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WAGNER FARM ARBORETUM
Festival of Butterflies & Family Fun Day
Saturday, May 21st was our annual Festival of Butterflies and Family Fun Day. Although it was a cloudy and chilly day, the event was great fun for children of all ages!
The painted lady butterflies were released into the wilds of the Children’s Garden and quickly seeked out warmth and nectar. We even had a couple butterflies show up to snack on some peaches.
There were lots of activities throughout the day, includ-ing a petting zoo, face painting, honey bee exhib-it, music, dancers, inflata-bles, crafts and games.
In This Issue
Fun times at the Farmers’ Market!!
The Farmers’ Market is in Full Swing! This year marks the 4th opening of the Wagner Farm Arboretum Farmers’ Market. We are proud to present a delicious lineup of vendors this year: Bakers Bounty, Cherry Grove Farms, SLUG Co, Good Food = Good Mood, Defcon Sauces, The Farmer and the Chickpea, Gourmet Nuts and Dried Fruit, Krakus Deli, Italia Specialties, Morris Somerset Beekeepers, Windsong Farm, Sweet Stuff Gourmet, Malanga Farms, Nicola’s Pasta Fresca, and Paolo’s Kitchen. We also host non-profits and local businesses at the market. Bring your children to play our Scavenger hunt or Farmers’ Market Bingo. Bring a chair and listen to our live music!
As many of you know, we had a new location which was graciously provided to us by the Watchung Hills Elks. This was a wonderful, cozy site with picnic tables, hiking trails and a pavilion. We are grateful for the help and hospitali-ty that the Elks extended to us. Sadly, after two weeks of very low turnout and at the risk of losing several vendors the following week, we had to make a difficult decision to move back to the municipal grounds.
We would like to acknowledge Bill Seavey, Eleanora Murfitt, and Mark Krane for their support of our Farmers’ Market. They have all gone above and beyond to help us be successful!
Please visit us every Thursday between 2:00 PM and 7:00 PM to show your support of the Arboretum, say Hello to Laura, our Farmers’ Market Manager, and enjoy the finest foods NJ has to offer!
197 Mountain Avenue, Warren, NJ 07059 (908) 350-7383 Summer 2016
Preserving our land for future generations
Farmers’ Market ............... 1
Festival of Butterflies ........ 1
Backyard Photos .............. 2
The Giving Gardens ......... 2
Honey Extraction .............. 2
Beryllium Concert ............. 2
Canning Recipes .............. 3
Mason Jar DIY Ideas ........ 4
Mason Jar Order Form ..... 5
Upcoming Events ............. 6
Volunteers! ....................... 6
Pickling Demo .................. 7
Thank you!........................ 8
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Local Photos from the Backyard Habitat (Steve Byland) For the shots in the nest, I built a box where the top lifts off and I stood on a ladder. Blue-bird boxes should be checked once a week during nesting to make sure that there are no parasites, that the nest is dry and that there are no dead babies in the nest. This is to ensure the health of the birds. Bluebirds are very tolerant of the intrusion.
Bluebirds raise 2 to 3 broods per season. The eggs are laid over the course of a week (4 to 5 eggs is about average). Then the mother begins sitting on the eggs to keep them warm. They hatch in about 2 weeks. The babies leave the nest in about 17 days. Often, the adults begin building a new nest within a week.
The Giving Gardens (Pat Bennett) There’s something downright ‘Biblical’ in our upcoming trips to Pittstown. In the Old Tes-tament, it was required of farmers to leave a corner of their fields for the poor to come and pick. And also not to go back over harvested fields, but to allow the poor to ‘glean’ what was left for their own use. The Rutgers’ Experimental Farm in Pittstown is not al-lowed to sell their crops, which are planted solely to advise NJ farmers what grows best in our state. So they allow non-profit groups such as ours to come and glean at the end of their tomato, corn, fruit, etc. growing season. Starting in late summer and going through the early fall our weekly trips, organized by Ernie, result in over 2,000 lbs of food each trip which is then distributed within 24 hours to scores of local food pantries, soup kitch-ens and shelters. Anyone interested in joining us at Pittstown should contact Ernie direct-ly or Mike Bennett if they prefer to just help with the deliveries.
The attempt to eliminate or reduce the enormous waste of food has been generating more and more publicity lately. If interested try googling the following:
“Tristram Stuart” and his group “Feedback” (highlighted in the March 2016 issue of Na-tional Geographic) “The Boston Area Gleaners”
Honey Extraction Event On Saturday, July 9th our beekeeper,
Rich Lepik performed the Honey Ex-traction of the Wagner Farm Arbore-tum Honey Bee Hives.
The honey extraction is when we harvest the honey by uncapping the Comb and spinning the uncapped honey in an extractor. By the extrac-tor spinning the frames, the honey is pulled from the combs. The honey then drains thru a screen and is bottled. This is what is today called raw honey, it is not heated and will eventually crystallized.
If you have honey that has crystallized, it is still good! Do NOT throw it out. You can simply heat the honey in a in the jar in a pot of hot water or remove the lid and micro-wave at 30 second intervals.
Photos by Steve Byland
‘In a world which can seem cynical and gloomy, these two groups can restore your optimism’ — Pat Bennett
Beryllium Concert It was a spectacular evening celebrated with a wonderful concert in the Children’s Garden. Beryllium is led by violinist Beryl Diamond Cha-con, who was be joined by violinist Alex Dzubisky, violist Will Hakim, cellist Ani Kalayjian and bassist Ron Wasserman. After 20 years of programming and performing informal chamber music concerts at the Met Museum Balcony Series, Beryl is enjoying the artistic freedom to travel through the centuries, transcending genres, mixing Vivaldi Concerti with Bernstein’s West Side Story and by con-trasting the folk music waltzes of Dvorak with Argentinian Tangos.
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Canning Recipes
My green beans are produc-ing a lot of beans and this is my favorite canning recipe for them I have to hide the fin-ished jars when my brother comes over or he wipes my supply out! Enjoy, Mary
Pickled Green Beans Yield: 1 pint jar Ingredients: ¾ lb. green or wax beans 1 small fresh or dried chili pepper 3 – 4 sprigs fresh Mediterranean herbs (thyme, oregano, bay and/or rosemary) 1 cup white wine vinegar ½ cup water 1 teaspoon kosher salt 1 teaspoon honey 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil Preparation: Trim the beans to no more than 4 inches long. Turn a clean pint-sized canning jar on its side. Start loading in the beans. Add the garlic, pepper and herbs as you go. I like to place these right up against the jar’s glass sides so that they can be seen. Bring the vinegar, water, salt and honey to a boil in a small pot. Pour over the beans. You want the beans and herbs to be completely immersed in the brine, but also to leave at least ½ inch head space between the top of the food and the rim of the jar. Cover with just enough extra-virgin olive oil to coat the surface of the liquid over the beans, still leaving at least ½ inch head space. One tablespoon usually does it for a pint jar. Screw on the 2 piece canning lid. Process in a boiling water bath for 10 minutes. Wait 2 weeks for the flavors to develop before serving.
Jerusalem Artichoke Relish
Ingredients:
1 qt. ground / chopped Jerusalem Artichokes (aka, Sunchokes)
2 medium onions, sliced thin
1 large red sweet pepper, chopped
1-2 small hot peppers, chopped
2 heaping tsp. pickling spices in bag (Cheese cloth)
2 Tbs whole mustard seed
1/2 tsp turmeric
1 tsp celery seed
3/4 tsp salt
Preparation:
Combine spices, salt, vinegar, sugar, and bag of pickling spices in pan. Bring to a boil.
Add Jerusalem artichokes, onions and peppers to mixture and reduce heat to simmer
for 10-20 minutes. Place into hot jars, lid, and process in canner for about 10 minutes.
Makes approximately 7 8oz. jars of relish.
If you’ve ever grown Jerusalem
Artichokes, you know you will
have plenty share.
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There are so many DIY projects for mason jars. One would be to organize your pantry with them. You will always be able to see how much you have of everything.
Some ideas for storing in quart size mason jars
Semi-sweet chocolate chips
White chocolate chips
Dried cranberries
Oatmeal
Pecans
Walnuts
Cashews
Almonds
Pistachios
Pine nuts
Popcorn kernels
Coconut
Cocoa
Basmati rice
Brown rice
Wild rice
Chai
Macaroni
Quinoa
Couscous
Granola
Some ideas for storing in half gallon size mason jars
Flower
Sugar
Pasta
Cereals If you want to really go all out, you can paint lids with chalkboard paint and label your jars.
Mason Jar DIY Projects
Craft Ideas….
Yarn Dispenser - Make a hole in the lid, put the yarn in the jar and pull through the hole. No tangles or knots!
Vase - You can paint or frost the jar. Using stencils you can make some really cool designs too. Or wrap the jar in twine or fabric. Be creative with what you wrap the jar.
Sugar Shaker - Use a small nail to make holes in the lid. Then fill the jar with powdered sugar, or cinnamon sugar.
Share your creations for publication in our next newsletter!!!
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Pick up at next Farmers’ Market
Pick up at Wagner Farm Arboretum
Please call (908) 350-7383 to schedule your pick-up.
Wagner Farm Arboretum
197 Mountain Ave. Warren, NJ 07059
Sales Order
Date:
NAME:
PHONE: EMAIL:
Qty Description Unit Price Line Total
Case (12) 8 oz Half Pint Ball Jars – regular mouth w/lids and bands
$8.00
Case (12) 8 oz Quilted Jelly Jars – regular mouth
w/lids and bands $10.00
Case (12) 16 oz Pint Ball Jars – wide mouth
w/lids and bands $9.00
Case (12) 32 oz Quart Ball Jars – wide mouth w/lids and bands
$12.00
Case (6) 64 oz Half Gallon Ball Jars – wide mouth w/lids and bands
$12.00
Total
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Annual WFAF
2016 Community Garden Picnic
Saturday, August 13th
5:00 PM - 8:00 PM (Rain date - Sunday, August 14th)
(If it rains heavily on Saturday, we will e-mail a resched-uling notification by 1 PM on August 13th)
Open to all Garden members, volunteers and their families
Pot Luck and Pig Roast - Bring a dish of your choice. If possible, use some vegetables from your garden.
(It’ll be great to have some vegetarian and meat dishes, plus some sweets).
Remember to bring a name card for your creation!
Water, Iced Tea, Lemonade, Paper goods, Cutlery is provided by the WFAF
BYOC - Bring Your Own Chair!
Recipes - If you would like to share your recipe with the Garden members, please email it to
[email protected] by August 21st
Please remember to RSVP by August 8th to [email protected] along with total number
of people in your party
See you at the Picnic!!!
Upcoming Events
Brite Nites Ticket Sales begin in August
Friday 10/14 & Sat 10/15
Friday 10/21 & Sat 10/22
Friday 10/28, Sat 10/29 & Sun
Volunteers!
We hold high regard for our volunteers and truly appreciate all of their hard work. We would not exist without you!!
Following are a couple of areas where we are seeking volunteers.
The Picnic
If you can help set-up before the picnic or clean-up after, please contact the [email protected] by August 10th.
The Farmers’ Market
Please use wfafnj.ivolunteer.com/2016fm, to sign up for the Farmers’ Market or email [email protected].
All other volunteer activities
You may always call or email the office to volunteer for any activity in the gardens. 908-350-7383 / [email protected]
For info or volunteering: Contact
Lisa Young at [email protected]
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Wagner Farm Arboretum 197 Mountain Ave Warren, NJ 07059
Phone: 908-350-7393
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.wfafnj.org
Facebook: @wagnerfarmarb
Thank you!! This past May, I happily joined forces with Mary DeLello, our Office Manager. I have been helping with the farmers’ market and learning the ropes for the past two months. If you are like me and are mostly out and about in the gardens, planting, weeding, weeding, weeding, watering and harvesting, you may not be aware of all the work that goes on ‘behind the scenes’ of the Arboretum. (Did I say ‘weeding’ enough?!)
Much to my surprise, there is a great deal of work that goes into events, grounds maintenance, office management, the farmers’ market, etc. Of course I knew it didn’t happen with the snap of a couple fingers, but now I have much more appreci-ation for everyone involved in the care of the Arboretum. Mary, the Trustees and all of the volunteers, are in invaluable. Their commitment towards the efforts to maintain, expand and enhance the Arboretum is inspiring.
I am happy and proud to join the staff at Wagner Farm Arboretum and thank Mary and the Trustees for bringing me on board. I look forward to seeing the Arboretum become one of the coolest educational resources for environmental awareness, as well as, a welcoming habitat for all living creatures!
Lori Meier
Wagner Farm Arboretum 197 Mountain Ave Warren, NJ 07059
PLACE STAMP HERE
