An Amish CSA Farm Visit

Geauga Family Farms is the CSA (Community Sponsored Agriculture) that I get my weekly veggie shares from.  They offer vegetables and some fruit and the majority of them are certified organic. 

Along with veggies & fruit, we have many add on options including breads, cheeses, meats, honey, maple syrup & pies. Im sure there are other options Im forgetting. 

Another bonus we get for belonging to Geauga Family Farms CSA is that we get to visit some of the farms on a Farm Tour.  They happen a couple times a month during the summer. 

My daughter & I were able to make it to one of them a couple weeks ago..
 This farm is in Middlefield Ohio which is located in North East Ohio. 

I thought I'd share my photos of the farm with you.. 

 The Neighbors!  I wasnt able to get a full on view of the home we were visiting because there were too many Amish folks mingling with all the guests they had that day..   We were asked to not photograph them as their Ordnung  prohibits it.  They're lovely folks & have invited us to take photos of the farms if we wish as long as we respect their traditions. Its the least we can do. 

This is a partial view of the home of the farmers who hosted us. 

I've been inside the mud room that is accessed by a door under the room on stilts that you can see. 

They have a full mudroom & wash room and I suspect they do canning in there as well. 

This is where they had my chickens I bought about a month ago.. 

They have plenty of chickens!  One of the sons gave another couple along with me & my daughter a private tour since we were late getting there. I was really happy to be able to see where my chickens had lived.

On with the farm tour...  

 Now these are what I call Black Tomatoes.

There were a huge amount of tomatoes on the vines..  Oh how I wish they were mine.. 

Loads & loads of big beautiful tomatoes

Unfortunately, Late Blight hit a day or two before our farm visit..  The tomatoes were still wonderful.
I'd love to know what variety these are.. Those plants were loaded! 

Beans & Gladiolas for the Farmers Market

 Their corn was looking really good and we had a Corn Roast while we were there.
They soaked the corn in water and then put them on the grill to roast for a short time.
They served it with lots of butter & I think I saw some honey too..  Yum!  It was great!

More corn & other veggies in the fields..

 Tomatoes from afar & other fields..

They had lots & lots of rhubarb!

Their beets looked beautiful too.  I was oohing & ahhing over them & our guide asked me "You dont get tired of them?"   Oh No!!  I cant get too many beets in my share.  Im thinking about buying a half bushel.

Their carrots were beautiful as well..

Now, while we dont get any of this (I dont think) this was a really nice healthy stand of Asparagus that had gone to fern.  Im working on building my own big stand of asparagus

They grow some of the most gorgeous leeks I've ever seen..  They make everything look so easy.
 

This greenhouse is actually not on their property we were told.. He also told us they order and buy their plant starts, so they aren't growing them, themselves.I didnt ask who they get their starts from but I suspect from some of the other farmers since I know they grow their own starts.

Just to the right of the green house are a huge amount of blackberry bushes..
Yum! They go from next to the green house all the way down to the road.. which is a "far piece", maybe a 1/4 of a mile.

 Perfect..

Thick as can be...

And heavily loaded..  Yum!! I need a blackberry smoothie..  I'll be right back!!

 2 long rows of blackberries all the way down the road..  Im not sure I'd love to be the one picking these every day..  What a chore!

In addition to the fruit & veggies they grow for the CSA & Farmers Market, they also grow flowers that they sell at Farmers Markets.  I wouldnt complain if they added flowers to our CSA.
I know other CSA's do..
Here are some of this farms gorgeous flowers..

I love this garden with the old Push Plow!  I used to have one just like it & at times it was the only way I had to till up my garden.. Hard work but good memories.

Snapdragons, Dalias, Colius, Zinnia & Clemone are the flowers I recognize in this flowerbed.

 Snapdragons & Zinnas

Cleome & Zinnas

Isnt this little fence border gorgeous? Someone on this farm has a very artistic touch.
I enjoyed taking photos of  the beauty all around us.

And I think this is another most gorgeous touch.. I want one just like it!

You can see a few other little artistic touches tucked in here & there..

 I peeked into the green house & found it was filled with garlic drying..
Am I the only one who REALLY LOVES GARLIC?
 This much garlic makes me REALLY happy!
Its like a love affair! Shhh..

These are other members of our CSA who were sitting around under the trees in front of the house, just next to the corn roasting going on.
The shade was gorgeous & this is a wonderful place for a family to gather around & enjoy a few mintues
of rest..

They have lots of turkeys in the pastures and this one who escaped the fences..
He & a buddy were hanging out in the barn.. 

This greenhouse like structure is where they sell many of the farm items they raise.. and they have a Farm Store Business behind it where they sell all manner of organic farm goods in addition to vitamins & supplements, seeds, & fertilizers. I've been known to be a customer there too.

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 Here are a few sights of whats to be seen in the Organic Produce Tent..

I wound up buying a bushel of tomatoes from them..  For the first time in close to 30 years, my own garden was a dismal failure and I had to have organic tomatoes to make my own Rotel Tomatoes.

 We left the farm & went to visit M'honey's niece who lives in the next "town" over from where we were..  She'd called & said she had apples for me, and to stop by since she'd seen we were in the neighborhood..   so stop by we did!

I got a bushel of apples from her, took this last picture of the neighboring Amish Farm from her front yard and called it a day..

If that isnt gorgeous, I dont know what is!!

Hope you enjoyed this Farm Tour!!

Have you ever visited an Amish Farm?  I'd love to hear about it.