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Tessa DeMaster

"It's time to prepare for the worst" + Corned Beef Recipe & Brisket Sale

Published about 2 months ago • 2 min read

Hi Reader!

Reuben and I were married less than a year when my parents called a family meeting at the farm in the summer of 1998.

"Life as we know it is going to crash. It's time to prepare for the worst." they told us.


We Are Open! *** Market Hours:
Saturday: 8:30 AM - 3:00 PM

Fresh Baked Bread, Scones, Baguettes...​

Beef Brisket 10-20% off for St. Patrick's Day
Read below for recipe to make your own corned beef!

Come to ​Be Inspired by Your Farm Community


You see, my dad spent his whole career in computer programming and data base administration. The smartest people he knew were sounding the alarms about the computer glitch "Y2K."

After learning how to "prep" for a year and a half, I remember driving through the starlit Illinois countryside at midnight on New Year's Eve, Dec. 31, 1999. The clocks turned to Jan. 1, 2000 while I drove a teenage girl home after she got kicked out of a youth group event.

The lights were on in the homes we passed and everything was still normal when Reuben and I returned to town a few hours later.

Was "Y2K" was a hoax? Or was it a real threat that had been avoided.

There's more to the story so continue reading here:

You'll see in the blog post that the food storage skills we learned as beginning "preppers" still serve us today on the farm.

Now we even teach skills to our community to help you become more self-reliant.

This week's farm video shows you'll see:

  • my brisket brining for our St. Patrick's Day corned beef.
  • Reuben showing his bread projects in the bakery.
  • Simone, our new baker, demonstrating baguette rolling.
  • the first leaves on our seedlings in the greenhouse.
  • Reuben's Dad putting up cabinets in our farmhouse kitchen.

I share my Home Made Corned Beef Recipe in the post. Click the button to get to the recipe in the Blog Post.

Don't miss out on these two exciting workshops:

You need the confidence that knowledge from a clinical expert can give you so you can advance to the next level in your overall health and enjoy healthy skin and clean facial products.

Discover Medicine in Your Food is a workshop that will introduce you to healing foods you didn’t even know could improve your health. This talk is the key to understanding why Farmer Reuben and I are so passionate and committed to providing the organic food options that our members see in their Market Box shopping area every week. Morning Workshop (10 AM - 12 PM) CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Natural Beauty Care from Your Kitchen will give you the confidence to ditch your toxin laden commercial make up, lotions, creams, cleansers and toners. This afternoon workshop can be attended on it's own but will build on the food and wellness information shared in “Discover Medicine In Your Food.” Afternoon Workshop (1 PM - 3 PM) CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

Date: March 23, 2024
Time: 10 am & 1:00 pm
Location: Willow Haven Farm, New Tripoli, Pennsylvania
Price: $35/ per session for farm members. $45 for non members

Spaces for Karla’s workshop are limited, so secure your spot now
to ensure you don’t miss out on this experience.
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER.

As Always...

We support your desire to have a good, healthy way of life and food on your table that supports that goal.

We'll keep farming for you!

Reuben and Tessa DeMaster
Willow Haven Farm

P.S. The Farm store is open on Saturday to help you stock up on FRESH BREAD, eggs, milk, cheese, vegetables, natural cleaners, home remedies and more.

Open this weekend!

Market Hours:
Saturday: 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Don't miss the full story and the farm news! Click the button below.

Thinking of unsubscribing? CSA members need to stay connected to our emails but you can limit them to just vital information about your membership by clicking here.

Tessa DeMaster

Growing up on my family's farm in Pennsylvania, I never would have pictured the life I live at Willow Haven farm. As a kid I spent summers in our large family garden we called, “The Truck Patch”. I helped mom every summer, picking beans, weeding, and cutting fruit and vegetables for the hundreds of jars of canned and frozen produce we put up. Now I spends less time out in the field and more time in the kitchen doing the same preserving for my own farm family. Farmer Reuben values my many hours doing much of the behind the scenes marketing, writing emails to cultivate customers and capturing the farm story each week. I'm always learning along the way in my quest to improve the farm experience for each of her current and future farm members in our 500+ member, year-round customized farm box delivery program. Reading our stories will connect you with your food in a way you never experienced before. Someday soon you will want to fit local food into your life and we'll be here to help you.

Read more from Tessa DeMaster

Hi Reader! The young, aspiring reporter met Reuben and Bill at a boring township meeting. Now Olivia Marble is following this lead wherever it takes her. After the zoning meeting in Upper Macungie Township, a young lady with a microphone attached to her iphone stopped Farmer Reuben and Bill Kuklinski, the owner of the building at 8150 Hamilton Boulevard. After that interview she looked up our farm and found out about our Foster A Chick program. She came out to the farm to see the families...

3 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader, Can You Grow One Thing? The only thing better than a Market Box is growing your own food. Which you should do! "We encourage every one to grow at least one vegetable at home" Farmer Reuben explained at Earth Day. Why? So you can experience the freshness and satisfaction of picking food from the ground and putting it in your mouth immediately. Cherry tomatoes and cucumbers are perfect for this but even a planter of lettuce, herbs or kale is great too. Reuben's first farm job,...

6 days ago • 1 min read

Hi Reader! Enthusiastic excitement and gratitude! Farmer Reuben wants you to know that he is encouraged by the excitement for Willow Haven General Store. Overcoming obstacles will require overwhelming community support. We know that you have a strong desire to support a resilient local food economy and are seeking alternatives to conventional grocery options like Wal Mart, Aldi, and Whole Foods. But you might ask: Is it reasonable to expect that Willow Haven Farm will receive enough support...

7 days ago • 1 min read
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