We are open today, 3–6 p.m.! Some special treats today… It is pumpkin harvest time at ARTfarm this year! Pumpkins are one of those versatile vegetables that can be used in desserts and entrées alike. They are perfect in soups and stews, ravioli and gnocchi, they are wonderful halved and roasted in the oven, they go into pies and soufflés and cheesecakes and tarts, they can be puréed and added to many dishes to give them extra richness, thickness and sweetness.
Maybe we are biased, but we think that our pumpkins are incredibly beautiful, each one with a unique shape and color pattern. We suggest you buy a couple of whole ones and display them in your home for a couple of days before enjoying them.
Pumpkin and goat cheese are a great match. We have beautiful locally made goat cheese medallions today from the VI’s Alpine Dairy Goat herd, Fiddlewood Farm!
Sweet salad mix, baby arugula, cherry tomatoes, slicing and heirloom tomatoes, loads of beautiful onions, loads of red serranos and red Indian chili peppers, green bell peppers, garlic chives, parsley, cilantro, Italian basil, holy basil, lemon basil, three types of radishes, assorted beautiful pumpkins, and loads of zinnia flowers!
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.
ARTfarm on St. Croix, USVI 