NOW HIRING! The Zahradka Farm CSA is looking for a dependable, responsible, punctual, hard working individual to work part time from June - November. About three days per week. Must have a drivers license and transportation.
Responsibilities Include:
Packing CSA Shares at the farm
Driving and delivering
Heavy lifting
Customer service
Farm Cleanup
* Must be able to work in different weather conditions, and occasional early hours. Interest in farming and willingness to learn is preferred. Opportunity for advancement.

Email me for more information or with any questions. Thanks:)

thezahradkafarm@yahoo.com

Hello All!

This past week was not the easiest for sure! Flat tires and freezing temperatures really put us off!!! We spent a lot of time trying to keep your fresh picked produce from freezing. Just when we thought we were in the clear, mother nature had a big surprise for us. As I'm typing this, there is a crazy snowstorm outside of my window... how weird! lol!

George just planted peas yesterday and joked about how he never thought he would be planting spring veggies right before a snow storm. I guess that was a first for him as well :) We are busy seeding our veggies on the green houses and creating beautiful flower baskets for the spring. Our strawberries are looking good as they were planted last year and these cold days do them good! Bring on the Spring!!!!

This week, greens are a focus, the collards, kale, spinach and spring salad mix are in their prime. The cold weather makes them so sweet and hearty!!! Yum! Greens are also a excellent source of many vitamins and minerals including iron, vitamin A, folic acid etc.

As a thank you to all of our CSA members this Winter we would like to offer a 15% discount on all purchases throughout the end of the season. We figured everyone may want to stock up for the weeks in between the Winter and the Summer season. After you choose your items and add them to your cart there is a space for a coupon code. Please type in the discount code:

( stockup ) for a 15% discount on all of your purchases for the next two weeks :)

*In lue of Good Friday, we will be delivering Baltimore city and Townsen routes on Thursday this week

Happy Easter !!!

Well Folks... we have escaped the weather and are back on track! Everyone should have recieved their share for week 10 by now and we are preparing to pick for week 11. Oh how time flies :)

Week 10:

We have run out of beef cubes! If you ordered beef cubes you were given chip steak as a replacement. If you would like ground beef as an alternative please include that in the notes section of this weeks, or next weeks order. I apologize for the inconvenience!

If you received carrots that very short and large in your share, rest assured they are very tasty, they are just carrots that we wintered over in the field. The frozen ground makes it hard for them to grow down into the soil and as a result... large in diameter but not length. We just wanted to let you know!

Week 11:

This week we are jarring up some different varieties of filtered honey. Wild Flower (Great for allergies), Buckwheat (very rich like molasses), Clover and Goldenrod (Light colored and mild tasting). Honey is a delicious and healthy alternative to sugar and other sweeteners. ALERT- KEEP IN MIND... if the honey that you are eating is pasteurized, heated or not raw honey, it is the same as eating refined sugar. There are no nutritional benefits whatsoever in that type of honey!!! Also, young children and babies should not consume raw honey.

Canned roasted tomatoes and canned apple sauce. Right from our farm in the summer, the canned tomatoes have a rich summertime taste that will make you miss your fresh picked tomatoes! The apple sauce is delicious as well make from local apples and slow baked to optimize the natural sweetness.

***Next week we will be selling some free range grass-fed roasts! These are very limited so make your meal plans now and get them while you can! ***

Don't forget to sign up for the Summer if you haven't yet! We just placed a few adds in different papers and we do have limited spots. I want our previous members to get first dibs! Keep in mind there is a discount for paying in full and we also have a four month payment plan to make things a little easier on everyone.

Thank you all for your support. We are getting ready for the Summer planting season and it is all possible because of supporters like YOU! We love our CSA members :) Thanks again.

Libby and George

Hello All!

  Well another week is almost over and we are moving along! This week George and I spent a lot of time cleaning out the greenhouses preparing to seed and going to farm auction to hopefully replace some of our older equipment.

  We are though Feb. so we should start harvesting some baby salad mix and other spring veggies as time goes on. We just ordered a bunch of flower plugs so we can begin planting flowers but we know here that there my be significant snow this Tuesday. This is not good for us because we will have to fire up the heaters in the greenhouses to keep our baby plants alive. Fuel is by farm our biggest expense. A necessary evil... yikes!

  There are some exciting extras coming up in the next week. Real local raw honey and bee pollen!!! This honey is unfiltered and unheated so it maintains all of it's vital nutrients. This honey is like a miracle food and can be used for soooo many things.

Check out these websites for some interesting:

http://naturesnurtureblog.com/2012/11/01/top-10-uses-benefits-of-raw-honey/

http://www.bee-pollen-buzz.com/raw-honey-benefits.html

  Later on we will have some Local filtered honey which is super yummy and a little more versatile while maintaining many of it's healthy properties. Our bee pollen needs to be keep refrigerated or frozen if you want it to maintain it's nutrient value. This pollen is in it's raw, natural form. Bee pollen is considered a "cure all" by bee enthusiasts! It is a complete food with perfect, life sustaining nutrient value.

  We also have Michele's Granola this week. Such an awesome company as well as product. The best granola I have eve had. It is all handmade in all small batches.

We will have some roasts for sale next week. (Grass-fed and all natural)

* We are considering selling some locally made, all natural cosmetic products such as sunscreen, body scrub, face scrub, lip balm etc. If anyone thinks this is a neat idea and might be interested in purchasing these types of items, please email me to let us know how you feel before we make that type of investment. We only want to offer things that float everyone's boat ;)

Well... we will see you this coming week. Thanks for your support!

Libby

Hello All!

Now that we are all over the flu and back in action I wanted to touch base with everyone. First of all thanks to everyone who wrote little encouraging thoughts and well wishes on your orders! You keep us smiling even on the coldest and dreariest of days :) While I am talking about the notes section of your order... don't hesitate to use that opportunity to let us know how things are going for you in the Winter program or for last minute requests etc. The notes section of you order is the last thing we read before your share is packed!

This week we ended up running low on eggs so if you didn't receive this week's egg order please indicate that on next week's note section so that we can ensure you egg delivery when we have more eggs.

We are hoping that next week we will have enough brussel sprouts to put on the order list because they are looking pretty good and this time of year they taste amazing so keep an eye out for them.

We are also tentatively going to be selling Michelle's Granola next week. If you have never had this all natural, locally hand made granola you need to give it a try. It's awesome and it's good for you as well!

George (Your Farmer) is starting to purchase seed and supplies for this coming Summer so if you haven't signed up for the Summer program yet and you are planning to.. please do! We depend on the initial income from the CSA program to pay for start up costs and GET PLANTING!!! If you have any questions never hesitate to shoot me an email at thezahradkafarm@yahoo.com.

Thank you all for your support!

Libby and George

Hello All!

Everyone should have received you shares by now! The weather has been back and forth and our staff are dropping like flies thanks to the flu :( Hopefully FEB. Flies by and we can get into some more mild temperatures. Thank you all for your support!

libby and GeorgeGeorge

The Clarksville middle schooll ocation has been approved for the coming Summer CSA program. If will be the same as last year. Thursdays 4-630pm. Sign up while there are spots still available!

Thanks Everyone :)

Hello All!!!

We are in the middle of week five and oh what a week! The weather has been crazy. One day like Fall, the other like Spring and then a blizzard :) A few of our regular staffers have the flu so we have some extra help this week. Please bear with us as we sort out all of the deliveries. Your deliveries should be pretty much schedule but if they are a bit off, that is the reason. We also had some extra help with packing so if there are any issues please put info in the notes section of your next order so we can rectify the issues.

February is always a tough month for our veggies. Extreme cold and the water from melting ice and snow not only effects our veggies but our employees and method of harvesting as well. You will notice veggies going on and off the order forms each week randomly and this is all because of the weather. If we can't get in the field because it is to wet, if the ground is to frozen we can't pull our roots not to mention, our workers have to take frequent breaks to thaw out themselves :) All of the dark leafy greens, cabbage etc. do very well in these conditions so they are always a good choice. Also the citrus is amazing! Although it's obviously not ours... you are still receiving it just days after it has been picked at the peak of ripeness and in season! Once we get through February, there a re a lot of spring veggies to look forward to! Thanks for hanging in there with us.

This week we are going to be selling our own special Zahradka Farm Harvest Blend of coffee made by Zeke's. It is bold but smooth and very fresh! Roasted right in Hamilton every day!

Beef- we have some new and exciting beef options this week! We will be selling some delicious roasts as well as chip steak which makes awesome cheese steak subs, and beef cubes for stews and kabobs! All of the meat is pasture raised and grass-fed on Pleasantville farm which is a small farm that is family run and operated. No antibiotics or hormones ever!

Eggs- Your eggs from here on out until the Summer will be from a small two person operated farm called The Hen's Nest. The Hen's Nest is owned and operated by a husband and wife who raise free range chickens. In the Winter, their feed is supplemented by a 100% vegetarian feed as well as being left to roam. No Antibiotics or hormones ever.

Thanks for your support! GO RAVENS!!!!!

Libby and George