Lehman’s Country Life

Greetings! I am Karen Geiser and our family lives on a farm just a few stone throws down the road from Lehman’s in Kidron. We raise grass-fed Hereford cattle, pastured chickens, a handful of Jerseys, a couple goats along with a small herd of free range children and various other pet critters (including a neighborhood peacock). I also tend about an acre of garden that feeds our family plus supplies a ten-family CSA.

At our house, September is a full and abundant season with harvest in full swing. So right now there are pears in the dehydrator, tomatoes begging to be made into sauce, more fall spinach  waiting to be planted and a school bookshelf needing organized. In the midst of the busyness, I sometimes wish for a winter moment when I can curl up in a blanket and read a good book (or seed catalog!). But we’ll keep plugging away and be very thankful in January when we can rest and enjoy all the good things from the garden that we “put up.”  
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Here in northeast Ohio, it’s potato digging time, so we thought we’d open up the blog for some great potato recipes. They can be new, old, hot or cold, but they must be delicious! Feel free to post yours as comments. For now, here’s one to get us started, from the Lehman’s 50th Anniversary Cookbook:

Golden Parmesan Potatoes

6 large potatoes (any kind), raw with skin

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

1/8 tsp. pepper

1/4 c. flour

3/4 tsp. salt

1/3 c. butter

Quarter the potatoes lengthwise. Combine flour, cheese, salt and pepper in a plastic bag. Moisten potato pieces in water and drain well. Place a few pieces at a time in the bag and shake gently to coat. Pour melted butter in the bottom of a 9″x13″ baking dish. Top with potato pieces and bake for 1 hour at 375 degrees. (Turn once during baking.) Serves 4.

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Too many tomatoes? Here’s a quick and easy salsa recipe, along with an amazing way to take out all the work:

Ingredients
3 large tomatoes, quartered
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green bell pepper, seeds and veins removed, chopped
2 tablespoons red win vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 jalapeno pepper, sliced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt
fresh lime juice

Separates and removes skin and seeds. Pulps, purees or chops any soft fruit FAST!

Here’s the amazing work-saving part: Run the tomatoes, peppers and onion through the Lehman’s Best Food Strainer with the optional Salsa screen. (To see the Strainer and optional Salsa screen, click here.)

After you run the tomatoes, peppers and onion through the strainer, add the garlic, vinegar, olive oil, and cilantro to mixture and stir. Add sale and lime juice to taste. Cover and refrigerate until serving time.

Want to see more? Check out our YouTube video, shot in our store last week by clicking here.

Galen Lehman, President, Lehman’s


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Along with summer come days spent working outside, lounging by the pool, and enjoying picnics and barbeques.It also begins an ancient battle between human and yellow jacket.We know these brightly colored warriors by sight but what do we really know about them?Let us find out because they say that knowing is half the battle.
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“Going Green” and “Eco-Friendly” may be new words to some of us, but they have been a way of life for many over the centuries.

When pioneers and settlers started spreading their families into areas with unpredictable rain amounts, conserving water for the dry spells became a must. Failure to do so was a lesson hard learned. Especially in certain areas, water supplies under the desert and arid land are not an inexhaustible source as they were thought to be prior to the “Dust Bowl” of the 1930s.

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How does your garden grow? If you are harvesting more than you can eat right now, why not put some away to enjoy when the season is past?

When freezing vegetables choose fresh produce (for best results 2-3 hours from harvest to freezing.) To prevent freezer burn, use moisture-proof, vapor-proof packaging designed for freezing. Pack blanched vegetables tightly in freezer bags or rigid containers. Squeeze air from bags before sealing. Leave ½ inch space for expansion. For a loose pack, freeze items in a single layer on a cookie sheet until nearly solid. Package at once. Label, seal and freeze – and remember to date all of your packages.

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My name is Sue Steiner.  I am an animal artist and for the last couple years I’ve been painting farm animal murals in the Buggy Barn at Lehman’s.   I also help with scheduling arts and crafts demos at the store.   I wanted to share with you some photos taken at Lehman’s during the second annual Local Artisan Festival on July 11th.   By the looks of the crowd and the smiles on people’s faces this is the beginning of a really interesting and enjoyable regular yearly event!   The visitors to the store not only enjoyed the arts and crafts demos but also lively music, good food, good company and gardening advise !  What’s not to love about that? 

During this event we gathered together local artists and crafters thru the Ohio Arts and Crafts Guild to put on demonstrations and offer hands on activities for all ages.  Our goal is to have demos that are informative as well as entertaining and also tie into the unique flavor of the store. 

 The Art Festival was an extension of what happens every week in the ‘Buggy Barn’ for most of the year.  A few times a week you can see many of these same artists and crafters doing individual demos that range from fiber arts to pottery to farm animal mural painting to gourd birdhouses to wool rug hooking to garden crafts using recycled materials and many more.   

To see what demos are scheduled in the Buggy Barn go to the Events Calendar at the top of this page. 

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Last week I did one of the toughest things I have to do all year. I pulled perfectly good fruit from most of my nine fruit trees and threw it out.

The tiny fruits, which are about 1/4 to 1/3 their final size, held the promise of future goodness. Even though they were still small, hard and sour, my mouth watered as I handled each one.

So, why would I do such a hard-hearted, mean-spirited and cruel thing?
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Scenes like this may be rare before too long.

Good arable farmland is disappearing. All you have to do is look at the suburban sprawl that has gobbled up all the farmland around every major city in America to know that this is true. But, it’s not just an American problem. It’s a worldwide problem.

- Current food reserves are the lowest they have been in 40-years
- The amount of cropland per person has fallen from 1.1 acres (in 1960) to less than 6/10 of an acre today.
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As promised, here are several of our favorite responses to last month’s query, “What are YOU Growing?” …

I am a 66 year old disabled woman. I have loved gardening all my life. Every place I lived I was able to find a way to garden. I am now unable to work and I am still determined to garden. I live in an apartment in a large Federal style house. The owners have generously allowed me to do my gardening in their yard. I have been here three years and each year I have extended my gardens. I have a huge vegetable garden and two herb beds and three flowerbeds. I do all of the work from a lawn chair.
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