Check Out Our Calendar of Upcoming Markets and Events

SPECIAL EVENTS

• MAY 14-17th – PGH Children’s Theater Festival, Lilypad Park

• MAY 25 9am-2pm, Lawrenceville, Memorial Day Celebration, Allegheny Cemetery

• JUNE 5 6-10pm Garfield Night Market N.Pacific & Penn

• JUNE 20-21 PGH Jazz Festival ALL DAY, Cultural District

• JUNE 21 Children’s Museum Maker Fair 6/21/201

• JULY 3 6-10pm Garfield Night Market N.Pacific & Penn

• JULY 24-26 Pittsburgh Blues Festival, Hartwood Acres

• AUG 7 6-10pm Garfield Night Market N.Pacific & Penn

PUBLIC MARKETS

• CitiParks East Liberty Farmer’s Market, 5900 Penn Circle North
  Mondays, 3:30-7:30pm May 11th – November 2 2015

• Bloomfield Saturday Market, 505 Liberty Avenue, Bloomfield
  Saturdays, 9am-1pm, May 30-November 7 2015

• COMING SOON TO – Pittsburgh Public Market, 2401 Penn Avenue, Strip District
  Wednesdays 10 am to 4 pm
  Thursdays 10 am to 7 pm
  Fridays 10 am to 4 pm
  Saturdays 9 am to 5 pm
  Sundays 10 am to 4 pm

RETAIL LOCATIONS

FIND OUR ICE POPS!

• 52nd Street Market, 601 52nd Street, Pgh, PA  15201 (LVille)
  
• East End Food Coop, Penn Ave & Braddock Ave (Point Breeze)

• Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor 2801 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15222

• Commonplace Coffee, Penn Ave (Garfield) & Forbes Ave (Sq. Hill)
• Sewickley Confectionery 600 Beaver Street, Sewickley, PA  15143
• Biddle’s Escape 401 Biddle Avenue 15221 (Regent Square)

FIND TEAS!

• 52nd Street Market, 601 52nd Street, Pgh, PA  15201 (LVille)
• Commonplace Voluto 5467 Penn Ave  Pittsburgh, PA 15206
• Penns Corner Farm Stand Online CSA w/ Farm Stand Pick-up
• Klavon’s Ice Cream Parlor 2801 Penn Ave Pittsburgh, PA 15222
• Breathless Beauty 108 Route 6 Bdg. 2 Milford, Pennsylvania 18337

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Aquaponics at Healcrest – Part 2

Everything’s coming together. The Bottom tank will hold the fish, while the Top shelf will house delicious delicate herbs.

Savi says this is what the fish will do if you put your hand in the tank.

The babies move in.

Herb Classes and Walks with Michelle

Join us this summer at Healcrest Urban Farm for herbal education with certified Herbalist Michelle Soto!

Register here http://www.healcresturbanfarm.com/events.html

Chicks in the Hood Pittsburgh Urban Chicken Coop Tour

We’re excited to participate in Chicks in the Hood :: PGH Chicken Coop Tour 2014! WE’LL HAVE TEAPOPS! THIS SUNDAY SUZY’LL BE SLINGIN’ CICLES!!

Come by on Sunday and visit our feathered friends. Suzy is looking forward to showing you the coop, introducing you to the gals, and offer you TeaPop refreshment!

Tickets can be purchased the day of the tour at

• Commonplace Voluto www.commonplacecoffee.com at 5467 Penn Avenue in Friendship/Garfield;
• Tazza D’Oro  www.tazzadoro.com at 1125 North Highland Avenue in Highland Park;
• Animal Nature  www.animalnature.net at 7610 Forbes Avenue in Regent Square;
• Thompson 0.08 Acres at 1240 Resaca Place, Pittsburgh  15212;
• Choderwood at 7665 Lock Way West, Pittsburgh 15206, located at the Highland Park Dam at the intersection of Washington Boulevard and Allegheny River Boulevard.

Family Time on the Farm

By Michelle Soto

This past week my family came into town ready to work on the farm!  Many of my memories of childhood involve helping my dad in the yard and in the garden.  Every spring we’d get a load of wood mulch delivered to the house and I would use my child sized shovel and wheelbarrow to mulch the rose bushes and the edges of garden beds.  I loved the smell of the mulch.  It smelled woody and alive and signaled that spring was here.  My dad’s biggest hobby was working in the yard, he’d come home every day after work, take a power nap, change into work clothes and spend the rest of the afternoon outside.  He’s the type of guy who only has ONE kind of grass in his yard, and absolutely no weeds.  Anywhere.

It was reminiscent of these afternoons to spend some days with him at Healcrest.  His assignment: tree stump removal.  And not just any tree stump.  A 50 year old black locust (he counted those rings during a break one day) which was in the middle of our newest garden.  While my dad worked on the stump, my mom and aunt weeded our garlic patch, which had mulched itself with garlic mustard plants.  They caught them all before they went to flower, and the garlic patch is vibrant and sending up what soon will be delicious garlic scapes.

Other areas of the garden are quickly growing as the days and nights are warming up.  The mints: lemon balm, peppermint, horehound, catnip, catmint, and chocolate mint are providing us with new herbs to harvest every week.  About half of our seedlings are moved into the greenhouse and awaiting transplant.  And of course, the lovely wild cherry trees are going to burst into bloom any day this week.

Till next time,

Michelle and the Farm Team

Wishing You All A Happy Mother’s Day

From all of us at Healcrest Urban Farm
Hope your day was FULL of family, friendship, and fantastic fun!

Spring Has Sprung at Healcrest Urban Farm!

Whew! Spring has sprung and we are seeing the evidence of that all over the farm!

The daffodils are in full bloom, the forsythia has one whole garden in a wash of yellow, the hawthorns are budding out the cutest little leaves, and our perennials are coming back from the intense winter hibernation we were all in.

Meg and Michelle have been busy tilling the ground in several gardens to get beds ready for the hundreds of plants we have started inside.  Many herblings are more delicate than vegetable starts so we’ll wait till after the last frost to plant outside.

We are orienting garden beds differently this year in one garden and are breaking ground the what we used to call “the knotweed field”.  Although it does have medicinal qualities: the knotweed root contains high amounts of resveratrol- the feel good chemical in red wine, we are striving to eradicate our pristine piece of land from this invasive creature.  Slowly, but surely.

Suzy has built a rain barrel system to catch rainwater off the roof of our shed so that we can water everything grown on the farm with water collected from the farm.

 

 

As usual, the chickens have the run of a garden during the day to dust bathe and sun themselves.

 

We will post soon about upcoming classes and volunteer days!  Here’s to spring!

Healcrest On The Farm Fest!

Join Us at the Farm for a Tea Time Mini-Fest
Sunday MAY 19th, 3pm-6pm

We invite you to take an urban trek to our little natural oasis in the East End. If you haven’t seen the farm yet or enjoyed a Tea-Pop this is the perfect opportunity to come visit us.

Come see what’s blooming and growing at Healcrest. Enjoy the scenery, aromas, and soundscape. Walk, Lounge, Mingle, Play, Learn, Enjoy!

We’ll Have Farm Tours, Play Area, and a Mini Market Including –
— Tea-Pops
— Hot and Cold tea
— Seedlings
— and more…

HEALCREST URBAN FARM – Garfield, PGH, 5200 Hillcrest St.
the corner or Hillcrest and N. Pacific

Contact us at healcresturbanfarm@gmail.com and visit our website at http://www.healcresturbanfarm.com

*all proceeds support Healcrest projects

Orchards and Flowers Budding::Happy Earth Day

Healcrest is literally Springing to Life! Thanks to help of dedicated helping hands who love getting their hands a little dirty and tending to the soil and plants.

Buds, Bees, Birds, Blossoms! We’re lovin’ life, enjoying the spring showers of rain, help, motivation, creativity, and abundance! More Here http://www.healcresturbanfarm.com/

ANNOUNCING: Healcrest Tea-Pop Shop at PGH Public Market!!

We are so excited to announce Healcrest Tea-pop Shop will be at Pittsburgh Public Market the 2nd weekend of every month!

Beginning APR 12th-14th, 10am-5pm
TEA-POP SEASONAL MENU
– Coconut Chai Pop
– ChocoMint Condition
– Apple Butter Better
– Everyday Pear
– Cherry Surprise

Come by have a pop and say hi!