Introducing Republican Valley Produce

What is it?

Republican Valley Produce (RVP) is an online Farmers Market, the first of its kind in Clay Center. Also known as a Community Supported Agriculture or CSA, we offer fresh homegrown produce, meats, baked goods and jams and jellies. RVP is a group of farmers who are reaching out to those too busy to visit a Farmers Market or those who just like to sleep in on Saturdays.

How does it work?

Each member of the CSA starts up an account, with a $10 membership fee and $20 minimal balance. Each week, we will total your purchases, and this total will be deducted from your credit on your account or, if your purchase is more than the balance on your account, you will pay when you pick up your order. Our season will run from September 28th –November 2nd Guaranteed!
Extended season will run from November 9th- December 21st (if weather allows.)

Membership will be limited to 20 memberships this fall, more in years to come.

What does a typical week look like?

Thursday: Our growers submit what they will have for sale and the quantity.

Friday: The market will open up for orders. You will get an email from the market manager and will have until Sunday at 5:00 pm to place your orders online.

Sunday: Orders are compiled and totaled.

Monday: Your order will be picked, baked, and prepared for you.

Tuesday: At 5:30 p.m., you can pick up your order at one of two locations: Clay Center or Clifton. Other locations maybe added if there is enough interest.

What will be available through the market?

September: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Okra, Green Beans, Hot Peppers, Radishes, Potatoes, Cucumbers, Zucchini, Buffalo, Jellies, Pork and much more

October: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Okra, Green Beans, Hot Peppers, Radishes, 9 types of Lettuce, Salad Mix, Arugula, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Kohlrabi, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Sweet Potatoes, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat and Pork

November: Tomatoes, Cherry Tomatoes, Peppers, Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Radishes, 9 types of lettuce, Salad Mix, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Beets, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Kohlrabi, Sweet Potatoes, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat, and Pork.

December: Leeks, Carrots, Haikuri Turnips, Radishes, 9 types of lettuce, Salad Mix, Bok Choy, Napa Cabbage, Spinach, Kale, Green Onions, Tatsoi, Beets, Kohlrabi, Jellies, Eggs, Buffalo Meat, and Pork.

We are also looking at adding locally made cheeses and honey.

Why should I become a member?

Through the RVP, you will get first pick of locally grown produce, meats, baked goods and more. You will know who your farmer is and where you food is originating. You can shop online for your groceries and pick them up at a location convenient to you. And, you will be supporting area families with your purchases.

How do I become a member?
Sign up today by contacting me, RVP manager:

Jay Sleichter
1282 21st Road
Clay Center, KS 67432
785-630-0772
jaysjellies@yahoo.com

Introducing Republican Valley Produce

What is going on at the farm?

What is going on at the farm? Well that is a wonderful question. Everything! We have been so busy doing everything that we haven't had time to post any new information. With school starting, it has been hard to make everything happen, however with the rain and cooler weather, it makes working outside much more bearable.

What is happening......

In the high tunnels, the tomatoes, cherry tomatoes and bell peppers are still producing. However, they are slowing down. They are loaded with blooms and if the weather holds, we will be expecting larger harvests towards the end of September. This week will be the first time for cut flowers. We have sunflowers and Zinnias. The girls are very excited about them. The fall root crops are planted in the moveable tunnel spaces. We planted 16-32 foot rows of Haikuri Turnips, 16-32 foot rows of Carrots, 8-32 foot rows of Beets. We also planted Radishes and some more turnips outside. We have 3- 40 foot beds ready to plant in one of our big hoop houses, also. We will be planting green onions, napa cabbage, kale, lettuce, spinach, bok choy and kohlarbi in this space. We are also going to be planting some lettuce inside to transplant in October in the tomato tunnel.

Outside is really slowing down or done. The outside peppers were a real disappointment along with the watermelon. We have a few cucumbers coming and a few potatoes left to dig. The leeks are ok, it just go to hot for them. We have 375 plus broccoli and cauliflower plants out. We will be putting them in side low tunnels as the weather gets cooler.

On the Jelly front- We have been very busy. We have made over 100 jars in the last 2 weeks. Expect to see some new jellies and we are bring back a few more.

What is going on at the farm?

Friday's Featured Foods: Grape Juice

With just a few days left before school starts, we have spent the last week or so trying to get done all those summer projects, those activities that are too time consuming to accomplish in the evening or too dreaded to wrap up earlier in the summer. For me, that means canning.

Today's canning

I love canned vegetables... in the winter. In the summer, canning veggies means a hot kitchen and a day at the stove. But, it is worth it in the long run. Last week, I chopped and froze onions and potatoes. Today, I made Italian tomato sauce, pizza sauce, pickled okra, and sweet and sour pickles. I also processed grapes for jelly, which is the actual feature of tonight's post. No, I'm not going to share our Top Secret Grape Jelly recipe, but I'll show you the steps we go through to make the juice that eventually becomes the jelly.

 The grapes used in our jelly come from my parents' vine near Wichita, Kansas. It's not a fancy fruit farm; they just happen to have a fence of grape vines that my dad planted when I was Maggie's age. For the last few years, we've gone down to visit around the time of grape harvest and came back home with a cooler full of grapes. Grapes and grape vines are as full of metaphors as they are of insects; no wonder the Bible has so many references to them!

So, we came home with about 40 pounds of grapes. Maggie, Lainie and I spent a couple hours separating the grapes from the stems and tossing any bad grapes. Lainie was so proud to get to help and have a task that she could do well.

Next, I rinsed the grapes and removed any floating debris or bad fruit.

I then mashed the grapes with a potato masher, just enough to break some of them.

Next, add 1/2 cup of water for every quart of prepared fruit. I had four saucepans, each with 6-8 quarts of fruit.

Bring to a boil, the reduce to simmer for at least 15 minutes. I think getting the juice out was easier when I let them simmer for 30 minutes or more.

Here's my juice extraction set-up: cheese cloth on a strainer that just fits into my stock pot. I pour the grape mash onto the cheese cloth; the stock pot catches the juice and the strainer catches any grape pulp that makes its way out of the cheese cloth.

The juice then got poured into the measuring cup, then pour into quart jars.

The end result: 10 quarts of grape juice into the freezer. Once these freeze solid, I will move them to the deep freeze, for better storage.

My mom always says that clean-up is part of the recipe. And there were LOTS of little spills like this one. My kitchen had a bit of a purple splash to it tonight.

And last but not least, the cook gets to taste the product first. (Yes, the picture is sideways, but it's 1:14 a.m... it can stay sideways.) The little remaining grape juice tasted delicious! If grape jelly sells are down this winter, we could always thaw this juice and have it for breakfast. It doesn't need any sugar, thanks to the natural sweetness of the grapes.

Next on the list: chop and freeze bell peppers (the ugly ones our customers don't want to buy) and make and freeze some fajita and stir fry kits. Oh, and a Farmers Market in... six hours.

Friday's Featured Foods: Grape Juice

Let the Season Begin!

Saturday kicked off the 2010 Farmers Market season for us, with a cold morning in Clay Center. We had a few cool season crops for sale (spinach, lettuce, onions, radishes, turnips), our jellies, and lots and lots of plants. After about an hour, we had to put the pepper plants away, though; they didn't take too kindly to the 40-degree temps. All in all, it was a successful start to the season.

Let the Season Begin!

Time to Make the Jelly

Our jelly inventory is running low, and Farmer's Market starts on Saturday. That means, it's JELLY TIME!

Jay teaches during the day, so 11 p.m. IS jelly time in our house.

Green Jalapeno Jelly is first on the list, made with our peppers, of course.

We do love our new sanitizing dishwasher.

I love how the jelly tastes but my kitchen will make me cough for the next 12 hours. Not as bad as when he makes the habanero jelly, but still....

And, lastly, necessity is the mother of all inventions.


We have talked with some professional food gurus about making the jelly in bulk, about producing it by the hundreds of jars, rather than 6 at a time. But at this point in the game, at this point in our farm, we like doing it ourselves, one small batch at a time. Call it quality control or just wanting to be in control, but it's how our jellies are made.

Time to Make the Jelly