Clover Hill Farms - Reflections From My Kitchen Window

03/30/2026

10/22/2025

October 22, 2025

As our harvest nears its end, I decided to close with the short video below recapping our journey along the way. We’ve been so very blessed for the opportunity to be good stewards of the Land that the Lord has given us, and I loved sharing a piece of our experience with you here. I pray that you, too, will stop to give thanks for all He has provided. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for following along. Your response has been overwhelming! God is so good!

10/21/2025

October 21, 2025

Today it was my turn to share the cockpit of the Gregoire harvester with my husband. And what a ride it was! The view from way up there is absolutely spectacular. But beyond those fantastic views, seeing all those levers, gadgets, and buttons for myself was mind-boggling! Hearing the bells ringing specific alerts was something I never expected, either! Even more impressive was seeing how much dexterity and coordination are needed to get the job done. I can’t even imagine how anyone learns the ropes - but our guys all do it so effortlessly! I came away with an even greater appreciation for all of them.
I must admit, just climbing up that ladder is part of the excursion that tested the height of my dexterity! I did it once - I can’t imagine how it must feel to traverse that thing several times a day. Besides, knowing that it is going to be just as strenuous tomorrow doesn't give one a lot to look forward to every night. Watching the gondola drivers in action is another thing altogether. Wow! Each man knows precisely where to be and what speed they must hold to keep their tractor in rhythm with the harvester.
Meanwhile, the harvester driver watches his speed (which, incidentally, displays on the console in kilometers), adjusting as he goes to accommodate the crop and the condition of the vineyard. At the same time, the harvester operator is watching the grapes heaping up in the gondola. As he sees the grapes piling up, he radios for the tractor driver in the next row over to either pull ahead or hold up. An awful lot is going on at once!
Consider keeping up this pace for five to six weeks - doing more of the same over and over and over again. Farming takes a tremendous amount of dedication, perseverance, and fortitude. I love our life - even these stressful times come with the satisfaction of completing a year’s worth of effort successfully. I’m so blessed that I married a Farmer! Thank God I’m a Country Gal!

10/20/2025

October 20, 2025

(😳 I almost wrote 1978 for the date!) I just listened again to my previous post about Paul Harvey’s 1978 broadcast, “So God Made a Farmer”. I couldn't help but think about how accurate the adage is - “The more things change, the more they stay the same.“ Whether you’re raising cows, horses, or lambs - corn, grain,or grapes, we farmers are in this together and loving (most) every minute of it.

Farmers are always there to help in the time of need. It’s always a blessing to be there to help another whenever we can, but today we’re beyond blessed to have our friends and neighbors here to help us out. With Welch’s plans to close the season on Wednesday, we’ll have to hustle to work within that schedule to get all of our grapes in. To help out, Mike stepped up to let us use his truck, and his grandson, Jake Haeseler offered to drive it for us! That gave us the opportunity to use two harvesters in different vineyards, so we’re getting twice many acres of grapes picked in the same amount of time. This only works because enough of the other area farmers have already finished, so Welch’s opened up the delivery schedule. As soon as we get a load picked, we can take it in. I know it is going to be a couple of much longer days for our guys out there, but we know everything will come together in the end!

10/20/2025

Sunday, October 19, 2025

This was meant to be posted yesterday, but it didn’t go through on my page.

I thought Paul Harvey’s rendition of “So God Made a Farmer” was worth sharing - especially on a Sunday morning. I loved it when I first heard it, and I’ve grown to appreciate his words even more over the years. You, too, may have heard it before, but it’s worth listening to again. Enjoy!

I started to feel they left out the deep roots of farming in this country, but perhaps I was reflecting on the love of my own Grandpa and time spent with him...

10/19/2025

October 19, 2025

After I wrote yesterday’s post, we learned Wednesday was determined to be the last day to deliver grapes to Welch’s. It undoubtedly will be a push to the finish, but we’re up to the challenge! Our next couple of days will likely be even longer, but now the end is in sight for certain.

Today is slightly overcast and breezy. My phone keeps alerting me that rain may start soon, though it’s staying dry for now. Our crew finished today’s loads before that weather report, making it back home just before noon. Right now everyone is checking in with each other to make sure they are all on the same page and geared for “Go!” first thing tomorrow morning.

I took these pictures of Welch’s receiving operation a week or so ago. The first step in the process is driving to the Inspection Station. As you may recall, that is where Welch’s employees check each load for any defects and to test the grapes for their sugar content. Once the truck gets through inspection, it continues on to the scale house to weigh in. That is where the paperwork for each load is recorded. Every grower has their own farm identification that may be broken down between farm parcels, too. Next, each trucker takes their turn to wait in line before slowly moving forward to reach the dumping station. Once there, all the grapes are emptied and pressed. The driver has to stop once again at the scale house to weigh out before leaving for home. Sharpie has this process down to a science! .

Grape Season is a big deal for our little town of North East. Between the Farmers and those that are employed by Welch’s, growing grapes is responsible for a huge part of our local economy. Grapes. It’s simply our way of life!

10/18/2025

October 18, 2025

I had to go back to the beginning to check this. We started harvesting at Clover Hill on September 18th, so we’ve been harvesting these grapes every single day for one solid month. Our days do begin to run together after a while. This is when I start to fade, yet I am amazed to see the stamina of our farming family. No one seems to be slowing down much, and never once have I heard any of the guys say they wish it were over.

Welch’s is still speculating when all of our growers’ crops will be contained. They are projecting that it may be as early as Wednesday or Thursday. So, we’re at a place where we can see daylight, but there’s still a lot of acreage for us to cover. I wrote earlier that Jeff was the first to have all his grapes picked, but actually, I was wrong! Our grandson, Connor, had him beat. Back when I remarked that we had finished picking the vineyards on Williams Road, one of those vineyards was Connor’s. We don’t really keep score like that, anyway. We all work together as a team until the very end. (Incidentally, I should mention that Connor is driving tractors and working with the rest of the crew again, too. It’s been good to have him back!)

So, as Tom likes to say, “We’re all done but finishing.” The plan now is to first get through the rest of Jason’s Ackerman Lane vineyard. Then we still have to get the grapes on the Pierce farm, as well as a few more spots that are left here at our farm. We’re getting there!

10/17/2025

October 17, 2025

What a gorgeous beginning to a very productive morning! Breakfast was set up and waiting to be served when Mike pulled in to empty his load of Concords into the waiting truck. To catch my attention over the noise of his tractor, he pulled out his cellphone and yelled, Hey, look at the picture I took this morning!” That’s when he showed me the breathtaking view of this morning’s sunrise. Beyond Spectacular!
Since I was the cook for the day, I had been busying myself in the kitchen and, unfortunately, totally missed that display. Sigh!

After going through my collection of recipes yesterday, I finally decided to mix up an old standby favorite for today’s main course: Quiche Cups. (I’ll include the recipe in the caption of the photo.) I also cooked up a dozen meatballs using the bulk sausage we purchased from the Skunk & Goat - a popular restaurant in town that has a reputation for serving their delicious homemade sausage among their other specialties. Of course, I brought along yesterday’s batch of Cinnamon Crisps, too. It sure didn’t take long for the guys to pick up on that unexpected treat! I was teasingly told that if there were any leftovers, not to even think about taking any of them back home! It turned out there were - and I wouldn’t consider doing anything different!

The crew is still working at Jason’s Ackerman Lane vineyards, and today was a great day to share a bit of our harvest with a couple more of our friends from Clymer, NY. Last week, Jon Babcock stopped in when we were on the Page Farm. He and his wife, Jane, had been here for the first time last year. Jon got to repeat that ride, but this time it was on our new harvester. Today we had a chance to introduce Dale and Cindy Willink to harvest on our family’s farms. Nothing thrills me more than seeing the excitement in the eyes of someone experiencing grape harvest for the first time! It makes me appreciate all that we accomplish, which we often take for granted! It was a perfect day - there was just a little breeze, making the cooler fall temperatures more bearable. The hot coffee sure tasted good today, especially when it was paired with Dutch Village’s Cini-minis that Cindy and Dale brought along, too! The crew headed back to the vineyard smiling, all filled up, and ready to get their five loads finished. As it turned out, all were able to head for home just in time for lunch.

10/16/2025

October 16, 2025

I’ll be serving breakfast for our guys tomorrow. So, this morning, I’m opening my Harvest Meal recipe binder once again to see if there’s a different dish that catches my eye. I know we gals had decided to stick to a set menu, and I’m on the slate for Sausage Breakfast Cups. But today, I have some spare time and can use some of it fussing with food a bit. Not sure what that will be just yet.

One thing I do know is that I will be making a treat I call Cinnamon Crisps. Mike especially enjoys this snack because it reminds him of what his mother used to do with any leftover pie dough - and I bet you all can relate! But my twist for this treat is that instead of pie dough, I use the scraps of tortilla shells that I save when cutting out the circles for those Sausage Breakfast Cups.

First, I arrange all those pieces on a cookie sheet and generously brush them with melted butter. Then, as evenly as possible, I sprinkle those pieces with a mixture of cinnamon sugar. I pop the batch into a preheated 350-degree oven, and very closely watch them as they crisp up and turn a light brown. That part can be tricky! If you pull them out too soon, they can still be doughy when they cool. If you leave them in too long, they can burn to a crisp! (But, speaking from experience, even those will get devoured! ) When I first made these, I took the time to trim and roll them up like my grandma did with her pie dough delicacy. Then I realized our guys didn't care one whit about pretty! That’s when my version of Crisps became a harvest tradition!

There has been a lot of moving and shaking going on—moving equipment and shaking berries, that is! Yesterday, the crew picked here on our Horse Pasture vineyard. Sadly, our miniature horse, Angel, is no longer with us, but obviously, the vineyard’s name here at the farm never changed either. Karen just sent me the pictures that she snapped this morning on another property of Jason’s. It looks like everyone stopped in for a break and, at the same time, for a change! We’re rolling right along.

“How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!”
‭‭Psalm‬ ‭119‬:‭103‬

10/15/2025

October 13, 2022

Facebook tells me I first posted this blog in 2016. 😳I was AMAZED to learn I’ve been doing this Blog thing for so long—looking back, I found that this is my 14th year! My heartfelt thanks to all of you for following along! Your comments, likes, and shares are so encouraging and give me the incentive to continue sharing our journey with you. Keep it up! This particular post received the most reactions of any I had published at the time. I felt it was worth repeating. (Oh yes! Be sure to click on the photos. In the first photo, look for the white buildings in the upper right-hand corner. That is the plant at Welch’s! Blessings for a wonderful day! Sue

Ever wonder why we can grow grapes here but not there?

Location, location, location. No, this isn't about the election, though it could be. This year, Pennsylvania could be pivotal in the race. And yes, that is important to farmers everywhere. A government that over-regulates business doesn't always realize the effect that has on agriculture, too. It's huge! And that is part of why small family farms struggle to stay alive. Keep us in mind in November.

But "Location" in my context today is about why we can even grow grapes here in the first place. Many years ago, glaciers passed through this region. In their wake, they left behind Lake Erie and carved out a very narrow band of cropland nestled between the lake and an escarpment to the south. That had the effect of creating a microclimate that is favorable for growing vineyards.

You'll find that grapes grow well along the Lake from just south of Buffalo, on through PA, and ending up just a bit east of Cleveland, Ohio. That band of land is only about 5 miles deep. In fact, the south border of our farm is Interstate 90. Beyond that, grapes don't thrive well at all. That's because the Lake acts like an ice cube in the spring, so the early buds are held back. Then in the fall, the Lake acts as our hot water bottle, keeping the early frost at bay and extending our growing season.

That's what makes our area the largest Concord Grape region in the world. Take a drive along US Route 5, US Route 20, or I-90 soon and see for yourself. It's gorgeous this time of year, and the air is filled with an aroma that is simply "Grape”.

10/14/2025

October 14, 2025

Students in our North East School District have the day off. That gave our Littles a chance to check out the new harvester with Grandpa! If only we could bottle up their excitement and enthusiasm. I could use a dose of that myself right about now! Our daughter Stephanie checked in last night to confirm their plans before Tom turned in for the night. Truthfully, by this morning, that had totally slipped my mind until I heard two exuberant little boys coming through the side door! It didn’t take me longer than a second to remember, regroup, and then ride along as we headed “Up On The Hill”!

I wasn't sure exactly which vineyard we might find our guys in. Stephanie took the road that weaves around the five-and-a-half towards the back of the farm, and we soon spotted that yellow monstrosity headed our way. Since we wanted to steer clear of the action happening now, we kept on driving past the pond and parked close to the end of our already harvested Niagara vineyards. And then the anticipation became a reality! Look at those smiles! My hope is that someday they will look back on this experience and that today may become a treasured part of their childhood memories forever.