Our Newest Farm Residents

Reported on our Facebook page:

These are temporary "nuke" hives. We will have to transfer the comb and bees to their permanent hives during the next few days. Fun!

Windfall greens on Healthy Happy Life blog

Windfall greens photographed over at the Healthy Happy Life blog.
For photos look at Greenmarket NYC: Union Square photos, faves, tips.

Growing and Learning

Windfall Farms has always been interested in experimenting with new methods for accomplishing our goal of providing quality produce with minimal impact to the environment. For example, we currently make biodiesel at the farm (from used cooking oil we pick up at restaurants in the city) to power our tractors, market buses, and small machinery. However, not all endeavors (even if they are embarked upon with the best intentions) turn out to be something economically or practically feasible.

That is why we were very excited when one of our employees applied for and received a grant from SARE (Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, www.sare.org) to research and compare different methods of growing crops without plowing or tilling the soil. There have been ample studies on the positive environmental impacts associated with the no-till system (http://attra.ncat.org/attra-pub/PDF/consertill.pdf, http://attra.ncat.org/downloads/notill_veg.doc, http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~news/story.php?id=2007) such as the reduction of soil erosion, conservation and improvement of water quality, storing more carbon in the soil, and reduced compaction. Unfortunately, a large portion of the farms utilizing no-till methods do so in conjunction with herbicide applications.

For those of you familiar with Windfall Farms, you know that we follow a strict "no" rule (no herbicides, no pesticides, no insecticides, no fungicides, no chemical fertilizers) when it comes to our philosophy on farming. During the 2010 growing season we will be setting up test plots to determine whether tilling or using the organic no-till method under varying circumstances will provide us with a clear picture of the most economical and environmentally sound system for a small farm in the Northeast. Right now we are mostly in the planning stages but a cover crop of winter rye was planted in the fall and is rapidly growing in the back field (see picture above) where the research will occur. So stay posted for updates, we'll keep you informed as we move along with the experiment.

6 new ducklings and 6 baby chicks

While it isn't clear that our ducks (6 acquired last year, 6 more this week) will ever yield any profitable gain, quantified in accounting terms, somehow their undeniable adorableness is indispensable now that it is apparent. It would seem that they pay for their keep in dividends of entertainment factor. We can't resist singing their praises just a bit . . .

As if it isn't enough that as baby ducklings they have little beaks and dark little sweetly shaped eyes and funny little webbed feet and tiny little wings sticking out at their sides, they are also FLUFFY!!!!!!!!!! Not feathery, not fuzzy, but utterly fluffy . . . nearly furry. It's either crazy or ridiculous how cute they really are. Then, they grow-up and exhibit behaviors like always following each other in a line and seemingly discussing things as they ponder where they might go next. They are lovable in the extreme!!!!!

Green Gone Wrong

Windfall is featured in "Green Gone Wrong," the new investigative analysis of consumerist solutions to our environmental woes, written by Heather Rogers. The book takes a critical, on-the-ground look at market-based solutions to climate change and other grave ecological ills.

Join Heather (and us) for the NYC launch on Monday, April 19th at 7PM at Bluestockings Bookstore (172 Allen Street, btwn Stanton and Rivington, on the Lower East Side).

Ramps Coming, Garlic Going

This just in: A sizable patch of Ramps (a.k.a. wild leeks) were found today in an uncultivated field at Windfall! We will have just a handful tomorrow, but expect more in the coming weeks.

Also, there is still plenty of last season's Music Garlic from Stillpoint Farms of Amenia, NY. As it is late in the storage season, we don't expect all of it to be perfect. Therefore, we are selling bulbs two for a dollar and smaller selections three for a dollar. This way you are guaranteed at least one good head. And the good ones aren't just good, they have great flavor.

Spring Veggie Selection at Windfall Farms

Start planning your menu with our projected Spring produce list!

Late Winter / Early Spring

Parsnips Often considered a Fall storage crop, Parsnips are actually one of a handful of root vegetables that will survive the winter and taste all the better for it in the Spring. Medium and larger specimens are great for cooking in a multitude of ways, while the smaller are tender enough for eating raw and taste like carrots.

Chicory Chicory tastes best in the Spring. Seeds planted in the Fall lay dormant in the field through the winter and germinate as the ground thaws. As a result, the plants release sugars to keep them from freezing. This sweetness compliments Chicory’s naturally bitter flavor, creating an unusually delicious beer-like effect on the palette. We have a wide selection of Chicory this year: Clio, Dandelion, Endive, Frisée, Grumolo, Puntarelle, Rosa di Treviso (a type of Radicchio) and more.

Mâche Originally native to the French alps, Mâche is cultivated in our greenhouses through the cold season. It’s a favorite Winter/Spring green because of it’s distinct buttery, nutty flavor and tender leaves.

Claytonia (Miners’ Lettuce) Very mild and juicy, it will fill-out the stronger flavors of any salad.

Fava Greens The tender leaves are still a lesser known delicacy. They are also more readily available for harvest than the beans.

Spinach Spinach plants thrive and taste best amidst cool growing conditions. When it gets too hot it will go to seed and disappear. Get it while the getting is good and ignore its inferior Californian cousins at the grocery. Varieties: Bloomsdale, Bordeaux, Giant Winter, Olympia, Space, Tyee.

Lettuce Lettuce also thrives in the Spring months when the cool, wet weather prevails. Varieties: Buttercrunch (Bibb), Parris Island Cos (Romaine), Red Iceberg, Red Salad Bowl, Rouge d’Hiver, Tom Thumb (Butterhead), Webb’s Wonderland, Winter Density (Bibb), Winter Marvel, Winter Wonderland and more.

Micro Greens The number of varieties of our exclusively greenhouse-grown micros increases in early Spring and is then reduced as field crops become more abundant. In addition to our year-round favorites (Sunflower, Buckwheat, Purple Radish, Hong Vit, Micro Mesclun), depending on Greenhouse conditions, we have a number of other selections (Kale, Red Mustard, Golden Frill, Tatsoi, Ruby Streaks, Arugula, Chickweed, Purslane, Amaranth).

Later Spring

Sugar Snap Peas They should be called “Spring candy.” Accept no substitutes.

Fava Beans The Spring months are not always long enough to have a significant amount of Fava, but whatever we don’t eat for ourselves, we’ll bring to market.

Sorrel A strong lemony flavored green. The smaller leaves can usually be found in our Mesclun salad mix. Larger leaves are great for flavoring any number of dishes and are often recommended with fish.

Mint “The Best” is the name of the variety we grow. It is.

Remember when...it was winter?

I spent a couple of nights walking around in the snow with a tripod at the farm this past Winter. I snagged some really beautiful shots, appearing much like daytime. I hope to find a use for them, and at least share many of them with you here, especially since it is now Spring!

This week at the farm we are experiencing..... mud. There is so much mud that one must be careful when visiting, as Hubert's friend Paula discovered on her way to the farm from NY, this early afternoon. As she got closer to the farm she dialed the farm for directional reassurance and responsibly pulled her '88 Volvo over onto what seemed like solid ground.... she subsequently sank into said "solid ground" and needed to be forcibly removed by Tractor. (luckily she was closeby) Windfall crew saved the day and Paula was embarrassed but unscathed and we were happy to have a new friend with a story we can tease her about. It gets old when there is only Kevin to pick on and since while Tim was away, Kevin did such a great job filling in.... it just doesn't seem right to make fun of him. I'm sure this sentiment will pass. Tomorrow is supposed to be more sunny, hopefully we will begin to get drier ground.

Jesse and Tallulah

Last Monday, Jesse gave birth to Tallulah, a healthy and beautiful seven pound baby girl. Here are a few pictures of them, for those of us who have missed her presence at the market over the last few weeks . . .

Jesse missed us as well . . . and the micro greens . . .

The Gorzyinski Method-put em in a hole!

When the root cellar was filled with Watermelon Radishes, carrots, potatoes, turnips, beets, and Gilfeather Rutabaga, Morse & Hubert sought-out more space to stash the bountiful harvest. Despite the herculean effort to get them out the ground, an experiment was hatched to put them back in the ground for storage.

Below is Morse's photo essay of burying the "excess" Gold Ball Turnips. I'm told by Morse that this is the John Goryzinski method of root storage; it is why we still have Gold Ball Turnips this season. If you want a delicious turnip for mashing, roasting, and soups make it over to the stand this Saturday, or following Wednesday and git some!

Hubert transporting the Turnips

Turnips in a freshly dug hole, as deep as the tractor bucket could dig.

Bringing some hay bales for insulation.

A one-hay bale thick layer on top of them.

Covered with soil. Goodbye 'til we need ya!

What you don't see is our depleted root cellar storage before this picture. This is Hubert returning to the buried turnips to dig em up over 6 weeks later.

There's turnips in there!

It's definitely a turnip . . . in good condition. Success!

Harvesting the turnips from the ground, once again.


If you have the pleasure of preparing Gold Ball Turnips, here's a simple recipe Hubert perfected one night at the farm.

1. Gold Ball Turnips-diced medium size with a light coat of olive oil. roasted in the oven til soft.
   
2. Dressed with sesame oil and soy sauce
3. EATEN!
   

Morse on Last Chance Foods-Watermelon Radishes

WNYC has posted an interview with Morse on Last Chance Foods from November 30th, 2009.

Radishes, which get sweeter as the weather grows colder, are a great winter crop. Morse Pitts of Windfall Farms has tips for growing, storing, and eating watermelon radishes--and tells you why they go great with salsa

Maybe not the best for salsa, definitely good with hummus, dips, and mashed potatoes!



Listen to it from the WNYC website at Last Chance Foods

Windfall in New York Magazine

Gilfeather Rutabagas

Add a Comment

• By Robin Raisfeld & Rob Patronite
• Published Jan 10, 2010

(Photo: Hannah Whitaker. Illustrations: John Burgoyne)

It’s root-vegetable season, and if that doesn’t make you want to clap your hands and jump up and down, the so-called Gilfeather turnip might. Developed by Vermont farmer John Gilfeather in the late 1800s and recently introduced at Greenmarket’s Windfall Farms stand, the heirloom root (which is actually a rutabaga, Gilfeather’s nomenclature notwithstanding) has a sweet flavor with a mild radishlike bite, and it’s not too much to say it’s the best-tasting rutabaga around. Try a few grated raw in a salad, mashed with potatoes, or in this Finnish pudding recipe from Gastronomica editor and rutabaga authority Darra Goldstein, whose passion for the much-maligned veggie might only have been matched by John Gilfeather himself.

Darra Goldstein’s Finnish Rutabaga Pudding
2 1/2 pounds Gilfeather rutabagas
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Dash allspice
3 tbs. all-purpose flour
1 tbs. unsalted butter, softened
2 tbs. bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350. Butter a 1½-quart soufflé dish. Peel and (1) cube the rutabagas, and boil in salted water to cover until soft, 25 to 30 minutes. (2) Drain and mash by hand. Beat in eggs 1 at a time, then add milk, salt, spices, and flour. (3) Turn mixture into soufflé dish. With a fork, mash together the butter and bread crumbs and spread over the top of the rutabaga mixture. Bake, uncovered, for 1 hour, until lightly browned. Serves 6 to 8 (adapted from The Vegetarian Hearth: Recipes and Reflections for the Cold Season, by Darra Goldstein; HarperCollins, 1996).

Read more: 'Gastronomica' Editor Darra Goldstein’s Finnish Rutabaga Pudding -- New York Magazine In Season Recipe http://nymag.com/restaurants/recipes/inseason/63014/#ixzz0cjU9XOtT

The truck is unloaded and everyone has gone to bed

photo by Kevin Caplicki

Windfall on Saveur

Here is a recent piece about Windfall by Cathy Erway from the Saveur website:

THE FARM

Windfall Farms of Montgomery, New York

Source: Saveur

Photo: sleepyneko/Flickr

It pays to be plucky—at least, that's how the farmers at Windfall Farms feel. Often harvesting their produce the very same morning that they take it to the Greenmarket in New York City, the vegetable farmers have earned a reputation for consistently having some of the freshest, most eye-catching produce.

Sown on land that once housed a dairy operation, the farm was revitalized in 1980 by Morse Pitts, and to this day is maintained without chemical fertilizers or treated seeds. "We are always experimenting in growing rediscovered heirlooms and new hybrid varieties," Tim Wersan, a farmer at Windfall, said. And the offerings already are abundant. If dandelions and heirloom tomatoes have begun to bore you, try moving onto their crisp corn shoots or crinkly husk-covered ground-cherries. An array of colorful edible flowers like squash blossoms and the spicy nasturtium often come in convenient mixes, and they're almost all available until fall. Try pea shoots and blossoms as a salad green or garnish when they're young, and with older ones, try making a delicate-tasting stir-fry. 

Cathy Erway is a freelance writer and home cook whose blog, Not Eating Out in New York, is based on her two-year mission to do just that, in the city that never eats in.   Read all posts from The Farm

Have a Gold Ball

This is Hubert. He is holding one of Windfall Farms' Gold Ball Turnips. This Wednesday, we are giving restaurants a sample of this delicious variety, also known as Robertson's Golden Ball. This year's extended cold weather growing season has meant that the turnips are abundant with particularly high sugar levels.  Their flavor is nutty, sweet and mild, and not acrid like other turnips. Their texture is firm and juicy - good raw for salads or crudités. They are best simmered or roasted, and a superior substitute to potatoes because of their ability to soak-up flavor in stews and soups.

We are anticipating a hard frost at the farm this weekend, at which time the turnips will freeze and die in the ground. Because we have limited root storage capacity, we are harvesting the turnips as demand dictates. Therefore, we are pricing them at fifty cents per-pound (.50¢ / lb.) for orders of twenty pounds and more for pick-up at this Saturday's market. If you have a little storage space, we recommend you get a good amount now as they are a good "keeper" through the winter (after this Saturday, they will be $1.00 / pound and up!).

Windfall Farms is at the Union Square Greenmarket (16th St and Union Square West) every Wednesday and Saturday year-round. If you would like to place an order for pick-up, please order by 12 noon this Friday, December 4th. 845 457-5988

For our non-restaurant customers, here's link to some good turnip info.

Trouble in Paradise

Trouble in Paradise: Windfall Farms
Keith Wagstaff and Agaton Strom of Citysearch were at Windfall overnight this past summer to do an online photo essay for the website The Feedbag (self-described as "A Gastronomic Gazette").

We think they did a great job of capturing the farm from such a brief visit, but you should click on the link and see for yourself.

Union Square Riff Raff

Morse's photos around the farm

...and Market.
























I managed to wrangle Morse's memory card out of his camera to share a few flicks with y'all. Morse always has a camera and attempts to catch all sorts pf embarrassing and sweet moments. He's captured the farm in every season as well as the whole Hudson Valley, much of it from his recumbent bicycle!

Wayne Koestenbaum shoots Windfall for TimeOut NY

Well sort of.

Wayne Koestenbaum was one of 83 photographers, artists and personalities that was sent a disposable camera and challenged them to capture the city as they see it, then asked them about their experience by Time Out NY.

The list includes Drew Barrymore, Marty Markowitz, Jonas Mekas, Sean Lennon and, obviously, 78 other folks. Here's Wayne's flick at the stand.



Check out the rest of his images at Time Out NY.