How to help your garden make it through spring chill

While the calendar says it’s April, the weather seems to think it’s February. With low temperatures in the teens and 20s this morning, it may have looked like spring with all the daffodils and green grass, but it felt like winter. It’s times like this that test the patience of a Central Pennsylvania gardener.

The lesson learned here was simple; even if it’s warm in March, that doesn’t mean it can’t get really cold in April. And it’s this reality that really needs to be taken into account when starting a food garden in our area.

In my years of experience gardening in these parts, I’ve picked up a few ideas and tips on how to get through the gardening purgatory that is a mid-state spring. Here’s some things to keep in mind to guide your garden through this challenging time: 

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Tags: gardening | spring |

How Plowshare Produce prepares for a new season

Plowshare Produce is a farm located in Huntingdon County. Michah and Bethany Spicher Schonberg have been fortunate to be a part of this business for the last eight seasons. They are able to use the land her parents own, and it is meaningful to the family. To get started they begin planting broccoli, tomatoes, and pepper seeds in the greenhouse, and since it has been nice they were able to plant spinach outside.

This is the time of year where they also begin gathering old and new members. Each member is asked to pay $625 in May, to receive weekly vegetables, May through November. To sell their produce, they set up tables at their church each week, and people bring their own bags and pick what they want. As of now, they have around 100 customers.

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Tags: PlowshareProduce | farm |

Celebrate spring and think of summer with a rhubarb mojito

A friend of mine is something of an amateur mixologist, or cocktail creator. A year ago during a visit, I introduced him to shrubs, the delightful fruit/sugar/vinegar concoction that has made something of a comeback. Originally a way to preserve harvests in Colonial times, shrubs are definitely back in Central Pennsylvania thanks to Tait Farm Foods. Tait Farm offers a variety of shrub flavors, such as lemon, ginger, raspberry, apple, and rhubarb. The main purpose of shrubs is as part of a beverage.

Now, you don’t have to drink alcohol to enjoy shrubs; in fact, they are quite nice with just tonic water or ginger ale. However, they make a great mixer for alcoholic drinks, and when my friend was visiting, we brainstormed a drink for rhubarb. It was a warm April day when he was up, so we came up with a sort of rhubarb mojito.

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Tags: recipe | rhubarb | rum | cocktail | mint | TaitFarm |

Five great local food restaurant items

Since this blog has been in existence, the local food restaurant scene in Central Pennsylvania has expanded. Not only have there been some new local food restaurants popping up, there are also some established restaurants that have began serving food sourced with local ingredients.

While there have been an increase in local food options, that has created a bit of an issue…what to choose! The options are many, so it can be hard to pick. To help you decide what to try, here are recommendations for five different items you can find on Central Pennsylvania menus that feature local ingredients.

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Tags: burgers | CafeLemont | beets | MeyerDairy | Spats |