Shadow Brook Farm and Dutchgirl Creamery

Two wins at the American Cheese Society! First for Rosa Maria, second for Natalie in Gray!

Yesterday, we hired one of our neighboring farmers to come out with their larger equipment, appropriately scaled for the task of spreading our dairy goat compost back on the pasture and hay ground.

Compost in the vegetable ground is usually applied in the fall and incorporated to apply fertility for your veggies in the coming year. Over the winter, goats are provided with deep bedding in the barn, where dry material is added as needed to provide for comfortable conditions that actually produce heat that helps keep them warm and dry during the cold months. This material is then moved into static windrow compost piles that are allowed to age for a year before ultimately returning full circle back to the land and fertility base that supports the farm.

Many thanks to Jim Meyer for the help! Jim and his son Jason farm about 700 acres, which produces much of the feed necessary for their 300-head Jersey cow milking production. We love collaborating with our farming community!

We’ll be writing more about this project and other things happening at the farm in our Farm Share newsletter, so keep an eye out for that! If you’re not yet a Farm Share member, there’s still plenty of time to sign up and enjoy fresh, local food all season long. For more info and to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

Tuesdays are for sunbathing (if you’re a goat). 🌞🐐

Sign up now for our 2024 Farm Share! 🥬🧀🧑‍🌾

Interested in including more local food into your diet? Becoming a farm share member is a great way to support local agriculture and enjoy fresh, locally grown food every week. Best of all, each week YOU get to choose what items you want from our list of available products, including fresh produce, eggs, and award-winning cheeses & other dairy products made by Charuth.

As the weather warms up, we’re busy getting ready to provide you with the best food we can. Now is a great time to lock in your own steady supply of fresh locally produced food! We offer pickup spots in Lincoln, Omaha, and Ashland, including Sunday Farmers' Market at College View, Omaha Farmers Market, and Haymarket Farmers' Market.

For more info and to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

Questions? Send us a message or email [email protected]

Happy Spring Equinox! There are more signs of life around the farm each day. Our greenhouse is warming up with a table full of spring greens, onions, and leeks, and the barn is bursting with baby goats.

If you haven’t already signed up for our 2024 Farm Share, now is a great time! In our flex style share, you can enjoy your choice of fresh local produce, cheese, other dairy products, and more throughout the season. For more info and to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

Meet Your Farmer: Ian Richmond 👨‍🌾

Today we’re featuring Ian, who manages the vegetable production at Shadow Brook Farm. Ian has over 20 years of farming experience, having worked on farms in New York, California, and Nebraska. Early on, he realized he liked working outside and working with the land, getting his start as a teenager in Nebraska doing summer work detasseling corn. At 23, he started working on an organic vegetable farm in Upstate New York, which began shaping his future plans for working in organic vegetable production.

On the farm, his favorite thing to do is greenhouse work, but lately he’s been spending more time building systems around tractor work, cultivating, and running irrigation. Speaking about the relationship between farmers, land, and the community, Ian says “I think it’s vital for farmers to respect and treat their land as if it’s not theirs—as if it belongs to their children’s children. I look at my role as a farmer or a steward of the land to be in direct relation to my service to humanity or to the community. At my best, I think that’s where I’m trying to put my attention, in treating the land as well as I understand how to in order to bring the community this act of service.”

Thinking about the future of farming and the role of small farms like Shadow Brook, Ian says that he would love to see folks continue to integrate their diet with local food and join farm shares and CSAs to support local farmers. “I think if that happens, we can see a continued growth in small vegetable or dairy or cattle operations,” he says.

One of Ian’s favorite things that to grow is heirloom tomatoes: “It’s the nostalgia of it, I think. Having grandparents or neighbors that gardened a little and not really knowing how good this thing you were getting as a child was, all because of someone’s attention as a gardener. It has sentimentality to me.”

If he wasn’t farming, Ian says that he would like to be involved in any level of humanitarian work. “I don’t know what that would look like or what it would be,” he says, “but I care a lot about people, and if I can help people in any way, that’s something that really speaks to my mind and my heart.”

Today’s peek inside the greenhouse: a spring spinach germination trial. Every so often, we like to test out seeds before we direct-seed them in the field. Here, we tried out three varieties of spinach just to double check the germination, which you can see here looks great! Doing a quick trial like this can be especially helpful if you have any old bags of seeds lying around, or if you’re worried that they weren’t stored properly.

We’re a community-driven farm, and our farm share members are a huge part of what keeps us going each year. Getting to know our customers and farm share members throughout the season is one of the bonuses of doing what we do; we love hearing what you’re doing with the food we produce, and seeing familiar faces each week brings our community ties into sharp focus.

As we prepare for this year’s farm season, we hope you’ll consider joining us again - or maybe for the first time! By signing up now, you’ll be playing an important role in supporting your local farm, and you’ll also be locking in a fresh supply of fresh locally produced food for you and your family for the season. Our Flex Style Farm Share program means that you’ll get to choose what products you want to order each week. We offer 7 different pickup locations in Lincoln, Omaha, and Ashland, and we have a variety of investment levels to fit any lifestyle. For more info or to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

Former Farm Share members: want to share a testimonial? Send us a direct message with your name, years you’ve been a farm share member, and a short quote we can use.

Spring is just around the corner, and our crew has been hard at work in the greenhouse this week, seeding greens for the upcoming season! Our onions are sprouting and looking happy. Yesterday, we seeded Swiss chard, spinach, and some other greens, which are now keeping warm in the germination chamber on this chilly, snowy morning.

Excited about spring & summer produce? Now is a great time to become a member of our 2024 Flex Style Farm Share! By signing up early, you help support your local community farm with spring startup costs, which allows us to prepare to provide you season-long with fresh produce, artisan cheese, other dairy products, and more. We have pickup spots in Lincoln, Omaha, and Ashland. For more info and to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

We’re looking forward to a great 2024 season, and we can’t wait to see you again! 👩‍🌾🌱🐐

Did you know enrollment is now open for our 2024 flex style farm share? CSA Week is this week, so what better time to sign up! We have a variety of investment levels, all of which will give you an opportunity to get our fresh produce, artisan cheese and dairy products, and other goodies throughout the season. For more info and to sign up, visit https://www.shadowbrk.com/flex-style-farm-share-faqs

https://www.shadowbrk.com/

Check out our online farm store. The open order window is from now until Friday evening for self serve on farm pick ups Saturday December 9th from 2-8PM.

Shadow Brook Farm | ShadowBrook Farm and Dutch Girl Creamery Join Our Flex Style Farm Share

Join us for the first Holiday Harvest Market of 2023! This Sunday, from 10 a.m.-1 p.m., farmers and producers will share locally produced goods for your upcoming holiday feasts!

We’re here at 2201 W Denton Rd. for our Sunday pop-up market in lieu of today’s cancelled Sunday Farmers' Market at College View - come out and see us from 10-2 and load up on fresh fall produce, cheese, and shiitake mushrooms from Jurena’s Homegrown & Foraged! We hope to see you here.

Next week, we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled Sunday market at College View, which will run for another 3 weeks.

Important Announcement: This weekend's Sunday Farmers' Market at College View has been cancelled, and in lieu of it, we're setting up a pop-up market at our farm store! Come out from 10 am - 2 pm for cheese, fresh fall produce including sweet potatoes, peppers, and winter squash, plus local mushrooms from our friend Dave at Jurena’s Homegrown & Foraged. We hope to see you there! Please share with your friends!

Sunday, 10 am - 2 pm
2201 W. Denton Rd, Lincoln, NE

For a list of what will be available, check our online store at https://www.shadowbrk.com

Dear Lincoln area: please share with your community! It looks like our first frost of the year will occur this Friday night, and we have a lot to do to prepare for it. We can use all the help we can get. Tasks will include both light and heavy duties, so all are welcome; we'll find a job for your abilities. Some tasks on our list include picking peppers, covering winter greens with row covers, and putting tarps over our sweet potato beds.

Volunteers are welcome any time from 1:00 pm onward. If you'd like to help, please reach out to Ian at [email protected] or 530-215-7237.

Another week, another beautiful morning in the flower field. We’ll have different sized bouquets available at this weekend’s markets - find us at Haymarket Farmers' Market, Omaha Farmers Market, and Sunday Farmers' Market at College View for beautiful flowers, fresh produce, and cheese!

Flower power! We’re busy getting fresh bouquets ready for the weekend. Find us at Omaha Farmers Market, Haymarket Farmers' Market, and Sunday Farmers' Market at College View.

Another great market day! We’re bursting with tomatoes, peppers, flowers, cheese, and more. Catch us tomorrow at Sunday Farmers' Market at College View and Omaha Farmers Market. 🌞💐🍅

It’s shish*to season! By far one of our favorite peppers, shish*tos are a small green mild pepper with a thin skin that is great for blistering. They’re also a perfect, easy-to-cook side dish for any meal while they’re in season; just grill or cook them over high heat until their skin blisters, throw on some salt, and enjoy!

We’re serving up berry gelato at Sunday Farmers' Market at College View! Come by and grab one while checking out this week’s fresh cheese and produce. We’re here every Sunday from 10-2.

A special heat wave edition of flower harvesting! Zinnias, celosia, and more are helping get us through these steamy days August days.

Cucamelons! Also known as the Mexican sour gherkin, these grape-sized fruits taste like cucumbers with a touch of sourness. Try them in a salad or as a snack on their own!

The tables are getting colorful! Tomatoes and peppers have started coming out of the field. We hope to see you this weekend at the farmer’s market!

Saturday: Omaha Farmers Market and Haymarket Farmers' Market
Sunday: Omaha Farmers Market and Sunday Farmers' Market at College View

Happy Saturday! We’ll be at the Saturday and Sunday farmer’s markets in Lincoln and Omaha this weekend with flowers, cheese, and fresh produce. Come out and help us celebrate the end of National Farmer’s Market Week!

Saturday - Omaha Farmers Market and Haymarket Farmers' Market
Sunday - Omaha Farmers Market and Sunday Farmers' Market at College View