Sunday, December 28, 2014

We will be back at the Corning Farmers' Market (Sat 11-3) and Watkins Glen Farmers' Market (Fri 3-6) this weekend. No Ithaca market this week - it starts up again on Jan 10 at the Space@Greenstar.

cabbage
carrots
watermelon radishes
daikon radishes
purple or green radishes
sweet turnips
purple top turnips
fennel
parsnips
rutabagas
Chinese cabbage
kale
onions
butternut squash
onions
garlic
potatoes
salad greens (probably baby kale, spinach)

Sunday, November 9, 2014

 One of the fans of our vegetables

 This summer/fall's harvest crew
The farm of our friends in Vermont

Wow! Snow at the farmer conference in Maine last Sunday.



Available at market this week:
 
rutabagas
carrots
watermelon radishes  
daikon radishes Brussels spouts parsnips  acorn squash  butternut squash
delicata squash hakurei sweet turnips   celeriac cabbage
green peppers 

ripe peppers
cherry tomatoes
potatoes
garlic 

kale 
parsley
onions

eggplant
leeks
lettuce mix
spicy mix 
 

tokyo bekana all purpose flour    whole wheat flour

Sunday, October 26, 2014

 Hey nice radish!
 This is the time of year when we start slowing down. But we are still busy getting crops harvested for the winter. These are daikon radishes.
 A truckload of daikons
 The next-to-last step - washing the roots in our barrel-washer.
And here they are all tucked in for a long winter's nap.

Last week of CSA. Remember Fall/Winter CSA starts on the Nov 7 in Watkins Glen and November 15 in Corning.
Choose 8 for small share, 10 for large share  
watermelon radishes  
Brussels spouts
parsnips 
acorn squash 
butternut squash
hakurei sweet turnips  
celeriac 
ginger 
cabbage
green peppers (1 lb.)
ripe peppers (1 lb.)
tomatoes?
cherry tomatoes
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix 
tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)  carrots 
all purpose flour   
whole wheat flour

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Just 2 more weeks of CSA.
Our Fall/Winter CSA and farmers' markets start November 7. See previous newsletter for details.

Choose 8 for small share, 10 for large share 
watermelon radishes
pac choi Brussels spouts
parsnips
butternut squash
hakurei sweet turnips  
celeriac
ginger 
cabbage
green peppers (1 lb.)
ripe peppers (1 lb.)
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale

parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix 

tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)   
baby kale  
carrots    
whole wheat flour

Sunday, October 12, 2014


Muddy Fingers Farm
Select-Your-Own-Size 2014/2015 Fall/Winter CSA

Our Fall/Winter CSA will operate from the first week of November through the end of February! We will be trying something new this year with a more informal pre-pay system.
Members pre-pay an amount of their choosing and we will apply the same 15% discount that our summer CSA gets (by adding 15% to your total). Then you come to market and pick out whatever items you want from our market stand.We will keep track of your spending each week.

2014/2015 Fall/Winter Market Scedule:
3:00 – 6:00 Every other Friday beginning November 7 at St. James Episcopal Church on 6th St. in Watkins Glen
11:00 – 3:00 Every 1st and 3rd Saturdays beginning November 15 at the Information Center at Centerway Square on Market St. in Corning.
11:00 – 2:00 Every Saturday beginning November 8 at Ithaca Farmers' Market (at Steamboat Landing until Christmas and at The Space @ Greenstar on Rt. 13 in January and February).

Follow us on Facebook or check our newsletter at www.muddyfingersfarm.blogspot.com if you are wondering where we'll be each week.

We plan to have the following vegetables available:

Potatoes, Onions, Winter Squash, Garlic, Brussells Sprouts, Carrots, Parsnips, Kale, Chard, Cabbage, Turnips, Radishes, Lettuce Mix, Spicy Greens Mix, Tokyo Bekana, Beets, Rutabagas, Celeriac, Spinach, Leeks, fennel, raddishio, Chinese Cabbage

Mail or bring your check to market and provide your address, phone number and email.

Please make check payable to Muddy Fingers Farm and send to:
Muddy Fingers Farm
3859 Dugue Rd.
Hector, NY 14841
Any questions???? Contact us at 607-546-4535 / maglenn_1999@yahoo.com

For comparison: last year the Fall/Winter cost $375 and included 7 items/week and lasted from November through February.

Choose 8 for small share, 10 for large share 
Brussels spouts
parsnips
butternut squash hakurei sweet turnips fennel celeriac
cilantro
ginger  cabbage
green peppers (1 lb.)
ripe peppers (1 lb.)
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
chard
parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix 

tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)   
baby kale  
carrots    
whole wheat flour

Sunday, October 5, 2014

Choose 8 for small share, 10 for large share 

acorn or carnival winter squash
hakurei sweet turnips
fennel
celery root cilantro ginger 
cabbage
green peppers
(1 lb.)
ripe peppers (1 lb.)
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
chard

pea shoots (maybe)
sunflower shoots (maybe)
parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix
 
tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)   baby kale  carrots   
 whole wheat flour

Sunday, September 28, 2014

 My favorite wildflower, purple asters. They go beautifully with the goldenrod.


 This week we finally were forced to put together our irrigation system. It seems crazy to have to be putting it together in late September but we still have many crops in the ground that need water.


 One thing we have done well this year is get our cover crops planted on time. Its kind of hard to see in this photo but these are nice beds of rye and vetch cover crop with clover paths.

Okay, we have finalized our plans for our fall/winter CSA. We have made a couple changes this year. First of all, we have decided to change the CSA to a simple pre-pay program. Instead of having a fixed number of items each week, members just pre-pay and come to market and pick out the products they want. We will include the same 15% discount for those who join that we have with the regular season CSA. The amount that each member pre-pays will be up to them to decide.

Second, we will plan to have the following market schedule:
Corning Farmers' Market in the Information Center every other Saturday beginning November ? (hmmm...not sure - I need to check if it is Nov. 1 or 8)

Watkins Glen Farmers' Market at St. James Episcopal every other Friday beginning November ? (depends when the Corning Market starts)

Ithaca Farmers' Market every Saturday (on the lake through Christmas and at The Space@Greenstar in January and February)

Here are the crops we plan to have available:


Beets, Brussels Sprouts, Carrots, Celeriac, Fennel, Garlic, Kale, Leeks, Lettuce, Lettuce Mix, Onions, Parsnips, Potatoes,  Radishes, Rutabegas, Salad Turnips, Spicy Greens Mix, Shallots, Spinach, Swiss Chard, Winter Squash

The fall/winter CSA will run from November through February as in years past.


This week's available vegetables:
Small share choose 8, large share choose 10
delicata winter squash
cilantro
ginger cabbage
green peppers
(1 lb.)
ripe peppers (1 lb.)
tomatoes (as needed)
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
chard

pea shoots
sunflower shoots
parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix
 

tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)  
baby kale 
arugula 
carrots   whole wheat flour

Sunday, September 21, 2014

small share choose 8 items
large share choose 10 items


This week's expected vegetables:
ginger
Jerusalem artichokes
cabbage
green peppers
(1 lb.)
ripe peppers (as needed)
tomatoes (as needed)
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
chard

pea shoots
sunflower shoots
parsley
onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix
tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage) baby kale arugula carrots  
whole wheat flour

Sunday, September 14, 2014

These two (swallowtail?) caterpillars were enjoying our fennel crop.

I wanted to let you know we are working on our plans for the fall/winter CSA. We will have our plans finalized soon.


small share choose 8 items
large share choose 10 items


This week's expected vegetables:

green peppers
(1 lb.)
ripe peppers (as needed)
tomatoes (as needed)
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes
garlic (1 bulb)
kale
chard 

green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
parsley
sweet onions (1 lb.)
eggplant (1 lb.)
leeks (2)
lettuce mix
spicy mix

tokyo bekana (a great lettuce-like salad green - you'll like it! Its actually Chinese cabbage)
baby kale
arugula
carrots whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, September 7, 2014

small share choose 8 items
large share choose 10 items

edamame
green peppers

ripe peppers
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
 husk cherries
 tomatillos
potatoes
garlic
kale
chard 

green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
parsley
sweet onions
eggplant
leeks
lettuce mix
spicy mix

whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, August 31, 2014

Choose 8:
edamame
lettuce heads
green peppers

ripe peppers
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
 husk cherries
 tomatillos
potatoes 

garlic
kale
chard
 

green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
parsley

sweet onions
eggplant
leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix

whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, August 24, 2014

 Celeriac twins
 Green bean harvesting crew. Don't worry the dogs don't pick 'em (they just help eat 'em).

Choose 8:
lettuce heads
green peppers

ripe peppers tomatoes cherry tomatoes husk cherries tomatillos
potatoes 

garlic
cucumbers (maybe)

kale
chard
 

green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini (maybe)
parsley

sweet onions
eggplant
cabbage
basil
leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, August 17, 2014

You might not be thinking about what you are going to be eating in February, but we are. We plan to have a fall/winter CSA again this year and attend farmers' markets so we are planting salad greens and various root vegetables to have this winter. Also we have been clearing out harvested beds in order to get cover crops planted in them.

Choose 8:
green peppers
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes 

garlic
cucumbers 

kale
chard
green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley

sweet onions
eggplant
cabbage
basil
leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
edamame

whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, August 10, 2014


 Beet seed almost ready for harvest



 Green bean blossoms

Liz watering some fall greens transplants

Choose 8:
green peppers tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
potatoes 

garlic
cucumbers 

kale
chard
beets

green beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley

sweet onions
eggplant
carrots
cabbage
basil
leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
kidney beans

whole wheat or all purpose flour

Sunday, August 3, 2014

 The meager garlic harvest with some sweet onions. Because of the poor harvest we will have to cut back to 1 garlic/item instead of the 2 we usually do.



Chickens cleaning up the stems and weeds in the former broccoli beds.

Choose 8:
tomatoes
cherry tomatoes
husk cherries
tomatillos
purple potatoes 

garlic
cucumbers 

kale
chard
beets

green beans
dragon tongue beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley

sweet onions
eggplant
carrots
cabbage
basil
leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
kidney beans

Sunday, July 27, 2014

Garlic and onion harvesting begins this week. Yields will be down from last year due to the harsh winter (garlic) and wet spring (onions).


Choose 7:
new potatoes 

fresh garlic
cucumbers 

kale
chard
beets
(maybe yes, maybe not)
green beans
dragon tongue beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
green onions

sweet onions
eggplant
carrots
cabbage
basil
baby leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
kidney beans

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Busy week last week, no pictures...just trying to keep up. Actually hoping for a little rain soon, believe it or not. Otherwise we'll have to spend time putting together our irrigation system for the first time this year. We are hoping to not have to put it out at all this year!

Choose 7:
new potatoes
cucumbers (picklers and slicers)
kale
chard
beets
(maybe yes, maybe not)
green beans
dragon tongue beans
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
green onions

sweet onions
eggplant (limited quantity)
carrots
cabbage
basil
baby leeks

lettuce mix
spicy mix
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans

Sunday, July 13, 2014



Planting cabbages for fall harvest (broccoli under the insect netting)

Kale, some stunted by too much rain this spring.
 
Choose 7:
new potatoes
cucumbers (picklers and slicers)
kale
chard
beets

green beans
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
green onions
eggplant (limited quantity)
carrots
cabbage
basil
baby leeks
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans

Saturday, July 5, 2014

This week's expected vegetables.
Choose 7:
broccoli
new potatoes
cucumbers (picklers and slicers)
kale
chard
beets
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
green onions
eggplant (limited quantity)
carrots
cabbage
basil
baby leeks
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Week 5

Red butterheads ready for market

This week's expected vegetables.
Choose 6:
broccoli
new potatoes
cucumbers (picklers and slicers)
kale
beets
garlic scapes
lettuce mix
spicy mix
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans
black beans

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Thanks for your patience as this season gets off to a slow start caused by a cold, rainy spring. But now it is summer!! Sorry for no new pics this week.
But I did learn this week that beet flowers smell like chocolate.

Week  4
This week's expected vegetables.
Choose 6:
green beans
cilantro
kale
beets
garlic scapes
lettuce mix
spicy mix
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans
black beans

Saturday, June 14, 2014

Week 3

Hey that look's like a weed! Yes it does look a lot like lamb's quarters, one of our most infamous garden weeds. And we had a hard time convincing ourselves to transplant these into our field as we spend a good amount of time ripping out lamb's quarters. But this is quinoa, a close relative of lamb's quarters. These we are just trialing for our own personal use. We'll see if we get any grain out of them.


Well the theme for this spring has been "please, no more rain" But we got more rain Friday. And this is the scene from many of our beds after the last thunderstorm...running water. Not good. This means no tilling and no planting. And probably lots of fun diseases like late blight and downy mildew, etc.

This week's expected vegetables.
Choose 6:
green beans
cilantro
kale
beets
garlic scapes
lettuce mix
spicy mix
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
summer squash/zucchini
parsley
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans
black beans

Sunday, June 8, 2014




Your ginger being planted

Your broccoli growing. It grew so much in the past week that the plants are about three times as big now. This picture was taken to note the stark difference between the plants under the insect netting and those outside the netting (some of which completely died, but mostly they are just smaller)

Expected vegetables for week 2
Choose 5 items:
lettuce mix
spicy mix
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
radishes
baby carrots
baby turnips
summer squash
parsley
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans
black beans
vegetable transplants

Monday, May 26, 2014

Oh no! Is the chicken coop on fire? No its just the heat lamp keeping them warm (picture taken back when it was still chilly).
Too much rain!!


Yes indeed too much rain. We had s couple of beautiful beds of spinach that were to supply the CSA for the first couple of weeks. But after the last rainstorm (including large hail) apparently it contracted some unknown disease. I'm sure this was brought on by the extreme wetness of the soil. But the spinach went from green and healthy to yellow and dying within a couple days! So...no spinach this week. Arggh.

And with the cool, wet weather we have most of this Spring other crops are a week or 2 behind where we would like them to be  - Swiss chard, kale, potatoes, etc.
But because of our perennial difficulties in growing spinach well, I decided to obtain several different varieties of open-pollinated spinach and trial them in one bed together (see picture above). I plan to monitor them to see which grows the best in our conditions. I will harvest the others and let the best one go to seed and save the seed. And hopefully start developing a spinach variety that is better suited to our conditions. I am also planning to save beet seed of our own this year and I have been saving pepper, tomatillo and husk cherry seed for several years now.

Expected vegetables for week 1:
Choose 5 items
lettuce mix
spicy mix
baby kale
lettuce heads
pea shoots
sunflower shoots
radishes
baby carrots
flour, whole wheat bread or all purpose
kidney beans
black beans
vegetable transplants

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

pre spring lifeline!

Watching the snow blow outside the window, hard to believe that just yesterday we had the greenhouse door thrown wide open, the tiny plants reaching for the sun, the two day old chicks peeping, pecking, and scampering like they do, and we had not a care in the world besides the mud on the way in the door! 

It looks like winter isn't quite done yet.  Every spring, we marvel at how lovely it is to be transported ahead in the season just by walking under a piece of plastic stretched tight over metal bows.  You are cordially invited, friend of muddy fingers farm, to come see the arrival of spring ahead of out door time.  The tables are starting to fill up with trays of the cutest teeniest plants, and right now, this year's egg laying flock are at their just darn cutest!  Come by anytime on your own by arranging with us, or come on sunday the 16th from 2-4 and fill your senses up with the smell of warmed up soil, the sight of the seed leaves of your food plants, and the hilarious antics of week old chicks! 

we'll provide snacks if we know that you are coming! 
liz and matthew

Sunday, February 23, 2014

Don't forget - our regular season CSA is now open for joining. Click the link to the right for info and membership form. Our first seeds will be planted later this week - onions, leeks, shallots and celeriac!
I want to apologize again for the lack of greens this winter. In the past we've always had at least kale  that stayed fine straight through the winter. But as some of you found out, even that has been wilted by these cold temperatures this year.

February 28 pickup; 7 items. 
Last week of CSA
 
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
celeriac
tetsukabuto squash
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions, red or yellow (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
black beans (1 lb.)
kidney beans (1 lb.)
all purpose or whole wheat bread flour

Sunday, February 16, 2014

As you may have noticed this cold weather has been unusually hard on our kale. So unfortunately we will not have any of that either this week or next.
CSA pickup February 14
choose 7 items:
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
celeriac
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
black beans (1 lb.)
kidney beans (1 lb.)
all purpose or whole wheat bread flour

Sunday, February 9, 2014

CSA pickup February 14
choose 7 items:
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
celeriac
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
black beans (1 lb.)
kidney beans (1 lb.)
all purpose or whole wheat bread flour

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Friday 2-7 pickup
Choose 7 items:
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
celeriac
acorn or carnival squash (1)
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
leeks (2)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)

black beans
kidney beans 
sorry no flour this week

We do apologize for not having a better supply of salad greens this winter. We certainly wanted to have a better supply of greens in the hoophouses, but with everything we had to do in September and October we were unable to get the summer crops cleaned out in time to plant winter greens. We will try to make sure we do better this fall getting greens planted in a timely manner.
Please note our 2014 June-October CSA membership information is now posted in the links on the right side of this page. You may download, print, and fill out the form them return to us with your check if you'd like to join.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Friday January 31 pickup
Choose 7 items:

watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
celeriac
acorn or carnival squash (1)
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
leeks (2)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
whole wheat bread flour
black beans
kidney beans 
sorry no spinach or cabbage

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Actually we will have kidney beans and black beans, no pinto beans

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

also just got a fresh supply of organic black and organic pinto beans from Cayuga Pure Organic!  glad to see after the barn fire they had back in June, that the skeleton of a new barn had just been installed monday night when we picked up the beans!

Hey, this was delicious!  we had roasted radishes the other night! 

cube radishes (we used watermelon, green and white daikon you can mix and match)
toss with oil, salt and pepper

preheat oven and baking pans to 450 degrees. 

once hot, toss radishes on the baking pans, it should sizzle a little when you do. 
roast until tender 10-12 minutes turning once in the middle. 



also made some nice golden rutabaga nuggets the other day.

cube rutabagas, toss with oil, salt, pepper, and maple syrup. 

roast at 350 degrees until tender turning occasionally. 

serve with chipotle mayo.  mix 1-2 finely chopped chipotle peppers (canned in sauce or dried) into a half cup of mayonnaise.  dip rutabagas in and enjoy!

happy eating! 
liz

Sunday, January 12, 2014

January 17 pickup
choose 14 items (no pickup January 24):
 
spinach (hopefully we get the hoophouse re-covered so the spinach is not frozen all week)
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
cabbage
celeriac
acorn or carnival squash (1)
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
leeks (2)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
whole wheat bread flour

Sunday, January 5, 2014

January 10 pickup
choose 7 items:
 
spinach (hopefully - if it is not frozen all week)
watermelon radishes (~1 lb.)
daikon radishes (~1 lb.)
cabbage, purple or green
celeriac
acorn or carnival squash (1)
tetsukabuto squash
kale 
garlic (2) 
potatoes 
onions (2)
shallots (~1/2 lb.)
leeks (2)
carrots 
beets (~1 lb.)
sweet turnips (~1 lb.)
rutabagas (~1 lb.)
flour

Friday, January 3, 2014

Liz with some freshly harvested (though frozen solid) kale. This was our first time harvesting with snow shoes on!