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Please remember to bring some reusable bags, and shopping bags from home.

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To find out all of our market locations please

click on the below link to our website page for

Available locations.

We also try to update as to when they open and close for the season and the days and times during which they operate. If you see errors please let us know. Just hit reply to this email.

~ Strawberry Sale ~ 

To be honest we are a tad long on the strawberries at this time.

They will be a couple of days old, but we think that they will be in great shape, just in need of a home and a purpose in life.

~~~~~

Our pickers, see below, are especially interested that all of their hard work down on their knees in the heat is not in vain. Actually it really is hard work but they do take turns with the job, start quite early in the relative cool of the morning, and quit early. We pick every morning so that the berries, as well as the workers aren't too heated up when they go into the cooler.

We actually had Ben mount a good sized cooler unit out front of a working but retired farmers market truck to chill down berries during picking so that they would be at least kept somewhat cool before being moved into the big cooler at the warehouse.

The pickers can then finish out the day with working at thinning the peach crop, and any other stone fruits that may have set a large crop. When done with that it is on to apple thinning.

I'm hoping that many of you get the two flat deal and make a bunch of jam.

Over the years there have been plenty of customers

who make jam, of one sort or another, as presents on holidays, the many in the winter, when it is most likely to be appreciated.

Little did I think that we would offer a sale at this point in strawberry season, but all those different varieties are putting off a pretty huge crop. Arturo did tell me today that strawberries would be done pretty soon.

STRAWBERRY PRESERVES

By: Wendi, loavesanddishes

This easy recipe, though it has lots of steps and a few special

items to get if you aren't already equipped for jam making,

really is utterly simple; not to say that it isn't a pretty

long process, as well as a bit of a messy one.

Don't be intimidated by all the steps, it is all quite ordinary,

just following a longish recipe, and above all having what you will need to accomplish all steps. We don't want anyone rushing to the store for jars or lids while boiling down the strawberries and sugar.

Below is a video, probably with ads etc. (out of which you'll need to click) that I pulled off the site from which come the text and link for the jam making recipe and info below. The video is a half hour tour of Wendi making jam in her kitchen. For newbies to jam making it has great info to make things easy for you.

This is the first video I've embedded in a newsletter, I simply think that it would be quite valuable to a new jam maker. The the recipe on the web page is loaded with photos, making it easy to visualize all the steps.

It looks like this batch of strawberry preserves will take four quarts of berries - a half flat. It calls for about a gallon of strawberries to make a single batch of jam and each batch yields about 8-10 quart sized jam jars, as her family is large enough to go through quite a bit of jam.

If you purchase Twin Springs' jams and jellies they may be used, and are all pint sized, so that you will need somewhere in the order of 20 jars, max. They are home canning jars and are certainly reusable, but you should purchase a new set of lids.

Below are the ingredients for the batch that will use half of an 8 quart flat of berries, but make sure to read below that for a lower sugar and no pectin recipe. It looks like the main difference is that in the low sugar recipe you boil it longer.

  Ingredients

• 7 Cups of Granulated Sugar
• 5 Cups of crushed strawberries, about 8 cups of whole berries – or about a gallon? (8 cups of berries would be more like 1/2 gallon, don't you think? Hmmmmmm.)
• 4 Tbs. lemon juice
• 1 package of regular powdered fruit pectin 1.75 oz/49-57g.

Fruit getting ripe at this time

We are right on the edge of starting to harvest blueberries, have picked a few black raspberries, see the sweet cherries and sour cherries should be able to be started in the coming week.

 The first peaches, see below in a photo David sent to me this morning, are going to be ready to pick in just a few days. These Rich May (well maybe down south they ripen in May) are large yellow peaches that while cling get the season off to a great start.

Do we have to separate you two?

Best, worst companion plants

Plant friends with friends, and everyone will get along.

Your garden – and your wallet – will thank you.

From, you guessed it, MorningAgClips

French and African marigolds exude a chemical that repels many insects and outright kills nematodes, parasitic eelworms that damage the roots of vegetable and fruit crops. (Photo: Protopian Pickle Jar, Flickr/Creative Commons)

We gardeners spend so much time stressing over what our plants need that we often forget they grew just fine for millennia without us. Suppose we step back from our self-aggrandizing human nature and take our cues from actual nature instead?

That would save time, money and the environment by reducing the need for fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides — even garden stakes.

Many plants co-exist in either symbiotic or non-complementary relationships. Native Americans noticed this centuries ago, and used their findings to take advantage of plants’ natural inclinations.

Their “Three Sisters” method of growing corn, beans and squash together is perhaps the most well-known example of “companion planting,” a practice that puts plants to work to keep themselves and their neighbors healthy.

The trio serve each other well: As the squash spreads its large, prickly leaves over the ground, it provides shade to keep roots cool, suppresses weeds and discourages animal browsing. Corn grows upright to support the vining beans, which repay the debt by fixing nitrogen in the soil to fertilize all three plants.

Like those beans, all legumes, such as peas, lentils, soybeans and peanuts, capture nitrogen from the air and convert it into a form that nourishes the soil – and the plants growing in it. At the end of the season, alfalfa or clover can be planted in cleared-out vegetable beds and turned over the following spring to add valuable nutrients to the soil. Those nutrients reduce, and can even eliminate, the need for fertilizer during the growing season.

Some plants deter insects or stave off disease. Basil, for instance, repels mites, aphids and mosquitoes, and has anti-fungal properties. It also repels tomato hornworms, proving it works just as hard in your garden as in your Caprese salad.

Tomatoes pay it forward by protecting asparagus from beetles, and roses from black spot, an often-deadly fungal disease. But keep tomatoes away from potatoes, cabbage and fennel, which would stunt their growth. Nasturtiums, on the other hand, improve the flavor of their tomato and squash neighbors.

French and African marigolds exude a chemical that repels many insects and outright kills nematodes, parasitic eelworms that damage the roots of vegetable and fruit crops.

Chrysanthemums produce pyrethrins, natural chemicals that repel ticks, fleas, mosquitoes, flies and other insects so well that they’ve been emulated to create synthetic pyrethroids, which are sold as herbicides and insect repellents. Why treat your plants with laboratory-made chemicals when their inspiration is naturally available – and doesn’t carry a warning label?

Got slugs? Plant lavender. Similarly, chives chase aphids from lettuce and roses, and sage repels cabbage moths. Oregano and radishes protect against squash beetles and cucumber beetles, but sunflowers inhibit the growth of beans and potatoes.

Zinnias and parsnips attract ladybugs, which are gluttons for aphids and cabbage flies. So do parsley and dill, but pick one or the other because they don’t get along with each other.

Onions and garlic will stunt your asparagus, beans, leeks and parsley, but will discourage insects and diseases from beets, cabbage, carrots, lettuce, sage, strawberries and tomatoes.

Cabbage and cauliflower, although related, are like feuding cousins that have to be seated separately or they’ll suck the fun out of your family functions.

Plant friends with friends, and everyone will get along. Your garden – and your wallet – will thank you.

Jessica Damiano writes regularly about gardening for The Associated Press. A master gardener and educator, she writes The Weekly Dirt newsletter and creates an annual wall calendar of daily gardening tips. Send her a note at [email protected] and find her at jessicadamiano.com and on Instagram @JesDamiano.

ONLINE ORDERING

For pre-order and pre-pay  "Grab and Go"

Click on shop if you already have an account

 on the new site and are ready to pre-order.

Link to the new website for signing up  

to create an account.

Email us at  [email protected] or call 717-334-4582, if you have some concern that needs to be addressed person to person. You may get the answering machine, but an actual human will call you back ASAP.

We have two periods for taking orders:

1. Ordering for the weekday markets opens up at 1:00 P.M. on Monday.

Ordering becomes unavailable on Tuesday at 1:00, for Wednesday markets, and subsequently on Wednesday, at noon, for Thursday markets.

2. As of Wednesday at 5:30 P.M. we open up the Website for taking orders for all of the weekend markets.

We do this by taking down weekday markets as pick-up locations, and show only weekend locations as active pick-up sites.

At noon on Friday we will remove the Saturday market locations as active pick-up locations, and only the seven Sunday sites will remain. These will shut down at noon on Saturday.

We would also love to have the boxes returned.

But then I suspect you know that by now.

David's Photo Tour of Irrigation at the Tate Orchards

Above is an irrigation set-up at the Tate farm, consisting of a nice farm pond, the engine, pump and fuel tank for pulling the water from the pond and pumping it through the stainless filtering rig and on into the trickle irrigation lines you can see in the picture below. 

Above you see John Boose installing a new temporary header for the irrigation system.

Below left is a probe for detecting the level of soil moisture, while on the right is the meter to which it is connected. Underneath those two photos is one of the base of a peach tree showing the wire that leads to the probe which has been buried about 10" deep according to David, our tree fruit manager. You can also see that the tree has been thinned.

Two little monkeys at the beach this week

Strawberries

We still have plenty of strawberries for this weekend and perhaps into next weekend, but the season is about to end. Arturo thinks we will be done picking by the end of next week. The sale announced above covers this weekend and perhaps into the weekday markets if we don't sell out.

Sweet Cherries - A very few will be picked, so don't get your hopes up too much.

Sour Cherries - Next week should see the first, though the birds are starting in on them.

We have plenty of rhubarb, but no asparagus.

There will be some zucchini, but this is the final week, for having it at the "grower only" markets. We will, however, buy it for "certain markets".

Once again we are picking more than enough of the "Trust" red slicing tomatoes pictured above, as well as a fair picking of the cherry tomatoes.

We have decided that for next season at this time of year we will up the number of cherry tomatoes and lower the number of slicing tomato plants, hopefully balancing them out. 

Sungold - a very sweet

cherry tomato.

Dasher - actually a grape tomato; it is a classic - very "tomatoey".

Sugar Snap Peas - We have a very good picking to send everywhere. 

English Peas - Yes, the kind that you shuck out of the pod.

GoldRush - We are going to have these wonderful apples for quite a long time. nBut have run out of all other varieties. But hey, peaches next week!

To the right you can see the ladies at the warehouse grading Goldrush, fresh from Controlled Atmosphere storage into crates for market.

Romaine - We are back to having a good amount of Romaine lettuce this weekend.

Spring Mix - We will have close to what we would like to cover all the bases, including the order system.

Arugula - We are going to have less for the week ahead.

Basil, "roots on" - There is plenty again this week.

Watercress "roots on" -  We will be able to pull enough.

Twin Spring's Canned Goods

No preservatives have been added to these products

Chipotle Ketchup - A wonderful and mildly hot ketchup with which we are quite proud.



Marinara Sauce - Both the large and the small sizes, great as is, or can be used as a base for other recipes and additions.

Medium Salsa - Not too hot, not too mild.

Chopped Tomatoes - A great base for many tomato dishes, and at a really great price.

Tomato Soup - Alas, we are out of our fabulous soup at this time.

Tomato Juice - Good and "tomatoey", great for a Bloody Mary.

Peaches in jars - Canned in a light syrup, now out of stock, waiting for some nice, fresh, ripe freestones.

Apple Sauce - No sugar or preservatives added, it is smooth and semisweet. If ordered online specify either Cortland or Stayman. At market it is more the luck of the draw, but is stamped on the lid as to what variety of apple we used.



Apple Butter (Fruit Spread*) - Some spice added, but no sugar or preservatives. If we were to call it "apple butter" the regulations say we must add sugar - go figure?

All canned goods may be purchased individually, or by the 12 jar case at 10% off. Many items may be ordered by going on the pre-order website. Cherry Juice may be ordered and is actually less expensive than purchasing the case right at market; i.e. it is considerably less expensive at $60, than the 10% off would make it.

*Fruit spread is a designation for preserves, as well as our Apple Butter, which are low on added sugar, the way we prefer it. Roseanne, who, along with her husband Philip, produces all our jams and jellies has all of her products lab tested for sugar and lets us know whether to call the product Fruit Spread or Preserves.

Golden Raspberry Fruit Spread

Fig Preserves

Strawberry Fruit Spread*

Blueberry Fruit Spread*- out of stock

Blackberry Preserves

Black Raspberry Fruit Spread*

Blackberry Seedless Jelly

Red Raspberry Preserves  

Red Raspberry Seedless Jelly

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The items in the below section are offered

at "Certain Locations". The list of them is

underneath the following entries:

Uncle Henry's Hard Pretzels - I tried them and think that they are way superior - thinner, not as hard, and with great flavor. They are made from their own sourdough yeast, kept from batch to batch, as well as unbleached local flour. Whole wheat pretzels will be coming soon.

Fresh and Local - White cauliflower, broccoli, red radishes, green beans as well as the first wax (golden) beans, gold zucchini, spring onions and some nice beets with their edible, and very nutritious, greens left in place.

Lenka Coffee - We have both whole bean and ground. This is a "bird friendly" coffee, as it is truly shade grown.

Elizabeth's Breakfast loaves - which are local to us; she and Gary live just up the hill; Gary brings them down to us the evening before market, just after coming out of Beth's oven.

Mrs. Kaufmann's Coffee Cakes - We now only carry these at Friendship Heights.

Michele's Granola - Baked fairly locally (near Baltimore), this granola 

has been a mainstay at these locations for a few years. I've found that this is a great topping for cobblers and such. It comes out super crunchy, and is so healthful that guilt has no place to lurk around.

Baked Goods - From Stonehearth Bakery, located in Frederick; all items are baked "that" morning, and now individually wrapped or bagged: Baguettes, innumerable kinds of fresh breads, both sliced and unsliced, as well as croissants, scones and cookies, bags of rolls, as well as the delicious Asiago Cheese Baguettes.

Tart Cherry Juice - Full of antioxidants, this tangy, pure fruit juice, no sugar or preservatives added, is great at taming aches and pains from conditions such as arthritis. It also helps extend your sleep time by perhaps 84 minutes.

"Family of Nuts" - lightly salted roasted cashews, pistachios, almonds, hazelnuts, and mixed nuts, all are nicely done, light on the salt. There are also dry fruits: apricots, figs, dates and raisins.

HERE is an article on tart cherries entitled "Cardiovascular disease remains the No. 1 killer of both men and women in North America. Changes in diet and exercise can go a long way in helping to keep your heart healthy."

Increase sleep by 84 minutes per night. See below for a write-up* 

Allen's, as well as some from other sources, fresh local eggs - Brought to Twin Springs weekly, both white and brown eggs from happy "free walking" hens, raised just outside of Gettysburg.

Pure Local Honey - Jim Small continues to keep us supplied with his local wildflower honey, totally unadulterated, and minimally heated -only when needed to get it to flow for bottling.

Honey - more popular than ever.

Fresh Hard Pretzels - Locally made, coming in both regular and Honey Whole Wheat. Hand made and freshly baked in our area. 

Artisanal Cheeses - Curt's locally produced cheeses: sharp cheddar, cheddar, Conall's lava cheddar, smoked cheddar, as well as smoked Jalapeño; also available are goat gouda and goat cheddar. 

Maple Syrup and Maple Sugar - Tapped and bottled on the Patterson Farm in Pennsylvania. Did you know that a jug of syrup may be frozen to keep it fresh; it will still flow, though quite slowly, when brought out of the freezer. Unlike honey, which simply won't go bad, other than perhaps crystallizing, maple syrup should at least be refrigerated, once opened, as it can develop mold.

I'm going to LINK HERE to an article, from Canada no less, which enumerates many recent discoveries about the benefits of replacing some sugars with natural maple syrup. Studies have uncovered a multitude of compounds in the sap, therefore the syrup, which can act as anti-inflammatories, many of which will be familiar from past newsletters, but who knew they were in maple syrup?

McCutcheon's Products - We carry an extensive line of jams, some fruit sweetened, ie. no cane sugar or corn syrup, and jellies, as well as many other great products, like Bread and Butter Pickles, Chow Chow, Relishes, and much more created right in Frederick Maryland. 

*Health Benefits of Tart Cherry Juice

A study of distance runners by Texas A&M University, in College Station, determined that short-term supplementation of dried tart cherry powder* improved running times, decreased inflammation and increased muscle metabolism and immunity.

The researchers divided 27 endurance-trained young adult athletes into two groups. Eleven participants were given a daily powdered tart cherry supplement for 10 days, and 16 were given a rice flour placebo. All completed a half-marathon near the end of the 10-day trial. The researchers tested fasting blood samples and a quadriceps muscle soreness rating prior to the run, 60 minutes after the run and 24 and 48 hours post-run.

The tart cherry group reported 13 percent faster average running times, as well as significantly lower inflammatory markers. They also reported 34 percent lower quadriceps soreness prior to the run. Tart cherry supplementation also increased immunity and resulted in better muscle metabolism. 

And another write-up, from the AARP Bulletin:

From the AARP Bulletin: "Talk to your doctor about ways to relieve pain without drugs. Heat, massage and acupuncture, for example, are effective for lower-back pain. Or try tart cherry juice. Drinking eight ounces twice a day has been shown in preliminary research in older adults to reduce pain and increase sleep by 84 minutes per night, says Robert Oexman, director of the Sleep to Live Institute in Mebane, N.C."

*We, of course, sell the 100% tart cherry juice bottled by our cider mill, Kimes, in Bendersville Pa. A case may be ordered at 10% off. 

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