press
Some say you'd have to be pretty bold to toot your own horn like this.
Others would say, Farmer Ben is a trumpet player and if you know other trumpet players, you know they can't help themselves. Plus, he's using this blog entry to puff himself up before the crushing realization that all of his Honeycrisp might be worthless after this Hurricane blows through.
"How Do You Like Your Peaches" - Colesville Patch dishes on the best way to enjoy these summer gems
"The Six Reasons Three Springs Fruit Farmers Have Unrivaled Peach Prowess in PA" - The Feast, Philly
Burst of Flavor at the Fourth Annual Tomato Taste - Silver Spring Patch, after a well-earned tie for second place in last years competition, we narrowly missed the first place crown after, yet again, coming in second place to Mock's 'Sungold' tomatoes. Yet again, we were growing the winning tomato just missed the crown
Here's a little local coverage of the Fell's Point Market open from Baltimore's WJZ channel 13! And, in case you were wondering, Jessica the anchorwoman seen at the end of the clip did make it out to our market's open Saturday June 4th! Thanks for getting the good word out in Baltimore, WJZ! Back in the days of home aerial TV, we relied on Baltimore news stations for all our news and entertainment! Good on ya, 'JZ!
The market was also covered by Baltimore Brew (read article here). I apologize for not being more clear in these interviews - I talk too much. Truth is Fell's Point, Kenilworth, and Farmers on the Square Farmers Markets are about the only three on the East Coast where you can find two Food Alliance Certified growers at the same market! Just the same, things are off to a great start in Baltimore's newest grower-only farmers market!
As many folks heard, President Barack Obama was a surprise visitor of the Reading Terminal Market this past Monday. As was also reported by a few outlets, the President purchased some apples to go along with his token cheesesteaks, apples some reported he undervalued. We're here to set the record straight, commend the fine folks at Fairfood Farmstand for making the sale, and to confirm that these apples were our tasty, Gala apples!
So the quick synopsis of the story is that the President stopped by the Reading Terminal Market to grab a Carmen's cheesesteak to go (wiz with! good call, Prez). It was while he was waiting for his steaks that the Fairfood Farmstand's own Federico Santoyo calls out to Pres. Obama, "How about getting something local and healthy for after your cheesesteak?" As you can see, Fed is the star of this story, we did absolutely nothing. Bold move on his part - it paid off! President Obama ventured over to Fair Food and picked out four Gala apples (yes, our Gala apples) so that "Michelle would feel like I'm eating healthy", according to one CNN account. As I kind of expected, the notion Obama didn't pay enough to buy the apples was falsely reported. Federico was attempting to offer the Leader of the Free World something of an Executive discount - put in the same position, I don't think I'd feel right charging The President full rate either! As seen on Fairfood's Facebook page:
Look at that pearl of investigative journalism! So anyhow, cheers to the folks at the Fairfood Farmstand - they really do have a terrific operation there, it's your centrally located "Farmers Market Away From Farmers Market". While I'm at it, a big "thank you" to all of the like-minded stands with a passion for local wares who carry our products in Philadelphia! For the weekends you're out of town and find yourself needing that mid-week Fruit Fix, here's a partial list of where our delicious fruit can be found!
edit: proof I should leave this to the professionals, Bob's Market Report reports the Secret Security had recently cased Reading Terminal, indicating it was no "spur of the moment" stop. Also, I can't believe I left out the President grabbing some Bassett's mint chocolate chip on the way out! Another fine choice!
Here's a quick run down on a some publicity we were fortunate to have received of late:
Food Alliance recognition is popping up here and there, including a mention in Food CEO magazine, and this YouTube clip with some spiffy shots of our beautiful orchards, a little dialogue from our friends Brian Synder of PASA and Joan Norman at One Straw Farm, plus some footage shot at our Kenilworth Farmers Market:
Gaining Style Points
Our customers are always the most stylish folks on their block, Philadelphia Style Magazine proves it, ranking our Heirloom Apples as no. 4 on their list of the top 10 fall eats! Thanks, Philly Style!
Upset Alert! Washington Gardner Tomato Challenge
It was a close match, but we were narrowly edged out for top honors in the Washington Gardner Magazine Tomato Taste Test, 2010. In a survey of over 100 tomato maniacs at the Silver Spring Farmers Market August 28th, our very own Green Zebra tomatoes were edged out by the Lemon Boy tomatoes of our friends at Down to Earth Farm. One measly vote was all that separated us from the honor. Our 27 votes tied for third place with our other friends (and market neighbors) at Sligo Creek Farm whose Sungold tomatoes were also a big hit. Oddly, my favorite variety, 'Cherokee Purple' didn't fair as well. I would have voted for Spiral Path's tomatoes, but what do I know anyhow? What a fun idea and thanks for the folks at Washington Gardner and the Montgomery County Master Gardners for organizing this event!
The internet can be a pretty weird place sometimes. If you ever lacked proof of this, two seperate websites had videos of me (of all people) gabbing about this and that in two weeks time!
Crop Life America wants to get the word out on Integrated Pest Management (IPM) - a passion shared by all of us here at Three Springs Fruit Farm. This seven minute video is shot during bloom season at the farm and gives you a close look at how IPM is performed in our pretty orchards. Sorry, I think my bias came through there a bit at the end.
At the time this video was shot, we were under the impression we'd be at Bethesda on Saturdays. Now we're at Silver Spring Farmers Market instead - the subject of the video posted below. Good background tunes - I need to bribe the Silver Spring buskers down to our end of the market! We've got yummy strawberries...
update (6/3/10)
Local Washington DC News 8 coverage of the FRESHFarm Markets Health & Human Services Market Grand Opening!
Since our write up in Relish Magazine, we have been inundated by web correspondence with folks hoping to get some of our freshness shipped out to them to all parts of our country. I've been trying to respond to everyone's emails, but I just wanted to get ahead of the rush.
At present, we are not set up to ship fruit. To some extent, we can work with folks who can meet us here at the farm. Going forward, after reading all the emails from folks around the US where apples are not grown, shipping is something we will have to discuss. In the offseason, we do a lot of work planning our next move - whether that be markets, new blocks of trees, etc. and I'd be willing to wager our family will have to take a hard look at the benefits of providing this service to folks.
So I just wanted to comment publicly that yes, we hear you! Shipping is going to be a consideration going forward!
My question to you is, what would you like shipped to you? Apples? Pears? Peaches? Gift baskets? What quantity would you like to order if you could? This is information we'll need to consider when we meet after apple season.
Thanks for everyone's interest in our farm - its been an exciting week!
-Ben
update:
I wanted to include the following resources that might be helpful in getting fruit shipped to you this year:
Three Springs Fruit Farm is featured in this month's Relish magazine!
"America's Largest Food Magazine" is distributed as an insert in newspapers so check yours out this week, or read our feature in "New American Farmers" here.
Photograph was taken by friend and fellow Adams County Fruit Grower Tyler Fetters -fetters8705(at)yahoo.com
The September/October issue of Philadelphia Style Magazine has a write up on Headhouse Farmer's Market, check it out here!
It's a major award!!!
Philadelphia Weekly names Three Springs Fruit Farm Apple Cider as one of Philadelphia's 50 "Must Eats" in 2009!
"Though Saisons and gin spritzes are still dominating our drinking repertoire, we’d be lying if somewhere in the corner of our brains we weren’t thinking of autumn and the cider it will bring. And not just any cider, but the virgin-pure, intensely apple-y cider crafted by Ben Wenk with the Jonagold, Jonathan and Summer Rambo heirlooms grown on his family’s Three Springs Fruit Farm in Adams County, Pa. Wenk, a Penn State agro-ecology grad, once took a cider-making lab there, and the skills stuck. He presses the cider in small batches that are flash- pasteurized with UV light instead of flavor-destroying heat. Because there are no preservatives, the shelf life is a mere two weeks. Not that it ever lasts that long"
It's a great list spanning a wide range of delicious-sounding foods for every appetite. Personally, I can vouch for the unsurpassed quality of the three other "50 must"-ers who are fellow vendors at Headhouse Farmer's Market every Sunday:
- Patches of Star - Goat Cheese Ice Cream, note: I doubt my mother, sister, or I will ever forget the day we learned Elly liked trading for fruit! Best ice cream, hands down!
- Wild Flour Bakery - Sourdough, note: Simply amazing Sourdough bread! Best in Philly and tied in a dead heat with Baltimore's Atwaters as the best breads we trade for each week!
- Hillsacre Pride - Butter, note: Our neighbors! Judy's the best - she's someone I look forward to jokin' around with every week. Everything we've had from their stand has been top notch. Now I read I can preorder Horseradish Cheddar? Just awesome!
So there ya go! It's truly an honor to be recognized and, though I doubt I'll win the contest, I'd super psyched to try some of the other winner's delicious food sometime during the offseason.
FB