Abundance, New Products & Events

Hello Friends,

How could Autumn be a month from Saturday? This Summer has been a blur of beautiful days with plenty of rainy days, some even downright swampy. We would much rather have it this way though, than to experience the drought we had last year.

We are so grateful for the abundance we continue to receive from the farm this season. Our gardens have produced plenty for our CSA, and have allowed us to create five value add products so far (that we will be introducing as soon as the labels are printed). We've also been able to consistently donate surplus produce to our local Peapack-Gladstone Food Pantry, and Elijah's Promise in New Brunswick. We've provided produce to Ninety Acres for their Farm to table dinner, the NOFA Festomato event at Ironbound Farm last Saturday, and weekly to our friends at Riverbend Farm for their farm store. God is good all the time.

Our Dry Farming experiment is going well since the rain has been pretty consistent. Take a look at the photo below. If all goes well, we will have Sunflowers and pumpkins sometime in October. Since we only seeded in mid July, we planted smaller varieties that mature faster, but it will be a good test just the same.

We are halfway through our time with the 48 young pullets in our chick brooder setup. Each week we turn down the thermostat by 5 degrees until the pullets are at the lowest overnight ambient temperature to match outdoors. Once they are eight weeks old, and have been conditioned to the lowest temperature, we can put them in the production coop. It takes eight weeks for their immune system to fully mature to withstand any pathogens endemic to our environment.

We have gotten some really interesting color combinations this breeding season. This one looks pretty fancy with her gray "shoes". We are hoping that her large comb doesn't indicate that she's a rooster instead, although there are plenty of those in there too. They are already showing their curiosity and assertiveness.

We would like to share some new products in our online store.

We've developed a natural bug repellent made from our own catnip plants that we are told works really well.

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/field-forest-bug-repellent?q=bug%2520spray&_pos=1&_sid=9e491f94f&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

We have also discovered some excellent products that are grown by a Regenerative Farm in CA. Frantoio Olive Oil, and their partners at Katz vinegars, grow their grapes exclusively to produce the most delicious vinegars we've tasted.

Their Italian olive varieties are grown to restore the soil, and to foster a living farm ecosystem. Their Zinfandel Vinegar has won a Good Food award. We now offer it along with their Red Wine, Honey and Apple Cider vinegars in our on-line store.

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/frantoio-grove-extra-virgin-olive-oil?q=olive%2520oil&_pos=1&_sid=f60f9a04a&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/katz-late-harvest-zinfandel-vinegar?q=vinegar&_pos=1&_sid=63c8c1630&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/katz-trio-red-wine-vinegar?q=vinegar&_pos=4&_sid=63c8c1630&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/katz-honey-vinegar?q=vinegar&_pos=6&_sid=63c8c1630&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/katz-gravenstein-apple-cider-vinegar?q=vinegar&_pos=3&_sid=63c8c1630&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

Our next monthly farm tour is on Friday, September 11th. It's been heartening to know how many people are interested in the work we are doing here. We promise that you will learn a lot.

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/maranatha-regenerative-farm-september-tour?q=farm%2520tour&_pos=2&_sid=e817dddf9&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

We will be back at the Bedminster Farmer's Market on Saturday, September 5th.

Our Autumnal Equinox Forest Farm walk and Sound Bath event will be on September 18th. The element of Autumn is metal, so we will be bringing our metal foot bowl out to play it while participants stand in it and feel the Earth's energy rise up through their feet. It's a really cool experience, and helps ground you heading into the new season.

https://www.maranatha.farm/products/autumn-equinox-forest-walk-sound-bath?q=forest%2520farm%2520walk&_pos=1&_sid=6347c8dce&_ss=r&Title=Default+Title

Have you checked out our Cookbook Swap when you last stopped in the farm store? If you have cookbooks that you've tired of and would like to swap them for a new one, please bring them to the store and change them for a fresh one.

We leave you with a photo of one of our new favorite tomatoes. It's a Row 7 Seed variety called "Midnight Roma". Row 7 is a seed and vegetable company started by Chef Dan Barber of Blue Hill at Stone Barns in New York. It's been prolific in the field and is gorgeous as well as delicious.

Wishing you Peace as the last days of Summer wind down. May God bless you and your family today and always.

Sincerely,

Michele & the Maranatha Farm Team