Oak Knoll Farm CSA 2014

We will be delivering to Albert Lea, Austin, Mason City, Owatonna & surrounding areas in 2014..  For the latest news check out our page on Facebook..https://www.facebook.com/pages/Oak-Knoll-Farm/107077162717139?ref=hl

Or email us oakknollfarms@yahoo.com

Our Blog has been discontinued..

 Oak Knoll Farm CSA 

2013 CSA Season

Winter Garden from top of grain bin

Summer Garden from top of grain bin

This year we have enrolled in the USDA Transition to Organic program.  We are committed to sustainable farming.  

Our CSA season is 18 weeks June-Oct.  A Full share will contain approximately 1/2 a bushel of produce that is ripe and delicious each week. The full share should feed a family who eat a moderate amount of fresh produce. The share will contain different produce as the season progresses.  

Crops you might find in your share over the season include:  Early season box: asparagus, chard, greens, kale, lettuce, mizuna, peas, radishes, spinach, and spring onions:  Mid Season box: basil, chard, beets, broccoli, carrots, cabbage, cucumbers, garlic, green beans, kale, kohlrabi, mizuna, onions, potatoes, summer squash, and tomatoes: Late Season box: apples, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, eggplant, peppers, potatoes, tomatillos, tomatoes, watermelon and winter squash.

CSA members will PICK-UP their CSA boxes weekly June-Oct at designated sites in Albert Lea, Austin, Mankato, Rochester, and Mason City.    

If you can’t pick-up your share you can have a friend or another CSA member.  Albert Lea site- Tuesday 4-6pm K&K bakery, S Broadway.  Austin site-Thursday 4-6pm The Hardy Geranium, 4^th St SE.

Members will have option to purchase additional items at pick-up site not included in CSA shares such as Free-Range chicken/eggs, honey, maple syrup, and pastured pork all from our farm.  Our happy animals enjoy the sunshine and never given hormones or antibiotics.  

We raise French Freedom Ranger chickens that produce slow growing broilers.  The genetic stock is derived from the American and European old heritage breed of chicken and was developed in the early 1960’s to meet the highest standards of the French Label Rouge Free Range program. Currently, the Freedom Ranger genetic stock is used by most non-factory farm production models (alternative) all across Europe and also by small pastured poultry producers in search of a traditionally raised farm chicken - just like the "oldies", healthy and with a succulent flavor and texture.  Most poultry producers use fast growing breeds (hybrid white synthetic Cornish crosses).  e strongly believe in traditional and environmentally friendly farming methods, and we are convinced that allowing the chickens to do what comes naturally ensures an incredible meal for your table!  

Chickens $3.40lb 3-6lb avg

Freedom Ranger Chickens

Reserve your Thanksgiving Turkey before their gone.  We only raise 50 turkeys a year.  They are pastured and feed organic feed.

$3.00lb 18-25lb avg

 

CSA Share Pictures

CSA Full Share

CSA Full Share

Broccoli 

Farm Fresh Eggs, Honey, range Chickens

Araucana eggs(rainbow layers)

We are taking orders for our range chickens now.  Our chickens range under the oak trees grazing and eating greens from the gardens. When ready these chickens will be processed by a state-inspected  poultry processor and then  fresh frozen before delivery.  Our neighbor John and Carol Jacobs members of the Albert Lea Farmers Market raise free range Black Star, Red Star, Araucana, and New Hampshire Reds.  Their chickens free range the farm and pastures daily returning to their coop nightly.  The free range grazing adds to their diet and overall health and benefits you with more vitamins, less cholesterol and saturated fat.  The Araucana lays  colored eggs  that range  from turquoise  to deep olive to shades of  brown.  John and Carol are also offering honey from their  farm.  If any CSA members are interested in ordering  eggs, honey, or  chickens please contact me bye email or phone and they will be delivered along with CSA shares.

Early Season 2nd week shares

It has been a very busy time on the farm lately.  We have transplanted the first planting of tomatoes and peppers are going in this week.  I have set up a drip irrigation system for the tomatoes and peppers while other crops are hoping for rain in the forecast.  Weeding is a never ending task that goes on in between the many other projects taking place.  The baby chicks are growing fast and will be moved to a fenced in area near the gardens in the next couple weeks.   Walking through the garden  I see the first plantings of broccoli and cabbage have started forming heads,  the head lettuce is just waiting on rain to fully mature, and the potato plants depending upon variety are more than  foot tall and will soon be hilled.

This weeks Early Season shares will include Red Russian Kale, Rhubarb, 3 types of radish(Rover, D'Avignon, White Icicle) some asian greens Purple Mizuna, Tatsoi, and Hon Tsai Tai.

Garden pics

Garden pics

Red Cabbage

Green Cabbage

Garlic

Onions from sets

Delivery days and times

Albert Lea CSA pick up days will be Mondays from  4-6pm.  A CSA member Taryn Israel Nechanicky at 508 Grace St., Albert Lea has graciously opened her home for members to pick-up CSA shares from 4-6pm.  

Albert Lea CSA delivery shares will be delivered to home/business on  Mondays between 2:30-4pm.

Austin CSA pick-up days will be Thursday 4-6pm at The Hardy Geranium  100 4th St SE, Austin.

Austin CSA delivery shares will be delivered to home/business on Thursdays between 3-4pm.

May Early season shares will likely begin the week of May 14th.

The 18 week CSA season will likely begin the first week of June.
Any questions about delivery dates, times, or locations please call or email 507-402-7637  oakknollfarms@yahoo.com.

April news

It has been a very busy month of April.  The month began with planting potatoes, transplanting onions, cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower from the greenhouse into the garden.  The frost came  and  frosted the onions white.  However they all have showed very good signs of new growth and will likely be sweeter because of the frost.  The cabbage, broccoli, and cauliflower are growing well enjoying the  cool  temperatures and frequent rain.  The majority of our direct seeded crops radishes, spinach, turnip,  beets, asian greens, leaf lettuces, and peas are growing well. I saw a few potato leafs poking through the soil yesterday.  Today our baby chicks arrived. This is my first year  raising chickens.  I will be taking orders for free range chickens  if anyone is interested.  I ordered a 100 males from  Murray McMurray Hatchery  guaranteed at least 5 different varieties from this list: Black Australorps; Lt. Brahmas; Dark Cornish; Black and White Giants; Buff and White Orpingtons; New Hampshire, Rhode Island Reds, Barred, White, Partridge, Buff Rocks; Sussex, Turkens; White, Silver Laced, & Columbian Wyandottes, Red Star and Black Star.   I have turned a small storage shed into a brooder house where they will stay for about 6 weeks and then move them into a fenced area not far from the garden where i have constructed a 20ft x 20ft coop with tin on top and chicken wire on the sides.  Our tomatoes are hoping for sunshine in the forecast and warmer temperatures.  In May we will be starting melons, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and squash in the greenhouse.

Planting Season



Trailer with older transplants



 It has been a very busy few weeks.  We started direct seeding crops such as spinach, lettuce, radishes, asian greens, and peas.  We planted red nordland, pontiac, yukon gold, all blue, french fingerling, and austrian crescent potatoes.  We still have a lot of transplanting onions to do over the next few days.  Our tomatoes have came up in the greenhouse while we have moved the other crops outside onto the trailer during days and into the garage at night to stay warm.  Soon crops like cucumbers, cantaloupe, and watermelon will be seeded in the greenhouse.   



Red Cross, Winter Density, & Flashy Trout Back lettuce



Broccoli and Cabbage







A view of the garden a top our grain bin



The Greenhouse

Our plants are loving this warm weather.  We have onions, cabbage, broccoli, spinach, kale, lettuce, and swiss chard growing so far.  As they mature we will move them outside for about 2 weeks to harden them off before transplanting them into the ground.  We will have flats germinating in the basement ready to move into the greenhouse as room is available.  We will be very busy the next two months starting warm crops such as tomatoes, peppers, squash, and melons




Our Greenhouse




Cabbage and Broccoli




Onions



The first seedlings.

Broccoli and Cabbage Seedlings

We have seeded broccoli, cabbage, kale, spinach, swiss chard, & onions so far.  We have started these in 128 cell flats in the basement under fluorescent lights.  In mid-March they will be moved into the greenhouse outside and into the gardens in late-April.  Starting our seeds inside provides many benefits.  Crops like onions require over 100 days and would not have the time to mature in our area if not started indoors.  When growing organically on of the biggest benefits of transplanting young seedlings is getting a head start on weeds and insects.  We can be sure that our transplants are raised organically.  When buying seeds instead of transplants, we also have many more choices. We can look for more interesting features or better flavor in vegetable varieties. There are many more heirloom varieties available as seed than as plants. 

Membership Form

Anyone interested in becoming a member for 2012 needs to click the link on right side of page to download, print, and mail in membership form.  Please circle any shares you are interested in and circle delivery preference.

2012 CSA Season

Winter may be here but we are thinking a lot about spring already.  This year we will only have 50 CSA shares available and have recieved a very large response already.  If interested I suggest signing up soon as shares are on a first come basis.  This year along with many new crops and varieties everything will be delivered WASHED.

Seed order for 2012

We have put in our seed order for next years CSA.  A lot of them have already arrived.  Here is a list of our seed order so far.  If you want to learn more about our seeds you can see pictures and read more at www.johnnyseeds.com.  A few exciting new things we well be growing this year are seedless watermelon(red & yellow), cauliflower(green, white, cheddar, purple), carrots(purple, orange, white, yellow) and lots of new Heirloom Tomatoes.

Bush Beans- Provider(green), Velour Filet(purple), Concador(Yellow)

Beets- Merlin(red), Touchstone(gold), Ace(Red),

Broccoli- Waltham 29, Gypsy
Cabbage- Gonzales(green), Farao(green), Super Red(red),

Carrots- Nelson, Purle Haze, White Satin, Yellow Pak
Cauliflower- Fremont(white), Cheddar(Yellow cheese color), Graffiti(purple), Panther(Green)

Chard-Fordhook(green)

Cucumbers- Albi pickling, Marketmore slicing, Diva seedless

Dry Beans- Vermont cranberry(Baked Bean), Midnight Black Turtle(Black),

Greens- Purple Mizuna, Tatsoi, Hon Tsai Tai

Kohlrabi- Eder(white)

Lettuce- Butterhead varieties- Australe, Red Cross, Ermosa,

Lettuce- Bibb variety- Buttercrunch

Lettuce-Romaine variety- Flashy trout back, Winter Density, Helvius,

Cantaloupe- Maverick, Athena

Onion- Walla-Walla, Gunnison(yellow), Ruby Ring(red)

Pac choi- red choi(red), black summer(green)
Peas- Caselode(shelling), Snow Sweet(snow/sugar)

Hot peppers- Serrano, Highlander, Hungarian Hot Wax,

Bell Peppers- Flavorburst(Yellow/orange), Ace(green/red), Yankee Bell(green/red)

Pumpkin- Winter luxury(pie)

Radish- Rover(red), D'Avignon(French),

Rutabaga- American Purple Top,

Summer Squash- Sunburst(patty pan), Golden Glory(Zucchini), Plato(Zucchini)

Winter Squash- Honey Bear(acorn), Waltham(Butternut), Burgess(Buttercup), Sunshine(Kabocha), Confection(Kabocha), Cha-Cha(Kabocha)

Tomato-Sun Cherry(red), Smarty(grape), Mountain Fresh(Red), Pink Beauty(red)

Heirloom Tomatoes- Brandywine(red), Moskvich(red), Rose(red), Striped German(red/yellow), Green Zebra(green)

Turnip- Purple Top White Globe

Seedless Watermelon- Sunshine(yellow), Sweet Bite(red), Farmers Wonderful(red),

Potatoes we get from Albert Lea Seed house and will include- Yukon Gold, Kennebec, Pontiac, Nordland, All Blue.  Fingerling varieties include French, Austrian Crescent, and Russian Banana.

Looking towards the future of our farm

This winter we will be investing in a Eco weeder II.  This will dramatically increase the size of garden we can manage.  Weeding is never ending but this should help us out. 

Planting Garlic

We have been planting garlic lately that we will harvest next summer.  We have purchased our garlic from Burpee and planted these varieties Purple Glazer, Transylvania, and Spanish Roja.

Garden picture from atop grain bin

Here is a picture of our main garden from atop our grain bin.  About half of it has been rototilled but there is a bit of cleaning up to do before we can till the other half.

Other farm equipment

Here is a pic of our Massey tractor we use for a lot of things around the garden.  The other picture is of our husqvarna rototiller we use to prepare seed beds before planting.

Investing in our farm

After the great season we have had.  We are investing in our CSA's future with the purchase of this new 3pt Landpride Rototiller.