Wednesday ARTfarm Produce Pickups 12/23/20: Winta WhattaMELON!

ETA: We found a few typos on the previous version of this post, corrections include clarifying the share sizes, also please note small shares do not come with herbs this week, but you can purchase some as extras at pickup.

Farmer Luca’s been Walkin’ In the Winta Whattamelon and harvested almost 360 lbs. of watermelons last night. Sign up now for a pre-Christmas pickup slot on WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON and swing by tomorrow to put some red and green on your holiday table! We have increased the share options to include just a whole watermelon, small and large shares – and you can combine up to three different farmshares.

We’ll be closed for the Christmas/Boxing Day weekend, and we’ll send out the email/signup link for available farmshares on Tuesday, December 29th, and distribute reserved farmshares on Wednesday, December 30th.

As promised, our holiday gift to you from the ARTfarm elves, recipes and garden fun:

Once again, we are only accepting pre-sized pre-orders of farmshares, plus extras, for our customers with preselected pickup time slots for a minimum of waiting or mingling in this pandemic season. (We know you’d like to shop for just one or two items, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. This system is to prevent pile-ups of customers and to protect us, the farmers and our family, from long long customer lines where we’d be more exposed.)

Who is that masked farmer? Farmer Luca at our socially distanced pre-reserved farmshare distribution during COVID times in spring 2020.

New here?

Please read our safety guidelines below on how to reserve your produce and pickup time. To understand WHY we are doing what we do, click HERE to read about ARTfarm LLC and COVID-19 precautions we are taking.

CUSTOMERS are required to:

  • meet an order minimum of one farmshare size
  • arrive ON TIME, not early!! Do NOT jump your timeslot please
  • consistently maintain 10-15 feet of distance between all individuals
  • wear masks to keep each other safe
  • sanitize hands before you exit your vehicle
  • bring exact change or a check and pen
  • be patient with us and each other during pickups
  • bring your own boxes, bags, baskets to pack up your order
  • wait to bag produce until we have completely assembled and totaled your order on the table

We require everyone picking up a box to wear a mask and please sanitize your hands before exiting your vehicle/arriving at the distribution table, and we will do the same.

We will have 20 large, 15 small and 10 whole watermelon ‘farmshares’ of produce available for Wednesday (a few of those available as “double small” orders). You can also order and specify a neighbor, friend or family member to pick up your order. The minimum order is one farmshare, but for today you can order more than one size. Add-ons and extras are not currently available independently of a farmshare purchase; to minimize community contact during the pandemic.

Please contact us immediately by text and phone at (340)514-4873 if you have reserved a farmshare and cannot pick it up. Supply is limited, demand is extremely high and someone else will gladly purchase your share, if given enough time to respond. We have limited time for distributions and they are scheduled. Our produce is harvested fresh and needs to go home with you same day. This is an honor system since we are not collecting payment until pickup. We do not have cold storage for uncollected shares.

Here’s how to get ARTfarm produce during the pandemic:

  1. Wait ’til Friday morning around 10am *schedule may shift to Tuesdays/Wednesdays for major holiday weekends*
  2. Visit artfarmllc.com or check your farm email for the fresh-from-the-field weekly signup page
  3. Sign up with our online form (a link at the bottom of the weekly signup page like this one)
  4. Using the current online order form, choose a minimum of one farmshare size of pre-selected, pre-priced ARTfarm produce (contents listed below, either small or large – in high demand times 1 share may be set as the maximum)
  5. Commit to a pick-up time slot
  6. Choose any add-on items (limited supplies)
  7. Add a comment for special requests, extras, preferences, or whatever’s on your mind
  8. Check your email for a confirmation! (the email you used on the order form is the one you should check – it is an automated response and is sent out immediately)
  9. Arrive promptly but NOT EARLY for your pickup appointment on Saturday in the ARTfarm parking lot on Saturday. If early, wait inside your vehicle and decide what herbs you want! Sanitize your hands when getting out of your vehicle. Please maintain plenty of space between customers, and between us and you when you approach the pickup table for your appointed pickup time. We’ll be wearing masks and ask that you do the same.
  10. Bring exact change or a check to drop in the bucket – we are not handling any money.
  11. There may be unadvertised extra items available to add to your box at pickup time, so you may wish to bring some extra small bills or wait to fill in your check amount. Please bring your own pen.
  12. Bring your own bags or box to put your produce into. We’ll place your items on the sanitized table, some things will be pre-bagged, you’ll pack your own bags or box for the rest. Wait to bag until we do a final count of your items to make sure we don’t forget anything. We are trying to reduce the number of shopping bags we distribute, so please bring an extra bag, box or basket to your pickups this season.
  13. No substitutions or price adjustments. To maintain sanitation and keep things moving, we are not swapping items, handling payments or making change. (As always we’ll be flexible where we can within reason.)
  14. YOU ARE AWESOME for supporting our small family farm and accommodating our needs for COVID safety.

Farmshare choices for Wednesday, December 23rd 2020:

Whole Watermelon farmshare, $16-25 (as marked), will include:

Just a whole watermelon in this farmshare! Plus any add-ons you would like. You can also add another size farmshare!!

Small farmshare, $10, will include:
  • 1 bag of sweet salad mix
  • 1 lb. cucumbers
Double Small farmshare, $20, will include:

As listed above, but double: one for you and one for a friend. Take distribution into your own (recently washed) hands, deliver to a neighbor or loved one!

Large farmshare, $37, will include:
  • 1 bag of sweet salad mix
  • 1 bag of baby spicy OR baby arugula salad mix (your choice as available)
  • 1 pint cherry tomatoes
  • 2 1/2 lb. watermelon quarter
  • 1 bunch of baby carrots OR scarlet turnips (your choice as available)
  • 2 herb bunches (you choose; please consider your choices before you arrive at the table)
Additional Limited Quantity Reservable Add-Ons*

(please add to your total)

2 lbs. sliced pumpkin: $6
2 lbs. zucchini: $6
1 bunch extra garlic chives: $2
1 bunch extra Italian basil: $2
1 bunch of nine bright assorted color zinnia flowers: $5

Heirloom tomato plants (potted up): $5 each:

  • Black Plum tomato
  • Mystery (random variety) slicing tomato

Dragonfruit cuttings: $15 each:

  • Natural Mystic (red inside)
  • Physical Graffiti (pink inside)

Saman (rain) tree: $20
Sandbox (monkey-no-climb) tree: $10

*(if these are sold out – there are often additional extras available at the time of pick-up, so if you can’t reserve, leave a note in the comments, bring some extra cash or wait to write your check total. Bring a pen.)

Extra Add-Ons

(Must accompany farmshare purchase, these items cannot be purchased individually. No reservations on these items, first come first served during your pickup slot):

  • WATERMELON!! – approx 2 lb. watermelon quarter: $2/lb. (around $4, as marked)
  • sweet salad mix – $7
  • cherry tomatoes, pint: $6
  • pumpkin, cut quarters: $3/lb. (around $6, as marked)
  • cooking greens – $3/bunch (kale varieties, dandelion, swiss chard, collards)
  • 2 lbs. zucchini – $6
  • 2 lbs. cucumber – $6
  • loose zinnias – $0.50/ea
  • extra herb bunch – $2
  • bag Thai chiles – $2
  • bag green cayenne peppers – $2
Herb bunch choices for this week

(Large share = 2 herb selections. Choose from what’s available at pickup, or we’ll pick some for you, but these are the basic options we should have, you can start mulling it over 🙂

  • Garlic chives
  • Italian basil
  • Lemon basil
  • Cilantro
  • Dill
  • Rosemary
  • Lemongrass
  • Kaffir lime leaves

We have designed our order form not to allow any one customer to purchase all of one extra. Sharing is caring. If you’d like extra of something (beyond what you could reserve through our order system), put it in the comments with your order, and ask at your pickup time: if we can supply it to you we’ll do our best.


The signup form will show you a “Thank You” page and send you a confirmation email if submitted successfully. One order per customer, please.

Problems with the online signup form? Workarounds our customers figured out (thank you!!) were to:

  • just try again
  • use a cellular device (smartphone or tablet) that isn’t using WiFi internet
  • clear your cache and cookies in your browser/device
  • reboot your router (unplug it for a minute and plug in again)

This pre-order signup form does NOT sign you up for an ARTfarm email subscription.

Here’s the link to Wednesday December 23rd’s SIGNUP FORM
(opens a new window).

Kaffir lime leaves – herb of the week

Kaffir lime leaves…growing in a Hugel bed at ARTfarm on St. Croix USVI

We often get asked, “What do you do with Kaffir lime leaves?” The quick answer is, it’s a citrusy bay leaf for flavoring soups, a wonderful partner to ginger in pan-Asian flavors.

First of all, smell them! These leathery leaves have a powerful and very pleasant astringent citrus scent. Just inhaling the smell makes you feel optimistic yet relaxed. So, personal potpourri. Keep a leaf in your pocket and smell amazing all day. Grab an extra bunch at the next farmstand and use them as a natural air freshener in the car.

A web search for Kaffir lime leaves turns up a number of references to Ayurvedic medicine. There are many claims of health benefits from drinking tea, chewing or sucking or otherwise ingesting the pungent oils of the leaves. They do everything from relieving stress to promoting oral health to helping you get you over the flu.

But what we most commonly do with Kaffir lime leaves in our family (other than misspell it) is make coconut curries, like Tom Kha Gai-ish soup. This is a recipe modified from Chef Kenny Biggs from Galangal Restaurant on St. Croix, and it’s in heavy rotation in our house – for an immune blast!

Use Kaffir leaves like bay leaves in any dish that would benefit from the cool, citrusy note of Kaffir lime. You can also make a tea, put them in drinks…

Signup for Saturday ARTfarm Produce Boxes 12/19/20: Drag On, Fruit

New this week at ARTfarm: The holidays are upon us! Need a quick gift? We’ve got some dragonfruit cuttings on the add-ons list today! Makes a great gift! As the pandemic “drags on”, you can stay home and plant some “drag-on” fruit vines, and enjoy the fruits of your own labor! Here’s our how-to-grow-dragonfruit guide!

The ARTfarm holiday schedule for the next two weeks will be announced shortly after this post goes out, along with a fun article on things you can do with pumpkin. Stay tuned!

Once again, we are only accepting pre-sized pre-orders of farmshares, plus extras, for our customers with preselected pickup time slots for a minimum of waiting or mingling in this pandemic season. (We know you’d like to shop for just one or two items, and we’re sorry for the inconvenience. This system is to prevent pile-ups of customers and to protect us, the farmers and our family, from long long customer lines where we’d be more exposed.)

We’d like to remind everyone to pay extra attention to your time slot and don’t come half an hour early. There should be less than 10 cars in our lot at any given time if customers are following the schedule. People coming early or late slow EVERYONE down and confuse our system. Come at your appointed time slot, five minutes early at the most. Don’t jump your timeslot please.

Farmer Luca at our Socially Distanced Farmshare Distribution. Homemade cloth mask by Rose Boyan!
Who is that masked farmer?

New here?

Please read our safety guidelines below on how to reserve your produce and pickup time. To understand WHY we are doing what we do, click HERE to read about ARTfarm LLC and COVID-19 precautions we are taking.

CUSTOMERS are required to:

  • meet an order minimum of one farmshare size
  • arrive ON TIME, not early!! Do NOT jump your timeslot please
  • consistently maintain 10-15 feet of distance between all individuals
  • wear masks to keep each other safe
  • sanitize hands before you exit your vehicle
  • bring exact change or a check and pen
  • be patient with us and each other during pickups
  • bring your own boxes, bags, baskets to pack up your order
  • wait to bag produce until we have completely assembled and totaled your order on the table

We require everyone picking up a box to wear a mask and please sanitize your hands before exiting your vehicle/arriving at the distribution table, and we will do the same.

We will have 20 large and 35 small ‘farmshares’ of produce available for Saturday (a few of those available as “double small” orders). You can also order and specify a neighbor, friend or family member to pick up your order. The minimum order is one farmshare. Add-ons and extras are not currently available independently of a farmshare purchase; to minimize community contact during the pandemic.

Please contact us immediately by text and phone at (340)514-4873 if you have reserved a farmshare and cannot pick it up. Supply is limited, demand is extremely high and someone else will gladly purchase your share, if given enough time to respond. We have limited time for distributions and they are scheduled. We will hold your produce for you at your timeslot, and we expect to hear from you. We understand life happens, but please do not leave us hanging, waiting for you, with your food! Our produce is harvested fresh and needs to go home with you same day. This is an honor system since we are not collecting payment until pickup. We do not have cold storage for uncollected shares.

Here’s how to get ARTfarm produce during the pandemic:

  1. Wait ’til Friday morning around 10am
  2. Visit artfarmllc.com or check your farm email for the fresh-from-the-field weekly signup page
  3. Sign up with our online form (a link at the bottom of the weekly signup page like this one)
  4. Using the current online order form, choose one farmshare size of pre-selected, pre-priced ARTfarm produce (contents listed below, either small or large)
  5. Commit to a pick-up time slot
  6. Choose any add-on items (limited supplies)
  7. Add a comment for special requests, extras, preferences, or whatever’s on your mind
  8. Check your email for a confirmation!
  9. Arrive promptly but NOT EARLY for your pickup appointment on Saturday in the ARTfarm parking lot on Saturday. If early, wait inside your vehicle and decide what herbs you want! Sanitize your hands when getting out of your vehicle. Please maintain plenty of space between customers, and between us and you when you approach the pickup table for your appointed pickup time. We’ll be wearing masks and ask that you do the same.
  10. Bring exact change or a check to drop in the bucket – we are not handling any money.
  11. There may be unadvertised extra items available to add to your box at pickup time, so you may wish to bring some extra small bills or wait to fill in your check amount. Please bring your own pen.
  12. Bring your own bags or box to put your produce into. We’ll place your items on the sanitized table, some things will be pre-bagged, you’ll pack your own bags or box for the rest. Wait to bag until we do a final count of your items to make sure we don’t forget anything. We are trying to reduce the number of shopping bags we distribute, so please bring an extra bag, box or basket to your pickups this season.
  13. No substitutions or price adjustments. To maintain sanitation and keep things moving, we are not swapping items, handling payments or making change. (As always we’ll be flexible where we can within reason.)
  14. YOU ARE AWESOME for supporting our small family farm and accommodating our needs for COVID safety.

Farmshare choices for Saturday, December 19th 2020:

Small farmshare, $14, will include:
  • 1 bag of sweet salad mix
  • 1 lb. cucumbers
  • 2 herb bunches (you choose; please consider your choices before you arrive at the table)
Double Small farmshare, $28, will include:

As listed above, but double: one for you and one for a friend. Take distribution into your own (recently washed) hands, deliver to a neighbor or loved one!

Large farmshare, $34, will include:
  • 2 bags of sweet salad mix
  • 1 bag of teen spicy salad mix
  • 2 lb. cucumbers
  • 2 herb bunches (you choose; please consider your choices before you arrive at the table)
Additional Limited Quantity Reservable Add-Ons*

(please add to your total)

  • 1 bag fresh Mediterranean figs: $5
  • 1 bag teen arugula: $10
  • 1 bag tiny baby arugula: $13
  • 2 lbs. zucchini: $6
  • 2 lbs. cucumbers: $6
  • 1 bag sweet frying or stuffing peppers: $3
  • 1 bag green chiles, assorted types: $2
  • 1 bunch extra garlic chives: $2
  • 1 bunch extra Italian basil: $2
  • 1 bunch of nine bright assorted color zinnia flowers: $5

Heirloom tomato plants (potted up): $5 each:

  • Black Plum tomato
  • Mystery (unmarked) tomato

Dragonfruit cuttings: $15 each:

  • Natural Mystic (red inside)
  • Physical Graffiti (pink inside)

Saman tree: $20
Sandbox tree: $10

*(if these are sold out – there are often additional extras available at the time of pick-up, so if you can’t reserve, bring some extra cash or wait to write your check total. Bring a pen.)

Extra Add-Ons

(Must accompany farmshare purchase, these items cannot be purchased individually. No reservations on these items, first come first served during your pickup slot):

  • CHERRY TOMATOES!! pint: $6
  • WATERMELON!! – approx 2 lb. watermelon quarter: $2/lb. (around $4, as marked)
  • BUTTERNUT!!! tender and sweet! Small/minis: $3.50/lb. (around $7, as marked)
  • PUMPKIN!! so versatile!! Cut quarters: $3/lb. (around $6, as marked)
  • cooking greens – $3/bunch (kale varieties, dandelion, swiss chard, collards)
  • beet bunch with tops – $5
  • 2 lbs. zucchini – $6
  • 2 lbs. cucumber – $6
  • loose zinnias – $0.50/ea
  • extra herb bunch – $2
  • bag Thai chiles – $2
Herb bunch choices for this week

(Large share = 2 herb selections, Small share = 2 herb selections. Choose from what’s available at pickup, or we’ll pick some for you, but these are the basic options we should have, you can start mulling it over 🙂

  • Garlic chives
  • Italian basil
  • Lemon basil
  • Cilantro
  • Dill
  • Mint
  • Rosemary
  • Lemongrass
  • Kaffir lime leaves

We have designed our order form not to allow any one customer to purchase all of one extra. Sharing is caring. If we have extra, we’ll do our best to let you know. If you’d like extra of something (beyond what you could reserve through our order system), put it in the comments with your order, and if we can supply it to you we’ll do our best.


The signup form will show you a “Thank You” page and send you a confirmation email if submitted successfully. One order per customer, please.

Problems with the online signup form? Workarounds our customers figured out (thank you!!) were to:

  • just try again
  • use a cellular device (smartphone or tablet) that isn’t using WiFi internet
  • clear your cache and cookies in your browser/device
  • reboot your router (unplug it for a minute and plug in again)

This pre-order signup form does NOT sign you up for an ARTfarm email subscription.

Here’s the link to Saturday December 19th’s SIGNUP FORM
(opens a new window).

Biker Rich, call us

Sorry for the interruption everyone!

Thanks so much for your patience today, we are still working out the kinks as we try to expand to more customers using our pre-order distribution system. it is a challenge to make sure we harvest sufficient amounts of everything and coordinate carefully in the packing shed. There were a few mixups, and we ended up having to split up our team and continue to harvest during the distribution! Our apologies to anyone who was shorted on an item today. If we didn’t discuss it with you directly at the farmstand today, please let us know if something was missing from your order.

Rich (regular customer who usually blazes by on a road bike for a bag of salad greens in the old normal times), please give us a call ASAP, we don’t have your number.