ARTfarm Holiday Happiness Saturday 10am-12 noon!

The Christmas winds have brought rainbows, dramatic skies, sweet night time rains and excellent growing conditions to the farm.

For Christmas Third Day, we have freshly harvested for you: Sweet salad mix, spicy salad mix, cherry tomatoes, a few slicer tomatoes, a few early ears of sweet corn, cucumbers, radishes, escarole, spicy ginger root, purple yard long beans, lettuce heads, cilantro, recao, lemongrass, mint, garlic chives, dill, Italian basil, holy (Tulsi) basil, lemon basil, Thai basil, green chili peppers, and fresh-cut zinnia flowers. For your garden we have a few basil plants, tomato plants, and pineapple slips on offer.

From our partners we have avocados from a friend, local vegan fruit flavored ice cream from I-Sha, and local dark honey of complex notes from master beekeeper Errol Chichester.

Cooking greens such as collards, Chinese cabbage and kale, normally a big staple for us, have been struggling with pest problems this season. Check out the alternatives: the radish greens that come attached to our radish bunches are a delicious cooking green. Our escarole is doing well. It is a flat-growing lettuce-head-like crispy green that is commonly used in Italian wedding soup but makes a great addition to any cooking recipe involving vegetables. It can be sautéed or added to a pot. It has a strong and slightly bitter flavor when eaten raw. Bitter greens are a very healthy addition to the diet in moderate quantities.

The New Year is nearly upon us! We will be open regular hours on Monday: 3–6 p.m. On New Year’s Eve day, we will be open for our holiday (morning) hours: Wednesday from 10 AM – 12 noon.

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ARTfarm WEDNESDAY open rain or shine: SWEET CORN people!

Famous last words from Farmer Luca: “We’re NOT going to run out of sweet corn today!”

Come and get your mid week fresh vegetable fix from ARTfarm, open today, 3–6 p.m., rain or shine: Macrogreens, sweet salad mix, teen spicy salad mix, arugula (bagged for salad and large bunched for cooking/pesto), collards, kale, Italian basil, Thai basil, holy basil, lemon basil, lemongrass, garlic chives, recao, tarragon, thyme, freshly harvested beets with nice leafy tops, carrots, onions with pretty and tasty green tops, radishes, passionfruit, papaya, pineapple, tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, a giant pile of sweet corn, chili peppers. 20140514-113623.jpg Come and pick up some beautiful fresh herbs to make a cozy, rainy day cup of bush tea for yourself and your loved ones!

ARTfarm Saturday Stand – De-stress!

A close up photo shows a flower spike on a clump of green tulsi leaves, or holy basil.
Bees love the nectar from the purple flower spikes that grow from holy basil. The plant is purported to have anti-stress medicinal qualities, and makes a refreshing ‘bush’ or herbal tea. We grow holy basil organically at ARTfarm and cut it fresh for the farmstand.

Happy ARTfarm Saturday! This morning starting at 10am we’ll have: sweet salad mix, spicy salad mix, arugula greens, mAcro greens, beets, radishes, tender young cucumbers, dandelion greens, escarole, red mustard greens, garlic chives, sage, thyme, fresh cut zinnias; Italian, Thai, lemon and holy basil, lemongrass, and local honey from Wanda and Patricia. Come out to St. Croix’s South shore this morning and enjoy the cool breeze!

Refreshing, de-stressing drink recipe:

Steep a bunch of fresh cut holy (tulsi, pictured above) basil with a bunch of lemongrass in a couple of gallons of freshly boiled water. Pull out the herbs after 10 minutes and add some local honey to taste. Enjoy hot or cold! Sip, be refreshed, be de-stressed, enjoy a local beverage! Costs pennies per serving!