Tag: escarole

Friday Special Holiday Farmstand (closed Saturday) 3-5:30pm

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Santa’s little helpers gave Farmer Luca a hand bringing in the giant watermelons last night! Come and get ’em!

Whatever December holidays you may be celebrating, we wish you ALL the building of wonderful, fond memories and stronger bonds with your families and community; and peace, health, creativity and prosperity in the new year to come.

Early birds today will be treated to the first of our sweet corn harvest and a limited supply of slicing and cherry tomatoes.

Here’s the list: Sweet salad mix, teen arugula, teen spicy salad mix, crispy cucumbers, loads of watermelons, a few pints of cherry tomatoes, a couple of slicing tomatoes, cooking greens, escarole, dandelion greens, radishes, carrots, onions, scallions, sweet potatoes, a few ears of sweet corn, Italian basil, holy basil, lemon basil, cilantro, dill, recao, beautiful spicy baby ginger, papaya, passionfruit, sweet Japanese mini melons, and cut flowers.

Best wishes from our family to yours! We appreciate all you wonderful, loyal supporters!

Love, Luca, Christina, Marina, Katie, Jen, Kiko, Valeria, Heather, Augustus, Matthew, James, Daryl, Ginger, Spicy, Moonlight, Mrs. Grove, Little Spotty, Whoopsie Pie, Polly, Mr. Nibbles and all the many, many other creatures great and small…

Top O’ The Morning To Ya! ARTfarm 10 AM – 12 noon

Despite the temptations of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Christiansted today, the little leprechauns of ARTfarm are hard at work this morning on the south side of the island, harvesting greens to decorate your table. Please come as early as possible for this morning’s stand (10am-12 noon) and buy all your greens, tomatoes, fresh herbs and other treats, so that we can release the cute little fellows to run over the hills and join in the festivities in town.

A heart-shaped green heirloom tomato for St. Patty's Day! Enjoy the parade!
A heart-shaped green heirloom tomato for St. Patty’s Day! Enjoy the parade!

If you’re too busy staking out your parade spot or painting yourself and the kids green to make it this morning, we’ll be open Monday 3-6pm! Today’s haul: sweet salad mix, teen arugula, spicy salad mix, a few cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, slicing tomatoes, heirlooms, loads of beets, escarole, collard greens, sweet potato greens, carrots, Italian basil, lemon basil, mint, Thai basil, parsley, cilantro, dill, garlic chives, onions, scallions, French breakfast radishes, lots of Mediterranean figs, and passionfruit. From our co-agrarians, we’ve got beautiful raw local honey from Errol Chichester.

Farmer Matthew this morning reminded us that today is a perfect day to bake a pie: today’s date, for those of you who didn’t get the joke (like yours truly) is 3.14… pi (the symbol used by mathematicians to represent the ratio of a circle’s circumference to its diameter, the lowercase Greek letter π).

Enjoy!

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 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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