Alayna's Adventures

A few months ago I read about a Community Supported Agriculture program or a CSA, and I was intrigued.  If you were like me and had never heard of them before, I will give you the low down.  A CSA is a partnership between you and a local farm, where you sign up to buy a weekly amount of food from them and they deliver it to a location close to you for pickup.  They harvest whatever is in season that week, and you receive enough fresh vegetables and fruit to feed a small or large family, depending on the share size you purchased.  I searched for CSAs local to Pittsburgh, and found a website that was very comprehensive on about.com .  I read through a couple of websites and found the Dillner Family Farm located in Gibsonia, PA.  The Dillner Family Farm sells produce at several farmer's markets in the area on a weekly basis, and for their CSA, they just happen to bring the farmer's market to me by delivering to two Mt. Lebanon locations within a ten minute ...

Strawberry freezer jam...  SO YUMMY! If there is one homemade treat that you need to make this summer, it's strawberry freezer jam!  I have never made it before this year, but it is soooo stinkin' easy!  I made a few batches already, so let me share and you can learn from my mistakes, so you don't waste any precious berries! :) I was at Lowe's in April to get gardening gloves for Isaiah and myself, and I saw canning supplies near the seeds.  At the display, they had loads of different jars for canning, pickling mixes and pectin, both regular and instant.  I picked up Ball RealFruit Instant Pectin, because what could be easier than instant anything, right?  Within the next week, I made my first batch of strawberry freezer jam with instant pectin and store bought berries from Aldi.   The instant pectin is very easy to use, no cooking or heating water, just measure and mix.  To make freezer jam with instant pectin, wash the berries, cut o...

Last year I discovered pick your own produce at several local Pittsburgh farms.  The wonderful farm that I have fallen in love with for pick your own is Triple B Farms which is tucked away 15 miles south of Pittsburgh at 823 Berry Lane in Monogahela, PA.  They have so many pick your own crops and festivals all growing season long, you can't help but love them!   Now is the time for strawberry picking at Triple B, which started around May 20 and continued into June with the Strawberry Festival on June 2 and 3.  Strawberry picking will wrap up mid June, just in time for red raspberry picking which starts June 9 & 10.  When I was a kid, my mom used to take us strawberry picking and then she would make strawberry freezer jam.  I saw a recipe for freezer jam on Pinterest and my nostalgia kicked in and I couldn't wait to make some!  So when I heard that pick your own strawberries were ready at Triple B, I couldn't wait to go! ...