Garlic U-Pick Now Thru Sunday = Only Chance This Year! Also Pick Raspberries, First Flowers, First Apples; Open Every Day Except Mondays; Donuts 4 Days a Week.

– FRESH CROP ALERT –

– U-Pick –

Garlic • Raspberries • Flowers • Apples • Herbs

– Farmstand –

Fresh donuts Thursday-Sunday 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM • Garlic • Garlic scapes • Potted plants including herbs & flowers • Pennsylvania peaches • Blueberries • Lemon & cherry slushies • Local honey, lotion, lip balm • Local maple syrup • Local pottery • Coffee • Travel tumblers

– Affairs –

Open Tuesday-Sunday 10:00 AM to 6:00 PM rain or shine • Closed Mondays • Drive carefully when approaching and leaving the farm on Trumansburg Road • Drive very slowly on the farm • No dogs in berry patches or vegetable fields • Covid protocols = All farmstand staff are fully vaccinated, masks are not required, we suggest that everyone practice distancing in the farmstand and that nonvaccinated people wear masks at the stand • Thank you for being considerate, creative, congenial ‘Creekniks

– FULL STORY –

DEAR FARMKETEERS: Greg will pedal away with all the garlic on Monday. Now is your chance to pick.

THIS WEEK ONLY – PICK YOUR OWN GARLIC. Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. U-pick garlic will be $1.25/head, shallots $6.00/handful. Easier than ever! We “pre-dug” all three varieties Inchelium Red (softneck), Continental (hardneck), and German Red (hardneck) so the whole crop is ready and waiting to be gathered just below the surface. It has been a dry year so the same amount of the pungent garlicky goodness you love is condensed into smaller heads. Pre-picked garlic will be $9.00/lb at the farmstand.

STOCK UP FOR WINTER. If stored correctly, this year’s garlic will last until about April 2023. The best way to cure garlic is to tie cloves in bunches of 15-20 and hang in a dry, well-ventilated area such as under a front porch. After the stalks have totally dried in three or four weeks remove dried stalks for storage. Keep at even temperature and low humidity if possible – do not refrigerate or freeze.

U-PICK RASPBERRIES. The berry patches are seeing a lot of action, so don’t count your berries before you pick. The abundance varies day to day, and the summer raspberry crop will taper off soon. But you can come picking and hunt for berries. Others have scored nice hauls. See below.

NEW THIS WEEK – PICK YOUR OWN APPLES. First variety of the year, Yellow Transparent. Of course we know what you are thinking: “Yellow” and “Transparent” combine to make the most unappetizing fruit name since Edelborsdorfer. But nothing creates a community orchard bumrush like Yellow Transparent apples – time to pick now. Your Siberian cousins REALLY LOVE THESE APPLES SO MUCH. A cold-hardy variety imported in the 1800s from St. Putinsberg before it was officially called that. Ripens in July for the short northern season. To cut the acidity, people in the olden days added salt (take note, foodivorous foodies!) and called them salt apples. We call them Old Yellers. They in a different league than Johnny-Come-Lately Honeycrisp. They make a creamy apple sauce, first chance of the year. They are good stuff to be thankful for. Please come pick and earn your locavore stripes.

NEW THIS WEEK – PICK YOUR OWN FLOWERS. Please be gentle with our still somewhat tender plants. Zinnias, dahlias, celosia, gomphrena, snapdragons, strawflowers, ageratum, pincushion flower, verbena.

NEW – COFFEE! First time ever, you can get a cup of coffee at the farmstand. We are brewing from hometown roaster, Ithaca Coffee Company, and you can serve yourself. No lattes, no pumpkin spice, no ice. Just a simple cuppa for your agritourism adventure. Self-serve kiosk next to the hole-in-the-wall donut shoppe. (Pictured in new tumbler!)

FRESH DONUTS = THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. Served 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. Yes,the Mark 2 Donut Robot is assiduously churning out fresh fried rings of fructotic splendor – sprinkled, if you like, with cinnamon sugar. “A sprinkle of sin, sugar,” is all you have to say. No donuts on Monday, Tuesday, or Wednesday, when the Mark 2 Donut Robot observes its lavish Cyborg Sabbath. (One dozen fits in new tumbler!)

CO-‘CREEKNIKS OF THE WEEKNIK. Kate and Gabriel replied to last week’s Fresh Crop Alert with this photo and said: “We love to combine your raspberries and donuts – amuse bouche! We love your farm!” Thank you for coming and picking and sharing! Bottom pic is also theirs!

CO-‘CREEKNIK OF THE WEEKNIK. Farmketeer @mybearyspanglishkitchen posted: “Last Sunday, I went raspberry picking to a gorgeous farm here in Upstate NY called Indian Creek & got a bounty of berries that we’ve been enjoying fresh since. True to my nature, I also wanted to bake something with them, so in my stories I asked you about ideas & you more than delivered! 🙏🏻. It was a hard decision but, with your help in the poll, I chose the Raspberry Almond Crumb Cake from @sallysbakeblog suggested by my dear friend Ilene @baker.meets.world . Oh wow! What a scrumptious treat! The combo of flavors is amazing! Now that I know about this cake, I’ll definitely will be making this again!”

NEW THIS YEAR – POTTED HERBS & FLOWERS. Get them at the farm stand. Start your own ‘Creek. Send us a newsletter. We’ll come picking and herbing and cidering and donutting at your house. We will keep our dogs out of your berry and vegetable fields! We will drive very slowly on your farm! We will be really pretty nice! Very nice!

NEW THIS WEEK – PICK YOUR OWN HERBS. Same small garden we had last year. Basil, Thai basil, marjoram, dill, sage, thyme, oregano, chives, parsley.

NEW BUS STOP = INDIAN CREEK! Take your public transportation right to your u-pick destination. TCAT has moved the bus stop to directly in front of the farm, so anyone can take the #21 from town to our doorstep. You want to avoid using the #14, which ends at the hospital requiring a walk on the highway. Be safe!

DRIVE SAFELY! We have witnessed several terrible, high-speed collisions on Route 96 by the farm in recent years. Please approach the farm carefully, exit the farm carefully, and drive slowly when you are on the farm!

A Drivers Education
REMINDER

Entering from Ithaca

Indian Creek Farm is 1/2 mile north of the Cayuga Medical Center traffic light. We are on the left, just after the Dubois Road intersection, as you come over the rise. The entrance comes up quickly.

There is no need to increase speed to 55 MPH. Stay slow to keep the cars behind you slow.

Use your left TURN SIGNAL well before the turn. We have watched people stop to turn into the farm without using their signal.

While on Farm

Please drive slowly. There is no hurry. You are on vacation while on the farm. There are kids and folks of all ages walking around the farm. Take it easy.

Exiting

Do not pull out if you can even see a car coming. Assume the car is speeding and that you will get hit.

Be patient, an opening will come.