Indian Creek Farm

FIVE DAYS TIL HALLOWEEN and here’s how the pumpkin thing is gonna go down — all the pumpkins you can carry for $12!

You must pick them in the pumpkin patch…

…and carry them by yourself — no tote bags, pack mules, or little red wagons.

This would not count as a $12 “carry,” although you can drive your haul down to the stand at checkout time. Then load up your arms with pumpkins and walk to the cashier. Whatever you carry costs only $12!

We also have prepicked pumpkins out front. They are priced according to our normal scheme — how they compare to the size of your head. It’s a fun old game. Want a hint? Let your kids buy their own.

Next to the pumpkin patch is a knee-high forest of Brussels sprouts. They are just waiting to be lopped. The loppers are supposedly hanging on this sign. It is magnetic poetry, farm-style: all the pieces are screwed in.

There are 5 s’s in “Brussels sprouts,” not 4. Just a reminder.

Apple season is dwindling down to the last couple days of picking. But there is fruit to be found in the Vintage Orchard. Saw a young couple — all flirty and apple-cheeked in the autumn air — picking a bushel of Rome Beauties yesterday.

You can always turn to your local farmer for expert tasting notes. We worked particularly hard on the McIntosh description. You’ll find prepicked Macs at the stand, as well as Mutsu, Cortland, Rome Beauty, and Red Spy.

Big sale on “utility” apples. They have a few birth marks or life scars. People are like, “Eww, a birth mark or life scar,” so these apples get downgraded to the utility bin. These are not airbrushed Hollywood apples, they are real apples for baking, saucing, and eating. Only $4 for a 5-pound bag and $6 a peck!

If you wish to make apple pie from scratch, you must first invent the universe. Carl Sagan said that billions and billions of times.

And if you wish to create a tree-hugging dirt worshipper, you must first train him to be a blossom-kissing flower-whisperer.

Do it right and he’ll turn out like this — brawny, capable, and suggestible.

PHOTOS FROM Y’ALL

And now a quick break for beautiful pictures from a customer, Charles E. He sent this mouth-watering shot of last night’s dinner — Brussels sprouts from Indian Creek Farm and goodies from other farms around town. Inspiring!

Here is his little Mutsu Monster. Didn’t have the heart to tell the kid that it’s not an ear of corn. Nom nom nom…

WHAT ELSE IS COOKING?

Last week’s pepper sale gets even crazier this week — buy 5 pounds and pay $1 a pound (sweet) or $1.50 (hot). Time to score a winter’s worth of flavor.

Make up a bag of sweets and a bag of hots. Chop and freeze.

Hot spiced cider makes a gray day brighter. Stuff is so good — especially when you knock back alternating shots of hot cider and cold Orchard Ambrosia.

It wouldn’t be fall at the farm without a world-class assortment of dead flowers. The Goth crowd will be here selecting specimens for their Halloween costumes.

Dare you to wear this on your derriere.

The whiteboard in our workshop is like the internet — everything written there is true. Today it says, “Mox nox in rem,” which is Latin for, “Let’s get on with things, night is coming.” And by night we mean winter. So get out here and pick.

Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.

ONCE UPON A TIME, there was a boy called Brussels Sprout — Brussel for short. He was a farmer’s nephew, and had a shaky start in life: tubes in his ears, a patch on one eye, and allergies to every food in the fridge. He couldn’t put on pounds.

Brussel came to the farm one day and helped us with planting. Since then his star has been rising. Just had a seventh birthday and ate his whole birthday dinner — hot dogs (burnt on the grill, please), cream corn, mango slices, pasta, rolls, and one black olive for each finger. Seems like things are looking up.

So, in honor of everyone named Brussel, come cut your own sprouts.

There once was a girl named Apple. A young woman, really. She worked here on the farm, doing orchard jobs and this and that. Last we heard, she sped off to Texas with a gentleman of the anarchist persuasion. Motorcycles and banjos and happy trails. But we still have apples in the orchard — Mutsu, Cortland, Northern Spy, and Rome Beauty. Season is dwindling, this is your chance.

So, in honor of everyone named Apple, come pick apples.

Last year, little Henry Quinn was being a grumpkin. We tried everything til we found out he is really a pumpkin! This year, we added more ‘kins — not Henry Quinn, but Kollman Henry Cummins. He is waiting for you at the bottom of this message.

So, in honor of kids named Henry, come claim your pumpkin.

Everyone knows about the great George Squashington. (For a dollar and a quarter you can see him twice.) But without his powdered wig and wooden teeth, he looks a little less presidential. Here he spends his days among the younger generation, telling tales about crushing the Redcoats and chopping down cherry trees.

So, in honor of everyone named Squashington, come claim your squash.

A long time ago, in a land far, far away — but not far from the original Ithaca — there were invisible beings in the sky. Or atop Mount Olympus, depending on which movie you watch. Anyway, these self-styled deities claimed exclusive rights to the good stuff: ambrosia. Well, we get our information from Wikipedia (like most farmers), and we haven’t found any prohibition therein about selling cider to mere mortals. So we are bringing Orchard Ambrosia to normal people for a small fee.

In honor of those who tell the gods to stop being snooty, come claim your cider.

PHOTOS FROM Y’ALL

How about this apple crisp? One of three lovely photos sent in by a customer, Genna Knight, after an outing to the farm.

Apple sauce by Genna and family. There is still time to be “putting up” food for winter. It’s an old country phrase that means canning and jarring.

Her littlest apple picker in the Dwarf Orchard. People went nuts at the big party and picked the Dwarf Orchard clean. But there ARE apples in the Vintage Orchard — a handful of trees that will get picked out soon! Come now.

PEPPER SALE & OTHER NEWS

The day before the recent frost, we scrambled into the pepper field and picked everything we could find. A great haul that saved a lot of crop. Now we’re swimming in peppers. Fill a 10-pound bag with a mix of bell peppers, sweet Italian peppers, and poblanos — and pay only $10. This Saturday and Sunday!

A lot of you had never seen Brussels Sprouts on the stalk before. How about broccoli? We’ll be stocking the stand with broccoli til the modest supply is gone. It is most delicious and cruciferous!

Tundra, Queen of the Farm, had got a bit smelly. Her “rolling habit” — rolling in any carcass she comes across — has that effect. Well this week she went on a big trip to the groomer. Haircut, bubble bath, and pedicure. Now she is worthy of her name again: white as the driven snow, soft as the moss on the steppe. She smells just great, ambrosial even. Zorro got the treatment, too.

CALL FOR VOLUNTEERS & FEEDBACK

Some of you guys sent such useful feedback about the Pigs-n-Apples Party. Without a doubt, your thoughts will make next year even better. But for the rest of you, should we have a party next year? Answer that question and a few others on this PARTY FEEDBACK FORM. You can also use the form to volunteer next year!

A WORD ABOUT PUMPKINS

“Pumpicking.” That’s the word. Get out here and try it. Or try “pumpkinicking.” Or “Pumpicnicking.” Doesn’t matter what you call it — do it soon. Only 12 days til Halloween, and there will be lots of pumpkin hunters this weekend. Weather says partly sunny, which means it will be partly “crowdy.” Snooze you lose!

Hope to see you at The ‘Creek.

AN ORPHANED ASSISTANT PIG-KEEPER became hero and champion of the realm. That was in The Chronicles of Prydain. No such luck for the pigherds of Ithaca — they were vanquished without mercy by dark-hearted apple farmers.

More on our top story in a moment. But first, the Picking Report for the weekend of Friday, October 12, 2012.

WHAT’S PICKING NOW?

APPLE IS OCTOBER’S middle name. Even people who don’t like apples are picking apples this time of year. There are numerous ripe varieties. You can top off your outing, and mollify the children, with fresh cider from the stand.

There are pumpkins galore. This old photo is just a warning — we might get frost on Friday night, so the weekend could be your last chance to pick summer produce such as eggplant, peppers, raspberries, and squash. Plants will shrivel and vegetables will be scarce as deviled eggs after a church picnic.

Brussels sprouts are ready for the lopping! Sautee them with Piggery bacon for a special treat that doubles as an act of charity. The Piggery gang is still smarting from their drubbing and they would welcome a visit.

PARTY PICTURES

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-FIVE CHILDREN took part in the Treasure Hunt. Fifty bobbed for apples and 34 painted pumpkins. Forty-four tossed the corn javelin and 57 fired the apple slingshot. Here’s a bobber with classic form.

Little brother got brain freeze and was like, “Daddy, I’ll just watch.” Big brother was like, “Dad, it’s GO time.” Deep breath. Plunge.

Time for “Extreme Makeover: Gourd Edition.” No specimen too homely.

A Pollock-inspired entry in the Abstract Expressapumpkin category.

Tag-team effort. Parents are kids, too.

Sprouted on the Fourth of July.

Seems like everyone started with an orange base coat.

But at least one carver was thinking outside the box.

Our new table, after 20 hours of sanding and staining — and just 2 hours of pumpkin painting. A tablecloth is such an elegant solution, when you remember it.

Watched this guy drink paint blobs for 6 minutes.

Slingshot champion with brilliant technique. Psychology hobbyists had a “field” day watching kids use their brains to adapt in real-time.

Another lad frozen in time, a millisecond after release.

You can see her apple in the clouds, easily passing the 100-foot marker. Longest shots of the day were flying over 400 feet!

Corn javelin! The longest shots were flying about 40 feet ;-)

Southpaw lets it fly!

“Z” marks the spot — treasure hunters had to get a ribbon off Zorro!

The “pig” part of Pigs-n-Apples.

Their local bratwursts really fire people up.

The madding crowd put our little donut machine through its paces…

The Donut Boys did a great job, serving 500 donuts an hour!

Wagon rides trundled around the farm…

And kids danced on the wagon deck between rides.

It offered a great view of the pumpkin field and the lake valley.

Another favorite spot was Stumphenge.

People gathered round the fire and kids climbed all over the stumps.

Banjo tune in the afternoon.

Just before nightfall, the main event. By now it is known to villagers across the county — Apples thrashed Pigs. But we’re done bragging. Til this time next year.

One bright moment for the losers, a pig-o-lantern.

Campfire #2 went til the wee hours, with an old movie playing on the big screen and players taking turns on the stage. A couple dozen friends — old and new — stayed well past the giant orange moonrise.

FEEDBACK FOR THE FARM

Should there be a Second Annual Pigs-n-Apples Party? How can we make it better?

→  SEND US YOUR PARTY THOUGHTS  ←

We heard a few tidbits through Facebook…

“Greatest scavenger hunt ever! And that The Piggery chili verde was off the hook. Thanks for an awesome time today. :)”

“Had a lovely time with friends and family. Next time – helmets/face mask protectors for the sling shot contest!”

We also heard grumbling about the parking and lines and this and that. Let’s put all those ideas in one place so we can plan for next year. Please send us your thoughts through this special Party Form.

Thanks for coming to the party and supporting the farm through the seasons. As always, hope to see you at The ‘Creek.

TELL THE TRUTH and shame the devil. That’s what Mother always says. Let’s make Mom proud by telling the hard truth about pig farmers: they will meet their doom at 6 PM on Saturday. Tug of war versus apple farmers.

We laid out the reasons in last week’s Crop Alert: they have squishy muscles and dubious intellects. Still some are in denial even as the weekend approaches. So please be gentle when you are talking to a pigherd at the party — remember that his or her brain rolls around like a BB in a boxcar. (And can someone go check on the piggies Sunday morning? They’ll need tending.)

So, down to business: Tug of war at 6 o’clock. Before that, there will be music, food, and fun for all ages. Starts at noon, rain or shine. The party is free, while food and drink are sold separately. Logistical tidbits…

BRING YOUR OWN BEER (BYOB) — We will be serving fresh-pressed cider, but you can bring your own beverages. Please, no Coke Zero. That stuff is unholy.

BRING YOUR OWN FOOD (BYOF) — The Piggery will be serving their famous “brats” and potato salad. Pretty much a pork deal. After all, pig is their gig; but it’s not for everyone, so bring whatever you like. You can cook Not Dogs with Nayonnaise and Netchup on whole wheat Nuns for all we care. We’ll have several bonfires going. Mostly for looks but also for cooks. Picnics are encouraged; red gingham blankets are extra credit.

BRING YOUR OWN RAIN GEAR (BYORG) — Oh sure, we’ll share the one umbrella we have, but it could get crowded under there. This is your big chance to dress like a farmer, or at least like a farmer in a catalog. Could be a cool, wet day in the country. Grassroots started in the rain; Woodstock launched in the mud; Pigs-n-Apples might be a bit boggy, too. Don your mucks!

BRING YOUR OWN PUMPKIN TOOLS (BYOPT) — We are buying up all the kid-friendly carving kits in town. But if there is a huge turnout, and you don’t want to wait to start your masterpiece, bring your favorite implements.

BRING YOUR OWN APPLE PIE (BYOAP) — Pie contest! Submissions accepted 12-5, winners announced 5:30. Warning: we know the old trick about taking the sticker off a Wegman’s pie. We’ve tasted every store-bought pie in a 16-mile radius.

And now a little background on the Pig-Apple drama. Consider this recent exchange on Facebook…

The Piggery: “The pig is turning an apple — essentially garbage — into bacon! That’s magic.” – Jim Gaffigan

Indian Creek Farm: Never heard of no Jim McGaffigan. Sounds made up. Typical — you can shake a pig farmer’s hand but count your fingers when you’re done.

BLAMMO! Consider the fire stoked.

PIGS-N-APPLES 2012 should be livelier than a two-tailed puppy. Over 100 people have clicked “I’m Going” on the Facebook Event Page. Plus 43 “maybes” and 524 invited. Based on that data, our calculations predict there will be between 7 and 400 people, spread over 6 hours which means plenty of people-watching, fraternizing, and flirting — but not such a crowd that you can’t find a corner of the orchard for you and yours alone.

Either way, we’ll be here. We’ll try to make it fun for whoever shows up.

Hope to see you at The ‘Creek!

WELL, BUTTER MY BUTT and call me a biscuit — only one week til party time! The first annual Pigs-n-Apples Party will hit the farm on Saturday, October 6, and people have been clamoring for details. Who what when where?

So us guys at the newsdesk planted a spy in the planning committee. Her cover got blown and they trapped her in a peck box; but, with a flash of dimples and a kung fu kick, she escaped and returned to base. Here’s what she found out…

UPDATED SCHEDULE — We’ve posted the latest schedule on the Party Page and included it here. Keep in mind that organizing a party is like putting socks on a rooster. We’ll do our best to keep things on time, but if it starts looking like a soiree managed by bumpkins, don’t get your tail up and your stinger out.

12 to 5 – pumpkin carving contest, apple pie contest, apple slingshot
3 to 4 – corn javelin (kids only!), apple bobbing (kids only!)
4 to 5 – treasure hunt
5 – games over, winners announced at 5:30
6 – tug of war between pigherders and apple farmers

Admission to the party is free, and the events are free. Music will play through the day. Local food by The Piggery and Indian Creek will be for sale the whole time, as will non-alcoholic drinks including our own fresh-pressed cider! U-picking will work like a normal day and pre-picked produce will be for sale as usual.

PUMPKIN-CARVING CONTEST — Buy your own u-pick pumpkin and jump into the game. There will be kid-friendly carving kits and paints. These two cute kids already chose their pumpkins. Overachievers!

BRING YOUR OWN BEER (BYOB) — The beerhall table is built, and the plan for the party is bring your own beer. We made the monster table — 32 feet long! — out of an old oak tree that died on the farm. It will be one of the main gathering points, great for activities like the pumpkin-carving and pie contests, and of course socializing with farm friends old and new.

APPLE CIDER DONUTS — We’ll haul the Li’l Orbits machine up to the party spot and keep it cranking til we run out of batter or you run out of belly.

BAKERS, START YOUR OVENS — The judges will be accepting your homebaked pies (and bribes) til 5. Winners will be announced at 5:30.

LOCAL FOOD — There will be farm-fresh food catered by our pals from The Piggery, Ithaca’s most famous heritage-breed herd. Their wildly popular bratwursts and stuff will surely be a main attraction. But if you think that wrestling pigs has prepared those guys for a tug-of-war with the apple farmers, think again.

TUG OF WAR — The apple gang has been running teamwork drills all week, such as the delicate Duck-Wince-Crimp maneuver shown here. Takes a lot of trust, and look at the guns on that old farmer! He’s tougher than a one-eared alley cat. How will Team Pig stand a chance? Sorry, Piggery, sometimes you are the windshield and sometimes you are the bug.

After all, everyone knows that on a pig farm, the pigs do all the work, whereas in an orchard, the apples just sit there. We have to climb ladders all day toting 40 pounds of fruit. Plenty of mental exercise, too, remembering lyrics to old apple songs. Yes, we are all brains and brawn around here. But the Pig Squad, well, let’s just say they won’t hurt their backs toting their brains around.

Trying to beat Team Apple will be like slinging a hammock between two cornstalks. Totally pointless. How about slinging a slingshot between two fence posts? That we can do! Here is the apple slingshot field, ready for your best shot.

MASTER OF CEREMONIES, 2032 — The party planners have announced the emcee for the 20th Annual Pigs-n-Apples Party, which will be held here in 2032. You can meet Kollman Henry Cummins, age 6 months, at the first annual next week. No teeth but already eats apples (see one inside his cocoon?).

OTHER NEWS OF THE FARM

WHAT’S PICKING NOW? — The Vintage Orchard and Dwarf Orchard are bursting with ripe apples, at least half a dozen varieties, and it’s prime time to pick end-of-season vegetables and flowers. The farm stand is packed with fruits, vegetables, cider, donuts, and chit chat.

WELCOME HOME, PENELOPE — It was a long summer without Penelope. She had to go in for surgery. She is back just in time to give wagon rides at the party! Hooray, Penny, we missed you real bad.

BACKHOE IS BACK — It was a long few weeks without the backhoe’s hoe. Stitched her up yesterday, just in time to dig a huge pit of rotten apples and tomatoes for the tug of war! Team Pig will feel right at home when they nosedive in THAT.

BORN TIRED, RAISED LAZY — Zorro is still on the front porch. Just like last week. And the week before that. And the week before that. Moves as often as a cabin in the country. Well, you know what they say about guys like Zorro: “There’s snow on the roof, but there’s fire in the hearth.”

Hope to see you at The ‘Creek!

IT IS A CUTE ENOUGH contraption, if a little homely. You could even call it a kinetic sculpture: the motor buzzes and sprockets whirr and paddles click back and forth. But in the end, art or not, our new gadget makes fresh donuts.

At least we think it does. Farmer Owen is still tinkering. We’ll fire it up this weekend to serve donuts at the stand, and at special events like the Pigs-n-Apples Party on October 6th. Have you clicked “I’m Going” on Facebook yet?

The sign is painted, and the fine print says these farm-fresh donuts are deep-fried. But don’t fret — it’s good to balance things out. Half of the people who yap about their healthy diets have been caught with a pack of Twinkies anyway. So let’s “donut” together, in broad daylight.

We’ll all look like tubby little spacemen soon. “L’il Orbits,” as they say. The donuts are supposed to come out a tad bigger than bite-size, somewhere between Munchkin and Gutbuster. Come try them. We need test subjects.

What’s the big idea? Donuts are another way to enjoy Orchard Ambrosia. The flavor evolves naturally with the seasons, and it is REAL GOOD right now, using a blend of Honeycrisp, Sweet 16, Cortland, McIntosh, Holiday, and Cox Orange Pippin. Plus homegrown Bartlett pears. Whoa.

Apple cider donuts… apple cider… and, of course, apples. Now picking in the Dwarf Orchard: Macoun apples in Row 11. Savor the Macouns with their rich cran-apple color, crisp texture, bright pulp and snappy sweetness.

Now picking in Row 10: Empire apples, developed at Cornell in the 1940s. Child of the classic American varieties, Delicious and McIntosh, Empire is an ideal lunchbox apple, tasty to kids and resistant to bruising.

Now picking in the Vintage Orchard: Cortland apples. It is a race against the clock, and against us! We started picking Cortlands yesterday, so come get yours. If these guys get in your way, just bark like a dog. That usually scares them off.

Got a paparazzo shot of this brawny orchard hand. Not clear what he was doing with those Cortlands. Should fetch a pretty penny from The Enquirer.

The Chinese word for paparazzi translates literally as, “puppy squad.” Tundra is in charge of the Indian Creek Puppy Squad. Here she is in her favorite spot, much like last week, where she is healing up nicely from knee surgery.

PARTY IN APPLE-ACHIA!

Well, that’s the news — DONUTS, CIDER, APPLES, and a BIG PARTY on October 6. The Piggery clan will be here, bringing their wildly popular local food and a whole mess of their devoted fans! Til then, pop over to the Facebook Event Page where you can see who’s going. Click “I’m Going” to help us plan how many donuts to make.

Hope to see you at The ‘Creek!

IT’S JUST US DUDES here today. The fellers and the hombres. One of the gals drove south; another flew west. And the rest? Where are les femmes de la ferme?

Don’t know, but we’ll have to make do. Find meaning in our work. Git ‘er done.

Tommy is picking Macs. High up in the trees, forty pounds of apples slung low on his hip, he freezes — Do I hear them? Is that the lilt of a lady’s lyric? No, only a bird.

Tino gets fuzzy-headed, too, when the lasses leave. But after a brief panic, he leads us lads in song. “Soooomewherrre over the rainbow,” gravelly and earnest.

We start to find our strength, and we even see flashes of exuberance. A kick of the heels, a few manure jokes, a chew of chaw. It’s an orchardmen’s stitch-n-bitch, and it will sustain us for now. Anyway, you tuned in to find out what’s fresh, so here are the top three things you need to know.

THE TOP 3 THINGS TO KNOW

PIGS-N-APPLES PARTY — Saturday, October 6, 2012. Local food by The Piggery, everybody’s favorite. All are welcome. Bring friends, families, young and old. There is a Party Page and a Facebook Event, too.

UPICK & PREPICKED APPLES — There are pick-your-own apples in the Vintage Orchard (McIntosh) and Dwarf Orchard (Autumn Crisp). The stand is packed with new varieties from the Dwarf Orchard, including Honeycrisps. We can’t give out free generic Lipitor like the supermarket, but we can sell our homegrown Honeycrisps for only $2.25 a pound, compared to $2.99 at the big chains. “An apple a day…”

FRESH CIDER — We can’t stop making cider just because the ladies are AWOL. If we can’t drink in the joy of their presence, or the presence of their joy, we’ll drink Orchard Ambrosia instead. Works in a pinch.

TWO MORE THINGS TO KNOW

“Eternal youth is impossible,” warned Kafka, as is eternal summer in the Finger Lakes. But you can stretch it out a bit by chomping the glorious fall raspberry crop. Pick your own while they last.

Here’s how to do smoked peppers in your own backyard. The sign says, “tastes amazing,” and everything on the internet is true, so give it a whirl.

SEND US YOUR FOOD PHOTOS

A few customers sent us photos of beautiful pies and stuff they made with our fruits and vegetables. Send us your photos and we’ll share them all in a crop alert! Email them to indiancreekit@gmail.com.

Thanks for reading. Hope to see you at The ‘Creek!