Green City Farmer's Market Kicks off the season

I, Christina, your blogger extrodinaire, went to Green City Market in Chicago for the first time on Saturday. It was their kick off week, the first Saturday outdoors for the 2010 season. Truthfully the only reason I got to go was because other more desirable employees were otherwise engaged.

I went with the idea of getting pictures to post and use for various projects but I didn't have much time! I did manage to grab these images early in the day and I am glad I did. We were so busy. The crowds were huge and we sold out of everything we brought...which was quite a bit. I never left the booth the whole time. So much for fabulous pictures but we are not disappointed with the sales!

Jim was my hero. He was awesome to work with and bunched more pounds of asparagus then any of us know. We had packed 22 lugs (approx. 25# each) and bunched most of it into 1# bunches. At one point three people were bunching and two of us were selling it just as fast!

The rhubarb was beautiful. I actually bunched most of that...my hands were stained to prove it. I spoke with a lot of great customers who were going to make various recipes with it. I really hope they let us know how their adventures in cooking turn out.

Thankfully mom remembered the straw so we didn't get quite so muddy.

Brian helped us set up before going to his market on 61st Street. Much love to him for doing such an excellent job.

~Christina, GCM Sub

Foraging on the farm

Today after taking some pictures at Louis Gelder & Sons I ran out to the farm. I needed some things you see. Like lilacs for my table. Oh my they smell delightful.

I also needed rhubarb.

Mathew and I had picked the first stalks the other day and I was dreaming of making a pie. But alas one big chunk of our harvest went to Grandma Ellis so she could make a pie. And then my generous husband gave the rest to his mom so she could make a dessert with it. I wouldn't have really had time to make it over the weekend anyway I guess.

This morning I took care of that though and gathered some for us. :) There was still not a lot that was bright red (I can be picky) but hopefully I can make that pie today...and maybe even blog about it.

Too bad I forgot to grab some eggs!!!

~Christina

These our are new postcards for the coming seasons. We wanted something easy for customers to keep so that they know what we grow and sell. We also of course want them to know how to find us...especially on the internet.

~Christina

Grant

Umm, yeah loving this sunset shot!

Mulching with a mower saves us time and money.

It saves a ton of labor and by mulching instead of burning the trimmings we can cut down on that carbon footprint.

After rolling over the trimmings, most of them full branches, it leaves a trail of mulch like this.

It is not only useful in the orchards but also takes care of the thick blueberry trimmings.

This particular machine is a new addition to the farm and was purchased as part of a grant.

The grant was awarded by the Frontera Farmers Foundation

We are very grateful for their support of us and all the other farms they blessed with grant money. Check out this incredible list of awardees.

Again we are very grateful for this support!

~Christina, for all of us

My desktop wallpaper

I just pretty much love this picture and wanted to share.

Working on several new posts for later so stay tunned...btw, comments wouldn't hurt progress.

~Christina

Newlyweds on the farm

My wonderful husband took me on a picnic! Surrounded by blossoming trees we had a few minutes to enjoy each other's company between his work at the store and his work on the farm. This made me very happy...and I would like to think it helped him relax too.

I had been wanting to try this chicken recipe for several days so we did not have traditional picnic food. I basically just made supper at home and hauled it out to his parent's farm.

It was delicious.

Yes, there is a lot of farm work to do but we are newlyweds after all. I really do love the farm but I won't lie...it has been hard for me to adjust to the fact that Mathew works all day then we spend most evenings working on farm stuff. (I married such a hardworking man and I am very grateful for his care of me!)

Oh, and about the picture of us...it is definitely not the most flattering. My Mathew may not love pictures (especially of himself) but he does love me and I do love pictures (especially of him).

~The new bride who is hoping for many more picnics~

:)

In Full Bloom

Southwest Michigan is a pretty awesome place to live...especially in the spring. Driving around the farm and the county is overwhelming as the orchards pop into full bloom. As during every season on the farm the weather is such a big issue. Blossomtime can be especially stressful as we wait to see if this year's crop will make it through the fluctuating temperatures. It has been dangerously cold these last couple of days but we are hanging on and trusting that everything will be alright.

Now don't get the idea that all of the trees bloom at once but all of these images were taken in April...mostly in the last week.

~Apricot~

~Sweet Cherry~

~Plum~

~Tart Cherry~

~Pear~

~Blueberry buds~

~Peaches~

~Apple~

I love taking pictures of blossoms~ I mean really, flowers are my favorite photographic subject. That means that every year from here on out I will probably take at least a thousand blossom close ups...making it super hard to pick just a few to do something with. :)

Happy early Blossomtime!