ARTfarm Saturday AM: Longan & Dragonfruit… 7/20/24, 11am – 12 noon

Longan fruits, shown whole and broken open to expose the flesh
Longans at ARTfarm. These addictive little fruits pack a sweet crunchy juicy punch inside a leathery outer skin.

Another fruity pop-up summer ARTfarmstand on Saturday – the longan trees have exploded with fruit. Come out again on Saturday at elevenses ’til noon, and get your crunchy sweet longan groove on! They are gnot genips but in the fam of the rambutan…

We’ll have a few pineapple fruits, and plenty of slips available to try growing your own!

No reservations; first come, first served. We really appreciate your support.

Pineapples are typically a spring-summer treat that appear on the harvest list as the tomatoes begin to wane in the heat! They are a fairly drought resistant crop – try your hand at growing a few with our instructional video! How to Plant Your Pineapple Slips

Plenty

Longan fruit
Dragonfruit in the pink, red, purple, magenta, white varieties!
Sliced pumpkin
Lemongrass
Turmeric

Also

Pineapples
Pineapple slips

Stay cool, put a pinch of salt in everything, and see you Saturday 11am to noon!

Luca Gasperi and Eric Ogden in 2008 with our red pickup truck holding the "Grow Your Own Pineapples" sign, on our way to Mango Melee!
TBF: Luca Gasperi and Eric Ogden in 2008 with our red pickup truck holding the “Grow Your Own Pineapples” sign, on our way to Mango Melee! Pineapple slips are available; try your hand at growing your own pineapple fruit!

ARTfarm Saturday AM: Summer Fruit & Salad Greens Harvest!! 7/13/24, 11am – 12 noon

We have started covering ARTfarm’s dragonfruit vine plants with dried palm fronds to protect them from the sun during these extra hot days. Thanks to our awesome volunteers who helped Farmer Luca with this project. Summer, climate change, 2024.

Pop-up summer ARTfarmstand on Saturday – with over a hundred pounds of DRAGONFRUIT and plenty of SWEET SALAD MIX – how is it even possible in this heat?! DUDE! Come out Saturday at elevenses and get your crunchy sweet salad groove on!

No reservations; first come, first served. We really appreciate your support.

pineapples
Bucket of pineapples…these have sweet tender cores you can eat!

Plenty

Dragonfruit: varieties include red, pink and white inside!
Pineapple
Lemongrass
Turmeric
Sweet salad mix
Longan fruit

Stay cool, drink your lemongrass tea, and see you Saturday 11am to noon!

Below is our pineapple salsa recipe and a cute photo of Farmer Luca in case you missed it last week.

ARTfarm Pineapple Salsa

1 cup chopped ripe pineapple
.5 cup chopped less ripe pineapple
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 jalapeños finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Chop, toss, let it sit a bit, and enjoy it in unexpected dishes! It is the refreshing summer addition you’ll want to use on everything!

A good pine takes time.

ARTfarm Wednesday PM: Piña Popup 7/3/24, 5:30pm – 6pm

Four pale orange, white spotted pumpkins sit on a stainless tabletop, with pale blue early morning light on the trees and pastures in the distance.
Winter squash (pumpkins) grown at ARTfarm on St. Croix. They have a deliciously rich, dry flesh.

Pop-up farmstand on Wednesday – and celebrating Emancipation Day in the USVI!

How well do you understand the meaning of Emancipation Day in the USVI?

“General Buddhoe was born on St. Croix [in] 1820… he was 28 years old at the time of the emancipation. …When Buddhoe was about 20 years old, he got arrested. In 1840, he was charged with “theft” and received 30 lashes. Then in 1841, he was arrested again for “theft and maronloben,” which means to become a maroon. Buddhoe stole food from his master’s kitchen to help an elderly man who was unable to get food for himself. With this act of kindness, it is clear what kind of a man Buddhoe was: A natural leader who cared for his people and who was incredibly brave to emancipate his people 176 years ago.”

Olasee Davis in the St. Croix Source, discussing a new book ‘A Closer Look’, based on new Danish translations, by Kathleen D. Dowling

Hope everyone is staying cool and enjoying this holiday week, and basking in the many freedoms we currently enjoy; with the knowledge of historic times when freedoms were not secured; and rejuvenating ourselves in order to join the current movements to create parity and freedom for all people. We’re looking at some epic times ahead, so fuel up with healthy stuff.

Windy Wednesday’s PoPuP brought to you by the letter P: Pineapple and Pumpkin, jalaPeño. We’ve got some herbs too. Make your pineapple salsa for your July 4th partying and to slather on those burgers – recipe below. It’s easy – just bring a knife and cutting board, you can make it at the beach.

No reservations; first come, first served.

pineapples
Bucket of pineapples…these have sweet tender cores you can eat!

Plenty

Pineapples
Pumpkin slices
Jalapeño
Garlic Chives
Lemongrass
Oregano

Stay cool, and see you Wednesday afternoon! 5:30-6pm. Freedom!

ARTfarm Pineapple Salsa

1 cup chopped ripe pineapple
.5 cup chopped less ripe pineapple
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
2 jalapeños finely chopped
2-3 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons black pepper

Chop, toss, let it sit a bit, and enjoy! Love it on a burger. Happy July 3rd! and July 4th.

A good pine takes time.

ARTfarm Saturday: Fruity Sweet Popup 6/22/24, 11 – 11:30am

Pineapple harvest at ARTfarm

Pop-up farmstand on Saturday!! Happy Juneteenth.

“Today as we celebrate Juneteenth, together we are reminded of the promise of America. A promise of freedom, liberty and opportunity, not for some but for all. In many ways the story of Juneteenth and of our nation is a story of our ongoing fight to realize that promise.”

Vice President Kamala Harris

We’ve had some awesome summer home-from-college volunteers this month; AND a few year-round residents helping out in the gardens!

To cope with extreme heat waves, we are trying to be proactive to conserve our stores of rainwater and protect plants from intense sun: We are putting palm fronds on the dragonfruit vines, and using lots of hay mulch around our fruit trees and on top of our ginger, turmeric and yam plantings.

For Saturday’s popup we’ll have summer tropical fruits and pumpkin, early bird salad greens, some herbs and some hot peppers. No reservations; first come, first served.

Bright neon pink dragonfruits have soft spiky 'scales' that give them their name.
Beautiful late summer dragonfruits. These drought-tolerant pithayas are sweet and refreshing in the hot days of August and September!

For EARLYBIRDS

Dragonfruit
Pineapples
Butterball mangoes
Ginger
Turmeric
Strawberry fruit
Sweet salad mix
Mongoose & Zinnia pastured eggs

Plenty

Pumpkin slices
Scallions
Lemongrass
Oregano
Hot peppers: red jalapeños and red cayennes

Stay cool, and see you Saturday morning! Namaste!

Harvesting the ginger we planted in the off-season! These are fifth generation roots from Hawaiian stock. So tender, juicy and tasty! Toss an inch right into the blender with your favorite fruits!