Farmer Daniel's Blog

07/15/2024 Summer! I am grateful for the warmer weather, for now... The fields are holding out. We had quite a bit of rain this past week. I have scary memories coming back from a few years ago when we were wiped out by a flood which devastated the fields and crops.  We are doing better this year. Family is well. the new chickens are growing fast, and we keep on going

 There are no markets this year which we are in. We are staying close to home for a bit of restructuring, rebuilding, family time, and balancing time. We are making plans for next year's markets and will post the information here as we confirm it. 

I hope you are enjoying the great watermelons coming out this season at your stores. I must say, ours our better... so we hope to bring them to you again next year. Thank you for visiting our website.  If you have any questions. please give us a call or email us. Until we see you again, we hope you have a great summer, and thank you for your support the past few years.

God Bless!

Daniel

05/15/2024 HI, I hope you have all had a healthy and happy mother's day!  We enjoyed ours. Mom is well. We are all doing well. The farm work keeps us busy. Chores every morning, feeding animals and caring for them.  It is spring and the baby chicks are growing. We are currently delivering eggs only in northwestern Indiana. We have restaurants and private customers we supply.  If you need eggs, arnd are in this area, please give us a call: 574-274-6019

We are  currently busy working the fields and seedlings. We hope to have a wonderful season this year. The weather has been generous with rain and sunshine and everything is turning green. 

I am trying to get to this blog more often. In the meanwhile, I hope you have a great week and get out to enjoy the warming weather. 

God Bless!

Daniel

03/30/2024 Happy Spring! I love waking early to watch the sunrise and take in teh fresh, cool air in the mornings.  The quiet time before the animals wake, before the cars start buzzing by and before the daily sounds of activities begin. 

We are busy with Syrup season and preparing the plantings. We are well on the farm. Family is growing, kids are enjoying school. And the animals seem happy.

As this part of the earth is turnig green and the buds are omcing out, the flowers are beginning to bloom, I am always happy to see the warm weather come around again.

 I hope you are all well. Will post more next week as I have the time.

Life is good.

 God bless!

Daniel

02/13/2024 Happy Valentine's Day to you all. We love our customers! Thank you for buying our eggs and produce. We look forward to seeing you again this summer.

We are super busy on the farm right now. It may be winter, but there are many chores and tasks to get done before the planting season begins again.

My family is well.  Michael's mother just passed and so we are taking a little time to grieve the loss.

The kids are in school and doing well. They enjoy their classes and being in the newly renovated school house. We still have the other half of the building to renovate, so would we appreciate any donations that can be made to the school. For more information or donate - please call me at the farm and I can give you the information.

The winter weather has taken us a bit by surprise with how unseasonably warm it is.  Ordinarily we begin preparing the maple syrup harvest in late February/March.  We are behind schedule and not sure how much syrup we can still harvest.

We will have 2-3 Bee hives going this summer for honey, and are currently planning the produce for the field. 

Our equipment is doing well.... if you don't use it in the winter... nothing can break! LOL 

Elsewhere on the farm, we have a lot of eggs coming in from all those chickens we bought last year. Our current delivery runs are throughout north western Indiana.

And I am still waking up early to begin the chores.. and enjoy the peaceful quiet still sunrises. There is nothing like that in the world. God is good.

 Thank you for you patronage. 

God bless

Farmer Daniel

02/10/2024 - Happy Chinese New Year!  This is the year of the Dragon! We don't have dragons on the farm, but we do have chickens, goats, pigs, and lots of fresh organically grown produce during the summer. 

We are busy with the maple harvest season at the monent. Sorting hoses, tools, buckets, chopping wood for the fire that evaporates the water in the syrup, and of course are regular chores around the farm. 

It's almost spring, though the weather could have fooled us. It's been warmer and so our thoughts are also focused on baby chicks, and their incubators.

 My family is well and I am grateful for that. The new local school we have been working on over the past few years is finally open. We still have some work to do, and are grateful for all your donations. thank you.

LIfe is good. God bless you all!

Daniel

01/29/2024

We made it through the holidays and hope you are all well too.

It's Winter! We love our farm at winter time. this is the time when the ground gets to rejuvenate and rest, and I get to spend more quality time with my family and we all begin the plans for the coming new planting season and maple syrup harvest season.

God Bless!

Daniel

07/22/2023

We are busily working on the farm. This is a short update as we have much behind the scenes work to do before we can bring in the autumn harvest.

 We have about 1500 new laying hens. They are still young and have just begun laying. We are thrilled!. The eggs are still a bit small - they are called Pullet eggs. They are fully nutritious and look the same - they are just smaller in size. Once the hens mature a bit more - about 1 month, they will be laying full size regular eggs. 

Our other hens are still laying regular delicious fresh eggs every day. One of the reasons we took in 1500 new hens is because our supply was limited verses the demand we received. Thank you for your patience with this process as we bring you fresh organically grown eggs.

Michael is currently running egg deliveries throughout northern Indiana. Thanks to all our customers. We appreciate you.

The children are well and growing fast. School starts in less than 6 weeks. Trevor will be going into third grade. Wow! time flies.

Melanie is well and taking great care of Kristen our newest addition since March. Rosalyn is not yet in school and loves to help out on the farm with her big brother Trevor.

And I still enjoy the morning sunrises before the farm awakens. I thank God for all the blessings great and small. 

God bless!

Daniel

Good morning! We have been busy and grateful on the farm. We are all doing well. 

We are wrapping up the syrup season. You can see some photos in the window on the left side of this blog. Today we started bottling and we had one new worker, Rosie. She handed me the jars, I (farmer Michael) filled them, Trevor capped and after a little bit of time Daniel retightened and laid them on the side for the final seal. 

We are bringing our delicious syrup to the farmer's market in Arlington Heights starting on May 13th, each Saturday. We will also have eggs and our organically grown produce. I am looking forward to seeing you again. 

Elsewhere on the farm, the chickens are doing well. We are finally caught up on egg orders. More laying hens arrived Monday and the meat chickens came last week. 

We have had some extreme weather. In the middle of collecting eggs a storm came by and said "hello, here's some hail" all is well. 

God Bless, enjoy those around you when there!

MIchael & Daniel

03/10/2023

Welcome to the farm Kristen Danae Phillips! Happy Birthday! 

Wow! What an amazing year thus far!  God has blessed us with a new daughter. Mom and baby are both fine.

Kristen was born Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 11:40 a.m. . She weighs 8 lb 2 oz and is 21 in.

Please help us welcome our beautiful new baby girl. Kristen Danae Phillips. I am feeling so blessed, tired, in a good way, exhilarated, a bit stressed and super grateful. 

In between the new baby arriving activities, the new baby chicks arriving, harvesting syrup, renovating the new school, and day to day farm chores.... I am amazed at all God has blessed us with and how sometimes, I dont feel tired, but I know I ought to be.

The weather has cooperated incredibly well this year with sunny warm days, and cold nights for an early syrup harvesting. The children have been a great help. Trevor is now old enough to teach his sister as well.  

The baby chicks have arrived. I always enjoy seeing them arrive and welcoming them to their new home here on the farm. The children love to hold them and have learned how to take very good care of them. Food, Warmth, Water, and gentle love.

We are caught up on our egg orders. We are bringing eggs each week to the farmers market this summer. First come, first served. *note: we feed our chickens organic grains.

The puppies are well, the chickens and roosters are well, and the rest of the family is doing well also. 

On a sad note,  a dear friend from another farm passed away this month. We are grateful to have had the time to get to know him and his family and cultivate dear friendships.  RIP George H.

We are still accepting orders for CSAs. Please give us a call to order your CSA over the phone. We are already in the preparing stages for planting. We can better plan, when we know how many people we are feeding this year. Advance planning is key.  Thank you!  574-274-6019

I still treasure the early morning sunrises and that moment of thick blessed quiet, calm and serenity. I hope you have time to experience it too. The spring sunrises are breathtaking out here.

Thank you for your continued support of the farm and organically grown produce.  We are looking forward to a fun year and seeing you at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market again this year.

Blessings!

Daniel

02/15/2023

Syrup season is upon us. When the weather is warm and sunny during the day, and the nights go down to freezing, that is when the syrup starts to flow. We have been busily tapping into trees and preparing the equipment for collection of sap. The weather has been unusually warm this year so the tree sap is flowing sooner. Pretty soon, we will have some fresh beautiful syrup again. Trevor and Rosalyn helped tap the trees this past week.

Wow! The pictures at the left show quite a bit of growth in the trees and the kids. 

We also have honey available, and eggs. We are catching up on our egg orders. We became a bit overwhelmed with orders when the egg prices rose to nearly $8/dozen in the stores earlier this winter. We have tried to figure it out and have come to the conclusion that we don't understand what the markets are doing any more than you might not know either, and so we'll just keep on producing eggs for our customers. Thank you for your continued support and patronage.

Our new baby is on the way and we are expecting it to arrive in March. As you might guess, I am excited and happy and also trying to stay grounded and focused at the same time on all the farm work and the construction at the new school building. 

We were hoping to have all the CSA orders in by late autumn last year as we expect to be busier then usual when the baby arrives. I am getting a lot of late orders in and am happy! Thank you! Keep calling. We are happy to supply you with organically grown produce this year. Somehow, the great God above provides the time we need and makes it all possible. God bless!

Daniel

01/27/2023

We've been busy. It's winter, the fields are resting and we are preparing for the planting season and the syrup season. If the weather holds out we'll be starting harvesting the syrup early.  

I joined up with the local school board and we bought a new building for the school. It requires a lot of renovations, so in between my farm work I have been helping tear down old walls, paint and do other construction projects for the school. We are currently raising money for the renovation.  Please consider making a donation.  It's important to have this school in this area for the children.  Thank you https://www.uccs.school/?fbclid=IwAR159h2MDIvwuI1dgjriCC64es6hZnbn7QyJZnQZIiEe0M6BlvrBzw6j6Wg

We are catching up on our egg orders and the chickens are happily laying more every day.

I ought to just duct tape the phone to my head. I have received so many phone calls these past few weeks, I'm feeling amazed!.

Our turkey hut was torn apart one night by a wind storm and so we are rebuilding that as well. 

The animals are well. The family is well. I am grateful.  Our new baby is on the way and I am excited to see it. 

Trevor is back in school from winter break and we celebrated Rosalyn's 4th birthday on December 13th.

Our puppies are super rambunctious. The cat is an awesome babysitter/mother's assistant figure for them. Very patient with them jumping all around her and wanting play with her. 

I am still enjoying seeing the morning sunrises. I am grateful for that quiet time at that part of the day as well. 

We are still accepting CSA orders. Please get them in as quickly as possible.  If you need a form, or have any questions, please call me at 574-274-6019.

That's all I have for now in this update. Gotta get back to evening chores and washing eggs. 

I hope you all have a wonderful day! 

God bless!

Daniel

12/13/2022

Puppies, Puppies, and cats!

While we've been busy with the Thanksgiving holiday, the flu, and cleaning up the farm and fields for the winter, our dogs and cats have been proliferating!

So we're giving you a bit of puppy love today with the photos on the left. Hope you enjoy them!

We have a new cat that is a most excellent mouser! I am fascinated watching it go to work. It is less than seven months old and follows me (Michael) everywhere and tries to feed the puppies. 

The Turkey's are growing well too. PlLease call us if you need one for Christmas. we have them! 574-274-6019

We are up to date with egg orders and have more coming in daily.  Please call us if you need eggs and we can get them to you asap for delivery in our area only. (within a 20 minute drive or North Liberty, IN) 574-274-6019

And finally, we are still accepting CSA orders. If you have not yet sent them in, please do so ASAP.  We finalize our field plans at the end of December. Please give us a call to purchase them. 574-274-6019

We will be back in Arlington Heights at the farmer's market in spring for our customers there as well. Thank you for purchasing from our farm. We truly appreciate it!

We hope you are healthy and enjoying the cozying-up season. 

God Bless!

Daniel & Michael

11/17/2022

It's a bit chilly today as I am driving back from out of town. It's been snowing all day and there is perhaps 3-6" of snow on the ground already.

I'm on the road with a spotty cellphone signal giving this update to the my I.T. person to add to the website.

 We have been very busy at the farm. 

Last week Michael hauled a big load of feed and had a flat tire en route in the middle of nowhere on a very cold day. We're glad he made it back safely.  He even cooked us up a big pot of hot winter stew/soup. It was quite good and we all ate it.  

The tractor needs a new part as well which we hope to have in by next week. Then we can finish cleaning up the fields for spring.

The Greenhouse needs a few repairs to the heater. This will become our indoor washing station in winter for the eggs.

The farm is doing well. We are trying to keep up with egg orders which have been coming in quickly. Thank you. We are grateful and appreciate your buying from us.  Any changes in weather/temperatures, food, etc.. will affect the laying hens. But they adjust quickly and make a fast come back. Our biggest tasks with the chickens is to be sure to keep the water troughs thawed out for them.

The turkeys are still growing and we'll have only a few ready for Thanksgiving.  We received the chicks late this year and so have decided to hold off with processing until December for the Christmas celebrations. We will out an announcement here on the website.

My family is doing well. Thank you for all your inquires. The baby-on-the-way and Melanie are well. We celebrated our 9 year anniversary yesterday at home. I am grateful. Wow! 9 years!

Trevor is loving school. Him and Rosalyn love playing outdoors when the snow is wet and sticky and they can build things with it.  They are not very fond of the colder temperatures though.

My favorite part about the farm this week is that Michael bought us a 1/4 cow processed for us for winter. Mom and dad don't cook much anymore so we've been making meals for them. My favorite meal this week was Chilli made with the ground beef and my father in-laws pork/sausage from Shipshewana. We used our tomatoes/juice and salsa.

We are still accepting CSA sales. Please get your orders into us ASAP. It helps us plan our fields for next year better.

Also, we are out or Syrup until spring. We do have some honey left. Please call us to place an order. 574-274-6019

We are preparing for our family Thanksgiving, as we hope you also have family to enjoy the meal with. Michael and myself are cooking the bird and making the stuffing. Trevor is in charge of the gravy, Melanie makes the pies and rolls. Rosalyn helps out a little in each area.

Form our family to yours, we wish you all a very happy healthy and safe Thanksgiving. Thank you for choosing us as your farmer for organically grown food. 

God bless,

 Daniel.

11/06/2022

This week we are grateful. 

The harvest is all in. We are still cleaning up fields, the equipment is cleaned, stored, and ready for winter, and I can finally upload some of the photos of the awesome sunrises we have been having on the farm. 

We are grateful to be farmers and live the farmer's life, which we love.

We are also grateful to be able to spend more time with family again since the harvest is over. 

We are still selling CSAs for next winter and are currently in the process of planning the fields for next year.  

I (Daniel) am now busy with the school board and helping rehab a local school, preparing for the holiday season, working with the turkeys and processing chickens.

If you need honey or eggs, and live in the North Liberty/Southbend IN area, we can do deliveries.

Please call us: 574-274-6019

If you'd like to purchase a CSA. Please call us 574-274-6019

I hope you have a great week.

Farmers Daniel & Michael

10/22/2022

As quickly it came, as quickly it ended. Last week was our final day for this year at the Arlington Heights Farmers Market. Thank you to everyone that came out and helped sell-out our produce. Wow! We appreciate your business and trust you also enjoy the deliciousness of organically grown food from clean Amish country land.

REMINDER - the CSA rate for 2023 is $525 IF you get it to us by 5:00 pm October 31st.  It's only 1 week away.  If we receive it after the 31st, it will get sent back for additional charges since the rate goes up to $600 after 5:00 pm.  So please send them in early if you want the lower price.  We have already begun planning our fields and what we will be growing next year. Getting your orders in early, helps us better plan and manage our time and finances for a more balanced harvest next year. Thanks!

Through the winter, we offer eggs and honey as long as we have it. Though we don't do deliveries to the northwest suburbs of metro Chicago in the winter, we do make lite local area deliveries in North Liberty/South Bend, IN area. Please call us if you need eggs. thanks.

Elsewhere on the farm....the animals are doing well. Chickens are laying eggs normally, duck s are happy, turkeys are still growing.

The dogs have really made a huge impact on the owl and hawk problem.  Though they don't necessarily enjoy being there all day, it really has helped tremendously. For that I am happy.

This week, we are still cleaning up around the farm, preparing the fields for winter. We are also getting caught up on egg orders. Thanks for your patience.  The last few days of the harvest and market are super busy usually. 

We are hoping to have the winter cover crop in by end of next week.

Michael has been helping out a lot around the farm as well as I have taken some time to help out on the local school board. They are renovating the school building where Trevor goes to school.  Today I felt quite empowered as I helped tear down walls. 

My family is well. We finally went out for my birthday (which was about 2 weeks ago) to a local restaurant. I so enjoy being with them and us catching up.  It's a balancing act during harvest season and I dont get to see them very much then. So I am grateful for their hanging in there too and having had a nice family fun night together again. 

My wife and the baby-on-the-way are well. We are having a contest for our customers. If you are a CSA customer, and can guess the birthdate of the new baby, we'll give you a special gift.  Like the baby, we're not yet sure what that gift will be. We'll post it here when we make the decision.

And finally, this week, my favorite part about being on the farm is the Fall harvest and Fall colors. Just brilliant foliage! 

I hope you all have a wonderful week. We'll keep posting updates here, through the the winter. Thanks for visiting our website and our booth at the farmer's market.

God bless!

Farmer Daniel

Good Morning! It's Thursday October 13th. I really enjoy the peaceful quiet darker autumn mornings on the farm and seeing the sunrise as we are busy with the harvest. My favorite part of being on the farm this week is how the moon has been particularly awesome this week.

This week we are getting the farm prepared for winter. Pulling in the last harvests from the fields, plowing the fields and sowing the cover crop, cleaning up and preparing the greenhouse for spring, cleaning, tuning up and storing the equipment, planning next year's fields with how many people will be feeding off them and what they like to eat. 

Michael and I enjoy reading your notes on the CSA order forms to see what produce you like to eat the most, and we feel inspired to plant some new things per some of your comments. Thanks!

This upcoming Saturday October 15th, will be the last day at the farmer's market in Arlington Heights. Now is the time to stock up on winter squash (which last a long while in the fridge), potatoes, cabbage, garlic, broccoli, and cauliflower.

We'll have all of these at the market as well as lettuces, kale and some tomatoes still. And we still have some pumpkins we'll be bringing.

We also have apples, apples, and more apples!

We have a limited number of 5 pound jars of honey left.  These are great to get through a winter with hot tea and for baking. 

And if you need eggs, they are first-come-first-served unless you pre-order them by calling us at 574-274-6019.  We're always happy to set them aside for you to pickup.

Now is also the time to bring in the CSA forms for next year. The CSAs really help us balance the work and and budget for the year. Thank you!

Elsewhere on the farm, the chickens, turkeys and ducks are doing well. The puppies have really nicked the owl problem we had over the summer. 

MY family is well and we appreciate your support as we focus on nesting with the new baby on the way in spring. Thank you.

Trevor has Friday off school this week and so I'm looking forward to his help in getting things ready for the market. 

The equipment is holding out. We are working on the tractor and tuning it up a bit and grateful it still runs :) 

We are preparing to put the garlic in the ground next week as well.

 I am grateful for the cooler temperatures during harvesting this time of year.  

I hope you've hd a great week. I am looking forward to seeing you at the market on Saturday.

God Bless!

Farmer Daniel

10/07/2022

The harvest is tapering off for the year. This week we pulled in as much produce from the fields as we could.  We had a big frost this morning and we worked late every day this week. 

This week at the farmer's market we've got pumpkins, potatoes, apples, all kinds of winter squash, a little bit of sweet corn still, beets, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, carrots, tomatoes kale, cabbage.

We also have honey, pickles and pickled beets and apple cider.

Thank you to everyone that has signed up for a CSA thus far. We are still taking orders for next year. The lower rate is good until October 31st. After October 31st it goes up.

This week on the farm has been super busy as we are clearing the produce from the fields and getting ready to plow them and sow a cover crop.  It's also been an enchanting week, waking up every morning as the days grow shorter, and the dark lasts longer, to watch the morning sunrise. It's my favorite part of the day. I enjoy the quiet and peace.

My family is doing well. Trevor is really enjoying school. My wife is feeling better as the pregnancy progresses and the puppies are being mischievous and rambunctious.  I am guessing they sense winter is coming and getting out their energy before the cold weather sets in.

We are blessed the equipment has held out this year and we've been able to make do with what we have.

We are looking forward to seeing you at the market this week.

And finally, our last day at the 2022 Farmer's Market in Arlington Heights is next weekend October 15th. Please bring in your CSA orders by then. We have already begun planning the fields. Thanks!

God Bless!

Daniel

10/03/2022
Thanks to everyone who came out to the market this weekend. We appreciate your support and enjoyed meeting you and talking with you. Thank you also for the CSA orders. 

Now is a good time to sign up for the CSA for 2023.  The deadline for the lower rate is October 31st.  We are already planning next year's planting and would love to know what you want to see on your table.  A CSA also helps us plan better financially and with the workload.  It tells us a year in advance, how many people will be eating off of the field in 2023, and locks the price of produce in at this year's rate for the customer.  This helps us better balance the books, know what to plant, and how much produce we will have available for walk up customers. Thank you for taking the time to purchase a CSA and for buying from us.  Click here for more information and to purchase a CSA.

This past week have completed harvesting the sweet corn. The season for all produce is finally tapering off. You will see more root veggies on our tables in the next two weeks. 

This coming weekend we will have 4 or 5 different types of apples, fresh pressed apple cider, onions, some peppers, kale, beets, carrots, beans, and possibly a few pumpkins. 

We also have syrup, honey, pickles, pickled beets, and fresh from the farm eggs.

If you are interested in eggs, we suggest you give us a call in advance, so we know to reserve them for you. One of the the other egg vendors at the market has left, and we are flooded with egg orders. So we are taking pre-orders, and the rest are "first-come first-served" on Saturday.

We also have fresh raw milk and kefir available at the booth. Again, pre-orders help us plan better how much to bring. Please give us a call at 574-274-6019

The last day of the farmer's market in Arlington Heights is October 15th. We will be there till the end. Rain or shine.

On the farm:
My birthday (Farmer Daniel) was last week Friday. I'll upload some photos later this week. Since it landed on a Friday, I was busy loading the truck for Saturday's market.  So there was no time to celebrate. Still we all enjoyed a good meal together in the evening. For that I am grateful.

The dogs took care of the owl issue we had over the chickens, ducks and turkeys.  The turkeys and laying ducks are being moved outside again this week.

My family is doing well, when I get to see them.  Harvest time is so busy that most of my waking hours are spent in the field harvesting, cleaning, preparing the equipment and fields for winter and next year, chopping wood, planning next year's plantings, balancing the books, and working on the budgets.

My wife is doing well and we are in "nesting" mode here at the house. Happily looking forward to the new baby in spring.  

Trevor and Rosalyn are well too. Trevor is enjoying school and we miss his help on the farm already.  Rosalyn loves to help mom in the kitchen and with collecting eggs.

We all thank you for purchasing your food from us and for your friendly support. We are so blessed to know so many wonderful folks. Hope you have a great week!

God Bless,

 Daniel

Hope you've all had a good week. 

The harvest is starting to wind down a wee bit. 

Tomorrow at the market we will have lots of winter squash, potatoes, onions, pumpkins and apples.

 We also have lots of peppers, tomatoes, nectarines, plums and maybe even some raspberries still.

We hope you enjoy the harvest as it comes in. 

We will be at the market come rain or shine.  And it is predicted to be sunny tomorrow. I look forward to seeing you there.

If you've purchased a CSA from us in the past you may have noticed how super full, to overflowing the boxes are. We've been super busy on the farm and are grateful for really good weather. We are now accepting CSA orders for next year already. Please get them in before October 31st as we are beginning our planning already now for the coming year. It helps to know how many people will be feeding off our fields so we know what, and how much to grow for the CSAs and how much we can plan on having left for the walk up customers. CSA orders get filled first.

 Please visit this page on our website to pre-order a CSA. A CSA costs $525 if you purchase it before October 31, and $600 if you purchase it afterwards.

This week I have been enjoying the sunrises. They are the best out here. I have posted a few pictures in the image box on the left side.

Right now we're just trying to stay on top of the autumn harvest before we get a big frost... This means we are picking , and putting what we can into storage, cleaning up, the fields are finished producing, and we're getting ready for the cover crop.

The weather has been very rainy at the beginning of the week and it's better now.  The rain makes it hard to get things done in the fields. And with this being a busy part of the season.. we are happy it's sunny again.

We've had an owl and hawk problem recently as they like to feed on our hens.  So we now have a good dog to help protect the chickens.

And the turkeys are coming along nicely. They are 4 weeks old now and big enough to get them ready to move to an outdoor pen soon. They should be ready by November. We;ll be taking orders starting November 1st.

We are feeling truly blessed that our equipment is holding out nicely. We're done with it for eh year and it's in storage now until spring.

On the home front, we are expecting another child in Spring.  My wife and the baby are doing well and we are just going through the day by days or a pregnancy and nesting.

The kids are back in school and loving it. We are grateful Trevor is really enjoying school. 

And finally, we've begun looking for workers to help on the farm for next year. if you are interested, please email us at dphillips1981@yahoo.com

I'll be at the farmers market in Arlington Heights this weekend again between 8am and 12:30 pm. Come on by and say hi! I can answer any questions you might have about CSAs or our organically grown produce. Thanks for all your support! we truly appreciate it!

God Bless!

Farmer Daniel 

CSA orders are pouring in. We are grateful and thank you very much for considering us for your produce needs next year.

We are honored to be the farmer of your choice.

If you've purchased a CSA from us in the past you may have noticed how super full, to overflowing the boxes are. We've been super busy on the farm and are grateful for really good weather.

We hope you enjoy all of the harvest as it comes in.

We are still accepting CSA requests for 2023.  Please visit this page on our website to pre-order a CSA. A CSA costs $525 if you purchase it before October 31, and $600 if you purchase it afterwards.

Speaking of CSAs - this week we have pears, apples, peaches, corn, carrots, tomatoes, and plums!

And just to give some inspiration, if you can't decide what to do with those pears.... I posted a recipe from my grandmother M. It's taken a bit of doing to get it up on the website.

It's my favorite pear pie recipe. Enjoy!

Thanks to everyone who came out Saturday to the farmer's market and purchased produce from us.

I hope you have a great week!

God Bless!

Farmer Daniel

What a busy week! The kids are back at school, the weather has been going from extremely dry to very moist. Though a farmer usually prays to get enough rain, we are at the point now where we can say.. ok we've got enough.

The extra rain makes it tricky to get into the field to harvest. If we can reach the musk melons, we may have a few more this weekend at the market.

And speaking of the market.... tomorrow (Saturday) we will once again be at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market and hope to see you all there. Thank you for coming each week for our fresh produce and eggs.

Whats new for tomorrow?  I'm bringing in more pears, and grapes. These are very sweet and organically grown.  We are also starting to harvest some of the winter squash and I'l bring them to the market tomorrow as well. 

We'll have apples through the rest of the year as well as our regular vegetables such as zucchini, tomatoes, etc..

We still have watermelon. By the way, our watermelon is great for end of summer smoothies. I"ll try to remember to bring in some of our recipes which people have been asking us about.

Also, we are excited to announce we received our baby Turkey chicks this week.They are doing well and growing quickly.  It's a joy when they arrive. And a good reminder of gentleness.

What's new on the farm? - The kids are back at school.  We miss their help already. Melanie just had another doctors appointment and she and the upcoming baby are well.

 You can help us pick the name, guess the weight, size and birth date. The closest one wins. Send us an email with your suggestions and guesses dphillips1981@yahoo.com and we'll announce the winner after the baby arrives in spring.

CSA signups for 2023 are well under way.  We've got a table at the market tomorrow if you would like to sign up. This year's price is $525 if you purchase a CSA prior to October 31.  After October 31 the price goes up to $600.  We encourage early signups. This gives us a good idea of what to plan for next year.

Also, singer/songwriter Barb Sorensen will be helping out at the market tomorrow at the CSA table.  We have been sponsoring her concerts these past few years and are an official sponsor of her upcoming Farm Art tour through the midwest in September/October. You can find out more about her music at the market. If you buy a CSA, she'll sing you a song.

Elsewhere on the farm, we've been having light vehicle issues, but nothing overwhelming and we are grateful God continues to watch over us and provide as we need.

Hope to see you at the market tomorrow!

God bless!

Daniel

We hope you've all had a great week. Thank you for coming to the farmer's market each week for our fresh organically grown produce.

New items on the the table tomorrow at the farmer's market are our fresh pears and apricots. 

We will also still have our apples, nectarines, plums (black, red, purple and yellow), Kale, cucumbers, zucchinis, tomatoes (red, yellow, heirloom and grape), watermelons, potatoes, peppers (hot and sweet), onions, beets, and more! 

We also have honey, syrup, and pickles.

Even if it's raining tomorrow we'll be at the market selling. We have a nice big canopy for you to stand under as you make your purchases.

We are in a busy time of the year on the farm harvesting as fast as possible as the produce becomes ripe. We are really grateful for the kids' help.

We have the new CSA 2023 sign up forms available at the market. The discount price to purchase them before October 31st is $525. After October 31st the prices is $600.  

We recommend signing up early and soon, as there is a limited number of CSAs available. It also helps us better budget, plan, and balance for the next years crop. Thank you!, We appreciate your support.

If you would like to stay abreast of the news on the farm and our weekly specials, please sign up on our newsletter at this link.

We also have the newsletter sign up sheet available at the farm stand at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market each Saturday. 

We continue to be at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market through to October 15. Every Saturday morning between 8am and 12:30 pm. We look forward to seeing you there, and hope you have a great week!
God bless!

Daniel

We still have CSAs available. If you sign up now you can still get a weekly box up to October 15th. The program is pro-rated if you purchase this late in the season.  This is not something we ordinarily make available, but as this is a COVID rebuild year for many people, we felt it necessary and helpful.

Thank you to all the new customers and regular customers who came to the market this weekend and purchased produce from us. We appreciate your support.

Farming is our dream. We love to serve via our gifts and talents as farmers. We are grateful when you benefit from it as well. 

This week we continue harvesting the vegetables. It's really busy right now, and yet we are grateful for the rain. 

Our family is doing well. We are happy to see them helping out.  My youngest daughter is slowly getting over her fear of being attacked by a chicken, duck, goose  (a chicken is about as tall as her and was frightening for a while).  

If you would like to purchase eggs for the upcoming weekend, please let us know in advance by calling us at 574-274-6019. We will set them aside for call-ins. Other wise the eggs are first come first served.

We also have more pickles! and of course honey, vegetable juice and produce.

Thank you to everyone that signed up on our new mailing list. We will be sending out updates soon.

I hope you have a wonderful week and we look forward to serving you again next weekend at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market.

God bless!

Daniel

The Harvest is really coming in fast now. We're blessed with  tomatoes, more than we know what to do with. The good ones are coming to the market with us on Saturday this week.If you would like some softer tomatoes or ones with slight blemishes on them for canning and sauces, please text me and we'll bring them to the market for you to pick up as well. 574-274-6019

We're also bringing in 3 varieties of plums this weekend and peaches are coming in heavy too. (red, yellow and black plums!)

We're bringing in more musk melons, cucumbers, zucchinis, carrots and peppers.

And we have lots of fresh corn with nice full ears.

And we still have an abundance of berries coming in from the field every day. We'll bring them to market as well.

We've been getting calls asking about the ground cherries. We'll have them around mid/late August.

We also still have honey, syrup, and pickles and red pickled beets from our farm available at the farmer's market.

Updates on our chicken coop which we've been building - it's completed! Our pull-along chicken coop will now be able to re-pasture the chickens much easier and faster than before.  Everyone on the farm has been helping out and we are grateful for Trevor and his sister and all the hard work they have been doing.

It's been a good summer thus far and we are praying it continues for you too.

We're looking forward to seeing you again this Saturday at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market.  

We are already accepting CSA requests for next year, as well as pro-rated ones for this year. For more information or to purchase one please text me at 574-274-6019

.

God bless!

Daniel

Everyone is working hard to get the new chicken coop done. These little ones really do help--the little water girl kept everything level and us hydrated, the boss held the walls, scraped the floor and pounded the nails. God Bless!

This coming weekend we will again be at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market.  Cucumbers, Zucchini, Raspberries, Lettuces, Tomatoes, Broccoli, and more.

The Harvest is really coming together. The weather has been a little bit cooler and we are enjoying the breeze as we can get it.

If you are looking for Chicken or Duck eggs, please call us in advance to let us know and we'll reserve them for you ahead of time. Pick up is at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market on Saturday between 8:00 am and 12:30 pm. 

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Daniel

The season is upon us! Welcome to the first zucchinis and garlic. Second week of greenhouse tomatoes growing in the soil and can't forget those kohl rabis. The snow peas are very sweet and the broccoli is very tasty. Cherries sweet and tart just started and not far behind it will be fresh delicious blueberries. From our farm to your table we're here for you God Bless!

  Remember CSA members bring your boxes back to Arlington Heights Farmers Market. Deliveries are going well for the CSA's as well as home deliveries in the South Bend area--can't wait to get those veggies to you tomorrow morning.

Also, please sign up on our newsletter at the market or the link at the bottom of this page. We'll keep you updated as to the latest harvest coming in and other delicious offers. 

As far as new things coming to the market this weekend...we have green beans, yellow zucchini, I have blueberries, black raspberries, red raspberries, cherries full sweet and tart, got cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, lots of tomatoes -heirloom, standard, red, yellow tomatoes, carrots, beets, cucumbers maybe and some onions. 

The Family and everyone out here is doing well, farming is going well. We picked up 300 new hens and should have enough eggs tomorrow. And to top it off, tonight there is a beautiful sunset to end the day.

Daniel

The black raspberries are ripe! 

The difference between blackberries and black raspberries is that the blackberries are a little bit larger fruit and not as sweet as the black raspberries. 

This week we have black raspberries, provided that the "farm Boss" doesn't eat them all before they get to the market.

The blackberries will be ripe in about 1-2 weeks yet.

This week on the farm, we are happy to say Trevor and his sister are helping out again.  Bible school as ended and we are all out in the field picking the harvest for the week.

This week we have been pondering on how prices have gone up a bit at the markets. It's a challenge for us to consider raising prices or not. We empathize with families. We too are a family and a farmer. We understand the struggle and have to weigh our options carefully on whether or not to raise our prices.  The cost of farming has gone up as well and yet, is it a passing phase or a continued rise? Yes, we are concerned.

Elsewhere on the farm, the weather out here in the fields has been a bit dry this week. We are grateful to have an irrigation system to help out the plants. Nothing works as good as rain itself though.

Thanks to everyone who came out to the market and bought our fresh organically grown produce and eggs.

Our eggs are first come, first served. If you would like us to save you some eggs, please call us in advance and let us know. You can pick them up at the market between 8:00 am and 12:30 pm.

And finally we are extremely grateful for blessings and especially fears that do not come true.  This past week on the farm we had a family member with an emergency health issue. It's the summertime and the farm is super busy this time of year, so a crisis means a lot of rescheduling and extra work.          I fell heartened and grateful to see how all the family members came together and the issue was quickly resolved without drama or making things worse. We are grateful for everyone and pulling together like you did. Thank you!. 

Till I see you again next weekend, I hope you all have a happy healthy week. See you Saturday at the market! 

Daniel.

The cherries are coming this weekend! Sweet Cherries and Tart Cherries.

We will be at the Arlington Heights Farmer's Market on Saturday between 8:00 and 12:30 pm.  

We may also have a few strawberry flats left

We're also bringing in tomatoes (heirloom and regular), cucumbers, zucchini and possibly some green beans yet.

The CSAs are filled first and what is left we sell at the market.  There is still time to purchase a CSA. call us at 574-274-6019 to order your CSA ( weekly pickup at Arlington Heights Market up to October 15th).

Also, while you are at the market, be sure to sign up on our new email newsletter and we'll send you direct updates and specials during the year. 

On the home front... There is 1 more day of summer bible school for the kids, and then Trevor will be helping out in the fields again.  

Our farm equipment is holding up well and we are really glad for that.

The highlight of the week is that despite the high heat we have been having, we have not lost any hens and they are still laying eggs well. So that is a plus.

And speaking of chickens, we will have chicken and duck eggs at the market. They are made available to customers first come first served.  This time of year the ducks lay less eggs, so they go very quickly. If you would like us to reserve some for you please give us a call before Fridays.

Thanks!

Daniel

It is so enjoyable getting up in the mornings before everyone else and trying to catch a cool breeze before the day gets too hot.

This coming Saturday, June 18 (tomorrow) we will be at the Arlington Heights farmer's market between 8:00 am and 12:30 pm.

This week, in addition to our other vegetables, we have the greenhouse tomatoes which are coming into harvest, and we also have a lot more strawberries.

Family is doing well, and the kids are in vacation bible school for a few weeks and doing well.

Since the "boss" (my son Trevor) and I started the secret oink oink club we had to get a pig. And yep, it is a Kuni Kuni-- this boar will be the father of our new blood line. By having breeding stock on site we will be able to give consistent quality. But, truth be told we just love having hogs! It is good to be raising them again. God Bless!

Hope to see you Saturday at the market!

Farmer Daniel

We began this blog in July 2021 and are finally able to begin posting. Thanks for reading. The weather has been very rainy and we began planting late this season, so the harvest is coming in later as well.  Then we had great heat without rain, and things began to dry up. So it's been a juggling dance thus far. Still we are grateful to be doing what we love, and presenting healthy organic fresh produce to the public. Thank you for your CSA orders!

On that note, the deadline for purchasing a CSA this year is May 31st. Please call us if you would like to order one. 574-274-6019 If you would like to know more about our CSAs please click on this link.

This week we are still in the planting process and transplanting from the greenhouse to the ground. Lettuces, beets, peppers. We are also getting all the main crops - the tomatoes, eggplants, and more zucchinis. Some of teh Zucchinnis got burnt up. It's been pretty much hot all week. They said it was supposed to cool down, but it never did really. 

An update on our truck for bringing produce to the market - it may be a farm truck from now on.  It's over 20 years old.  We can lease a truck for about as much as we would be putting into repairs by the end of the year,  We may continue to lease a truck. The problem with renting the truck is that we have to take everything out to give it back.  In our own truck we have permanent shelves and can load up during the week.  We're hoping to work out a deal for us to "lease to own".  We are currently exploring our options.

Elsewhere on the farm.... The bees have been busy. We have already had 1 colony start to swarm. They've been busy bees.  

The syrup season was very short this year and it is now over.  We have the bottled syrup available at the market.We also have the pickles and Vegetable juice available.

The highlight of my week, has been to just keep up on the rhubarb. Picking and trying to replant more rhubarb.  

Our asparagus field has been needing some attention. We have a lot of trimming to do, so it's keeping us busy. We have a lot of asparagus available right now at the market.

It's going to be another week, maybe two weeks before the green onions are ready for harvest. We got them in the ground later this year due to the heavy rains. Same for the radishes.

This year we are bringing the produce to only the Arlington Heights Market in Illinois. Micheal is also running deliveries in the Southbend, IN area.

And finally, an update on the home life of the farm.  The family is doing well. School is already out for the summer, so now we get to have our Farm Boss - Trevor to help us out. His specialty is being a boss snd keeping us on task. 

This means - rain or shine, we are out int eh fields. And, rain or shine, we will be at the markets and running deliveries. Thank you for purchasing from us. We appreciate your support!

That's all I have on updates today.  Hope you check back to read next week.

Farmer daniel 

07/24/2021

4:40 pm

The first day of this blog.

We have been working super hard all year throughout the pandemic to supply food for all our customers. Thank you for your loyalty. This is the final week we will have cherries available.  This is also the week that the new 'BluePrince" peaches are coming in from the fields. They are super sweet and we love them! My wife makes an awesome peach cobbler. If you want  the recipe contact us and we'll get it to you. Hope you have a great evening! Peace, Daniel