ARTfarm zinnias at dawn. The sheep tend to graze more heavily in the dawn hours, when things are cool and there is still some dew on the grass.
When it’s still too dark to start harvesting, some work begins with organizing for the market. Good Morning! Here’s what we’ll have today down the South Shore, in rough order of quantity:
A LITTLE BIT OF: micro spicy, teen arugula, summer squash, wild cucumbers, fresh baby ginger, kale, escarole, lettuce heads, fresh Mediterranean figs.
RESPECTABLE SUPPLY OF: heirloom tomatoes, pumpkin, onions, scallions, radishes, carrots, lemon basil, holy basil, dill, cilantro, recao, garlic chives, Italian parsley, edible yellow marigold flowers, fresh local neighborhood eggs from happy hens at Yellow Door Farm (Heather & Matthew) and Nelthropp Naturals (Jimmy & Barbara), passionfruit.
BOATLOADS OF: sweet salad mix, cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, green bell peppers, red serranos, Indian chili peppers, Italian basil, fresh-cut zinnia flowers!
Gorgeous red and white onions with full green tops! Freshly harvested this morning for you.We’ve got a fresh batch of Fiddlewood Farm goat cheese for early birds again today! Beautiful fresh goat cheese medallions, locally made, creamy and sweet! We made a beautiful pizza for dinner last night featuring Bethany’s awesome goat cheese, ARTfarm basil, kale, peppers and onions… Yum! If you don’t feel like baking your own pizza, check out the new Italian restaurant (at Five Corners next to Car Zone), Un Amore, from Frank and Katherine Pugliese. They are buying ARTfarm produce for their kitchen as well as featuring Fiddlewood farms goat cheese in their signature ravioli dish.
Today at the stand: Sweet salad mix, very limited amounts of teen arugula and teen spicy, slicing tomatoes, heirloom tomatoes, cherry tomatoes;
Small amounts of summer squash, green bell peppers, and kale;
Escarole, radishes, onions, lettuce heads, pumpkin, red and green serrano and Indian chili peppers;
The drought conditions drastically reduced our beneficial insect population; we planted wildflower mixes in the gardens to try and boost their numbers. A side effect of this farming technique is the beautiful flowers.
We are a small, highly diversified family farm. We grow smallish amounts of many things, of the highest possible quality. This is an intensive and time consuming way to farm but it is also highly biodiverse and, we feel, sustainable.
Because we often have limited quantities of certain items, we encourage customers looking for specific items to try and come near the beginning of our farmstand hours. Additionally, due to reduced rainfall over the last year and reduced growing capacity, we are only open two instead of three days a week this year. This often results in a line of customers at the entrance prior to opening. We appreciate your dedication to good food.
Let’s all try to maintain a sense of abundance as we go through our day. There is enough good food for everyone. We are all more fulfilled when we can share what we have with our neighbors around us. Let’s all take a breath and appreciate all the blessings we can be grateful for.
Cherry tomatoes, sturdy slicing and delicate please-handle-gently heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, pumpkins in all different shapes and types, green bell peppers, kale, scallions, onions, carrots, radishes, a handful of wild cucumbers;
The Seminole and other small pumpkins are finally ready! The plump seeds are delicious roasted with olive oil and a generous pinch of sea salt, don’t forget them!
Red and green serrano peppers, red and green Indian chilies, cilantro, dill, garlic chives, parsley, Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, rosemary, ginger root, a few passionfruit, loads of zinnia flowers, loads of edible marigold flowers, wildflowers, and a few bags of figs.
The drought has pushed us to do a lot of experimentation on the farm this year. Our rain catchment ponds are suffering from algae overgrowth and increased evaporation. We are trialing different floating aquatic plants to serve as an eco-friendly and economic pond cover. This fuzzy friend is called Salvinia.
Early birds can snap up one of a few ‘medallions’ of locally made goat cheese at the stand today. This is a super fresh premium product from local farmer and vet Dr. Bethany Bradford! Delicious on salads, in many dishes, and delicate enough for desserts!
Sweet salad mix, baby and regular arugula, baby and regular spicy salad mix;
Loads of cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, some heirloom tomatoes, summer squash, three types of kale, escarole, carrots, scallions, and pumpkin;
Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, dill, cilantro, recao, parsley, garlic chives, edible yellow marigolds, big beautiful zinnia flowers, hot serrano and Indian chili peppers, jojo plums and a few passionfruit.
There will be more sweet corn in a few weeks.
She’s our farm vet, the VI Territorial Director of Veterinary Services for the Department of Agriculture and a fellow farmer: Dr. Bethany Bradford has spent the last several years building up her Alpine dairy goat herd on St. Croix at Fiddlewood Farm. She also bred and raised her own livestock guardian dogs to keep her herd safe (one of her pups joined our sheep flock in 2012!). Her hilly, partially wooded farm lined with fiddlewood trees on the edge of the rainforest offers lots of shady play room and browse for her goats. Her tidy cheerful milking parlor and nearby cheese room are immaculate. Originally from Maine, Dr. Bradford has lived on St. Croix for nearly thirty years, is actively involved with the Women’s Coalition and works part time in Dr. Duke Deller’s Animal Clinic.
Dr. Bradford’s beautiful, frisky alpine dairy goats wander pasture and forest areas at Fiddlewood Farm.Local goat cheese medallions from Fiddlewood Farm in Estate Plessen! Dainty, light and super fresh. Plain, herbed, or with pepper.
ARTfarm on St. Croix, USVI 