Any questions can be answered by emailing margaretann@snowsbendfarm.com or calling 205-394-3561.

Here are some of the pictures taken by photographer Nicole Hernandez at our 2013 Seeds to Supper on Snow's Bend.  It was a wonderful evening and we look forward to the next time.

Menu items:
Welcome Cocktail and Canape
    Cathead vodka, beet, pomegranate, jasmine soda
     Haller's odds and ends pate, stout mustard, B&B pickles
Butternut Squash Soup
    with nutmeg, creme fraiche, maple, and pepitas
Platters of Lettuces
   Petals from the Past persimmons, toasted pecans, stone's hollow goat cheese, and 
   citrus-garlic vinaigrette
Whole Roasted Gulf Snapper
    stuffed with fennel, citrus, and caramelized onions
Whole Roasted Chicken Ballentine
    stuffed with greens, golden raisins, and Grana Padano cheese
Duroc Porchetta
Roasted Root Vegetables
Mess O'Greens
Cabbage Chow Chow
Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan Pie Gelato  Mary's Cakes and Pastries
Digestif/After Dinner Cocktail
    Brachetto, Byrrh QuinQuina, and chocolate bitters

Wines from Grass Roots:
     Chateau Soucherie Anjou Blanc 2012
     Domaine des Gerbeaux Macon-Villages 2011
     Paul Janin et Fils Beaujolais-Villages 2011
     Feraud-Brunnel Cotes du Rhone Cairanne 2010

Many thanks to Haller Magee and Satterfield's crew, Patrick from Grass Roots Wines, and Jennifer Bologna from Spirits Wine Cellar.

Butternut Squash Soup
    with nutmeg, creme fraiche, maple, and pepitas

Platters of Lettuces
   Petals from the Past persimmons, toasted pecans, stone's hollow goat cheese, and 
   citrus-garlic vinaigrette

Whole Roasted Gulf Snapper
    stuffed with fennel, citrus, and caramelized onions

Whole Roasted Chicken Ballentine
    stuffed with greens, golden raisins, and Grana Padano cheese

Duroc Porchetta
Roasted Root Vegetables
Mess O'Greens
Cabbage Chow Chow

Sweet Potato Cheesecake with Pecan Pie Gelato  Mary's Cakes and Pastries

Join us for dinner on the farm with Chef Haller Magee of Satterfield's, Spirits Wine Cellar, and GrassRoots Wines.   Cocktails, appetizers, and 6 courses based on the vegetables in season on the bend.

Thanks to everyone that joined the fun at the harvest party this year!  We had a wonderful time, enjoyed making new friends and spending time with old ones. 

Join us in celebrating 10 years of Snow's Bend Farm with a seasonal meal in the garden composed of ingredients grown on Snow's Bend, prepared by chef Haller Magee, and paired with wines from GrassRoots.  Before the meal we will have appetizers, cocktails, and a stroll (or hayride, if preferred) through the fields with the farmers. Buy tickets here.

This winter seems to be an especially long one with a few lovely  spring days sprinkled between the cold and rainy ones.  The soil has been too wet to work with so we have been channeling all of our energy into greenhouse planting and hoophouse preparation.

So far we have had some luck with transplanting bok choy, kohlrabi, collards, broccoli, and kale and have direct seeded a first succession of roots and greens.

The cover crops are thriving (as is Maxwell!).

I'll soon post some pictures of the strawberry plants, which seem to be the best yet, and fava beans, onions, and garlic.  We hope to plant potatoes and fill up the hoophouse with tomatoes before too long.  Slowly but surely spring will come and bring with it delicious new flavors we have been anxiously awaiting.

One of interns from 2011, Ted Wolfe, is now a Peace Corps volunteer in Paraguay and he is working on an agricultural project there that he describes best:
"I'm working right now with a womens committee building durable and sustainable gardens using chainlink fencing to keep out cows and pigs and chickens. People here usually make garden fences out of bamboo and they are just laughable after
  a few months and never last more then a year. To buy the chain link fencing I filled out a petition through peace corps to raise money from people, organizations, and businesses in the states. Building the gardens is the first step of my project, the main focus is on saving all those seeds you sent me and   teaching the people how to save seeds."

Here is a link if you would like to donate:

We hope this message finds you ready for a happy and healthy 2013!  On the farm we have begun seeding in the greenhouse already and when the weather permits we are preparing the soil for spring planting.  The appearance of the red-breasted robins and red-winged blackbirds always let us know that it is time.

An exciting change for this year is new CSA software that is much more farmer and customer friendly than our old methods.  Visit the "Join Our CSA" page for more information and to sign up.

The Tuscaloosa River Market is still open every Saturday from 7 am until noon and we have plenty of fresh, delicious vegetables for sale there.

Check back in a week or so for pictures and progress.

Many crops thrive in the cool weather of fall in Alabama.  Greens and roots are abundant along with broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, and several herbs.  We have already harvested and cured sweet potatoes and winter squash.

Early fall is great for growing beans.  Pictured are 'Rattlesnake Beans'.


Below:  Turnip Greens, just one type of cooking green we grow in the fall.  Also grown are kale, collards, chard, mustard greens, bok choy, and rapini.

Red radishes are one of several varieties of radishes we grow, which includes 'French Breakfast', watermelon, and daikon.  Other root vegetables we grow in fall are baby white turnips, 3 kinds of beets, carrots, and rutabaga.

Fall weather is perfect for salad greens!

Kale is gaining in popularity.  It is one of the most nutritious vegetables out there.  'Lacinato' kale (pictured), also known as 'Dinosaur' kale, makes the best Kale Chips.

We have been especially busy this fall because we were married on the farm on October 20th! 

We are saying good-bye to all of the summer crops and hello to fall!  This is our favorite season. 

A great sweet potato crop is a wonderful start to fall.  The largest sweet potato (larger than the one pictured) was 6lbs8oz, the size of our son when he born!
Butternut squash is another fall favorite that we have harvested and in storage.
The first of the greens and roots are now being harvested while many cool weather crops continue to be planted and maintained.  There will be new vegetables each week in the CSA deliveries and available at the farmer's markets.
So far, everything points to a bountiful harvest this autumn.

Above: David holding farm record setting 'Persimmon' and 'Cherokee Purple' tomatoes

Tomatoes are a big crop for us and very popular with most eaters.  The difference in a vine-ripened heirloom tomato and a store bought hybrid is vast.  We still grow the red, hybrid tomatoes because their production and storage qualities cannot be beat, but the heirlooms have the flavor.

Here are some of the heirloom varieties we grow:

'Cherokee Purple' - rich, smokey flavor

The large, pink tomatoes are 'German Johnson'.  This variety wins our farm taste test every year.

'Green Zebra' - a citrussy flavor and color that can't be beat

'Kellog's Breakfast' - a sweet, low-acid tomato

'Black Plum' - a small, rich-flavored tomato; perfect for sauces
David likes to make a sauce with this and hot peppers to go with smoked ribs!

'Aunt Ruby's German Green' - one of our personal favorites; a slight citrus flavor, very meaty

Samples of several kinds for our annual staff tomato tasting.

The dish we make most often with tomatoes is a tomato salad.  Just add onions or leeks, cucumbers, basil, and Parmagaino Reggiano plus a light vinegrette.  Other fine ingredients are croutons (that soak up the delicious juices) and, of course, bacon!

After the farmer's market we regularly make a quick lunch of tomatoes, basil, goat cheese, and slice of fresh baguette.  A cool glass of Rose completes the meal.

You can find these tomatoes at all of the 3 farmer's markets we vend at:

Tuscaloosa
Thursday 3 to 6 pm, Homegrown Alabama market on the grounds of Canterbury Chapel

Saturday 7am to noon, Tuscaloosa River Market across from the public library on Jack Warner Parkway

Birmingham
Saturday 7am to noon, Pepper Place Farmer's Market