The Farmstand @ Agritopia

Agritopia and Joe's Farm Grill is the venue this Saturday, October 17 for the Great Southwest Scooter Fiesta. The event is from 10:00 am - 3:00 pm and will benefit Maricopa County Animal Care & Control. There will be live music, the Maricopa County Animal Adoption Bus, scooter raffles and contests, vendor booths and so much more! Please join us for this great event and pick up some of our delicious Medjool dates to snack on during the festivities. They are available at the self-serve stand that is open all day, every day.

For more info on The Great Southwest Scooter Fiesta, visit: www.fatcatscooter.com/view/rally

The Farmstand @ Agritopia October 9, 2009

Come and celebrate Columbus day with us at The Farm@ Agritopia. The weather is beautiful and so are the grounds of the farm. It won't take you long to "discover" the best Medjool dates in America, or at least in Arizona! They are available at our self-serve stand and we stock the produce case daily. We hope to see you soon.

The Farmstand @ Agritopia October 2, 2009

FALL IS FALLING IN AGRITOPIA!

Come and stroll the grounds of Agritopia and enjoy the changing season...cooler temps are on the way! You can see our experimental garden beginning to take shape and we will begin to plant our fall cover crops in the coming weeks. We still have Medjool dates available in our self-serve stand. They are grown here on the farm and freshly picked every week.

Thanks for your support of the Farmstand @ Agritopia

SOME FOOD FACTS ABOUT DATES

1. Medjool dates contain no sodium and no cholesterol
2. A 3 oz serving, approx. 4 dates, contains 230 calories, 2 grams of protein, .62 grams of carbs and no fat!
3. Dates are a great source of fiber and contain many vitamins and minerals
4. You can purchase local grown, pesticide-free dates at our self-serve stand.

Here's another fine recipe from the good people at The Farm @ Agritopia

Susan's Date Bars

3/4 cup butter
1 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats, uncooked
Date filling (below)

Cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Combine flour, salt and soda, and then add to creamed mixture. Stir in oats, blending well.
Pat half of the mixture into a lightly buttered 13x9x2-inch baking pan; spread with date filling then top with remaining crust mixture. Pat lightly to smooth top crust. Bake at 400 for 30 minutes. Cut into bars while still warm; remove from pan.

Date filling:
1 1/2 lbs. of dates chopped
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water

Combine dates, sugar and water in a medium saucepan. Cook over low heat for 5 to 10 minutes, or until smooth and thick. Cool slightly before spreading on oat crust. Makes 3 cups of date filling for date squares.

The Farmstand @ Agritopia Sept. 8, 2009

Medjool Date Palm Tree

Our Medjool date trees are loaded with the "queen" of dates. Please come by The Farm @ Agritopia and pick up some of these beauties that we have harvested for you.

Two of our favorite "Date" recipes:

Colton’s Famous Date & Carrot Sweet Bread

Dry Ingredients
2 C flour
½ tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
**Stir ingredients

Wet Ingredients
2 eggs
1 C soy milk(vanilla)
¼ C honey
1 tsp vanilla
2 tsp olive oil
**Whisk ingredients

Raw Vegetables
3 large carrots (chopped)
8-10 dates (pitted, chopped)
Squish together (fun for kids)
**Stir ingredients

Combine dry and wet ingredients and mix then add raw vegetables and mix well. Pour into a greased bread pan and bake for 24 – 27 minutes at 425 degrees. Let cool and top with butter and honey. Makes 1 loaf

Glutten Frees Substitutes
2 C flour = 2 C rice Flour
1 C soy milk = 1 C rice milk

Collins Favorite Protein Shake

Raw Fruit / Vegetables
1 Mango (chopped)
4-6 Dates (chopped)
2 Bananas (chopped)
1 “Power of Fruit” Whole fruit frozen bar (Spouts frozen area by Popsicles)
1 tsp borage / flax oil
*Blend together

Nutritional Supplements
2 tsp Soy Protein
1 tsp Bee Pollen
1 tsp Ground Flax
1 tsp Rice Bran
*Blend together

Combine Fruit blend and supplements in blender with 1 cup ice, milk or fruit juice
Serves 2-3

THE MEDJOOL DATE HARVEST CONTINUES

Every week we harvest more and more Medjool Dates. They are so sweet and tasty and we know that you will love them once you try them. They are really great in recipes as a substitute for sugar. Next week we will bring you some of our very own recipes for you to try using Medjool dates. Please stop by the self-serve stand and pick up some for your very own!

Thank you

The Farm @ Agritopia

To all of our loyal customers:

The Farm @ Agritopia has decided to have the main garden parcels of the farm held into cover crops in this, our 7th year. This is being done in an effort to build and renew the soil and to help control weeds. Meanwhile, we are running a small experimental garden to develop and improve our farming techniques after the year of fallow is over. Furthermore, we are testing the community gardens concept to possibly add it as a long term component of our farm.

Joe's Farm Grill will be using produce from the experimental garden and will reach out to other local farmers and producers as resources for the very best ingredients for their common food, done uncommonly well.

Currently, we have Medjool dates, one of our very finest crops, available at the self-serve stand. You and your family will love them!

Thank you