Cedarmore Farm CSA

I have yet to tell you all about the best part of my Saturday. Lunch was great. The party was tons of fun but I have to tell you that meeting the Hershberger family was the very best thing I think I have ever gotten to do.

Last year Mark was doing a little research on CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) in our area. He tried to sign up for this farm but they were full. Little did we know that our paths would cross with the Hershberger family. So back to Saturday...we found the farm and I knocked on the door of unfinished farm house. Inside there was a little Amish boy (I am in heaven about this point) about Michael's age and we waves me in. He is trying to walk on drywall stilts. I tell him what I am looking for and he tells me that I need to talk to Lizzie and she is downstairs. So I waltz down the stairs to the basement to find pregnant Lizzie cooking on a propane stove and one daughter scrubbing the concrete floor, and then I fell in love with a little girl about 20 months old with gold wire rimmed glasses...full Amish clothing and barefooted. She never spoke a work to me but she did give me the once over but ended up sitting on the steps with me for awhile.

A little more information about the family and the CSA from LocalHarverst, their website and paperwork that Andy gave me...

Cedarmore Farm is owned by my wife and me, Andrew & Elizabeth Hershberger. I would also like to introduce you to Highland Haven Farm, owned by Adam and Iva Hershberger. Adam is my wife's brother and Iva is my sister. They are located about a mile up the road from us. Cedarmore and Highland Haven Farms will be working together to provide products for this CSA.

We take special care to provide healthy and clean products for you. Our produce is grown using organic methods. Our meats and eggs are all pasture-raised, grass-fed products with no antibiotics or hormones. We use Golden Granulated Sugar for our baked goods and jams, which is healthier and not refined like regular sugar. We also use as much of our own raised products as we can to do our baking such as eggs, butter, fruits, maple syrup, etc. However we can not grow everything needed for some products. The ingredients we don't produce ourselves come from the local bulk food store.

Our greenhouses enable us to extend our seasons on our vegetables. Thus, we are able to have fresh products earlier and also later. These items will be priced a little higher because our cost and labor is higher on these items.

We are Amish and don't have our own phone so you can't reach us directly by phone. But you can send e-mail by clicking on the e-mail "button" on our Local Harvest main page. You can also reach us by mail. Our address is Andrew Hershberger 12612 Turley Lane Hillsboro Ohio 45133.

If you are interested in raw milk, contact us and we should be able to help you. As you know, it is illegal to sell raw milk in Ohio, so we can set you up with a herd share program. Also, if you want beef and pork by the half or whole, we should be able to help you.

We look forward to hearing from you in the near future. Thank you for supporting us!

When you buy from Cedarmore Farm you are buying a weekly share of produce. Crops that are being planned are beans, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, cantaloupe, carrots, chard, Chinese cabbage,cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, green beans, kale, lettuce, onions, peppers, potatoes, radishes, red beets, strawberries, summer squash, squash (sweet dumpling, acorn, butternut), sweetcorn, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, watermelon, and zucchini. There are three seasons of crops..Spring, Summer and Fall. There is a 'Fresh Egg Share' and a 'Weekly Canned Good Share.' The Canned Good Share is a surprise every week. They will also take orders for bakes pies, cinnamon rolls, wheat bread and homemade jams throughout the season.

All of the above will be great and we are excited about it but I am more thrilled that I got to sit on the steps in a Amish house and chat with the family. I read this little bit of info from their blog...

This blog supports and promotes the efforts of the Cedarmore Farm CSA, run by a lovely (non-blogging) young Amish couple in Hillsboro, OH. The blog has two purposes: to help get the word out about Cedarmore Farm, and to help people who buy CSA shares to communicate with each other. The blog will be updated with Andy’s newsletters, as well as random bits of farm news, information about organic farming, recipes to help you eat your veggie-bounty, and more.

You, too, can blog! If you want to post pictures, recipes, talk about your visit to the farm, or anything else farm related, just email cedarmoreblog@live.com. We’ll add you as a “contributor” to the blog, giving you access to write and post to your heart’s content.

Did I read that right? They want me to blog? So I asked Andy and Lizzie ( my new Swartzentruber Amish friends) if I could blog for them and about them. We talked for awhile and I explained what I new about the Amish and tried to explain what a blog was and how it could help the CSA. They seemed all for it but Andy said that he would have to talk to Rue and Susan about it and get back to me. Rue and Susan are their neighbors and they volunteered to take over the blog after the first couple moved away. So we will see where that goes. You know I am keeping my fingers crossed that the answer will be yes.

I am so excited I am about to go into orbit! They are the sweetest family. The kids are beautiful and their house is going to be awesome. I can't wait to see the feilds bursting with crops.