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Happy holidays from Prairierth!

It's been a busy Fall but a very exciting one! Dave and Hans are continuing work on the hoop house construction and overhauling the Praireirth website (www.prairierthfarm.com). Hans and I are pouring over the seed and plant catalogs dreaming of all the flowers, veggies and herbs we're going to grow. We're also happy to announce our engagement... I will soon become Katie Bishop! I'm overwhelmed with excitement and pride! It's an honor to join this family and this farm. Hans and I were just talking about how wonderful it will be to put all of our love and commitment into the soil and the plants and I honestly believe the family bond and commitment between all of us will be evident in the quality of the plants we will grow and sell. There's so much purity in that... it's priceless.


We're gearing up for a pretty exciting spring season and plan to update the blog with what we have each week at the Farmer's market and updates on our slow food inventory on www.praireirthfarm.etsy.com. Don't forget we'll have chicken, beef and eggs with us too!

Finally, I hope this holiday season finds you all warm with tasty feasts, good times with family and gratitude for God's most precious gifts. Best wishes to all!

Katie

A busy time of year...

Hans and I are sitting down to a tasty cup of hot tea while winding down from the day. Hans and Dave have been in the fields getting the corn and beans out all week and will be busy working this weekend too. Then it's time for the hoop house construction! (Can't wait to start digging in that dirt!) Hans took this picture while in the combine. I thought it was a great perspective right from the driver's seat... and I think this picture really touches on the idea of KNOWING WHERE YOUR FOOD COMES FROM. We want you to see it firsthand because we're proud of the way we farm and love sharing that with people. Thanks to everyone taking the time to read this and for all the support we get every day. We feel the love and appreciate it!

New stuff happening at the farm!

We are excited to announce that we are adding onto our production operation with a season-extending hoop house. This will allow us to bring you delicious salad mixes and other hardy crops in the cold months of winter. Please follow closely as we will be bringing photos and videos of the progress of the hoop house construction.

We are planning to sell our products this next year at the Bloomington IL Downtown Farmer’s Market.  We are looking forward to the opportunity to meeting you and establishing a relationship with you as your farmer and grower. If we aren’t offering something you would like, we would love to hear from you by either emailing Hans or Dave, or you can look us up at the Downtown Bloomington IL Farmer’s Market.

At Prairierth Farm we are proud to bring you the freshest, best tasting, USDA certified organic vegetables all grown locally on our farm. Be it tomatoes, potatoes, cucumbers, salad mixes, or culinary herbs; we take pride in what we offer and we guarantee that our quality and wide selection will not be matched

Crop News:

This fall we have planted next year’s Garlic crop consisting of three different varieties:

German White porcelain -- Hardneck. Large, bright white bulbs with 4-8 very large cloves. Easy to peel, Stores very well, and grows very well in cold weather. excellent flavor

Music Porcelain -- Hardneck. Large, bright white bulbs with 4-6 very large cloves. Especially hardy in cold climates. Easy to peel, Stores very well. excellent flavor.

Inchelium Red Garlic - from the Colville Indian Reservation in Inchelium, Washington, this garlic is a large and beautiful softneck artichoke variety. The dense bulb, can have anywhere from 9-20 cloves and an outer bulb wrapper that is thick for the purpose of protecting the bulb. The flavor of the Inchelium Red is softly robust but not so strong as to be overwhelming; the flavor often sharpens in storage.

                                                 
                                      
**Keep your eyes peeled for updates on planting news and as the beginning of spring approaches, more news on when we will harvest. It will be early and we are expecting to be able to provide Carrots, Radishes, and Salad Greens.**

Dave covering the rows of planted garlic

GARLIC!

It's a good day in Central IL when Autumn is on it's way. The leaves are starting to change and the cooler nights are perfect for sleeping with your windows open. It's also an excellent time to harvest garlic. We've got organic garlic ready for drying! We'll be selling some dried herb blends and rubs on www.prairierthfarm.etsy.com soon. If you're local and you'd like to purchase some fresh garlic please call or email. We're offering it for $2.50 for 1/2 pound.

Call or email Hans Bishop at (309)824-0484 or write us at Hansbishop@gmail.com

PrairiErth featured in Farmweek Article: Solar power fueling alternative farming options

Check out this great piece on our farm's contributions to solar power by "grazing off the grid":

http://www.farmweeknow.com/story.aspx?s=31280

Welcome to PrairiErth Farm

Hello! We've created this blog to keep everyone up to date on the happenings of PrairiErth Farm! If you don't know much about us here's some brief info about who we are and why we believe organic farming is so important. Please... take a look around. Take a virtual tour of the farm. Get to know your food producers and share this very special way of providing a sustainable future for everyone.


WHO WE ARE: Dave Bishop and family have been farming their 300-acre farm for about 30 years. Located in the center of Illinois about 160 miles from downtown Chicago, the Bishops operate a diversified farm and raise a bit of about everything.

WHAT WE HAVE TO SHARE: Prairierth crops include corn, soybeans, oats, alfalfa and grass hay, and a large assortment of vegetables. They also have 25 pasture-raised beef cattle and about 750 free range chickens each summer for meat and eggs. We find the bond between the land and those who live and work on it to be very important. Prairierth farm also has an acre of native prairie plants including flowers and grasses.

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO: Having farmed conventionally, we've seen firsthand the detrimental effects on the soil, and to the farm and rural communities. It is our goal to play a part in limiting our ecological footprint by caring for the earth, not just for us, but future generations as well. Organic farming is very special to us, we enjoy working with the land and sharing our products with customers, with whom we develop a very special relationship with, because together we believe organic is more than just a practice, it is a way to influence a healthy life in our community, and provide a sustainable way of producing food.

Currently our products are available on farm and at natural food stores in stores in Bloomington, Champaign, Peoria, Springfield, and Arthur Illinois.

***Also, we've started a slow foods store on http://www.prairierthfarm.etsy.com/. Look forward to enjoying dried herb blends, soup mixes, dried fruits and vegetables, seeds, bulbs and dried flowers. Please let us know if there's something special your family is looking for!