Tag: cucumbers

I’m Your DreamVegetable…Saturday 10 AM – 12 noon!

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These cucumbers at ARTfarm may be both talented and beautiful, but they are not Divas*!

This season’s Caribbean Community Theater musical Dreamgirls has been sold out nearly every show and is being held over for this weekend! Christina went to see it last Saturday and raved about the incredibly spot-on casting, seriously flamboyant performances, costumes and wigs! Lots of laughs as well as some thought-provoking themes and plot points, CCT recommends this show for mature audiences (ages 13 and up). Support the arts in our community and enjoy this and other excellent theatrical productions at CCT!

Saturday’s farmstand will feature triple-threat cucumbers as well as: sweet salad mix, spicy salad greens, arugula, baby arugula, microgreens, loads of heirloom and slicer tomatoes, loads of cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, beets, long beans, ginger, baby bok choy, collards, kale, Italian basil, holy basil, Thai basil, lemon basil, cilantro, parsley, dill, chives, onions, scallions, collards, thyme, endive, escarole, carrots, a few petite bell peppers, assorted chili peppers, passionfruit, sweet potato greens, zinnia flowers and a few early bird ripe Mediterranean figs.

From our partner I-Sha we have vegan ice cream. Next week we’ll have Errol Chichester’s honey again!

*A “Diva” is a variety of cucumber. Oh, we got jokes on the farm.

Wednesday Bounty 3-6pm! Come Shop Local!

We've got beautiful big beets with tops ready for cooking or juicing! Yum!
We’ve got beautiful big beets with tops ready for cooking or juicing! Yum!

 

Some sweet little rain showers at night have perked up the South Shore and quickened the pace of lettuce and veggie production. We are open today from 3–6 p.m. to share with you what the rain has brought: sweet salad mix, baby arugula, teen spicy salad greens, beautiful crispy cucumbers, lots of beets, lots of cherry and slicer tomatoes, kale, escarole, endive, baby bok choy, bunched onions, scallions, Italian basil, Thai basil, holy basil, lemon basil, garlic chives, dill, cilantro, parsley, rosemary, recao, ginger, Bodhi beans, and fresh cut zinnia flowers.

The sweet salad mix in winter is especially crispy and sweet when we've had a bit of rain. Triple washed and ready for the salad bowl!
The sweet salad mix in winter is especially crispy and sweet when we’ve had a bit of rain. Triple washed and ready for the salad bowl!

 

Around New Year’s Eve we had a pair of stray feral dogs show up at the farmstand early one morning. Some of our customers may have noticed them quietly hanging around at the farmstand that weekend and the next. We posted about them on the St. Croix Lost and Found Pets Facebook page and the STX Animal Welfare Center’s Facebook page immediately, but in the bustle of the holidays we neglected to post about them here on our own blog.

Two black and white fuzzy dogs on the farm.
Two stray dogs turned up in December 2014. They’d been running loose since at least October. Anyone know who they belong to?
Unlike most feral strays which we take directly to the Animal Welfare Center, this pair was unusually well behaved. We reported them “found” at the AWC and had them checked by a vet but they had no RFID tags. They are currently still living at the farm. We’d like to post their picture in case anyone knows their history. We did learn after posting their picture online, that they had been living wild since at least October 2014 along the industrial sites of the south shore of St. Croix (Diageo and Molasses Pier). If you have any information or recognize them, please let us know.

 

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ARTfarm Saturday Excitement!

ARTfarm is open this morning on the South Shore from 10 AM – 12 noon. We still have a broad range of items at this cool time of year, so come out and get your fresh greens and produce for the week ahead! Today we have tons of cherry tomatoes, lots of heirloom and slicer tomatoes, sweet salad mix, microgreens, teen and baby spicy salad mix, teen arugula, a few young cucumbers, kale, dandelion greens, yard long beans, beets, onions, scallions, carrots, cilantro, dill, chives, mint, Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, Thai basil, parsley, thyme, rosemary, Mediterranean figs, freshly harvested ginger root, passionfruit, mangoes, and fresh-cut zinnia flowers.

From our partners: Wanda of the Wright Apiary will be on hand today for the sampling and sale of handmade honey meads in a range of amazing fruit infusions. She also has a fantastic honey mustard dressing/marinade in different configurations to suit your taste. Personally we love the “zesty” version with lots of garlic in it! Bees are a huge part of our success in the gardens, honey products are just the icing on the cake.

We also have a fresh batch of I-Sha’s homemade vegan coconut-based ice creams coming in today in local fruit flavors, ready to enjoy in a perfect little one scoop size. Bring a little cooler and some ice and take home a few for a great ending to a locally sourced meal! The coconuts are locally harvested and processed for the ice cream, not from a can! A serious labor of love!

Speaking of love, we love you guys and appreciate your continued encouragement of our efforts to grow organically and sustainably. Thanks for being a part of what we do, we could not continue without our wonderful and supportive customers.

Don’t forget about the 44th Annual Orchid Show open at the Great Hall at UVI today!

A pair of lavender, purple-spotted orchid flowers spread their roots across the bark of a plum tree.
Farmer Luca’s mom, Valeria, is a talented cultivator of tree orchids. Visitors who stay at her vacation rental at the ARTfarm (LongfordHideaway.com) enjoy discovering all the orchids in the trees around the property!

Monday Mango Special Bonanza! 3-6pm Today!

Unbelievably off-season, some of our mango trees flowered in early winter. The Julie mango fruits are actually ripe now and we have more than we can eat, so a tub of mangoes will be available at the farmstand today! Open today and Wednesday, 3-6pm (Saturday 10am – 12noon on South Shore Road, between Ha’Penny and the Boy Scout Camp.

I must be dreaming. Farmer Luca is filling a bucket with RIPE MANGOES in FEBRUARY?? Off season madness!
I must be dreaming. Farmer Luca is filling a bucket with RIPE MANGOES in FEBRUARY?? Off season madness!
Several dozen green-to-purple mangoes are piled in a large green rubber bucket that is almost the same shade of green.
Julie mangoes grown at ARTfarm! Ripe in February – very unusual.

Also available for your health and enjoyment: Sweet salad mix, microgreens, baby and regular spicy salad mix, baby and regular arugula, purple yard long beans, loads of tomatoes of all types, piles of pints of cherry tomatoes, black sapote (a.k.a. chocolate pudding fruit), passionfruit, Italian basil, holy basil, lemon basil, garlic chives, cilantro, chili peppers, fresh ginger root and fresh cheerful zinnia flowers.

Two giant baskets hold dozens of large green-skinned black sapote fruits, also known as the "chocolate pudding fruit".
Two giant baskets hold dozens of large green-skinned black sapote fruits, also known as the “chocolate pudding fruit”.
By now you’re wondering what the heck to do with chocolate pudding fruit…these will be ripe in a few days to a week, when the skin takes on an olive-yellowish cast and the fruit softens, so you have time to research more recipes for these Mexican persimmons! (If you cut into it and the flesh isn’t dark brown, it isn’t ripe yet and will have a bitter flavor). Black sapotes are great eaten out of hand, prepared either sweet OR savory, blended in a drink or smoothie…with a pinch of brown sugar the sweet dark brown flesh takes on the character of chocolate pudding! The Crucian Contessa has promised to give us some more ideas soon for this vitamin C-rich fruit!

Have you tried the coconut-based homemade vegan ice cream we get from I-Sha? Right now we have some of their absolute best flavors: beet ginger, mamey apple, locust bean, avocado and banana! We’ve got spoons at the farmstand so you can take a few minutes and enjoy one after you shop!

Delicious, non-dairy, coconut based local fruit ice creams from I-Sha are the creations of Feel-I and Shalima. The coconut cream used in the ice cream is made fresh from local coconuts! Nothing canned!! These little treats are the perfect size for a light and refreshing dessert or anytime snack. Pictured here, clockwise from top: Beet-Ginger, Banana, Mamey Apple, Locust Bean, and Avocado!
Delicious, non-dairy, coconut based local fruit ice creams from I-Sha are the unique-to-St.Croix creations of Feel-I and Shalima. The coconut cream used in the ice cream is made fresh from local coconuts! Nothing canned!! These little treats are the perfect size for a light and refreshing dessert or anytime snack. Pictured here, clockwise from top: Beet-Ginger, Banana, Mamey Apple, Locust Bean, and Avocado!