. My market saying for garlic scapes is think lightly garlic flavored asparagus and use accordingly. They shine on the grill with some of the grilling onions.These will only be around for a week or two so grab some and put them in a sealed bag in your fridge, they should last weeks.  

We hope to be back on track very soon with some of the loose leaf salad greens after the hail storm a week ago. I imagine next week arugula, spicy mix, and spinach will be back for a last spring hurrah. 

Eat local, Be well, 
Nic and The Native Hill Farm Team

This Week's Harvest:

• Head Lettuce (late week)

• Curly Kale

• Tuscan Kale

• Collard Greens

• Rainbow Swiss Chard 

• Cucumbers

• Sugar Snap Peas

• Baby Fennel

• Purple Kohlrabi (late week)

• Garlic Scapes (late week) 

• Hakurei Salad Turnips

• Cherry Belle Red Radish