Blog Post

At Woodside Farms, we kicked off the first week of June with beautiful, warm weather, more plantings of summer crop successions, and of course, more weeding! We also harvested some of our more limited spring crops. Thanks to the help of our work share members, we were able to plant more summer squash, okra, eggplant, tomatoes, turnips, and a bed of our North Georgia Candy Roaster, an heirloom winter squash we can look forward to in the coming (cooler) months! 

This year was filled with new growth in the garden — we grew Sugar Snap, a variety of sugar snap pea, and Avalanche, a snow pea. Fun fact: sugar snaps are a cross between a garden pea and a snow pea. Both sugar snap peas and snow peas are sweet and ideal for snacking, have edible pods, and share a similar nutritional value. While sugar snap peas are robust and round, snow peas have a flatter pod. Enjoy them raw (crunchy and sweet) in a salad or add them to a stir fry!

Most likely due to extreme temperatures, timing, and overall stress of the plant, our broccoli was only able to produce small heads this spring. On the bright side, you can enjoy the stems of broccoli just as much as the greens! Small and tender, you can dice and roast the stems along with the greens, or use them to make soup stock. The greens can be sautéed similar to how you sauté or braise kale.

We’ve designated the curved beds near the fence line as our pollinator beds. They’re planted with mostly perennials that will continue to grow over the years, and filled in with some annual flowers. Most of the plants we chose for the beds are native to the area and provide food and habitat for much-needed pollinators (some plants you can spot are echinacea, goldenrod, witch hazel, and coreopsis, just to name a few)!

We want to give a special shout out to our Friday volunteer crew who worked together to complete much-needed weeding in these beds. They also helped prune and trellis the hops and weeded our carrot beds. 

Available at The Farm Stand in June

Visit us on Wednesdays from 4 to 7 pm and Saturdays from 8 am to 12 pm! We’re located at the red barn at  Chickahominy Falls -- Woodside Farms (10455 Cedar Lane, Glen Allen, VA 23059). We’re also offering smoothies and stir fry pre-order packs for pick up on Saturdays!

Now Offering: 

• Arugula, 
• Beets, 
• Braising Mix, 
• Broccoli, 
• Cabbage 
• Chard
• Collards
•  Escarole
• Herbs
• Kale
• Kohlrabi
• Lettuce Heads
• Radishes
• Salad Mix
• Scallions
• Snow Peas
• Spicy Mix
• Spring Onions
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Turnips
• Village Garden RVA Spice Blends 
• Woodside Farms Bread and Butter Pickles 
• Woodside Farms Pickled Okra 
• Woodside Farms Hot Pepper Relish

Pinwheel Farms is offering online orders for eggs and bread from La Bella Vita Bakery! You can pick your orders up from Woodside Farms. Don't forget to sign up for their mailing list!

Woodside Farms is also now a pick-up location for Creambrook Farm. Join the herd-share program and get fresh, raw milk each week! Purchase a gallon for $10.50 per week, and a ½-gallon costs $5.75 per week.

Want to become a part of our community-supported agriculture farm? Learn more about CSA programs and how you can join! 

Vegetable of the Week: Cilantro

5 Ingredient Cilantro Vinaigrette (Adapted from Pinchofyum)

Ingredients 

• 1 huge bunch of fresh cilantro (2 cups packed)
• 1/2 cup of olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of white vinegar 
• 1 clove garlic 
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes 
• 1/4 - 1/2 cup of water if needed

Directions

• Blend everything up for about a minute until smooth. Add water if you need more volume in the blender to make it run smoothly. 

Learn more about the benefits of cilantro here. 

The fun is only just beginning at Woodside Farms, so come and join in!  All of us at Cornerstone Homes can’t wait to celebrate the season with you.