Justamere Tree Farm Blog

Summer

   Summer is here, despite all the rain we have been having here in the Northeast.  The different shades of green in my garden and beyond, represents all the rain we have been having daily for weeks on end. We are all waiting for the heat of summer to approach us. Bring it on!!!
   I saw our neighbor yesterday and he said he was seeing mold coming out of his ears! How bad is that?!
   We have been occupied with four Farmers' Markets this summer. We are thrilled to sell our Organic Maple Syrup and Handcrafted Brooms locally. We have noticed that many people are shopping local and appreciating the fine work of artists and hard labor of farmers.
   This family, Una, Ben and Silas, just purchased their selected broom from us at the Northampton Farmers' Market last week. They were so excited to have a GOOD broom to sweep with.

   I wanted to show off my heirloom Rose "William Baffin". It is always a breath of fresh air to see these beautiful flowers each morning. Enjoy!

Master Cleanser Diet With Justamere's Grade B Syrup

The Master Cleanser diet, also called The Lemonade Diet, was created by Stanley Burroughs in 1941 and made popular by Peter Glickman through his book Lose Weight, Have More Energy and Be Happier in 10 Days.

The diet, according to nutrition and detoxification experts like Elson Haas, clears out toxins and speeds healing. The cleanse can remove congestion and toxins, and help you feel alert and focused. It can even help you feel younger.

The Master Cleanser diet consists of a liquid fast of:

• 2 Tbsp lemon juice

• 1/10 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 Tbsp maple syrup in eight ounces of spring water
• Ingest for 7 or 10 day

In addition, dieters drink lots of water and herbal tea, especially peppermint or chamomile.

The diet also keeps the bowels actively cleansing with proprietary laxative teas, enemas, and colon irrigations. Or, try this internal saltwater bath: First thing in the morning, drink two teaspoons of sea salt dissolved in one quart of warm water. Either way, some form of cleansing bowel movement should happen at least every other day.

Tips for Effective Cleansing

1. Don't carry your Master Cleansing formula or juice in plastic containers, as the plastic can leach chemicals into your drink.

2. Take care that drinking lemonade frequently doesn't leach calcium from your teeth. Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and citric acid both bind with calcium to make calcium citrate and calcium ascorbate, and regular contact (from sipping the lemonade) can weaken your enamel. Drink one to two glasses at a time and then rinse your mouth with water so the lemon and maple syrup do not stay on your teeth.

Please research further before partaking. There are a lot of different ideals as to how this diet is successfully done. I have not tried it, but am curious how it works and thought it may interest some of you.

Justamere's Organic Maple Pecan Yogurt

      This Maple Pecan Yogurt is perfect for snacking, also serve with vanilla yogurt, soy milk, or plain milk. The key to good granola is mixing all of the ingredients together well, so you can get a bit of each flavor in every bite, then slow roasting and occasionally stirring the mixture so it doesn't burn.
    Ingredients

• 1 cup Justamere's Organic Grade B maple syrup or Grade A Dark Amber
• 1 cup canola or vegetable oil
• 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon
  
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 8 cups organic old-fashioned or roll oats
• 1- 2 cups chopped pecans
• 1-2 cups pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and/or sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 275 degrees F. In a large bowl, combine the maple syrup, oil, cinnamon, salt, and vanilla and whisk together. Add the oats, pecans and other nuts if prefer, and mix well. Pour the mixture out onto baking sheets, gently press it into thin layers and roast it on center oven racks for 30 minutes. Rotate the pans and stir the mixture thoroughly, then bake an additional 15 minutes.
    If you like your granola soft and sticky, remove it from the oven now and let it cool. If you like your granola crunchy, stir and rotate once more and bake it an additional 15 minutes, then remove and cool.
  If desire, cool and stir in 1-2 cups dried fruit such as raisins, cherries, or cranberries.

ENJOY!

Northampton Farmer's Market

   Here I am at the Northampton Tuesday Farmers Market. We had a new banner made for our farm, and  I am showing it off before the market got started. We were thrilled with how it turned out. It is a great illustration of work we do on our farm.

 
    This is Ben from Town Farm. He is the organizer of this market and his farm is less than a mile away. Everything that they sell at the market is brought by bicycles as you see with this one trailer. It is quite a spectacle to see all the lush greenery above crates of vegetables. Their website is www.nohotownfarm.com if you want to check them out. Ben and Una are the operators of the farm.

    This accomplished piano player rolled the piano down two blocks and then sat himself down to entertain us all at the market. It was lovely and how cool is that?!

Joyfulness At The Amherst Farmers Market

   

We had a special occurrence of an elephant at the Amherst Farmers Market this past Saturday. It was awesome!

  

  I wanted to be involved, this past Saturday, with the plant sale, Morris Dancing, music, but instead I was very busy being a vendor at the Amherst Farmers Market. It was all good, but there were too many activities that were tempting me! Also the colleges were celebrating in the area with graduations, and more this Memorial Day week-end coming up.
    Check out the Amherst Farmers Market web site at
www.amherstfarmersmarket.com. It is fun to see what is under cultivation at different farms in this area.
    J.P. went to Great Barringtons Farmers Market on Saturday and this Tuesday we both go to Northhampton for their first  Farmers Market down behind Thornes Market. I will keep you posted on this, as time goes on.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival

   
    It was great to be present at The Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, once again this past week end. It possibly is the only sheep fair that has free admission and parking. They want everyone to be able to attend! The barns were overflowing truly, with spectators on Saturday. On Sunday it rained all day, but people still came out for the festival.
These three young percipience's of our booth were having lots of fun asking questions and absorbing everything we handcrafted and also admired our maple goodies!
    It was fun to see our neighbor once again, Robert Watson Jr. the white oak basket weaver. It is always interesting to over hear him speak his knowledge and  history of basket weaving. People loved observing his demonstration of white oak basket weaving.
    Our 7 1/2 hour drive back to Worthington, had us arrive home at 1:30 A.M. We do well at this fair and will return in 2010. It is always fun to meet new friends and revisit with old friends.
    In the evening J.P. and I had a opportunity to walk around and I took this lambs picture. Check out those locks!!

Organic Maple News

  

  Justamere Tree Farms Maple Syrup in Worthington, Ma. is now Certified Organic by Baystate Organic Certifiers. We finally took the time this spring to become certified. It involved alot of paper work and an inspector came out to check our operation thoroughly. We tap our trees according to guidelines and we are dilengent in maintaining the long term health of our trees. We also keep records of all materials used in packaging and production of the syrup and also materials used in our sugarbush.  We did not need to change anything that we did in the past. We are thrilled to offer Certified Organic maple products to our customers and friends.
   

Maple Glazed Salmon Recipe!

   

    Summer is almost here! We have had 80 degree weather here in the Berkshires. I am busy planting our garden and simply enjoying the warm air, after the long winter.
     I love this simple but yet very delicious tasting salmon. It is great broiled or grilled for your next picnic or backyard barbecue. Enjoy!
 P.S. I added some chopped chives, from my garden, just for fun. They were calling me.

Maple Mustard Salmon

• 2 tbsp. Maple Syrup Grade B or Grade A dark amber from Justamere
• 2 tbsp. White wine
• 1 1/2 tsp. Grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1 1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp. Salt
• 2-6oz. Salmon fillets
• olive oil (or cooking spray)

1. Preheat boiler or start grill.
2. Combine first six ingredients in a small bowl and stir with a whisk.
3. Place salmon on a broiler pan or grill coated with olive oil or cooking spray.
4. Brush salmon with half the maple syrup mixture. Broil or grill until the fish flakes easily when tested with fork, about 10 min.
5. Baste frequently with remaining mixture while broiling or grilling.

American Farm Bureau Federation - Meet the Farmer

    J.P. and I are featured on the American Farm Bureau Federation site  http://www.fb.org/index.php?fuseaction=yourag.farmer for the month of April. Check it out! They have different farmers each month. Last month they had a  peanut farmer and next month  is an egg farmer.
    We were vendors at the Sheep and Wool Craft Fair over the week- end in Tolland  Ct. It was a warm day and lots of people came out for the fair.
     This particular lamb was waiting his turn to be sheared. He felt  cooler when his coat was removed, I am sure. We heard sheep all day long in our barn!
    This was our first fair of the season and next week end we are off to Maryland for their Sheep and Wool festival at Howard County Fairgrounds.

Maple Season Continues With Easter Boil

HAPPY EASTER!