Nestled in the hills of Athens County, lies a 120 acre farm - the home of Green Edge Organic Gardens & the Athens Hills CSA. CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, is a way for you to have a direct relationship with the farmer who grows your food. It is a great way to support your local economy, the sustainability of our area, and for you to receive delicious, nutritious, organic vegetables at the height of their growing season.
Here Comes the Sun!
With the greenhouse door lowered for ventilation, you can see the wonderful colors of the salad mix growing inside with a good amount of snow cover still outside.
You are invited to
The Winter 2010 Open Farm Day! Sunday, March 21st, 1pm at the Amesville Grange: 16 State Route 550 Amesville, OH 45711
Please join us for a potluck at the Grange at 1pm, followed by a brief presentation about Green Edge Organic Gardens and the Partners of the Athens Hills CSA. We will begin taking groups over to the farm nearby around 2:30 for tours of the greenhouses. You are welcome to stay as long or as little as you like.
Everyone is welcome. You do not need to bring cutlery, but you might want to bring boots for the farm tour. Please pass on this invitation to anyone who might be interested
Directions: Please follow these directions, as the ones given by GPS/Internet often take you on a longer, more complicated route. From 33, take the 550/Amesville exit, and follow 550 East into Amesville. The Grange is just past the park on the right. (Please note that your cell phones will NOT work once you get on to SR 550) Questions? 740-448-4021 or GreenEdgeGardens@Verizon.net
Kip & Becky Rondy
Owners of Green Edge with some of our tomatoes
SUMMER 2010 CSA
We are happy to announce that the Summer 2010 CSA will run fromJune 16th--October 27th
We will be announcing more details soon, including when we will begin enrollment. Rest assured that if you were aMember in Summer 2009, or are currently participating in the Winter CSA,you will have the chance to join the Summer 2010 CSA before we open enrollment to the public.
For those new to our program, last summer's CSAoffered 28 different types of CERTIFIED ORGANIC VEGETABLES,inaddition to the option ofCombination Sharesincluding ARTISAN BREADS, FRUIT and MILKfrom our local partners. Anyone who has not been an Athens Hills CSA member previously may contact us to have their name added to the waiting list: GreenEdgeGardens@Verizon.net or 740-448-4021
Here is a share from week four of our Winter CSA. Though the size of the share varies depending on the veggies each week, you can count on 6 to 9 different veggies weekly. This is a typical size of a share, which fills the box in the background. Pictured are: Butternut Squash, Salad Mix, Spinach, Tatsoi, Swiss Chard, Shiitake Mushrooms and Yellow Fin Potatoes.
ATHENS HILLS CSA ACCEPTING OPEN ENROLLMENT FOR WINTER 2010 CSA PROGRAM
Our Winter CSA program will begin the first week of December and run through the end of April.We are now accepting open enrollment for Veggie Only and Combination Shares for the Winter 2010 program.For more information on our CSA program, including a list of what vegetables are available in the Winter CSA, as well as an enrollment form, please visit our website:
I just signed up and paid for the winter CSA, and I am so excited to participate! I don't always get out to the Farmer's market every weekend in the winter, so this is a great way to ensure that my family and I have plenty of fresh vegetables throughout the cold season!
Thank you, Becky and Kip, for providing such delicious food for Athens!
Aloha. Please check out our efforts to save the Kauai COffee COmpany from having a landfill in the middle of it!! we could sure use some support from the mainland!...and I love this blog and will be following! ALoha.
The seedlings for the perennial Herb Garden that we are beginning this summer.
The plantings in the newest greenhouse are coming along.
We can now uncover the greens early in the morning to soak up the sun all day long.
The return of sunshine means ventilating the houses so that the veggies don't overheat.
Some of our lettuces enjoy the long overdue sunshine.
Long Cold Lonely Winter
We've had a lot of cold weather and snow here these last weeks. The snow is providing a layer of insulation for the greenhouses, but we could really use some sunshine to get things growing again.
John and Cale begin the trek back up the hill after closing up the houses.
Snow Insulation
View From Inside the Greenhouse
We've learned that the downside of building two houses connected together is that snow gathers in between and needs removed.
The Micro-House
Hopefully you've been enjoying your weekly supply of Microgreens. You'll be glad to know that they are more than delicious, they are also very nutritious. Unlike "sprouts" which are typically grown hydroponically, our Microgreens are soil-grown which means they contain nutrients and minerals from the soil they are grown in, in addition to the enzymes and vitamins produced during the sprouting process.
Kip in the Micro-House
Kip is the mastermind of the microgreen operation, with lots of support from Penny and Julia.
Kip watering newly seeded flats.
The microgreens need attention everyday. On CSA delivery days, that means starting before the sunrise.
Our Fruit Partner: Neil Cherry
Neil and his dad with some of the apple harvest
Mister Potato
It's not often that John's dual talents as farmer and artist meld, but when they do...
MUSHROOMS
We grow Shiitake, Blue Oyster, Yellow Oyster and White Oyster Mushrooms, all certified organic. All of our mushrooms grow on wood-based substrates, no manure like some of the larger commercial productions use.
Shiitake Mushrooms
Yellow Oyster
White Oyster
Welcome to our CSA & our blog!!!
We love sharing our wonderful produce with you! We developed this blog so that we can keep you up to date with what is happening on the farm, as well as create an online community so that we can all get to know each other better - from the farmer's experience as well as your experience of receiving fresh vegetables weekly.
We really want to hear from you, so please feel free to share recipes, thoughts & ideas - just click on the COMMENT below each post to add to our CSA community!
WINTER WONDERLAND
It's amazing that within the snow-covered greenhouses are beds of thriving and colorful vegetables.
Wild Winter Winds
Last Wednesday while Kip and Cale were delivering the CSA shares, we had a day of intense winds gusting up to 50 miles per hour. John and Rob came out of the barn to see that one of the greenhouses had lost its top cover. Steve, John, Becky and Rob were able to act quickly enough to get the crops covered securely, which was no small feat in the high winds. There is a photo below of the concrete lentles and straw bales that we had to put down to secure the covers on the beds. Fortunately the crops survived with no damage and the new cover was on the greenhouse Saturday morning.
Do You Feel A Breeze?
Last week's wind gusts took the top off of one of the greenhouses.
Securing the Covers
We had to use many concrete lentles and straw bales to secure the protective coverings of remay and plastic over the beds.
A Covered House
On the colder nights, the veggies inside the greenhouses get covered with two layers of remay, plus a layer of plastic. This house won't get uncovered until the sun shows itself.
The Two Connected Houses
You can see how the new house shares a wall with the existing "Hot House," where Cale and Guinevere are harvesting salad mix.
Hoops Over Salad
Hoops are placed over the rows so that the fabric that we cover them with (to protect from the cold) does not lie directly on the crops.
Our New Heated House
The new heated greenhouse (left) shares a wall with our existing "Hot House"
Inside the New Greenhouse
The beds are being prepared in the new greenhouse.
Winter Greens
Our Colorful Salad Mix
Our New Storage Room
Thanks to Kip's brother Greg, we have a new storage room for Winter Squash and root crops.
New Storage Room
Butternut Squash
The Butternut Squash harvest in our new storage room
Protection From the Cold
Inside the Creek House: Our greens are kept safe thanks to blankets of remay & plastic.
Uncovering the Lettuces
On a warm sunny day Rob & Cale remove the remay that protects the beds of our salad mix lettuces.
FALL ON THE FARM
Fall is a busy time on the farm. There are summer's crops to clear, fall crops to plant, and winter preparations to be made.
Fall Salad Greens
Fall salad greens growing in the gardens.
Workin' In the Rain
The cool fall rain doesn't stop the crew from their moring harvest.
Harvesting Kale
Swiss Chard
Start House
The start house is full of fall greens waiting to go into the gardens.
Kale Starts
Kale plants in the start house.
Bringing in the Harvest
The crew loads the morning's harvest to be brought up to the packaging room.
The Trusty Tractor
Examples of how we grow Microgreens
Open Farm Day, 2008
Packaging in the Packing Room
Hard At Work
John picks basil from one of our basil beds out in the field.
Things To Savor
Fresh-picked
Farmer's Market
Winter Romaine
Ice crystals on the creek.
Remnants of the long beans from summer.
Our guard dog Dancer.
A view of the Hot House & Creek House from the Barn.
Picking Tomatoes in the Morning
Cale's looking for ripe slicers in the Creek House.
Harvesting Lettuce
Harvesting Delicious Salad Greens
Winter At Green Edge Organic Gardens
A view of the Micro House, Barn & Hot House from last summer's fields.
Enjoying the Shade
Open Farm Day, 2008
Things To Come
Butternut Squash
Spaghetti Squash
Late summer at Green Edge
Little long bean flower
"Mistical" morning tomato picking
Opening Up
Amanda opens up the greenhouses before the heat of the day sets in.
If you would like to sign up for either our Summer CSA (June - October) or our Winter CSA (December - April), please click on the link below to learn more about our CSA. There you will find our Athens Hills CSA sign up Brochure.
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2 comments:
I just signed up and paid for the winter CSA, and I am so excited to participate! I don't always get out to the Farmer's market every weekend in the winter, so this is a great way to ensure that my family and I have plenty of fresh vegetables throughout the cold season!
Thank you, Becky and Kip, for providing such delicious food for Athens!
Aloha. Please check out our efforts to save the Kauai COffee COmpany from having a landfill in the middle of it!! we could sure use some support from the mainland!...and I love this blog and will be following! ALoha.
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