A3B-Lancaster Fanning, Saturday, May 1, 1999
Boyer’s Lambert Organic Farm Emphasizes Ethnic, Heirloom Produce
ANDY ANDREWS
Lancaster Fanning Staff
NARVON (Lancaster Co.)
Linda Boyer believes that veget
able growers and ultimately the
general public could be losing
their heritage.
In fact, she’s molded her com
munity supported agriculture
(CSA) program and her farm
market, which emphasizes heir
loom and ethnic vegetables, exact
ly on that premise.
Heirloom vegetables, which
comprise a large percentage of
what she grows on the seven acres
of land near her home, are more
durable, disease and pest hardy,
healthy, and ultimately so good
tasting, Boyer said.
With husband Leon, in the early
’9os, Linda completed a lot of
research, seeking out the best heir
loom and ethnic vegetables she
could find, gathering information
from suppliers worldwide.
She points to the “Hillbilly” var
iety of bi-color tomatoes that keep
setting fruit up until Tjjanksgiving.
“Give it half a chance and it will go
on forever,” she said. She recalls
the Pink Peach tomato, “rosy and
sweet,” she said, that feels like a
garden peach but has the flavor and
texture of a tomato. “You won’t
L !P n (who works down the road at Conestoga Custom Kltch-
W . ,th standard and dwarf-sized trees, including
d, U® ren t i types of apples, sweet and sour cherries, plums, and net?
B ° SWra o» to ,ueber-
«r looks over the farm market stand at the Quarryville Growers Market.
.eon
find that in a grocery store,” she
said with a smile.
Said Boyer, “I can’t eat store
bought lettuce. It makes me physi
cally sick.”
Linda told a story of some cus
tomers from Maryland that
traveled to the Quartyvillc Grow
ers Market, where she maintains a
stand. They took one look at the
Russian black plum tomato, and
weren’t convinced it wasn’t the
best tomato they had ever seen.
They took one free sample Boyer
offered, purchased a quart basket,
ate more in the car on the drive
home, ran out, turned around, and
came back for more.
“I do the stuff grandma did,”
said Boyer.
The key is to plant, cultivate,
harvest, and present the vegetables
in a way that brings back the
memories of how good the heir
loom vegetables tasted on the table
during the holidays at Grandma’s
house.
Customers who are looking for
the many varieties of peppers Boy
er growers point out that she raises
“the six hottest in the world,”
many of which arc dried to make
mild, hot, and superhot mixes. “I
sold one customer by the bushel
box,” she said.
Heirloom vegetables, which comprise a large percentage of what she grows on the
seven acres of land near her house, are more durable and soil-hardy and ultimately so
good tasting and healthy, she noted. Together with husband Leon, In the early ’9os,
Linda completed a lot of research, seeking out the best heirloom and ethnic veget
ables she can find, gathering information from suppliers worldwide.
New for Boyer this year arc
cherry tomatoes.
“I am going to have every color
in the rainbow,” she said. “The fla
vors and textures are fantastic.”
This is the first year for the Lam
bert Farm CSA on the Lambert
Road hillside just north of Chur
chtown. Already the Boyers have
signed up seven members. The
cost is $3OO per season, which
includes two hours of member gar
den labor. Those who don't wish to
perform the hand weeding and
other tasks are charged $350 per
season.
Boyer said there is room for
three more members. There arc
incentives for members to sign up
others for the CSA.
The season lasts from 23-30
weeks, including spring planting,
summer picking, and fall harvest.
Boyer also offers weekly pick
your-own flower bouquets and a
fresh farm-grown chicken or duck
for the holidays.
Lambert Farm will provide to
members asparagus, lima and snap
beans, broccoli, brussels sprouts,
cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, cel
ery, chard, Chinese cabbage, col
lards, and com (at least a dozen).
They will also allow members to
take home cucumbers, kale, let
tuce, leeks, okra, onion, sugar,
snap, and hull peas, and at least one
pack of sweet, hot, and bell
All weeds are hand-hoed. Boyer extensively uses bloioai.
cal insects, including praying mantis, lady bugs and
wasps. “I release them every year,” she said.’
peppers.
The CSA also allows members
at least one quart of potatoes, two
pumpkins for eating during a sea
son, radishes, spinach, squash, and
sweet potato. The members ate
allowed one quart of tomatoes, in
addition to turnips, Indian com,
popcorn, and raspberries, blueber
ries, strawberry, cherries, apples,
plums, peaches, pears, and apri
cots. They will also allow one
bunch of rhubarb, muskmelon or
cantaloupe, one watermelon,
herbs, and four eggplants.
Members can also pay on a
monthly basis.
For die past five years, the Boy
ers have operated their own fresh
market stand at the Quanyville
Growers Market, which opens
May 8. The market is located at
Good’s Store at the comer of
routes 222 and 372. The market
operates every Saturday through
October from 8:30 am.-l pan.
It’s been a hard hoe to operate,
in starting the farmers* market,
noted Boyer.
“We’ve had to fight tooth and
nail, literally, to get it established,”
she said.
People come from many diffe
rent locations Philadelphia,
Delaware, Virginia, and Maryland
to the market Saturdays during
(he season. Most business comes
from Maryland even though the
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