Cold Water Creek Farms, LLC- Local Organic Farm offering CSA Programs and Farmstand Sales

It's Here! 2011 CSA Info (click blue down arrow to download pdf file)

2011-02-27T20:46:00.002-05:00

CWCF 2011 CSA Info -

MIA

2011-02-19T20:34:00.001-05:00

Sorry we've been missing in action for a while. We've moved to our new location and have been busy setting up. Stay tuned for CSA info. We should publish next week. Hope everyone has been able to enjoy the weather this weekend. We've also joined twitter. Follow us @2organicfarmers. We hope to see you either at Atherton or Davidson markets soon.

Garlic Scape Pesto

2010-06-08T22:58:00.003-04:00

Here is our receipt for garlic Scape pesto;
1 cup garlic scape's
3/4 cup nuts (pine, walnut, etc)
3/4 cup hard cheese (Asiago, Parm.)
1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

First, remove white seed head from garlic scape. In a food processor chop up garlic scape's and measure out a cup. Return to food processor add hard cheese, and nuts. Mix together. Finally, slowly drizzle in olive oil. enjoy.

Its not the heat its the humidity

2010-05-02T22:43:00.004-04:00

Another week has passed, and unfortunately the last few days have felt like the middle of summer. I don't think it is the heat... it is the humidity. Everything is doing well at the farm. We spent most of the week working on the garlic patch pulling weeds, but we did however get a few other things accomplished. We bumpde up oregano into larger containers about 200 of them. We planted about 2000 sweet corn seeds, 2000 beans, radishes, and okra this week. We also sprayed all of our crops with BT (a harmful bacteria to worms). Giving back to our community... we donated about 250 plants to the community garden at First Weslyean Church in Kannapolis, along with several thousand seeds. It is a partnership we are proud of. Besides familieshelping themselves, our plot at the garden and the churches plots produce will go directly to those in need, to the people who need it the most, and that means a lot to us. We as Americans get caught up in consumerism, and we forget there are plenty of people within our own communities who are less fortunate than us and need help and sometimes those people are our neighbors whom we seldom have time for. We are all in a big hurry most of the time, but sometimes we need to slow down in life, and be thankful for all the blessings we have. Our CSA starts up on Tuesday, and we are ready to provide our customers with the finest local organic produce for the next 30 consecutive weeks (which I believe takes us up through Thanksgiving time). Oh, and the sugar snap pea will be ready to start being harvested this weekend, that is as long as they make it out of the field and not into our mouths. We tend to call that process "Quality Control".

The Garlic Patch

2010-04-25T22:20:00.004-04:00

Today was spent in the garlic patch, unfortunately pulling weeds. We spent over seven hours pulling weeds, and only accomplished to get half of the patch done. That means one of two things; either we are very slow at pulling weeds, or the garlic patch is extremely large... if you guessed the garlic patch is large, you are correct. With last nights rain, which we were happy to finally see, the ground was just perfect for pulling weeds. Garlic is in the ground for a long time, probably the longest crop that we grow. We started to make our raised bed in late November. Next we punched holes into the soil, and filled them with compost. The holes are on ten inch centers. After the first two step in this process was done it was time to plant the garlic one by one. After around 9,000 cloves we were done, except to cover the patch with straw. We like to use straw as a mulch to suppress the weeds. Because that is garlic number one enemy...weed competition. If garlic is not weeded, you will end up with very small bulbs. After we get done weeding the patch it will be time to fertilize them. The garlic is about the size of your middle finger right now. The bulb is made entirely in the last month it is in the ground. After we cut the scapes (garlic flower seed head), the growth happens. So it is getting close to time for that to happen. Once again thanks for your support of local organic farmers, who don't throw herbicides at their problems, and who are trying to make this earth a better place for future generations.

We need Rain

2010-04-23T22:09:00.003-04:00

Much was accomplished this week. Planting, harvesting, weeding, and watering. We planted green beans, radishes, borage, bronze fennel, sage, swiss chard, okra, and summer squash. We are looking forward to getting our CSA started on May 4. Tomorrow we will be at the Piedmont Farmers Market and the Common Market in Charlotte. We saw our first blooms on the sugar snap peas today, and the kale will start to be harvested next week as well. Another raised bed of sunflowers we picked from the greenhouse this week , along with our beautiful long lasting zinnias. Hopefully we will receive some much need rain this weekend, so the seeds we have sown will germinate. Thanks for supporting your local and organic farmers.

Moving from Spring to Summer Crops

2010-04-18T21:54:00.003-04:00

We have been very busy the last few weeks hoeing, cultivating, preparing new ground to plant, planting, and harvesting. We are also happy to announce the first pick-up date for our CSA is going to be on Tuesday May 4. The sugar snap sweet pea are about two foot tall, and climbing the trellis very well (but not blooming yet). We should start to harvest curled Kale this week and have it until the weather gets to hot in late June. Spring Collard Greens will start to be harvested in about two weeks for the start of the CSA. The Broccoli, Cauliflower, and Kohl-Rabi are growing steadily and look very good at this time. We are harvesting beautiful bags of lettuce and nice bunches of radishes. Next week we will start to harvest Icicle radishes they kind-of look like a white carrot. Spinach is also growing well, and should be ready to harvest this week. The cool season crops are all all in the ground at this point, and we will not return to planting them into the field until August (for a fall harvest). So now we are moving towards summer crops. Today we planted our first round of Zucchini which totaled about 500 seeds. We planted to varieties of Zucchini a standard green, and a yellow. Cucumbers totaling about 1500 seeds were also planted with canning , slicing, and a miniature white variety. In the greenhouse we currently have sunflowers, and Zinnia's in bloom. Three varieties of Sweet Potatoes also have been planted into the greenhouse. Hopefully we will be cutting slips the first week of June. The days are getting long, and the work at the farm continues to grow.

Sign at farm

2010-04-13T23:53:00.001-04:00

Starting to Bloom

2010-03-30T22:49:00.004-04:00

The sunshine and wind were helpful today, and the bees were out buzzing around. Spring time/ Easter time is always a happy time to be a farmer. The goals and expectations of the growing season are at hand. The first plantings of broccoli, collards, kolh-rabi, and cabbage are already needing to be cultivated, and the hoes re-sharpened. Those are a part of tomorrow's project list. Today was spent with the farmstand open, and we had a good turnout. Thanks again for supporting your local organic farmers. Pretty much the rest of the day was spent putting up the trellis for the sugar snap peas to climb on. Hopefully near the weekend we will be able to get more planting done in the field. Last, on a very bright note, our sunflowers planted the last week of January are starting to show their heads, and should be in full bloom for the weekend.

Flowers Starting to Bloom

2010-03-29T10:05:00.004-04:00

We spent Sunday trying to beat the rain. We planted eight rows of spinach, five rows of watermelon radishes, four rows of mizuna, and around four hundred bac-choi (joi choi was the variety). Each row is about thirty five feet long. Then we fertilized all the crops we have in the field. We fertilized with fish emulsion, which is a liquid plant food made from ground-up fish, and then the rain started. We proceeded into the greenhouse to do some housekeeping, and we planted a half bed of snapdragons, and a half bed of sunflowers. The sunflowers are a multi branching variety called Sonja. The sunflowers we planted the last week of January should start to bloom this week, along with continued Zinnia in blooms every week from now until thanksgiving time. The flowers are holding up extremely well. The Zinnia's are holding for ten to twelve days after harvest. Looks like we are going to have nice weather this week, and we should return planting in the fields near the end of the week.

The Proper Time

2010-03-24T23:35:00.004-04:00

The ground is still too wet work, but sometimes you have to do things not at the proper time, and that is exactly what we have done. Today we started to work the ground in hopes that it will dry up soon. The last frost date for our area is April 15. By that time we would like to have the ground ready to start planting beans, corn, tomatoes, peppers, okra, summer squash, and cucumbers... just to name a few. To give you an example, the variety of Sweet Corn we grow will hopefully be planted on April 15, and should be ready for harvest the week of July 4. There is a lot more planning that goes into farming than one may think, and the environmental conditions such as rain can destroy one's plan rather quickly. So we continue to smile, and take it one day at a time.

The Fun of Farming

2010-03-21T23:19:00.003-04:00

We started out our weekend by harvesting on Friday for Saturday's Davidson Farmers Market. We harvested: 30 bags of lettuce, 8 bags of spinach, 25 bac-choi, 9 bunches of beets, 4 bouquets of Zinnia's (flowers), 30 bunches of Collard Greens, 6 bags of baby kale, and 5 bunches of Swiss Chard. The only thing that returned to the farm with us were several bunches of collard greens. Here is where the tile comes into play; on our way home from the farmers market, we ran the truck out of gas. However the gas gauge was still showing an eighth of a tank which is about 2 and a half gallons. So we start knocking on doors trying to find someone with gas, and boy did we ever get lucky. The second person's house we went to had a five gallon can of gas, so we purchased it and our problems were over. Not so quick, we get back into the truck and were ready to get on our way, but more problems ensued. When we went to start the truck, the switch made a loud pop, and continued to go way past where a key switch should normally go. It turns out that most steering columns are made with a pot metal (which is very weak metal), and it so happened that ours broke. So on comes the tow truck.... Oh, by the way we were on our way from the Davidson market to Frank Liske Park for another event from 2 to 5. By the time we got back to the house we had missed our event, and had to make a new plan for the rest of the day. So we decided to move the tractor out to the farm to speed up today's planting. Today was a much more successful day than yesterday. Starting at the crack of dawn our eyes were completely shut, but that didn't last for long... Understanding that rain was on it way this afternoon, we started planting this morning. First, we planted kohl-rabi (around 1500 of them). Next, we planted cauliflower six rows to be exact with around 130 plants per row. Then onto my favorite PREMIUM CROP Broccoli, we planted eight row at 125 plants per row for a total of 1000 plants. Finally, we planted curled kale in four rows at 150 plants per row totaling 600 plants. Then the rain came. And so we spent a few hours, fertilizing plants in the greenhouse with our homemade compost tea. We had a pretty good day planting around 4,000 plants that made their way from the greenhouse to the field.

Daily Summary

2010-03-18T22:49:00.004-04:00

This blog will give the reader a daily summary of what is happening at the farm. This morning was spent watering in the greenhouse, and an important meeting. We have our land base in hand for this year, and many more years to come. We are going to be renting another farm with about eight plowable acres. More ground can be turned when we get the time. Looking forward to this weekend's weather and Davidson Farmers Market. Tomorrow we will be harvesting for market limited swiss chard, pac-choi, beets, collard greens, lettuce, spinach, baby kale, and cut flowers along with garlic, and sweet potatoes. The rest of our day was spent finishing work on the tractor, and it is now field ready. So with a little luck and a few more days of good weather we will be out into the field to do more planting.

Ready for Dry Warm Days

2010-03-16T22:44:00.004-04:00

The farm stand was open today, and we would like to thank everyone who stopped by to support your local organic farmers. Besides the farm stand being open, we also filled orders for Know Your Farms this morning. Unfortunately, we also cleaned the rust off our hoes which have been sitting idle all winter, but that is a good problem. That means that we have some plants growing, and also some weeds. We hoed peas today twelve row to be exact, and started to build our trellis. Driving stakes is not the most fun job to do, but we look forward to reaping to benefits in about another fifty-five days. Lots of things are on the priority list for this week if only mother nature will cooperate with us. We need a good steady breeze, and lots of sunshine. If those two simple things can happen we plan to be in the field this weekend doing more planting.

Giving Back

2010-03-15T22:45:00.004-04:00

Another uneventful day at the farm. This morning was spent donating our time to help another farmer get some equipment welded back together and delivering meals on wheels to those in need within our community. It feels good to give back and help others. Coldwater Creek Farms was featured in a article in Friday's Independent Tribune. For this project, we are donating plants and expertise to start a community garden in Kannapolis. We will be working with the Kannapolis Environmental Stewardship Committee and the First Wesleyan Church with Pastor James. The goals for this project are to provide low income families with the ability to produce their own food, and to help those less fortunate within our community. Any extra food produced from this project will be given to those in need and to local food banks. The rest of our day was spent bumping up more tomato plants. One was a local variety that was developed in Kannapolis in the late 1980's, and another our special variety Ohio 94. Ohio 94 is a variety that was developed in central Ohio by one of Brad's childhood friends and classmates. Neither of these varieties are available in a catalogue.... that's what makes them special. They are unique to our own region, and to one backyard in central Ohio. We bumped up 154 plants yesterday, and 360 today. Another 514 tomato plants which puts us up to about 1500 tomato plants so far this year with an estimated 500 to 600 more which should have us at our target goal of 2000 tomato plants for this spring.

Rainy Days

2010-03-14T23:00:00.004-04:00

After we had a successful day of planting on Wednesday, the rain decided to move back into our area. So we decided it would be a good time to do some tractor maintenance before the season really gets rolling. Speaking of rolling, the tractor received two new tires, an oil and filter change, a new valve cover gasket, a new battery, and fuel tank is getting re-coated in Concord. We are happy to see the temperatures warming up, and anxious to get more plants out into the field.

Hooray

2010-03-11T22:17:00.003-05:00

Wednesday was a great day for us at Coldwater Creek Farms. We finally got some plants into the field. We started out the day planting onions (about 3,000 of them all done by hand one at a time). Planting took almost five hours. Then we planted one and a half ounces of icicle radishes, and to finish out the field, six rows of spinach. Off to the next field with carrots and radishes in hand. We planted fifteen rows at 75' long, and with three 75' rows of mizuna, and an additional three 75' rows of spinach. Finally we hooked up the broccoli transplanter, and set approx. 500 broccoli plants, and 1500 collard green plants. Hopefully sometime next week, once the soil dries out some, we will get back into the field and continue to plant more collards, broccoli, kohl-rabi, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and kale.

Working Ground

2010-03-09T22:01:00.003-05:00

Much of today was spent preparing fields to plant. Tomorrow we are planning to plant onions in the morning, and in the afternoon (if the weather holds) we will be planting Kolh-rabi, broccoli, collards, and cauliflower. We probably will not get all this done before the rain, however we will try. Also we will be planting lettuce, spinach, mizuna, and radishes. The farmstand was open today and we had a good turnout. Pray for the rain to start on Thursday, so we can get crops in the ground.

Onions

2010-03-07T23:20:00.003-05:00

Today we worked ground for planting onions. We are planning on putting out about 3000 to 4000 onions. Some are from seed and other are from sets. Heading to the HIGH COUNTRY tomorrow to get our tractor and the rest of our equipment. We are feeling blessed this week because of the article in Out Here magazine from Tractor Supply, and we also received our USDA organic certification from International Certification Services. Please remember the farm stand is open this Tuesday from 11 to 6:30 4335 Atando Road. "Don't Panic It's Organic"
Thanks for all your support. Brad & Eric

Peas Popping

2010-03-06T23:22:00.002-05:00

After the Davidson Farmers market today (where we sold out of everything we took) I returned to the farm with my son Corbin to unload coolers. While at the farm, Corbin asked me "what was the big piece of plastic laying in the field?" So I walked out to show him that we planted seeds underneath it and explained the plastic was making the soil warmer; which in turn helps with germination. To show him, I pulled the plastic back and there before our eye the sugar snap pea had started to germinate. Exciting news considering we planted them only two weeks ago. Hopefully we are heading towards the high country tomorrow to haul our tractor back down to Cabarrus county. So we may miss a day, or two of our riveting blog updates...

Friday Harvest Day

2010-03-05T23:25:00.003-05:00

Much of today was spent harvesting, washing, and packing. We started off this morning by harvesting spinach, lettuce, and mizuna (our eating greens)from the greenhouse. Then out into cold to the sinks to wash, spin, and package the greens. Next into the fields for collards greens (cooking green), and baby kale. When it was time to warm back up, we headed back into the greenhouse to pick beets, and pac-choi. We finished our harvesting by cutting five beautiful bouquets of zinnia's. We finished earlier than planned so we decided to fertilize in the greenhouse. The fertilizer we used today was Fertrill Fish Emulsion. You can find us tomorrow at the Davidson Farmers Market from 9-12.

A Lazy Day

2010-03-04T21:39:00.004-05:00

Not much happened today, we purchased a hundred flat bottoms at Goodnight and Sons. We planted a few rows of Easter Egg Radishes, mixed with red coreless carrots. That method of planting is called companion planting. Both radishes and carrots are planted in the same row. The carrots are a slow to germinate, and the radishes germinate quickly. The radishes will be pulled about forty days from today while the carrots will take approximately ninety days. After an hour of not so hard work, we decided to have a lazy day.

Out Here

2010-03-03T21:54:00.004-05:00

Today Out Here magazine arrived in our Cabarrus County Tractor Supply Store, and across the nation. We feel very blessed to have this national publicity for us, and for the incubator farm, which has provided us with these wonderful opportunities. It was a light day a the farm today. We planted a raised bed of Zinnia's in the greenhouse, and did a little housekeeping. Pulling weeds even has to be done in the winter time. We also watered sugar snap peas we planted outside in fields. You're probably thinking...."why were they watering outside", and yes, it has been very wet. However, the peas have been covered up by a twenty foot wide by one hundred foot long piece of plastic. Tomorrow we are planning to finish installing the drip irrigation and timers in the greenhouse.

Farmstand Open Today

2010-03-03T00:06:00.002-05:00

For some reason the weather continues to throw us curve balls. It seem that every week on Tuesday when the farmstand is open, the weather seems to either be rain or snow. Never the less, we are always there. Another day was spent bumping up (putting plants into a larger containers) tomato plants, the total for today was 522 plants. Most of the plants were Roma's, which is a very good paste or cooking tomato. The rest were heirloom varieties of tall vine. At this point, that makes us up to a grand total of over a thousand tomato plants. Looks like the rest of the week is going to be nice. Have a great day.

Soil / Tomato / Firewood

2010-03-01T21:44:00.004-05:00

This morning we looked at a another farm we may be renting. We are looking to expand our production opportunities with melons, winter squash, pumpkins, Indian corn, and even more sweet potatoes. Starting this afternoon, we made a new batch of soil. Our soil is made from Peat Moss, Limestone, Worm Castings, Perlite, and Vermiculite. Then we started to bump up (put into a larger container) yellow pear tomatoes. We continued planting until the flat was finished for a total of 328 plants. More tomato planting is planned for tomorrow, however with the possibility of snow moving into our area we decided to spend the rest of the day working on firewood to heat one of our greenhouses. Remember the farm is open tomorrow for sales. We will have: swiss chard, collards, lettuce/mizuna mix, spinach, pac-choi, sweet potatoes, garlic, and a few bunches of cut flowers (zinnia's), along with Eggs, Yogurt, and farmstead Cheese. Address of the farm is 4335 Atando road located one mile north of HWY 601 and HWY 49 intersection. Atando is off of HWY 49.

Deer Fence

2010-02-28T22:12:00.003-05:00

Today was spent fixing the deer fence that was washed out during the January flooding. We replaced posts, added posts, and replaced some wires, along with some much needed mowing. Peace of mind was given once the electricity returned. Then we harvested old leaves off the collard green patch. We then gave the collards to Creekside Farms to be used as feed for their pigs. The more different types of feed a pig eats, the better quality of meat. Previously, when I raised hogs, they received a varied diet of grains and vegetables. Please remember to support your local and organic farmers.

Market Days

2010-02-27T23:47:00.003-05:00

We were happy to see the sun burning brightly in the sky today. Attendance was good at both farmer's markets. By ten o'clock this morning we had sold out of most of the the produce harvested yesterday. The only thing that returned with us to the farm were 3 bunches of green onions. Another round of winter weather is moving into our area on Tuesday. However, as farmers we are true optimists, so maybe this storm will miss us and it will remain dry, the freezing nights will turn into frosting nights, and daytime temperatures will be in the sixties. "Don't Panic Its Organic"

Havest Day

2010-02-27T00:09:00.003-05:00

Today was spent harvesting, washing, and packing for tomorrow's farmers markets.
We will be at the Piedmont Farmers market located on Wincoff School Road in Kannapolis, and the Atherton Farmers market located at the Common Market (south end) Charlotte. Today we harvested spinach, lettuce, mizuna, pac-choi, green onions, collard greens, and zinnia's. We will also be carrying Cackleberry Farms Eggs, Queso Fresco, Yogurt, butter (unsalted), and farmstead cheese. Please come out and see us at these fine farmer's markets. Next week we will be at the Davidson Farmers Market. Plans for the weekend will be to plant a new raised bed of zinnia's in the greenhouse, pick collard greens, and fix the broken electric deer fence.

Waiting on the Weather

2010-02-26T00:18:00.003-05:00

As everyone else is, we are anxiously waiting on spring time to come. Below average temperatures and continued moisture are going to make it hard getting the field ready to plant. We are scheduled to start planting cold crops into the field on March 1, although at this point we don't believe that is going to happen. However on a brighter note, we planted snapdragons on the germination table today. Four different varieties a yellow, red, white, and bronze. We also planted lavender, arugula, and cumin. One must be patient when dealing with mother nature, and that is exactly what we are doing. Remember to support your local and organic farmers.

Another Cold and Wet Day

2010-02-25T01:04:00.003-05:00

It's been another cold and wet day at Coldwater Creek Farms. Luckily we worked in the heated greenhouse today. Sunflowers we planted 5 days ago are starting to poke their heads through the soil, and spinach is doing the same. Tomorrow we will be starting snapdragons on the germination table, along with a few raised beds of zinnias. This weekend we will be at the Winecoff Farmer's market located on Winecoff School Road in Concord and the Atherton Farmer's market located in South End (Charlotte). We received our official organic certification today from International Certification Services. So remember... "Don't panic it's organic!"

Farm Sign

2010-02-24T22:23:00.001-05:00

Link to TSC Article

2010-02-24T15:36:00.002-05:00

Here's a shortened link to the TSC article.

http://bit.ly/9aFUm3

Tractor Supply Company (Out Here Magazine) Article

2010-02-23T22:35:00.004-05:00

A wonderful article was written about Eric and Brad in Out Here Magazine due on Tractor Supply Co. shelves within a week (copies are free) at TSC stores nationwide, or you can view the article online at TSC.com. Today was another busy day at the farm. The farmstand was open. We are offering our signature blend leaf lettuce,spinach, pac-choi, swiss chard, mizuna (asian green), eggs, yogurt, and farmstead cheese. Also, we started tomato plants on the germination table, planting around 3,000 seeds. We are excited about our tomatoes this season. We will be growing the following varieties: yellow pears, Roma's(paste, Tall vine, newly developed Ohio 94, and Cabarrus Pink (developed in Kannapolis in the early 1980's and is a cross between mortgage lifter and pink girl). This tomato has very few seeds when sliced open, and a wonderful taste. It does not have high acid levels as most tomatoes do, it reminds you of a yellow tomato, with a very sweet taste. Also today we finished bumping up pepper plants into larger containers which includes Jalapeno and Islander (yellow to lavender)bell peppers. Stay tuned for more of what is happening at Coldwater Creek Farms, and remember Don't Panic its Organic!!!

Sunset at the Farm on Sunday

2010-02-23T09:45:00.003-05:00

Snapped this picture late on Sunday. What a great sunset.

pepper transplants

2010-02-22T23:13:00.003-05:00

Today Eric and Brad transplanted or (bumped up into larger containers) over 1,800 bell pepper plants. Ace is a variety we personally like from Johnny's Seeds that is a green to red bell, California Wonder is another green to red bell. Also we transplanted Jalapeno, and Hungarian Hot Wax peppers. It is a busy time of year preparing crops in the greenhouse to be planted outdoors. The peppers we transplanted today were started January 15, bumped up today, will hopefully be planted into the field about mid to late April. We should have peppers ready to harvest in mid July (that is 6 months) a long time to be patient. Think about that next time you eat a pepper.