From Soil To Story

It is tomato time in Central Illinois. But what happens when the tomatoes just do not seem to ripen.

You can eat a lot of fried green tomatoes, but there are a couple of other tricks to try. In this episode Donna shares her secrets to encouraging the tomatoes to ripen.

We also discuss some of the heirloom varieties available in the garden this year.

Until next time….

Sometimes as business owners, you discover you can not do it all.

On today’s podcast we discuss a couple of difficult decisions we had to make for our business; ending early produce orders and early sales at the Farmer’s Markets. We want to meet our customer’s needs; however, we can’t do everything.

The end result was a peaceful morning which allowed us to interact better with our customers.

Be sure to listen all the way to the end for some special cowbells.

Until next time….

Do you find yourself wasting too much food? We are working on reducing the waste here on Five Feline Farm.

On today’s episode we discuss a few of the ways we are reducing food waste, from cutting out damaged parts of tomatoes to compost.

At Five Feline Farm, we grow as many of our own vegetables as possible, the most beautiful of those veggies go to the farmer’s market and we use the less than perfect for our meals.

Until next time….

Today’s podcast shares a “behind the scenes” look at our preparations to attend farmer’s markets on two consecutive days.

Friday mornings through August, we are attending the Casey IL Market Thyme farmer’s market from 7:30AM to 11:30AM right next to the World’s Largest Rocking Chair.

You will find us on Saturday mornings through September at the 18th Street Farmer’s Market in Charleston IL in the parking lot of 825 18th Street.

Come out and enjoy some great home grown and home created products.

Until next time…

This episode marks a milestone in the Five Feline Farm business. We are expanding exponentially at this time. We are moving into a new office space, consolidating our workspace and materials plus adding a new Farmer’s Market in Casey, IL.

Until next time….

It is that time of year when fresh food straight from the garden abounds, although the unusual amount of rain has delayed some of our crops.

Listen in as we talk about what we are harvesting, using and storing. In particular we review a recent dish with small gourmet potatoes and garlic as well as using fresh herbs.

Be sure to check out our social media where you will find almost daily reports on the Farm. We are on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Until next time….

Everyone asks about what we will do in retirement. It’s not really retirement for us but a career change to full time farmers and building the Five Feline Farm business.

Our first major task is to build a fence to keep the groundhogs out of the garden. Pesky little creatures.

Keep coming back…it’s going to get interesting.

There are times in this business that we have to make decisions about the business based on the weather. How much to take to market when the forecast is rain? Do we cancel entirely? On this episode we discuss how we make those decisions. On occasion, we wish we had chosen differently, but we always make the best of it.

Until next time…

The rain feels non-stop this June, but we are making the best of it. In between thunderstorms and rain showers, the harvest goes on which includes black raspberries.

And if you haven’t read The Long Road to Market, you can get your copy on Amazon to read the snake story.

Until next time….

Wow, how quickly time flies by. This podcast was supposed to post on Monday the 17th, but here we are at Tuesday already. Thank you for sticking with us.

On this episode we talk about how we cram as much as possible into every moment of every day but still take time to make mealtimes special.

If you are interested in making buttermilk cheese, click here. For more information about cilantro, click here.

Until next time…..