Tag: fall

posts between September 22nd and December 20th

Big Story: Heirloom Melons

Hunting melons by flashlight. A late harvest of young ginger and pungent Punjabi mini honeydew melons.

Farmer Luca’s latest obsession and favorite treat after a hot day in the fields is watermelon. He has been on a quest to find new or rare heirloom  varieties of melon that are drought tolerant. He has planted a lot of interesting stuff and is learning a lot about cultivating the vines. It’s a challenging crop to grow but he is highly motivated. We truly hope there will be some left for our customers. 😉

Lots of fresh greens from all the rain. Come out for 10 AM tomorrow morning and you’ll find: Sweet salad mix, baby arugula, teen arugula, baby spicy salad mix, teen spicy salad mix, escarole, several kale varieties including tender Ethiopian kale, dandelion greens, onions, scallions, baby carrots, radishes, sweet potatoes, new baby ginger so tender you don’t have to peel it. Loads of watermelons (multiple red and yellow fleshed varieties to choose from), Japanese sweet crunchy green mini melons, beautiful Indian honeydew melons, papayas, passionfruit, and loads of Mediterranean figs, beautiful cut flowers, lemongrass, garlic chives, recao, dill, cilantro, rosemary, the basils. Local honey from Errol. Early birds will find a few cucumbers and the first of our cherry tomatoes (just a few pints).

Opening Saturday Nov. 19th, 10am–12noon

An animation shows a tiny farmer repeatedly bouncing high into the air from a wheelbarrow.
Get ready for yummy salad! Farmer Luca bounces in his giant wheelbarrow to express his gratitude for the recent rains and for the end of the endless US presidential election.
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Our passionfruit vines are loaded with flowers at the moment!

Thanks to all of you for your patience as we closed for our summer/fall break and began gearing up for this 2016-2017 season! We’ll be open and ready for you this Saturday with quite a few treats to reward you with:

Dragonfruit (pitahaya) ripening on the vine.
Dragonfruit (pitahaya) ripening on the vine in November! Extended season for this summer crop!

Sweet salad mix, baby arugula, baby spicy salad mix, cucumbers, sweet potatoes, Ethiopian kale, a few bunches of Italian dandelion greens, kangkong (Asian water spinach), fresh herbs (including Italian basil, lemon basil, holy basil, Thai basil, rosemary, recao, garlic chives,) a few papayas, the LAST (really!) dragonfruit and passionfruit.

We’re happy to welcome back our good friend and farmer James Love to ARTfarm this season. He’s already fixed a lot of stuff we broke since the last time he was here! Farmer Katie has reupped with team ARTfarm to work the gardens and pastures for the fall season, and you’ll see Heather back again, helping out at most farmstands and bringing her fresh eggs from ecstatic chickens and selected organically produced produce from her family homestead, Yellow Door Farm. We’ll have other special guests, including fishermen stopping by when fresh fish is available. And our farm kid is carefully tending lots of native tree varieties to plant and to sell this season! The ARTbarn gallery/studio (the old tool shed you walk through to get to the farmstand) has been repainted and patched up, and there will be some fresh new paintings to ponder.

Last year (2015-2016) we began a slow recovery from the drought and damage from South Shore brushfires with a lot of experimental permaculture techniques (we opened in mid-December last year!). This season, thanks in part to a general return to more favorable conditions and a six-day rain bonanza in the last few weeks, our rain catchment ponds have been mostly replenished. We are grateful to make it to your holiday table this year in time for Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Fall Harvest Celebration, or however we choose to celebrate coming together in these socially progressive days! We hope you’ll enjoy time with family and friends, and count and share your many blessings.

Thank you.
Thank you.

Can’t wait to see you all – we’ve missed familiar faces, we welcome new customers, and we’re looking forward to sharing and enjoying the fruits of the season! Lots more treats to add to the produce list in the coming weeks. Thank you for your support.

Love, ARTfarm

 

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...the original photo...
…the original photo…

ARTfarm Wednesday Super Fly Cucumber Guy

IMG_7228.JPGMama slice the vegetables Christmas comin’! ARTfarm is open 3–6 p.m. on the South Shore this afternoon with plenty of healthy crunchy green items for your holiday fridge!

Sweet salad mix, baby spicy salad mix, baby arugula, arugula, microgreens, cucumbers, cherry tomatoes, radishes, beets, chili peppers, sweet bell peppers, lettuce heads, romaine heads, fresh ginger root, garlic chives, lemon basil, holy basil, Italian basil, dill, recao, tarragon, escarole, zinnia flowers. Beautiful honey in stocking-stuffer-sized bottles from Errol Chichester!

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Sweet and Spicy Saturday at ARTfarm 10am Today!

Season’s Greetings! Saturday ARTfarm holiday goodies, 10am – 12 noon: sweet salad mix, spicy salad mix, all sizes of arugula, itty bitty microgreens, crisp cucumbers, two types of radishes, beets, cheery cherry tomatoes, kale, sweet potato greens and lettuce heads. Plenty of freshly picked herbs: Italian basil, lemon basil, cilantro, recao, mint, garlic chives, rosemary, dill, ginger, chili peppers, lemongrass and holy basil. Rumor has it that lemongrass is effective in the treatment of chikungunya symptoms.

Luca also has selected pineapple and vegetable starts available for your garden.

For your holiday gift list, why not a bunch of exuberant fresh zinnia flowers, a pineapple or basil plant that you pot up yourself in a pretty pot, or a bunch of sweet bananas. ARTfarm gift certificates are also available.

From our partners we have the last of the ripe, juicy mangoes for this winter season from Alex at Tropical Exotics, petite (perfect stocking-stuffer-sized) honey bottles from Errol Chichester, and we have big “Marcus Pumpkin” avocados from retired UVI fruit tree agronomist Aberra Bulbulla.

We’ll also be open 12-4pm on Christmas Eve day (Wednesday, December 24th) and we’ll start up Monday farmstands again right after Christmas!

We look forward to seeing you. Thanks as always, for supporting small local family farms on our beautiful little jewel of an island. Having the privilege to farm organically in this place is a gift that our customers give to us year-round. Happy holiday season!

IMG_7177.JPGMatthew loves cultivating with our wheel hoe. No fossil fuels required!

IMG_7178.JPGColors are so bright at this time of year on the farm. It’s a great season to be inspired artistically. This section of the farm has been grazed/graced by the ARTfarm sheep flocks for several years. This year, it is rotating in to be a productive powerhouse of tomatoes and veggies and herbs!