Weekly News, 8.19.20

Happy Thursday!

If you’ve been reading our newsletters lately or follow us on social media, you know by now that August is PA Produce Month. It’s a celebration of our Pennsylvania farms and the bountiful harvest that August brings.

I’ve also mentioned recently that growing fresh and healthy food for our community is in the Bedner DNA, and though a smaller part of our overall business, it’s one that we love! It’s with that enthusiasm that I announce a new venture we’re on– growing fresh vegetables in the greenhouse!

We are so excited to extend our growing season. Seeds have been ordered and planted. Some plants have been transplanted into the fields already. The rest are planted in the greenhouses and growing. The anticipated harvest for these new crops will be mid-October to end of January. 

Here’s what’s growing and you can look forward to this fall and winter—

• Beets 
• Broccoli
• Cabbage
• Carrots
• Cucumber 
• Eggplant 
• Kale
• Lettuce
• Micro greens
• Peppers 
• Green Onion
• Pak Choi
• Tomato
• Spinach
• Sunflower greens
• Zucchini and yellow squash
• Spaghetti squash
• Acorn squash

Once the frost comes and the fields are done, our new crops will be just about ready to take the place of the summer crop. How will you get this fresh produce? At the greenhouse! That’s right, we will not be closing after Halloween. Our store will remain open until just before Christmas. I’ll let you know some more about that next week 🙂

In the meantime, enjoy the August harvest, and thank you for supporting local farms! For recipe ideas and canning/preserving tips, visit the PA Veggies and PA Eats websites.If you’ve never tried canning/preserving, I encourage you to try freezing. It’s an easy place to start, and you’ll be glad when you can enjoy the harvest in the winter too. If you do any canning or freezing this month, let me know what you accomplished, and if you’re a pro-canner or a first timer. 

Take care,
Melanie

Saturday, August 22 @ 10am Did you know that a beautiful landscape can increase your home value by fifteen percent? Join Russ Bedner this Saturday to get ideas for fall planting. Fall is a great time to add perennials, trees and shrubs to the landscape. Whether you want to freshen up existing landscape beds, or add new ones, the fall is the perfect time to do it! Russ will teach you about some basic landscape design principles and guidelines to take the guesswork out of what to plant.  Feel free to bring measurements and photos of your landscape to get suggestions. All participants will get a $10 coupon off your next store purchase. Click Here to Register Perennial Spotlight – Plumbago Ceratostigma plumbaginoides   Height:  12 inches Spread:  18 inches Sunlight:      Hardiness Zone:  4b Other Names:  Leadwort Excellent groundcover with clusters of the truest blue flowers in late summer; foliage turns a nice bronzy-red color in fall; flowers resemble that of woodland phlox. This is a relatively low maintenance plant, and is best cleaned up in early spring before it resumes active growth for the season. It is a good choice for attracting bees and butterflies to your yard.  Plumbago is recommended for the following landscape applications; Mass Planting Rock/Alpine Gardens Border Edging General Garden Use Groundcover Naturalizing And Woodland Gardens Upcoming Events: Thursday, August 20 @ 6pm Sandcast Leaf Birdbath Workshop Saturday, August 22 @ 10am Landscape Design Ideas Thursday, August 27 @ 6pm Potting with a Twist: Fall Containers Saturday, August 29 @ 9:30am Yoga on the Farm Class held rain or shine in the outdoors, (we practice in a covered pavilion if it rains). There is no registration needed. Just show up at the greenhouse entrance by 9:20am. From there we walk together as a group over to our pond side yoga spot. Fee is $10 payable by cash or check to the instructor Kristen the day of. Bring a mat, large towel or blanket for the grass, and water. Join us! Downloadable Events Flyer Click Here to Learn More & Register!

Happy PA Produce Month!  This month we celebrate the peak harvest of most PA vegetable crops. To do that, we’re sharing each Friday this month we’re giving away a Ball Preserving Starter Kit and a $25 Bedner’s Gift Card on our facebook page. Congratulations to Julianne Breen, the winner last Friday! For a chance to win, look for and comment on our post this Friday morning. The winner will be randomly chosen and announced by 5pm Friday night. PA Produce Month Recipe Fresh Corn Polenta Usually, polenta is made from boiled corn meal, and when it’s made right, it’s rich, creamy and comforting, fortified with plenty of butter and cheese. But, like most porridge-type dishes, it can be a bit rich, especially during warmer months. The PA Eats kitchen team developed this recipe, meant for the height of corn season in Pennsylvania (July through September), to show off polenta’s lighter side. Click Here for the Recipe 6″ pots of Basil, $6.99 each BUY 1, GET 1 FREE! Ball Preserving Starter Kit, $32.99 includes 4 half pint jars with lids and bands, 1 pectin packet, 1 flexible canning rack, 1 jar lifter, 1 headspace tool and 1 jar funnel 25% OFF! Stop by to see our Nursery Clearance Area! Select plants are 50% OFF.