Indian Creek Farm

You KNOW what Mother is about to say.  You can cover your ears, close your eyes, stomp your feet, and hold your breath.  But she is still gonna say it.

Mother Nature is about to say, “Later, ‘maters!”  Yesterday was the autumnal equinox, and tomatoes will soon fly south.  There are beefsteaks to pick, but Romas, cherries, and heirlooms are scarce.  So there’s one reason to get out here:  Last chance to pick beefsteaks on weekdays for 75¢/lb!

Yes, Farmketeers, this is your last chance to savor the flavors of summer.   You can pick 6 kinds of peppers:  poblano, serrano, habanero, jalapeño, cayenne, Thai chili and bell.  Same with eggplant.  Hurry if you want some.

You can pick 7 kinds of apples:  Early Fuji, Macoun, Sir Prize, Empire, Sweet 16, McIntosh, and Cortland.  Cortlands are magic.  They don’t brown fast after you cut them.  (Why not?)  Perfect for school lunches and fruit salads.

Grab your $5 Vintage Value bags and save about 50% on McIntosh apples!  The Mac is a classic eater and saucer with a simple, sweet, and refreshing taste.  It was introduced back in the 1820s.  Our trees have been producing Macs for close to 100 years.  Vintage!

Get “Number 2” Macs and Bartletts for only 99¢/lb!  These are good fruits that simply didn’t make display grade for aesthetic reasons such as blemishes.  They are not Barbie-perfect, but they are perfect for your fruity purposes.  Perfect for canning, saucing, and snacking.

Free brain massages.  At the entrance to the sunflower maze, claim your free brain massage by saying the coupon code:  IAMHERENOW.  The invisible therapist will begin her work.  You can pick Cortland apples while you’re in session.

Fresh apple cider.  We press apples with an R2-D2 unit.  R2 pumps the Orchard Ambrosia into jugs.  Nothing but fruit.  It’s unpasteurized and delicious.  Freezes great like Han Solo.

Your new Cidergarden.  Kind of like a European biergarten, except with sweet cider.  And it’s in America.  And there’s only 3 tables.  But you get the drift.  A place to sit.

Teachable moments.  Kids can learn anything.  Bring them to Farm School for fruit appreciation.  Here, our model student uses the official 2-handed technique for apple picking.

Enjoy the free playground with Apple Mountain, swingset, sandbox, and tractor thingy.  Kids go apesh-t tumbling up and down Apple Mountain, but they know to leave the laundry fun for you.  Very thoughtful.

We love seeing people picking at the farm.  We also love when local businesses create local supply chains.  Eva of Business is Bloomin’ cuts flowers at the farm all the time.  Cool!

Come find us at the Apple Harvest Festival, Oct 2-4.  And stay tuned to Facebook for breaking pumpkin news.  Meantime, hope to see you in the sunflowers at The ‘Creek.

OH, THE APPLE DOES TEMPT.  Does it not?  Hardly matters whether you are an Original Sin subscriber or Fossil Record fanboy, the luscious apple entices all the same.

But you dare not bite this one!  It is a Cortland apple and not quite ready.  (Or perhaps YOU are not ready for the unsweet wisdom it will impart!)  There are 7 other varieties to pick this week.  Ask at the stand, we will mark your map.

Even though the Cortlands are not ripe, we invite you to enter the Cortland section of the Vintage Orchard, where you can wander the Sunflower Maze.  It is quite the exercise in resisting temptation!  Don’t pick those apples!

And it’s a good place to ramble.  Suitable activities include looking, listening, and daydreaming.  See if you can turn off your phone for 12 minutes.  If not, try again.

When you are ready to pick apples, step into the McIntosh block, where you will find big old trees with orange ribbons.  Pick away.  You can also get $5 “Vintage Value” bags at the stand starting today!  We picked those Macs for you last night.

Next you can go to the Dwarf Orchard, where the trees are short and the apples hang at grab-me level.  We’ll mark your map for Dayton, Jonamac, Autumn Crisp, Empire (pictured), Gala, and Sweet 16.  Some of you have asked about Honeycrisp:  Get them at the stand now!

Sweet 16 is known for having flavors of licorice, cherry, and bourbon.  The official tasting notes say, “tastes like Cherry Twizzler” and it’s true!  A real candy apple.

In the veggie fields, you’ll find plentiful tomatoes.  Weekday special:  75¢ per pound u-pick Beefsteaks.  One of our Facebook fans picked 126 pounds this week!  Others filled their freezers and pantries with sauces and stews.

Also in the veggie field, you can pick abundant eggplant and peppers:  cayenne, jalapeño, habanero, poblano, serrano, Thai chili, bells.  Many are turning RED = HOT!

After you munch a few habaneros, you can wash them down with cold, crisp apple cider.  Pressed fresh every week into jugs to take home.  Unpasteurized.  Nothing but fruit.

New this week!  You can take a load off at the Cidergarden under the front porch.  Three picnic tables in the shade near the cider cooler, donut machine, and herb gardens.

Also new this week!  Apple Mountain!  Truth is, it is a pile of dirt.  But as you can see in the video, it takes the playground to a whole ‘nother level for kids.  Be sure to wear white.

Finally this week, we have great news.  You raised over $600 to help local animal shelters in need!  You picked Macs all day in the rain at “Picking for Puppies,” and we’re writing the check today!  Many thanks to you brave pickers.  And thanks to our collaborators at the Shelter Medicine Club of the Cornell College of Veterinary Medicine, including Kiko, Argos, and Georgia (1st row, L to R).

So, Local Food Lovers, you have done well.  You picked all the peaches; you cleared out the pears; and, you made a puppy’s day.  Your next assignment:  To kick off apple season good and proper!  We have our biggest apple crop EVER and we need you here!  Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.

FARMER STEVE SITS ATOP his gigantic rickety tractor.  Scans the crops with one eye.  Studies a nimbus cloud with the other.  He is all silence and a furrowed brow.  He is cogitating and formulating.  At last, he hollers the week’s directive to the sales team, “Don’t hard sell the peaches, they’re picking themselves!”

What is this world coming to?  Self-picking peaches?  (Well, that’s what it seems like with you people gobbling them up so fast.)

What next?!  Before you know it, the donuts will become self-aware and eat themselves.  Better grab these old-time treats while you can.  Served fresh Saturday and Sunday, 11ish to 4ish.

Behind every good cider donut, there’s an even better cider.  Second pressing of the year.  Cold, crisp, and delicious.

Where there’s smoke, there’s fire; where there’s cider, there’s apples.  Now picking, the best earlies: Zestar, Gingergold, and Sansa.

It’s tomato time.  The rows of Romas are busting loose.  Please come pick pecks for sauces, salads, and salsas.

Beefsteaks, too.  They’re neither beefs nor steaks.  But they go great with both.  Mild-mannered but capable of surprising feats.

Peppers a-plenty.  Bells, jalapeños, cayennes… How about these poblanos grilled with cream cheese, basil, lemon zest, garlic, and onion stalks?!  Submitted by Facebook fan Katie.

Eggplant.  A truly multicultural fruit.  Lives for your stir fry.  Loves your ghanouj.  Longs for your melanzana.

Farmer Alice has more flowers than you have thoughts.  Think about THAT.  At least ten hundred squillion need picking here.

Farm Facebooker Katie gets Farmketeer of the Week.  Not only did she stuff those poblanos, but she whupped up 2 PEACH PIES!  Got any pics of your farm foods?  We’ll post the best if you send them to indiancreekit@gmail.com.  Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.

WHO IS THE BEST PERSON to be stuck on a desert island with?  A dreamy star like Burt Reynolds or Bo Derek?  A brilliant doctor to save you from mosquito bites?  A Wall Street attorney to help you milk that island good and proper?  These guesses are incorrect!

The correct answer is:  a FARMER.  Farmers think ahead.  They plan for the future.  They improvise against all odds.  They have magnificent, flowing hair.  And they make FOOD.  You’ll need food on your island adventure.

Like APPLE CIDER.  First pressing of the year!  Get it crisp and cold.  It’s a sweet-tart blend with Pristines and Esmeraldas, our secret wonder apples picked off one old mysterious tree.

PEACHES.  We’ve opened Rows 6 & 7, and they’re gonna get picked fast.  Fanatics of the Red Haven variety will be elbowing you out of the way.  Just tell them the best stuff is in Row 88 near the free gold bullion dispenser.  That will keep ’em busy.

PEACH PECKS.  You can get $18 pecks of peaches at the stand.  That’s a great deal and we only have 50 pecks this weekend.  They’ll go fast.  Shop while supplies last.

GINGER GOLD APPLES.  Widely regarded as one of the best early apples, these are ready when you see a “mellow shoulder,” meaning a subdued hue rather than a bright green.

SANSA APPLES.  Pick these children of Gala, and you’ll taste Gala’s inherent sweetness, but with more early-season acidity.

TOMATOES.  First wave of romas and beefsteaks are kicking in.  Look down low on the plants for the ripe ones.

EGGPLANT.  Whoever picked these 50 tiny baby eggplants and left them in a box to rot, umm, you left your earbuds.  Despite your dubious deed, there are plenty of eggplants to pick.  No babies, please!

PEPPERS.  Jalapeños, cayennes, poblanos, bells… lots to pick.  A farm fan sent this photo of a cute little fluffy thing who reportedly licks jalapeños then chases the cat around the house.

CUKES.  Probably on their way out, but the field is open.  Look at these “lacto-fermented cukes and scapes” by farm fan @hillaryboucher!

FLOWERS.  We have 1.5 million just waiting for you.  Cut your own all round the farm.  They won’t last forever.

Did you know that Farmer Bruno has made over 1.5 million fruit trees?  That’s right, he’s grafted or budded them by hand!  The kind of guy you want on your desert island.  And he never falls of his chair.

Thank you for supporting the farm.  Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.